Russia <div style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em"> <table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="border: 1px solid #9866FF; background-color: #f3f3ff" width="200"> <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; border-bottom: 1px solid #C9AFFF; background-color: #ddddff">Flag</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 2px">Image:rs-flag.png</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; border-bottom: 1px solid #C9AFFF; border-top: 1px solid #C9AFFF; background-color: #ddddff">Quick Facts</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Capital'''</td><td>Moscow</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Government'''</td><td>federation<br/></td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Currency'''</td><td>Russian ruble (RUR)</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Area'''</td><td>''total:'' 17,075,200 sq km <br>''water:'' 79,400 sq km <br>''land:'' 16,995,800 sq km</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Population'''</td><td>144,978,573 (July 2002 est.)</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Language'''</td><td>Russian, other</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Religion'''</td><td>Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Calling Code'''</td><td>7</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Internet TLD'''</td><td>.ru</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" style="padding-left: 2px">'''Time Zone'''</td><td>UTC +2 to +12</td></tr> </table> </div>  '''Russia''' (''Russian'' Росси́я, transliteration ''Rossiya'' or ''Rossija'') - more fully known as the '''Russian Federation''' (''Russian'' Росси́йская Федера́ция, transliteration ''Rossiyskaya Federatsiya'' or ''Rossijskaja Federacija'') - is a vast country in Eastern Europe and northern Asia. Russia has both extensive Arctic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean coastlines, as well as smaller coastlines on the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. Russia is bordered by Norway and Finland to the northwest, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine to the west, Georgia (country)|Georgia and Azerbaijan to the southwest, Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia to the south, and China and North Korea to the southeast. The United States of America|American state of Alaska lies opposite the easternmost point of Russia across the Bering Strait. Russia also administers the enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic coast between Poland and Lithuania. Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area. Despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture. Mount Elbrus (''Gora El'brus''), at 5,633 m, is Europe's tallest peak. Image:rs-map.png|thumb|300px|Map of Russia ==Regions== *Central Russia *Northern Caucasus *Northwestern Russia *Russian Far East *Siberia *Urals (region)|Urals *Volga (region)|Volga ==Cities== *Moscow *St. Petersburg (Russia)|St. Petersburg *Murmansk *Vladivostok ==Other destinations== ==Understand== ===History=== The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the Communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened 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 15 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. A determined guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya. ===Climate=== 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 ==Get in== Citizens of most non-Russia or CIS countries must obtain a visa prior to arriving to Russia. An invitation is required to obtain either business or tourist visa. You can get a tourist invitation directly from a hotel that you book or by using a reliable online hotel booking service like "HotelsRussia.com" [http://www.hotelsrussia.com]. Then you have an option of apply for the visa at a local Russian Embassy or have a local travel agent do it for you. Tourist visas are not hard to get. Business visas are issued by the government. Obtaining one is time consuming and costly. They can be obtained with the help of most large international travel agencies in 6 to 12 weeks. ===By plane=== '''Aeroflot''' (Russian Airlines) [http://www.aeroflot.com/] constitutes Russia's national airline. Airports are in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and most other cities. '''Sibiria''' (S7) [http://www.s7.ru/] Sibirian airline company. Airports are in all big cities in the Asia part of Russia ===By Train=== Train service is usually reliable. Main routes from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania have fairly frequent trains to St. Petersburg and Moscow. Most long distance trains have 2 to 6 passengers per room, 4 being the most common. The Trans-Siberian Railway spans the entire country and connects European Russia with Russian Far East provinces. ===By Car=== Travelling in Russia by car is difficult. Car rental services are only starting to develop in major cities of Moscow and St.Petersburg, and are expensive. Crossing the border by car is also peculiar entertainment. There is no doubt that car travel is the best way to see the country, but it is risky enterprise which is recommended only for brave and capable. Service is scarce and poor, and countryside can be quite dangerous without experience and fluent Russian language. This country is simply too large and too underdeveloped for car travel, which is a type of tourism you would understake only in more or less civilized country. ===By Bus=== ===By Boat=== ==Get around== ===By train=== *the '''Trans-Siberian Express''' remains one of the great railway journeys of the world and is an ideal way of crossing the vast breadth of the Russian Federation ==Talk== Russia has a hundred languages and supports many of them, sending linguists to document them and invent writing systems for them (all Cyrillic, of course) and making them local official languages. The south border is lined with Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic; the north with Finnic and Samoyed. The southwest corner has a variety of Caucasian languages; the northeast has the few Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages. Russian phrasebook|Russian is the native language of Russians; it is the official language, so wherever you go in Russia, you'll find someone who speaks Russian. ==Buy== Matryoshka - a kind of wood doll, Ushanka - a warm hat ==Eat== *Pelmeni (ravioli) *Blini (pancakes) *Borshtsh (red soup/beetroot soup) *Shtshi (cabbage soup) *Manti (meat stuffed pasta) *Vareniki (dumplings) *Russian salads ==Drink== Vodka, international soft-drinks (Pepsi, Cola, etc), still water, kvas (like beer, but without alcohol), beer (not very good usually) ==Sleep== ==Learn== ==Work== ==Stay safe== Juvenile delinquency, organized crime and corruption may occur in Russia. The Russian Mafia is infamous, and has a business of smuggling drugs from and in the country. The police are widely regarded as corrupt, and (may)take bribes. The conflict in Chechnya is also a major problem. ==Stay healthy== The further you get from Moscow or St. Petersburg, the worse the water condition gets. Usually it's OK to drink in the European part of Russia, but try to stick with bottled water in Siberia and the Far East. If you can't afford to buy bottled water boil water before drinking even in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Be careful not to buy fake vodka (could be very dangerous). Some kiosks could sell meal of bad quality, so if you are not confident just through it away. Although most of them a quite good. Before buying anything notice who buys and what she buys. That could help to make a good choice. ==Respect== ==Contact== ==External links== ro:Rusiafr:Russiede:RusslandWikiPedia:Russia {{msg:stub}} First page | Prev | Next | Last page |

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