Facts About Russia

1st place in the world in explored reserves of natural gas (32% world reserves).

1st place in the world in oil production

1st place in the world by per capita natural resources supply

1st place in the world reserves of peat (47% world reserves)

1st place in the world in reserves of forest resources (23% world reserves)

1st place in the world in reserves of salt

1st place in the world in reserves of drinking water and 2nd place in reserves of fresh water

1st place in the world in reserves of crab and sturgeon in the 200 mile economic area, ànd 2nd-3rd place in reserves of cod, herring, capelin, salmon, etc.

1st place in the world in explored reserves of tin, zinc, titanium, niobium

1st place in the world in reserves (40% world reserves) and production (22% world production) of nickel

1st place in the world in explored reserves of iron ore (about 28% world reserves). Nearly a third of all tin and iron ores are in Russia, as are over 40% of all platinum group minerals and over a third of all nickel reserves.

1st place in the world in export of steel and 3rd place in export of metal-roll

1st place in the world in production and export of primary aluminium

1st place in the world in export of nitric fertilizers, 2nd and 3rd in export of phosphoric and potash fertilizers

1st place in the world in reserves of diamonds and 2nd in their production

1st place in the world in physical volume of export of diamonds

1st place in the world in explored reserves of silver

2nd place in the world in explored reserves of gold

2nd place in the world in explored reserves of platinum and 1st in its export

3rd place in world reserves of coal (30% of world reserves)

3rd place in the world in explored reserves of copper and lead

3rd place in the world in explored reserves of tungsten and molybdenum

7th place in world reserves of oil (18% of world reserves). Well let’s put this way – 20% of the world’s known oil reserves are in Russia. Russia currently supplies the US with 4% of its oil.

9th place in world reserves of uranium (10% of world reserves)

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Russian Money

The Russian ruble is the official currency of the Russian Federation. It consists of 100 kopecks and has been in use more than 500 years. Currency relations of all participants of foreign trade activities in the Russian Federation are regulated by the federal law “On Currency Regulation and Currency Control,” according to which currency control in Russia is carried out by the Government of the Russian Federation. The principal body of currency control is the Bank of Russia, well actually more correct is Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

When you travel to Russia, you will probably need to bring a certain amount of cash in euros or dollars, because it is impossible to buy rubles outside of Russia. Changing money is easy. Moscow has enormous amount of exchange centers and many of them operation 24-hour and seven days a week.

Also you will be able to access your funds through ATM machines once you get to Moscow, which are located literally everywhere – in the lobbies of most hotels, in metro stations and, of course, next to banks. The flat-rate charges are small, and exchange rates are reasonable.

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Geography of Russia

Russia is the largest country in the World with a total area of 17.1 million square kilometers. It spans two continents – Europe and Asia. Russia borders with sixteen countries: Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic countries to the west, Finland to the north, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia and China to the south, and North Korea to the east. The United States and Japan are not far from the eastern coast of Russia. Russia has the longest border in the world, a total of 60,932 km, including 38,808 km of maritime borders (in the north and east) and 14,508 of land borders (in the south and west). Russia borders Kazakhstan (6,846 km), China (3,645 km), Mongolia (3,485 km), Ukraine (1,576 km), Finland (1,340 km), Belarus (959 km), Georgia (723 km), Estonia (294 km), Azerbaijan (284 km), Lithuania (280.5 km), Poland (232 km), Latvia (217 km), Norway (196 km), and North Korea (19 km).

The extreme northernmost point of the country’s mainland is Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island of Franz Josef Land archipelago; the southernmost point is located in the Republic of Dagestan on the border with Azerbaijan. The distance between the western and the eastern borders of Russia is 9,000 km (from the Vistula Spit in Kaliningrad Bay to Cape Dezhnev in Chukotka); the easternmost point is Rotmanov Island in the Bering Strait. Thus, Russia’s territory spans over 4,000 km from north to south, and almost 10,000 km from west to east.

Russia has about 120,000 rivers over 10 kilometers long. The total length of these rivers is 2.3 million kilometers. The largest rivers are the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisey, Amur, and Volga in the European part of the country. There are about 2 million freshwater and salt lakes in Russia. The largest lakes are Lake Baikal (which holds about 20% of the world’s total freshwater supply, not counting the fresh water frozen in the polar ice caps and glaciers), Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega, and Lake Taimyr. Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest (1,620 meters) fresh water lake. It holds some 20% of the world’s surface fresh water. If drained, it would take the water of all five Great Lakes (Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior) to refill it. Best estimates are that Russia owns about 25% of the world’s fresh water.

The forest zone covers 41% of Russia’s plainlands; the share of the forest-steppe zone is 11.2% and the tundra forest belt 20.5%. 22% of the world’s forest are in Russia. As such, Russia – which has been called the “lungs of Europe” – is second only to the Amazon in the amount of carbon dioxide it absorbs. 15% of all the carbon dioxide in the world is absorbed here.

Russia has 100 strictly protected natural arias – cover 83 million acres, or about 1.6% of the country; in addition, Russia’s 35 national parks cover another 0.4% of the country. Taken together, they are the largest protected land area of any country.

The coasts of Russia are washed by 12 seas of three ocean basins: the Atlantic Ocean (the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov), the Arctic Ocean (the Barents Sea, the White Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchee Sea) and the Pacific Ocean (the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan), as well the Caspian Sea, which is a closed basin.

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Russia Climate

Due to its vast territory, Russia is a country of natural contrasts. The northern part of the country is located in the arctic and subarctic climate zones, while the southern regions have a subtropical climate. The climate of other regions of the country is moderate. For example, winter temperature in Sochi (the capital of Winter Olympic 2014) usually about +5C; at the same time regular temperature in Novosibirsk (one of the largest city in Siberia) is -15C. There is the “Pole of Cold” located in Oymyakonskiy region in Yakutia. Average monthly temperature there is -61C!!! There is no other place in the world exist where people live and work in such cold weather.

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Time in Russia

There are eleven time zones in Russia (more than in any other country in the world): from UTC +1 in Kalinigrad to UTC +12 in Kamchatka.

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Russian City’s Facts

City-factories were a unique creation of the Soviet time: whole cities created to serve a monopolithic industrial enterprise. Some of the lagest are Lipetsk (population 506,000 – Novolipetsk Metal), Norilsk (134,000 – Norilsk Nickel), Cherepovetsk (312,000 – Severstal), Nizhniy Novgorod (1,311,000 – GAZ), and Tolyatti (718,000 – VAZ). Some 20% Russia’s population lives in these cities.