:Russia People
Population:
149,527,479 (July 1992), growth rate 0.4% (1992)
Birth rate:
15 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
11 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
31 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
63 years male, 74 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.1 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Russian(s); adjective - Russian
Ethnic divisions:
Estonian NA%, Latvian NA%, Lithuanian NA%, Russian NA%, other NA%
Religions:
Russian Orthodox NA%, unknown NA%, none NA%, other NA%
Languages:
Estonian NA%, Latvian NA%, Lithuanian NA%, Russian NA%, other NA%
Literacy:
NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write
Labor force:
78,682,000 (1989); industry and construction 43.0%, agriculture and forestry
13.0%, transport and communication 7.9%, trade and distribution 7.9%, other
28.2%
Organized labor:
NA
:Russia Government
Long-form name:
Russian Federation
Type:
federation
Capital:
Moscow
Administrative divisions:
20 autonomous republics (avtomnykh respublik, singular - automnaya
respublika); Adygea (Maykop), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatia (Ulan-Ude),
Checheno-Ingushetia (Groznyy), Chuvashia (Cheboksary), Dagestan
(Makhachkala), Gorno-Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Kabardino-Balkaria (Nal`chik),
Kalmykia (Elista), Karachay-Cherkessia (Cherkessk), Karelia (Petrozavodsk),
Khakassia (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mari El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordvinia
(Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz; formerly Ordzhonikidze), Tatarstan
(Kazan'), Tuva (Kyzyl), Udmurtia (Izhevsk), Yakutia (Yakutsk); 49 oblasts
(oblastey, singular - oblast'); Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk,
Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Chita, Irkutsk, Ivanovo,
Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kamchata (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Kemerovo, Kirov,
Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Lipetsk, Magadan,
Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhegorod (Nizhniy Novgorod; formerly Gor'kiy), Novgorod,
Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orel, Orenburg, Penza, Perm', Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan',
Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara (formerly Kuybyshev), Saratov,
Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver' (formerly
Kalinin), Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladmir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh,
Yaroslavl'; 6 krays (krayer, singular - kray); Altay (Barnaul), Khabarovsk,
Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Primorskiy (Vladivostok), Stavropol; note - the
cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg have oblast status; an administrative
division has the same name as its administrative center (exceptions have the
administrative center name following in parentheses); it is possible that 4
more administrative divisions will be added
Independence:
24 August 1991, declared by Supreme Council (from Soviet Union; formerly
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic); 1 December 1991 referendum on
independence passed
Constitution:
a new constitution is in the process of being drafted
Legal system:
based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; does not
accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
NA
Executive branch:
president, vice president, Security Council, President's Administration,
Council of Ministers
Legislative branch:
Congress of People's Deputies, Supreme Soviet
Judicial branch:
Constitutional Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
*** No entry for this item ***
President Boris YEL'TSIN (since 12 June 1991), Vice President Aleksandr
RUTSKOY (since 12 June 1991), State Secretary Gennadiy BURBULIS (since July
1991); 1st Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Yegor GAYDAR (since
March 1992), 2nd Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Aleksandr
SHOKHIN (since 7 November 1991)
:Russia Government
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Russia, A. Lev PONOMAREV and Gleb YAKUNIN, cochairmen; Democratic
Party of Russia, Nikolay TRAVKIN, chairman; People's Party of Free Russia,
Aleksandr RUTSKOY, chairman; Russian Movement for Democratic Reforms,
Gavriil POPOV, chairman
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
President:
last held 12 June 1991 (next to be held 1996); results - percent of vote by
party NA%
Congress of People's Deputies:
last held March 1990 (next to be held 1995); results - percent of vote by
party NA%; seats - (1,063 total) number of seats by party NA
Supreme Soviet:
last held May 1990 (next to be held 1995); results - percent of vote by
party NA%; seats - (252 total) number of seats by party NA
Communists:
NA
Other political or pressure groups:
NA
Member of:
CIS, CSCE, ESCAP, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IMF, INTERPOL, IMO,
INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNTSO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZG
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador LUKIN; Chancery at 1125 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036;
telephone (202) 628-7551
US:
Ambassador Robert S. STRAUSS; Embassy at Ulitsa Chaykovskogo 19/21/23,
Moscow (mailing address is APO AE 09721); telephone [7] (095) 252-2450
through 59; there is a consulate at St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad);
future consulates will be in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok
Flag:
tricolor; three equal bands of white (top), blue, red (bottom)
:Russia Economy
Overview:
Russia, one of the world's largest economies, possesses a wealth of natural
resources and a diverse industrial base. Within the now-dismantled USSR, it
had produced 60% of total output, with 55% of the total labor force and 60%
of the total capital stock. Russia depends on its world-class deposits of
oil and gas not only for its own needs but also for vital hard currency
earnings. Self-sufficient in coal and iron ore, it has a crude steel
production capacity of about 95 million tons, second only to Japan. Russia's
machine-building sector - 60% of the old USSR's - lags behind world
standards of efficiency and quality of product. Other major industrial
sectors - chemicals, construction materials, light industry, and food
processing - also suffer from quality problems, obsolescent capital
equipment, and pollution. Consumer goods have had lower priority, and the
product mix has not mirrored household preferences. Furthermore, the
transition to a more market-oriented economy has disrupted channels of
supply to factories and distribution outlets; substantial imports of foods
and medical supplies have helped maintain minimum standards of consumption.
Russia inherited 70% of the former USSR's defense production facilities and
is experiencing major social problems during conversion of many of these
plants to civilian production. Russia produces almost half of the old USSR's
farm products, but most warm-climate crops must be imported. Under the old
USSR, production of industrial and agricultural goods often was concentrated
in a single firm or a single republic. Today, producing units often have
lost their major customers and their major sources of supply, and the market
institutions and incentives for adjusting to the new political and economic
situations are only slowly emerging. Rank-and-file Russians will continue to
suffer major deprivations in 1992 and beyond before the country begins to
realize its great economic potential. The comprehensive economic reform
program enacted in January 1992 faces many economic and political hurdles
before it will lead to sustained economic growth.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate - 9%
(1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
89% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
NA
Exports:
$58.7 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, coal,
nonferrous metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military
manufactures
partners:
Western Europe, Japan, Eastern Europe
Imports:
$43.5 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, consumer goods, grain, meat,
semifinished metal products
partners:
Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, Third World countries, Cuba
External debt:
$40 billion (end of 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
-8% after adjustment for inflation due to shift to more expensive products,
-2% before this adjustment (1991)
:Russia Economy
Electricity:
42,500 MW capacity; 1,100 billion kWh produced, 7,430 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas,
chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to
high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; ship- building; road and rail
transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery,
tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and
transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer
durables
Agriculture:
grain, meat, milk, vegetables, fruits; because of its northern location
Russia does not grow citrus, cotton, tea, and other warm climate products
Illicit drugs:
illicit producers of cannabis and opium; mostly for domestic consumption;
government has active eradication program; used as transshipment point for
illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $NA; Western (non-US) countries,
ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-86), $NA; Communist countries
(1971-86), $NA million
Currency:
ruble (plural - rubles); 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks
Exchange rates:
150 rubles per US$1 (20 July 1992) but subject to wide fluctuations
Fiscal year:
calendar year