Country territory - part the earth's surface, which is under its sovereignty, which includes land, subsoil, internal and territorial waters (12 miles from the coast) and the airspace above it (according to the altitude of aviation flights), and separated from other countries by borders recognized by international standards.
In addition to twelve miles of territorial waters (22.2 km) adjacent to the shores of Russia (and to the islands of the Russian Federation), there is a two-hundred-mile economic zone (370.4 km), within which free passage of ships of all countries of the world is allowed, but the state (in this case,), to which the territorial waters belong, has the preemptive right to exploration and development of marine resources and seafood.
Territory, its size, configuration and natural features act as a factor of long-term action, but at different stages of history their role may change.
Big sizes Russian territory have both positive and negative features, i.e. are estimated ambiguously.
Among the positive ones stand out:
- availability of various natural resources and conditions as the basis for the territorial division of labor and broad specialization of the economy;
- availability of reserve land for settlement and production location;
- conservation of wildlife habitats as an ecological reserve;
- the presence of "rear" spaces used during wars and other conflict situations.
Among the negative ones stand out:
- the need for the arrangement, protection and life support of huge spaces, incl. far removed from the developed regions;
- the need to build long lines of transport, communications and other infrastructure; huge costs of transporting goods and maintaining links between regions, center and periphery;
- the impossibility of uniform development and creation of equivalent social conditions of life for people in central and remote regions, with different natural and economic conditions.
These negative features of the vastness and uneven development of the Russian space lead to an increase in the cost of economic activity and are a factor of long-term action. However, as the economic and transport development of the territory progresses, the effect of negative traits will weaken, and positive ones will intensify.
The very fact of owning a large territory is important factor geopolitical stability of the country.
Russian Federation
Russia located on two continents - Europe and Asia. In the south and southeast it borders with China, in the southeast - with North Korea, in the south - with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, in the southwest - with Ukraine, in the west - with Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Norway. Kaliningrad Oblast, an enclave of Russia on the Baltic Sea coast, has borders with Poland and Lithuania. Russia owns the islands of Novaya Zemlya, Severnaya Zemlya, Vaygach, the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, Kurile Islands(some of them are disputed by Japan) and Sakhalin Island in Pacific... In the east, Russia is washed by the Japanese, Okhotsk and Bering seas, in the north - Barents, Kara, Chukotka and East Siberian seas, the Laptev Sea, in the west - the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, in the south - the Black and Azov seas.
The name of the country comes from the ethnonym Rus.
Capital
Square
Population
145 470 thousand people
Administrative division
The Russian Federation includes 21 republics, 6 territories, 49 regions, federal cities Moscow and St. Petersburg, an autonomous region and 10 autonomous districts.
Form of government
A republic with a federal state structure.
Head of state
President elected for 4 years.
Supreme Legislature
Bicameral Federal Assembly (Federation Council and State Duma). \
Supreme executive body
Government.
Big cities
St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, Kazan, Perm, Ufa, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd.
Official language
Religion
Among the religious confessions, the most numerous is Orthodox, the inhabitants of Russia also profess Islam, Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism.
Ethnic composition
81% are Russians, 3.8% are Tatars, 3% are Ukrainians, 1.2% are Chuvash, 0.9% are Bashkirs. More than 100 ethnic groups live in Russia.
Currency
Ruble = 100 kopecks.
Climate
Most of the country is located within the temperate climatic zone... Extreme regions of the north and northern islands belong to the arctic belt, some southern regions close to the subtropics. Almost throughout the country, the climate is continental, which is especially evident in Western Siberia(This region is characterized by significant amplitudes of seasonal temperatures and little precipitation). For western regions and the Black Sea coast are characterized by milder, seaside conditions. Peculiar monsoon climate the southern regions of the Far East, which are under the influence of the Pacific Ocean, also differ.
Flora
Vegetable and animal world vary greatly depending on the latitude of the area and its climate. Most of the country's territory is occupied by forests - about 65%, and all types of coniferous and deciduous trees are represented in them: pine, spruce, fir, cedar, birch, aspen, hornbeam, beech, oak, ash and many others.
Fauna
On the territory of the country there are about 150 thousand species of animals. Of these, 300 species of mammals, 300 species of freshwater fish and 250 species of marine fish, which are of commercial importance. The following representatives of the fauna are characteristic of the arctic and tundra zones: polar bear, reindeer, arctic fox, lemming. Among sea animals in this zone there are killer whales, beluga whales, walrus, and seals. Birds - seagulls, guillemots, eiders, white geese. Among the inhabitants of the taiga zone, one can name the brown bear, elk, lynx, sable, squirrel. On Far East there are tigers and sika deer. In the zone of mixed and deciduous forests, bison, brown bear, wild boar, wolf, fox, mole, hedgehog are widespread, from birds: stork, crane, capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, tit, woodpecker, nightingale, swallow, sparrow. For the steppe zone, such animals are not uncommon: European hare, hamster, ground squirrel; birds - bustard, eagle. Saiga and jerboa live in the semi-desert.
Rivers and lakes
There are about 120 thousand rivers in Russia (over 10 km long). The largest of them are: - Lena, Irtysh, Yenisei, Ob, Volga, Amur. The largest lakes are the Caspian Sea, Baikal, Ladoga, Onega. There are almost 2 million fresh and salt lakes in the Russian Federation.
sights
There are a huge number of sights in Russia. In St. Petersburg - Winter
palace (Hermitage), St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress with the tombs of Russian emperors, a complex of palaces and fountains in Petrodvorets, palaces in Gatchina and Pushkino. There are more than 120 museums in the city. The Kremlin and Red Square, the Tretyakov Gallery, a number of the largest museums (74 in total) are famous in Moscow, including the oldest of them - the Armory. In Novgorod - the Kremlin, the Church of the Savior-on-Ilyin with frescoes by Theophanes the Greek; in Pskov - a museum-reserve of the XII-XVII centuries, fortresses and churches, in Kazan - the Kremlin of the XVI-XVII centuries, in Suzdal - churches of the XIII-XIX centuries. and many others. A significant number of architectural, historical and cultural monuments of Russia are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Useful information for tourists
Moscow is a huge city. In order to get acquainted with all her wealth, you need to spend a whole life. Therefore, tourists are offered bus sightseeing tours... During one such excursion, driving through the central streets and squares of the capital and making short stops to inspect the sights, you can see the monumental structures on Poklonnaya Gora, visit the Kuskovo estate and the Ostankino palace - the possession of the Sheremetyevs, stand on observation deck Vorobyovy Gory, from which a magnificent panorama of Moscow opens. On the left you can see the golden domes of the Novodevichy Convent shimmering in the sun, on the right the Moskva River winds like a narrow ribbon, in front you can see the world famous sports complex Luzhniki.
We recommend that you take at least one warm thing on the road (you can leave it on the bus), comfortable shoes for many excursions and an umbrella, as the weather can be changeable.
For those who have a desire to visit water parks (pools, saunas), you must have a bathing suit. It is a good idea to bring sunglasses and a hat to protect you from the sun on your seaside tours.
Smile more often and say “hello”, “thank you”, “please” - this will immediately endear the interlocutor to you.
Russia ( official name- Russian Federation) is the largest country in the world, its area is more than 17 million square meters. km.
Most of the vast Russian expanses are occupied by wide plains - East European and West Siberian. There are also mountains: the Ural Mountains - one of the oldest in the world, low and overgrown with green fir trees; Caucasian - young, tall, with snow-capped peaks; East Siberian Highlands - the further east, the higher; the mountains of the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands are domed, with flat slopes (hills), among them there are many volcanoes, more than fifty are active. In the south, Russia is washed by the gentle southern Black Sea, in the north - by the harsh seas of the Arctic Ocean, covered with ice from autumn to spring, in the east - by the Bering, Okhotsk, Japanese, and in the west - by the Baltic.
The great rivers of Russia flow in Siberia, the longest of them (4269 km) bears the female name Lena.
The Ob and Irtysh lag slightly behind it in length, the largest of the European rivers is the Volga. The deepest lake Baikal in the world (its depth is 1620 m) is also located in the South-East of Siberia. The water in it is famous for its purity, the lake is surrounded by mountains and taiga, there are many rare species of animals, birds and fish. There is another one in Kamchatka. amazing place- Valley of Geysers, many fountains with hot water hit there from the ground.
On the vast territory of our country, you can visit mixed forests middle zone of Russia; in the treeless northern tundra, where in winter the temperature can drop to –50 ° C and even to –60 ° C; in the Siberian or Far Eastern taiga - a dense forest of huge spruces, larches, cedars; in the Ural spruce-fir, pine forests with birch groves; in alpine meadows North Caucasus; in the Caspian deserts; the Kuban steppes; subtropics Black Sea coast where there are many resorts.
Russia is also lucky with minerals, almost all types of them are mined on the territory of Russia: from Ural gems and Yakut diamonds to coal Kuznetsk basin and Yamal combustible gases, from Magnitogorsk iron ore to the Kolyma gold.
There are 145 million people living in Russia (this is the seventh largest in the world). There are representatives of more than 150 nationalities here, most of which are Russian. Among the peoples of other nationalities: Tatars, Ukrainians, Bashkirs, Chuvashs, Armenians, Ossetians, Buryats, Yakuts, Nenets, etc. In Siberia they enjoy eating Ukrainian borsch, in Moscow - Ural dumplings, in the North - Korean salads.
The capital of Russia is Moscow. This is the most Big city in the country and one of the most beautiful.
The history of Russia is rich in events. In the 9-11 centuries, there was a unification of our ancestors - Slavic tribes (Vyatichi, Krivichi, Dregovichi, etc.). The center of the then Rus was the city of Kiev. In the 13-14 centuries, for almost three hundred years, almost all Russian principalities were under the yoke of the Tatar-Mongols. In the 14-15th centuries, Russian lands began to gather around the Moscow principality, and in 1547 the Moscow prince Ivan IV the Terrible was crowned tsar. The Muscovy began to rapidly expand its borders to the east (in the 16-19 centuries). The rich lands of the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia were attracted by the abundance of furs in the forests, minerals - iron, non-ferrous metals. The tsarist government resettled servicemen and artisans to the east to build fortresses (later they became cities), gave the landowners new lands for settlement, and themselves Russian people went to the East - from serfdom, in search of prosperity and freedom. The Romanov dynasty took the Russian throne in 1613. The most famous of the Romanovs, Tsar Peter I the Great, stood out for his desire for knowledge, amazing hard work and hard work, military leadership, he became the first Russian emperor. His reforms in economics, politics, culture, education made Russia a European state.
Since that time, not a single country, not a single great commander has managed to conquer Russia. Even Napoleon, who was expelled in disgrace from the borders of Russia as a result of the Patriotic War of 1812. However, in economic terms, Russia lagged far behind the developed countries of Europe and only with the abolition of serfdom in 1861 did it embark on the path of capitalism. But the situation of the people was still very difficult. Unrest and strikes were constantly taking place in Russia. The 1905 revolution forced the tsar to issue a manifesto, according to which the people were given some freedoms, and also to establish the first parliament in the history of Russia - the State Duma. But in February 1917 the tsar was overthrown, in October the Bolsheviks came to power led by V.I.Lenin, and in December 1922 a new state was created - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Despite the devastation and hardships caused by the Civil War, plants and factories were built in the most difficult conditions in a short time. Peaceful life was interrupted on June 22, 1941, when the Great Patriotic War began. The bloody battles continued for four long years. In 1945, Nazi Germany was defeated. The Soviet Army entered Berlin. After the war, the restoration of the economy began.
In 1991, after a six-year period of perestroika and the collapse of the USSR, Russia embarked on the path of socio-economic and political reforms.
The head of state is the President of the Russian Federation. The representative and legislative body of the Russian Federation (its parliament) - the Federal Assembly, consists of two chambers: the State Duma and the Federation Council. Russia is headed by President Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister is Dmitry Medvedev.
Official language- Russian. The monetary unit is the ruble.
short info
For poets and writers, Russia is a huge country with birches and endless steppes. The famous poet Alexander Pushkin argued that Russia "cannot be understood with the mind." Perhaps, in order to "understand" Russia, you need to visit it. Tourists will see in Russia beautiful nature, numerous churches and monasteries, fortresses, unique sights, and, of course, hospitable residents. Also, do not forget that there are many balneological, ski and beach resorts in Russia.
Geography of Russia
Russia is in Eastern Europe, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Russia from northwest to southeast borders on Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. The Sea of Okhotsk separates Russia from Japan, and the Bering Strait from American state Alaska. The total area of the country is 17,098,246 sq. km, including islands, and the total length of the state border is 20,241 km.
Most of Russia is occupied by plains - steppes in the south and dense forests in the north. In the south of Russia there are mountain ranges- Caucasus and Altai. Russia is divided into two parts Ural mountains... The most high peak countries - Mount Elbrus, whose height reaches 5,642 m.
Russia includes many islands and archipelagos. The largest of them are - New earth, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, Wrangel Island, Kuril Islands, etc.
There are a lot of rivers and lakes in Russia. The largest Russian rivers are the Volga, Ob, Yenisei, Ural, Lena, Kolyma and Amur. It is in Russia that the largest freshwater lake in the world is located - Baikal.
Capital
The capital of Russia is the city of Moscow, which now has a population of over 11.7 million. Urban settlement on the territory of modern Moscow already existed in the first half of the XII century.
Official language
The official language in Russia is Russian, which belongs to the Slavic group of the Indo-European language family.
Religion
The majority of the population of Russia (over 90%) professes Orthodox Christianity. However, there are many Muslims and Buddhists in the country.
State structure of Russia
Russia is a federal presidential republic ruled by a President elected by direct universal suffrage for a 6-year term.
The bicameral parliament in Russia is called the Federal Assembly. Parliament consists of the Federation Council and the State Duma.
The main political parties are United Russia, Fair Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (communists) and the Liberal Democratic Party.
Climate and weather
The climate in Russia is very diverse due to its vast territory and geographic location. Russia has a temperate climatic zone, as well as arctic and even subtropical climatic zones. Average annual temperature air - + 4C. The tallest average temperature air is observed in July (+ 24C), and the lowest - in January (-14C). Average annual quantity precipitation - 575 mm.
Seas and oceans
The shores of Russia are washed by the waters of twelve seas, which belong to three oceans - the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Also, do not forget about the inland Caspian Sea.
Rivers and lakes in Russia
It is quite possible that through the territory of Russia flows more rivers than in any other country in the world. Most of them are short in length, but some reach enormous sizes. The largest Russian rivers are the Volga, Ob, Yenisei, Ural, Lena, Kolyma and Amur.
There are no less lakes in Russia than rivers. It is in Russia that the largest freshwater lake in the world is located - Baikal. Tourists are advised to pay attention to the Ladoga, Onega and Eltonskoe lakes, as well as to the Goose lake in the Far East, where lotuses grow.
History
People on the territory modern Russia appeared a long time ago. In prehistoric times, numerous tribes of pastoralists roamed the steppes of southern Russia. The most famous of these tribes are the Scythians, Huns, Avars, Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsians.
Around the middle of the 9th century, part of the territory of modern Russia became part of Old Russian state, which historians call Kievan Rus. It consisted of many principalities - Polotsk, Turovo-Pinsk, Pereyaslavl, Muromo-Ryazan, Vladimir-Suzdal, Smolensk, Novgorod Republic, etc.
The disintegration of Kievan Rus into specific principalities began in the 1130s, and finally ended “thanks to” the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the first half of the 13th century. For more than 100 years, the Russian lands paid tribute to the Golden Horde (the so-called "Tatar-Mongol yoke").
The successor of Kievan Rus is considered to be the Moscow principality, around which the unification of all Russian lands gradually took place. Only during the reign of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III (at the end of the 15th century) did Moscow stop paying tribute to the Golden Horde.
The first Moscow prince to take the title "Tsar" is Ivan IV the Terrible (this happened in 1547). Since 1630, the Romanov dynasty ruled the Moscow state, this lasted until 1917.
Gradually, the Moscow state annexes new lands, and becomes The Russian Empire... True, this was preceded by numerous wars, raids of the Tatars and battles with the crusaders and Turks. The reign of Tsar Peter I had a huge influence on the history of Russia. Russian history had the reign of Tsar Alexander I, who managed to early XIX century successfully resist the invasion of a large army led by Napoleon, Emperor of France.
TO late XIX century in Russia, the serf system was abolished, which provided for the personal ownership of peasants by Russian nobles, and the country begins to play a large political role in the world.
True, the absolute monarchy of the Romanovs by the beginning of the 20th century had outlived its usefulness, and its modernization was required. However, the Romanovs were unable to modernize political system, entered the First world war and all this together led to the February Revolution of 1917. Tsar Nicholas II abdicates and the Russian Republic is formed.
In October 1917, the October Revolution took place, the driving force of which was the Bolshevik Communist Party, led by Vladimir Lenin. As a result, the Russian Soviet Republic was formed, and after the end of the bloody Civil War- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
In 1941, the USSR had to enter World War II - the Great Patriotic War began. No matter how they relate to Joseph Stalin, but thanks to him, the USSR was able to defeat Germany and win the war. Although, this demanded great sacrifices and self-sacrifice from the Soviet people.
After the end of World War II, the USSR strengthened its political influence in the world - a number of states were formed, friendly The Soviet Union... Countries in which a socialist or communist system of life was established had to join the so-called. " cold war", Which was unleashed by the developed capitalist countries - the USA and Great Britain.
The USA, Great Britain and other countries actively interfered in the internal affairs of the USSR and other socialist countries. Thus, the peoples of the USSR were called upon to "gain independence." Unlike the capitalist countries, the USSR did not interfere in their internal affairs, and did not send, for example, its agents to Ulster with an appeal to fight against England.
In 1990-91, with the active participation of Mikhail Gorbachev, who, in fact, was supposed to lead the USSR, this state disintegrated into separate independent countries. As a result, a new state appeared on the world map - the Russian Federation.
Culture
The culture of Russia has very ancient traditions, it is rich and diverse. Russian culture has a huge impact on cultures neighboring countries, and even on cultural traditions states on other continents.
Thanks to Russia, the world has received a lot of brilliant writers, artists, philosophers and scientists:
Literature (Alexander Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov, Mikhail Lermontov, Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Blok, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Konstantin Batyushkov, Afanasy Fet);
- Classical music (Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov);
- Art (Ivan Aivazovsky, Ilya Repin, Ivan Shishkin, Isaac Levitan, Mikhail Vrubel, Ilya Glazunov);
- Philosophy (Peter Chaadaev, Nikolai Roerich, Vladimir Odoevsky, Nikolai Lossky, Alexey Losev, Nikolai Berdyaev);
- Science (Mikhail Lomonosov, Dmitry Mendeleev, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Dmitry Pavlov, Nikolai Vavilov, Sergey Korolev).
Most of the holidays in Russia are religious in nature or have origins in the Christian tradition. The most popular of them are Christmas, Shrovetide, Easter, and New Year(it is not religious).
Russian cuisine
Many tourists arriving in Russia are pleasantly surprised by the variety and taste of Russian traditional dishes. Many peoples live on the territory of modern Russia, so the cuisine in this country is very diverse.
First of all, Russian cuisine is famous for borscht - a kind of beetroot soup with vegetables and meat. For residents of countries Western Europe It may seem strange to make beetroot soup, but Russians do it very tasty. Borsch with sour cream is especially good.
If we are talking about the first courses in Russian cuisine, then we definitely advise tourists to try "okroshka" (made with kvass with sausage, meat or fish), "pickle", "hodgepodge", cabbage soup, and, of course, fish soup. There are dozens of options for preparing all these first courses, depending on the region of Russia.
So, fish soup "fish soup" is sometimes prepared from several types of fish. Ukha can be "black", "white", "red" - depending on the fish from which it is cooked. Especially tasty fish soup is the one that is cooked near the river on a fire from different types fishes. A little vodka is sometimes added to such an ear.
Pancakes are known far beyond the borders of Russia - they are served with different fillings (cottage cheese, meat, jam, etc.), dumplings, pies with fillings (fruits, jam, cottage cheese, meat, fish), barbecue.
We also recommend tourists to try stuffed pike, mushroom pate, baked stuffed zucchini, stuffed cabbage rolls, cabbage rolls with sour cream, meat collective okroshka, Stroganov style pork, village hodgepodge, Easter cakes, rum baba in Russia.
Non-alcoholic drinks in Russia are tea, coffee, mineral water, compote (a decoction of fruits and berries) and kvass.
Sights of russia
The rich history of Russia has led to the presence of a huge number of attractions in this country. On this moment in Russia there are several tens of thousands of monuments of architecture, history and culture. Many of them are included in the list world heritage UNESCO. The top ten sights of Russia, in our opinion, include:
- Red Square and Kremlin in Moscow
- Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg
- Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg
- Museum-reserve "Kolomenskoye"
- Museum-reserve "Kizhi"
- Pskov Kremlin
- Mansi stone pillars in Komi
- Novodevichy Convent
- Izborsk fortress near Pskov
- Valdai Monastery
Cities and resorts
The most ancient city of Russia is Derbent in Dagestan, people on whose territory lived already at the end of the 4th millennium BC, and the oldest an old Russian city- Veliky Novgorod, formed in the middle of the 9th century A.D.
The largest Russian cities are St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Voronezh, and, of course, Moscow. The population of each of these cities exceeds 1 million people.
Thanks to geographic location and a large territory in Russia there are balneological, ski and beach resorts.
Beach Russian resorts are located on the coast of Black, Azov and Baltic seas... So, on the Black Sea, tourists are waiting for Sochi, Tuapse, Anapa and Gelendzhik, on the Sea of Azov - Yeisk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Taganrog, Taman, and on the Baltic Sea - Curonian Spit, Zelenogradsk and Svetlogorsk.
The main Russian ski resorts are located in the Caucasus and the Urals, although there are ski slopes in the Moscow region, near St. Petersburg, in the Volga region, in Murmansk region, as well as in the Baikal region.
In the Caucasus, the most popular ski resorts are Cheget, Dombay, Lago-Naki, Krasnaya Polyana, Elbrus, and in the Urals - Solnechnaya Dolina, Gubakha, Abzakovo, Adjigardak, Iset, Minyar, Nechkino, etc.
Skiing season ski resorts It lasts from November to May in the Caucasus, and from November to April in the Urals.
As for the balneological, balneotherapy and balneo-mud resorts in Russia, they are located in the most different regions- in the Caucasus (Caucasian Mineral water), in Magadan, Chelyabinsk, Chita, Tver and Novosibirsk regions, in Karelia, Buryatia, Bashkiria, Udmurtia. Tatarstan, near St. Petersburg, in the Moscow region, in the Urals, near Kostroma and even not far from Arkhangelsk.
Souvenirs / shopping
Tourists from Russia usually bring handicrafts, dolls in Russian folk costumes, nesting dolls, Cheburashka dolls, boxes, Gzhel porcelain, earflaps, attributes of the USSR era, wooden saucers, cups, spoons with Khokhloma painting, Dymkovo toys, products from amber, Vologda lace, Easter eggs, samovars, jewelry, fur coats, caviar, chocolates and chocolate, and, of course, vodka.
