on; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper
application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes
intense radioactive contamination
natural hazards:
permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development
international agreements:
party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Modification,
Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea
Note:
largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located
in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of
the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too
dry) for agriculture

@Russia, People

Population:
149,608,953 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.2% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
12.67 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
11.34 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
0.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
27 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
68.89 years
male:
63.85 years
female:
74.2 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.83 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Russian(s)
adjective:
Russian
Ethnic divisions:
Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%,
Byelorussian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1%
Religions:
Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other
Languages:
Russian, other
Literacy:
age 9-49 can read and write (1970)
total population:
100%
male:
100%
female:
100%
Labor force:
75 million (1993 est.)
by occupation:
production and economic services 83.9%, government 16.1%

@Russia, Government

Names:
conventional long form:
Russian Federation
conventional short form:
Russia
local long form:
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
local short form:
Rossiya
former:
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Digraph:
RS
Type:
federation
Capital:
Moscow
Administrative divisions:
21 autonomous republics (avtomnykh respublik, singular - avtomnaya
respublika); Adygea (Maykop), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatia
(Ulan-Ude), Chechenia (Groznyy), Chuvashia (Cheboksary), Dagestan
(Makhachkala), Gorno-Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), I