Russia

§1. Russia Introduction

Background:
  Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to
  emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and
  to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early
  17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion
  across Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony
  was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian
  Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in
  Europe and Asia. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World
  War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire
  and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists
  under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR. Iosif
  STALIN (1928-53) strengthened communist rule and Russian dominance of the
  Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and
  society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail
  GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika
  (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives
  inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR
  into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has
  struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market
  economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of
  the Communist period. While some progress has been made on the economic
  front, recent years have seen a recentralization of power under Vladimir
  PUTIN and the erosion of nascent democratic institutions. A determined
  guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya and threatens to
  destabilize the North Caucasus region.

§2. Russia Geography

Location:
  Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of Europe),
  bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates:
  60 00 N, 100 00 E

Map references:
  Asia

Area:
  total: 17,075,200 km²
  land: 16,995,800 km²
  water: 79,400 km²

Area - comparative:
  approximately 1.8 times the size of the US

Land boundaries:
  total: 20,017 km
  border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast)
    3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,340 km, Georgia
    723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania
    (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,485 km, Norway 196 km, Poland
    (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Ukraine 1,576 km

Coastline:
  37,653 km

Maritime claims:
  territorial sea: 12 nm
  exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
  continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate:
  ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of
  European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north;
  winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers
  vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast

Terrain:
  broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra
  in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
  highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m

Natural resources:
  wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas,
  coal, and many strategic minerals, timber
  note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder
    exploitation of natural resources

Land use:
  arable land: 7.17%
  permanent crops: 0.11%
  other: 92.72% (2005)

Irrigated land:
  46,630 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
  permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development;
  volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the
  Kamchatka Peninsula; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires
  throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia

Environment - current issues:
  air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants,
  and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural
  pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion;
  soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals;
  scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater
  contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; abandoned
  stocks of obsolete pesticides

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
    Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine
    Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
    Climate Change, Climate Change- Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species,
    Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
    Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
    Wetlands, Whaling
  signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94

Geography - note:
  largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in
  relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the
  country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for
  agriculture; Mount El'brus is Europe's tallest peak

§3. Russia People

Population:
  142,893,540 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 14.2% (male 10,441,151/female 9,921,102)
  15-64 years: 71.3% (male 49,271,698/female 52,679,463)
  65 years and over: 14.4% (male 6,500,814/female 14,079,312) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 38.4 years
  male: 35.2 years
  female: 41.3 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  -0.37% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  9.95 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 15.13 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 17.43 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 12.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 67.08 years
  male: 60.45 years
  female: 74.1 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  1.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  1.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  860,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  9,000 (2001 est.)

Nationality:
  noun: Russian(s)
  adjective: Russian

Ethnic groups:
  Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other
  or unspecified 12.1% (2002 census)

Religions:
  Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other

Languages:
  Russian, many minority languages

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 99.6%
  male: 99.7%
  female: 99.5% (2003 est.)

§4. Russia Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Russian Federation
  conventional short form: Russia
  local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
  local short form: Rossiya
  former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Government type:
  federation

Capital:
  Moscow

Administrative divisions:
  48 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular
  - respublika), 9 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular -
  avtonomnyy okrug), 7 krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities
  (singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast')
  : oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod,
    Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Chita, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga,
    Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan,
    Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod,
    Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov,
    Ryazan', Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk,
    Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver', Tyumen',
    Ul'yanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl'
  : republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa),
    Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary),
    Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya
    (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk),
    Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El
    (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), North
    Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya
    (Izhevsk)
  : autonomous okrugs: Aga Buryat (Aginskoye), Chukotka (Anadyr'), Evenk
    (Tura), Khanty-Mansi, Koryak (Palana), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Taymyr
    [Dolgano-Nenets] (Dudinka), Ust'-Orda Buryat (Ust'-Ordynskiy),
    Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)
  : krays: Altay (Barnaul), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Permskiy,
    Primorskiy (Vladivostok), Stavropol'
  : federal cities: Moscow (Moskva), Saint Petersburg (Sankt-Peterburg)
  : autonomous oblast: Yevrey [Jewish] (Birobidzhan)
  note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative
    centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in
    parentheses)

Independence:
  24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday:
  Russia Day, 12 June (1990)

Constitution:
  adopted 12 December 1993

Legal system:
  based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president 31
    December 1999-6 May 2000, president since 7 May 2000)
  head of government: Premier Mikhail Yefimovich FRADKOV (since 5 March
    2004); First Deputy Premier Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 14
    November 2005), Deputy Premiers Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9
    March 2004) and Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 14 November 2005)
  cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the
    premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all
    are appointed by the president
  note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff
    and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and
    coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also
    reports directly to the president
  elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election
    last held 14 March 2004 (next to be held March 2008); note - no vice
    president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers
    because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier serves as
    acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be
    within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval
    of the Duma
  election results: Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN reelected president; percent
    of vote - Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN 71.2%, Nikolay KHARITONOV 13.7%,
    other (no candidate above 5%) 15.1%

Legislative branch:
  bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the
  Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members
  appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 88
  federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs
  and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members
  serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450
  seats; currently elected by proportional representation from party lists
  winning at least 7% of the vote; members are elected by direct, popular
  vote to serve four-year terms)
  elections: State Duma - last held 7 December 2003 (next to be held in
    December 2007)
  election results: State Duma - percent of vote received by parties clearing
    the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party
    list seats - United Russia 37.1%, CPRF 12.7%, LDPR 11.6%, Motherland
    9.1%; seats by party - United Russia 222, CPRF 53, LDPR 38, Motherland
    37, People's Party 19, Yabloko 4, SPS 2, other 7, independents 65, repeat
    election required 3

Judicial branch:
  Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Supreme Arbitration Court; judges for
  all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the
  recommendation of the president

Political parties and leaders:
  Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich
  ZYUGANOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich
  ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Motherland Bloc (Rodina) [Dmitriy ROGOZIN]; People's Party
  [Gennady RAIKOV]; Union of Right Forces or SPS [Nikita BELYKH]; United
  Russia [Boris Vyacheslavovich GRYZLOV]; Yabloko Party [Grigoriy
  Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  NA

International organization participation:
  APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE,
  CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, G- 8, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt
  (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol,
  IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC,
  NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, Paris
  Club, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
  UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNTSO,
  UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer), ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV
  chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
  telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708
  FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735
  consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador William J. BURNS
  embassy: Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow
  mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE 09721
  telephone: [7] (095) 728-5000
  FAX: [7] (095) 728-5090
  consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg

Flag description:
  three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red

§5. Russia Economy

Economy - overview:
  Russia ended 2005 with its seventh straight year of growth, averaging 6.4%
  annually since the financial crisis of 1998. Although high oil prices and a
  relatively cheap ruble are important drivers of this economic rebound,
  since 2000 investment and consumer-driven demand have played a noticeably
  increasing role. Real fixed capital investments have averaged gains greater
  than 10% over the last five years, and real personal incomes have realized
  average increases over 12%. During this time, poverty has declined steadily
  and the middle class has continued to expand. Russia has also improved its
  international financial position since the 1998 financial crisis, with its
  foreign debt declining from 90% of GDP to around 31%. Strong oil export
  earnings have allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves from only $12
  billion to some $180 billion at yearend 2005. These achievements, along
  with a renewed government effort to advance structural reforms, have raised
  business and investor confidence in Russia's economic prospects.
  Nevertheless, serious problems persist. Economic growth slowed to 5.9% for
  2005 while inflation remains high. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber
  account for more than 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to
  swings in world prices. Russia's manufacturing base is dilapidated and must
  be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve broad-based economic
  growth. Other problems include a weak banking system, a poor business
  climate that discourages both domestic and foreign investors, corruption,
  and widespread lack of trust in institutions. In addition, a string of
  investigations launched against a major Russian oil company, culminating
  with the arrest of its CEO in the fall of 2003 and the acquisition of the
  company by a state owned firm, have raised concerns by some observers that
  President PUTIN is granting more influence to forces within his government
  that desire to reassert state control over the economy. State control has
  increased in the past year with a number of large acquisitions. Most
  fundamentally, Russia has made little progress in building the rule of law,
  the bedrock of a modern market economy.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $1.539 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  $740.7 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  5.9% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $10,700 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 5%
  industry: 35%
  services: 60% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
  74.22 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 10.3%, industry 21.4%, services 68.3% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:
  7.6% plus considerable underemployment (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  17.8% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 1.7%
  highest 10%: 38.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
  40 (2002)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  11% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
  17.5% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $176.7 billion
  expenditures: $125.6 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005
    est.)

Public debt:
  15.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

Agriculture - products:
  grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk

Industries:
  complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil,
  gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling
  mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defense industries
  including radar, missile production, and advanced electronic components,
  shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications
  equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment;
  electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and
  scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs,
  handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate:
  4% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:
  931 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - consumption:
  811.5 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - exports:
  24 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  14 billion kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
  9.15 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  2.8 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
  5.15 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
  75,000 bbl/day

Oil - proved reserves:
  69 billion bbl (2003 est.)

Natural gas - production:
  587 billion m³ (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  402.1 billion m³ (2004 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
  157.2 billion m³ (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
  12 billion m³ (2004 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
  47.57 trillion m³ (2003)

Current account balance:
  $89.31 billion (2005 est.)

Exports:
  $245 billion (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products,
  metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures

Exports - partners:
  Netherlands 9.1%, Germany 8%, Ukraine 6.4%, Italy 6.2%, China 6%, US 5%,
  Switzerland 4.7%, Turkey 4.3% (2004)

Imports:
  $125 billion (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar,
  semifinished metal products

Imports - partners:
  Germany 15.3%, Ukraine 8.8%, China 6.9%, Japan 5.7%, Kazakhstan 5%, US
  4.6%, Italy 4.6%, France 4.4% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
  $181.3 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external:
  $230.3 billion (30 June 2005 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  in FY01 from US, $979 million (including $750 million in non-proliferation
  subsidies); in 2001 from EU, $200 million (2000 est.)

Currency (code):
  Russian ruble (RUR)

Exchange rates:
  Russian rubles per US dollar - 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004), 30.692 (2003),
  31.349 (2002), 29.169 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Russia Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  39.616 million (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  74.42 million (2004)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: the telephone system underwent significant changes in
    the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer
    communication services; access to digital lines has improved,
    particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are
    improving; Russia has made progress toward building the
    telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy;
    however, a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied
  domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to
    Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60
    regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services,
    both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the
    telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density
  international: country code - 7; Russia is connected internationally by
    three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities
    provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth
    stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat,
    and Orbita systems

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004)

Television broadcast stations:
  7,306 (1998)

Internet country code:
  .ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy domain ".su" that
  was allocated to the Soviet Union, and whose legal status and ownership are
  contested by the Russian Government, ICANN, and several Russian commercial
  entities

Internet hosts:
  1,306,427 (2005)

Internet users:
  23.7 million (2005)

§7. Russia Transportation

Airports:
  1,730 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 640
  over 3,047 m: 51
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 199
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 129
  914 to 1,523 m: 109
  under 914 m: 152 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 1,090
  over 3,047 m: 16
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 30
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 88
  914 to 1,523 m: 135
  under 914 m: 821 (2005)

Heliports:
  42 (2005)

Pipelines:
  condensate 122 km; gas 150,007 km; oil 75,539 km; refined products 13,771
  km (2004)

Railways:
  total: 87,157 km
  broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km electrified)
  narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (on Sakhalin Island)
  note: an additional 30,000 km of non-common carrier lines serve industries
    (2004)

Roadways:
  total: 537,289 km
  paved: 362,133 km
  unpaved: 175,156 km (2001)

Waterways:
  96,000 km
  note: 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea,
    Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea (2004)

Merchant marine:
  total: 1,199 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,138,457 GRT/6,385,116 DWT
  by type: barge carrier 48, bulk carrier 44, cargo 766, chemical tanker 24,
    container 12, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 218,
    refrigerated cargo 49, roll on/roll off 12, specialized tanker 5
  foreign-owned: 86 (Cyprus 1, Estonia 1, Germany 2, Greece 1, Latvia 2,
    Malta 5, Norway 1, Russia 1, Sweden 1, Switzerland 8, Turkey 54, Ukraine
    9)
  registered in other countries: 382 (Antigua and Barbuda 6, The Bahamas 4,
    Belize 33, Cambodia 73, Comoros 5, Cyprus 54, Denmark 1, Dominica 2,
    Georgia 20, North Korea 2, Latvia 1, Liberia 65, Malta 60, Marshall
    Islands 1, Mongolia 10, Panama 6, Russia 1, Saint Kitts and Nevis 4,
    Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 21, Sierra Leone 1, unknown 10, Vanuatu
    1, Venezuela 1) (2005)

Ports and terminals:
  Anapa, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Novorossiysk, Rostov-na-Donu, Saint
  Petersburg, Taganrog, Vanino, Vostochnyy

§8. Russia Military

Military branches:
  Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF), Air Forces (VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV),
  Strategic Rocket Troops (RVSN), and Space Troops (KV) are independent
  "combat arms," not subordinate to any of the three branches

Military service age and obligation:
  Russia has adopted a mixed conscript-contract force; 18-27 years of age;
  males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; length of compulsory
  military service is two years; plans as of November 2005 call for reduction
  in mandatory service to one year by 2008; 30% of Russian army personnel
  were contract servicemen at the end of 2005; planning calls for volunteer
  servicemen to compose 70% of armed forces by 2010, with the remaining
  servicemen consisting of conscripts; at the end of 2005, the Army had 40
  all-volunteer permanent-readiness units, with another 20
  permanent-readiness units to be formed in 2006; 88 MoD units have been
  designated as permanent readiness units and are expected to become
  all-volunteer by end 2007; these include most air force, naval, and nuclear
  arms units, as well as all airborne and naval infantry units, most
  motorized rifle brigades, and all special forces detachments (2005)

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 18-49: 35,247,049 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 18-49: 21,049,651 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
  males: 1,286,069 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  NA

§9. Russia Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  in 2005, China and Russia ratified the treaty to divide up the islands in
  the Amur, Ussuri, and Argun Rivers, representing the final portion of their
  centuries-long border disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands of
  Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the
  "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils," occupied by
  the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and claimed by Japan,
  remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally
  ending World War II hostilities; Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting all
  but small, strategic segments of the land boundary and the maritime
  boundary; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge
  in the Akhmeti region and the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia; Azerbaijan,
  Kazakhstan, and Russia signed equidistance boundaries in the Caspian seabed
  but the littoral states have no consensus on dividing the water column;
  Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and
  Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the
  Svalbard Treaty zone; various groups in Finland advocate restoration of
  Karelia and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following the Second
  World War but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands; in May
  2005, Russia recalled its signatures to the 1996 border agreements with
  Estonia (1996) and Latvia (1997), when the two Baltic states announced
  issuance of unilateral declarations referencing Soviet occupation and
  ensuing territorial losses; Russia demands better treatment of ethnic
  Russians in Estonia and Latvia; Estonian citizen groups continue to press
  for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that
  would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva
  region within Estonia; Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their
  boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified
  by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a
  simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the
  Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as a
  member state that forms part of the EU's external border, to strict
  Schengen border rules; delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine is
  complete, but states have renewed discussions on demarcation; the dispute
  over the maritime boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch
  Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework
  agreement and on-going expert-level discussions; discussions toward
  economic and political union with Belarus advance slowly; Kazakhstan and
  Russia boundary delimitation ratified November 2005 and demarcation is
  underway; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Maritime Boundary
  Agreement with the US in the Bering Sea

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
  IDPs: 339,000 (displacement from Chechnya and North Ossetia) (2005)

Illicit drugs:
  limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of
  methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active
  illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian
  opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic
  markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to
  the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and
  organized crime are key concerns; heroin increasingly popular in domestic
  market


<Factbook 2006>
