General information
Russia  (Russian: Россия, Rossiya) or the Russian Federation is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia. It is a semi-presidential republic comprising 83 federal subjects.Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s land area; with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones and incorporating a great range of environments and landforms.
Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, APEC and the SCO, and is a leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

· Capital and largest city: Moscow
· Total population: 142,008,838 (estimate 2008)
· Official language: Russian (27 others co-official in various regions)
· Government: Federal semi-presidential republic
· President: mr. Dmitry Medvedev
· Area: 17,075,400 km2 
· Currency:  the Russian rubel, RUB (1 rubel = 100 kopek, 1 EUR = RUB)

Location and nature
Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Poland (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea, and is also close to the United States (Alaska) and Japan. It borders the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Black Sea.
Russia has the world's greatest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is considered an energy superpower. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.

Russian History
The nation's history began with that of the East Slavs. The Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a noble Viking warrior class and their descendants, the first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century and adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated and the lands were divided into many small feudal states. The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus' was Moscow, which served as the main force in the Russian reunification process and independence struggle against the Golden Horde. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation and exploration to become the Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from Poland eastward to the Pacific Ocean and Alaska.
Russia established worldwide power and influence from the times of the Russian Empire to being the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first and largest constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower. The Russian Federation was founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet Union.

Religion
Orthodox Christianity is Russia’s traditional and largest religion, deemed part of Russia's "historical heritage" in a law passed in 1997. Russian Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in Russia, 95% of the registered Orthodox parishes belong to the Russian Orthodox Church while there are a number of smaller Orthodox Churches. However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis. Nonetheless, the church is widely respected by both believers and nonbelievers, who see it as a symbol of Russian heritage and culture. Smaller Christian denominations such as Roman Catholics, Armenian Gregorian and various Protestants exist.
The ancestors of many of today’s Russians adopted Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century. Approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70% of population.
It is estimated that Russia is home to 14 million people of traditionally Muslim ethniсity.However, surveys say that there are only 7 million people who adhere to the Islamic faith in Russia. Russia also has an estimated 3 million to 4 million Muslim migrants from the ex-Soviet states. Most Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus, Moscow, St. Petersburg and western Siberia. Buddhism is traditional for three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia. Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, Yakutia, Chukotka, etc., practice pantheistic and pagan rites, along with the major religions. Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Slavs are overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian. Turkic speakers are predominantly Muslim.

Climate
The climate of the Russian Federation formed under the influence of several determining factors. The enormous size of the country and the remoteness of many areas from the sea result in the dominance of the humid continental and subarctic climate, which is prevalent in European and Asian Russia except for the tundra and the extreme southeast. Mountains in the south obstructing the flow of warm air masses from the Indian Ocean and the plain of the west and north makes the country open to Arctic and Atlantic influences.
Throughout much of the territory there are only two distinct seasons — winter and summer; spring and autumn are usually brief periods of change between extremely low temperatures and extremely high. The coldest month is January (on the shores of the sea—February), the warmest usually is July. Great ranges of temperature are typical. In winter, temperatures get colder both from south to north and from west to east. Summers can be quite hot and humid, even in Siberia. A small part of Black Sea coast around Sochi has a subtropical climate. The continental interiors are the driest areas.

Current weather in Russia

Politics
According to the Constitution, which was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 following the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, Russia is a federation and formally a semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Russian Federation is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which serves as the country's supreme legal document and as a social contract for the people of the Russian Federation.
The White House, the seat of the Russian GovernmentThe federal government is composed of three branches: legislative, executive and judiciary.
The president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term. Ministries of the government are composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Prime Minister (whereas the appointment of the latter requires the consent of the State Duma). The national legislature is the Federal Assembly, which consists of two chambers; the 450-member State Duma and the 176-member Federation Council.

Transport

International traffic:
By Air: Russia has 9 international airports, the biggest ones in Moscow and St. Peterburg.
By Sea: Major sea ports and harbors are in following regions: Black Sea and Sea of Azov, Baltic Sea, White Sea, Barents Sea, and other seas of Arctic Ocean, Seas of Pacific Ocean, Caspian Sea.
By Coach: International coach lines to the Baltics. 
By Rail: Railway connections to Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (Via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea.

Domestic traffic:
By Air: There is over 600 local airports in Russia.
By Sea: In Russia there are many inland waterways and ferrylines.  
By Rail: Trains travel between the larger and smaller Russian cities. Metro system is working in the following cities: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Samara, Yekaterinburg and Kazan.
By Car: The big paved highways between the larger cities are satisfying, but there are a huge amount of unpaved motorways which are not in good condition.

Useful links about Russia