Russia's climate is very diverse, ranging from sub-tropical at the Black Sea to extremely continental in Siberia, where the temperature drop within a year may exceed 100°C, and arctic in the Far North; but most of the country lies within the zone of temperate climate.
TIME, CURRENCY:
There are 11 time zones in Russia. The time difference varies from +2 hours in Kaliningrad to + 12 hours in Kamchatka and Chukotka with respect to the Greenwich Time. The time in Moscow and St. Petersburg is GMT +3 hours.
Monetary unit is ruble (RUR).
MAJOR CITIES, ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION:
The Russian Federation includes 21 republics, 6 territories, 49 regions, 1 autonomous region, 10 autonomous districts, and 2 cities of federal subordination: Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The capital of Russia is Moscow (about 10 million residents). The largest cities (above 1 million) are: St. Petersburg (4.6 million), Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, Chel'abinsk, Kazan', Perm', Ufa, Rostov-on-Don, and Volgograd.
POLITICAL SYSTEM:
Russia is a federal republic. The head of state is President, but the executive power is also exercised by the Government under a Prime Minister. The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly which consists of two houses: the Federation Council and the State Duma.
POPULATION AND LANGUAGE:
There are about 143.3 million people in Russia (the data of 2002), 80% of whom are Russians (Slavs). Besides, more than a hundred different national and ethnic groups live in Russia. The most numerous of them are Ukrainians and Tatars, as well as Armenians, Azerbaijanians, Kazakhs, Hebrews and Germans. There are more women in Russia than men.
The official (state) language throughout the whole territory of the Russian Federation is Russian.
RELIGION:
Various religious creeds peacefully coexist in Russia. There is no one predominant religion; none of them is under special protection of the state. Most believers are Orthodox Christians. Their total number amounts to 80 million people. Most of them belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, which exists in all the regions.
The Orthodoxy in our country is certainly firstly associated with the Russians, though it is acknowledged by greater part of Karels, Udmurts, the Mari, Osetians and other peoples. Beside the Orthodox and followers of branched-off sects, adherents of other communities of Christianity live in Russia. Among them there are Catholics, though much inferior in number to the Orthodox. There are Protestants, too.
The second largest religion of the Russian Federation is Islam (approximately 13 million believers). The two main branches of Islam - Sunnism and Shiism - are presented in Russia, most Moslem of our country are Sunny. Sunnism was officially accepted in Volzhskaya Bulgaria in 922. Today it is practised by a large part of Tatars and Bashkirs.
In the eastern regions of Russia there are a lot of adherents of Buddhism - about 900 thousand believers: eastern Buryat, Buryat-Hongodor, the largest part of Tuva and few Evenks. Buryatia has become the center of Buddhism in Russia. Here about 30 Buddhist temples - datsans - have survived. Buddhism in Russia was officially admitted in 1741 by the order of empress Elisabeth.
There are adherents of Judaism in Russia, too. Their quantity is difficult to define because of a great number of mixed marriages. The majority of Judaists live in the biggest cities of Russia.
Among the people of Russia there are also followers of traditional beliefs (for instance, shamanism). Their adherents are the majority of the believers of small Northern nations of Russia - Eskimos, Chukchas, Koryaks.
HISTORY:
The Russians harness slowly, but they ride fast». It's interesting to mention that these words, characterising the Russian style pretty accurately, were said by the prominent German politician Otto von Bismark about one hundred and fifty years ago. The Russians are a talented nation. We are proud of our famous fellow-countrymen. Russia gave the world Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov. Five Russian authors - Bunin, Sholokhov, Pasternak, Solzhenitsin and Brodsky - were awarded with the Nobel Prize in literature. Music by Russian composers is played throughout the world -Tschaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Shnitke. Malevich and Kandinsky - representatives of the so-called "Russian avantguard" - became famous for their innovations in painting.
Discoveries and achievements by Russian scientists in chemistry, nuclear physics and aviation - they're common knowledge.
In 1961, Russia (then the USSR) first sent a man into space. Russian tanks, battle air-craft and famous Kalashnikov tommy-guns are definitely the best in the world, as well as the Russian classical ballet. The names of Anna Pavlova, Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Rudolf Nuriev and Mikhail Baryshnikov are known to each and every educated person. Equally obvious are the achievements of Russia in sports: traditionally high places in team scores at the Olympic Games, world records and titles of our swimmers, weight-lifters, gymnasts, figure-skaters. Among the world champions in chess there are more Russians than all others put together.