Russia

The Russian Federation ({{lang-ru|??????????? ??????????}}, transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija), or Russia (Russian: ???????, transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija), is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Europe and Asia. With an area of 17,075,400 km² (6,595,600 mi²), it is the largest country in the world, covering almost twice the territory of the next-largest country, Canada. It ranks eighth in the world in population. It shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from NW to SE): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (only through Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with the United States, Canada and Japan.

Demographics

Despite its comparatively very high population, Russia has a low average population density due to its enormous size; population is densest in the European part of Russia, in the Ural Mountains area, and in the south-western parts of Siberia; the south-eastern part of Siberia that meets the Pacific Ocean, known as the Russian Far East, is sparsely populated, with its southern part being densest. The Russian Federation is home to as many as 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples. As of the 2002 census, 79.8% of the population is ethnically Russian, 3.8% Tatar, 2% Ukrainian, 1.2% Bashkir, 1.1% Chuvash, 0.9% Chechen, 0.8% Armenian, and the remaining 10.3% includes those who did not specify their ethnicity as well as (in alphabetical order) Avars, Azerbaijanis, Belarusians, Chinese, Evenks, Georgians, Germans, Ingushes, Inuit, Kalmyks, Karelians, Kazakhs, Koreans, Maris, Mordvins, Nenetses, Ossetians, Poles, Tuvans, Udmurts, Yakuts, and others.

Related Topics:
Ural Mountains - Siberia - Pacific Ocean - Russian Far East - Ethnic groups - Indigenous people - Russian - Tatar - Ukrainian - Bashkir - Chuvash - Chechen - Armenian - Ethnicity - Avars - Azerbaijanis - Belarusians - Chinese - Evenks - Georgians - Germans - Ingushes - Inuit - Kalmyks - Karelians - Kazakhs - Koreans - Mari - Mordvins - Nenetses - Ossetians - Poles - Tuvans - Udmurts - Yakuts

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Russian language is the only official state language, but the individual republics have often made their native language co-official next to Russian. Cyrillic alphabet is the only official script, which means that these languages must be written in Cyrillic in official texts. The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant Christian religion in the Federation; other religions include Islam, various Protestant faiths, Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Buddhism.

Related Topics:
Russian language - Republics - Cyrillic alphabet - Official script - Russian Orthodox Church - Christian - Islam - Protestant - Judaism - Roman Catholicism - Buddhism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~