ad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia
3,441 km, Norway 167 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 432 km, Ukraine
1,576 km

Coastline: 37,653 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: inherited disputes from former USSR including:
sections of the boundary with China; islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri,
and Shikotan and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in
1945, administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; maritime dispute with
Norway over portion of the Barents Sea; Caspian Sea boundaries are not
yet determined; potential dispute with Ukraine over Crimea; Estonia
claims over 2,000 sq km of Russian territory in the Narva and Pechora
regions; the Abrene section of the border ceded by the Latvian Soviet
Socialist Republic to Russia in 1944; has made no territorial claim in
Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not
recognize the claims of any other nation

Climate: ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in
much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the
polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in
Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic
coast

Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous
forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern
border regions

Natural resources: wide natural resource base including major deposits
of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber
note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder
exploitation of natural resources

Land use:
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: NEGL%
meadows and pastures: 5%
forest and woodland: 45%
other: 42%

Irrigated land: 56,000 sq km (1992)

Environment:
current issues: air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of
coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities;
industrial and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and sea
coasts; deforestation; 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; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and
earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula
international agre