Brief Introduction Capital: Moscow Area: total: 1707.540,000 sq km National Flower: Camomile The important Festival: National day: 12 June New Year: 13 January Population: 0.1435 billion Language: Russian, many minority languages. Currency: RUR

Russia

Geography

Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean.

Administrative divisions

49 oblasts, 21 republics, 10 autonomous okrugs, 6 krays, 2 federal cities.

Economy – overview

Russia, a vast country with a wealth of natural resources, a well-educated population, and a diverse industrial base, continues to experience formidable difficulties in moving from its old centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. Moscow has yet to develop a social safety net that would allow faster restructuring by relieving enterprises of the burden of providing social benefits for their workers and has been slow to develop the legal framework necessary to fully support a market economy and to encourage foreign investment. Foreign sales - comprised largely of oil, natural gas, and other raw materials - grew more than 8%. Imports also were up 8% as demand for food and other consumer goods surged.

Culture and media

Newspaper:

AKDI Ekonomika i Zhizn ,Argumenty i Fakty , Finansoviy Spekulyant , Izvestia , Kommersant , Komsomol'skaya Pravda, Novaya Gazeta , Obshchaya Gazeta , Provintsiya , Russia Journal, Russkiy Kurier , Semya .

Broadcast:

Ekspress , Radio Mayak , Radio Radonyezh, Radio Rossiij, Radio Svoboda, VOR (Voice of Russia).

TV Stations:

NTV Novosti, Pyervi Kanal , RBC TV , RTR Sport, TV Tsentr .

The place of interest

Kremlin

Peter the Great's Summer Palace

Bolshoi Theatre of Russia