RUSSIA

Russia is located in Northern Asia, bordering the Arctic Ocean between Europe and the North Pacific. Russia is the largest country in the world, almost twice the size of the US. Climate ranges from sub arctic to warm. The terrain consists of a broad plain with low hills west of the Urals, a vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia, and uplands and mountains along the southern border regions. Natural resources include major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, timber, and strategic minerals.

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 .

Geography

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.

Capital

Moscow

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.

Language

Russian, many minority languages

Monetary Unit

Russian ruble (RUR)

Largest Cities

Moscow, Sankt Peterburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, Kazan, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Rostov, Perm, Volgograd, Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov, Tolyatti, Ulyanovsk, Izhevsk, Krasnodar, Yaroslavl, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Barnaul, Novokuznetsk, Lipetsk, Penza, Ryazan

Principal rivers

Volga River

Places to Visit

Moscow, St. Petersburg

Air Ports

QAbakan, Ugolny, Vityazevo, Talagi, Astrakhan, Barnaul, Belgorod, Ignatyevo