Aminet 6/Aminet 6 - June 1995.iso/Aminet/docs/misc/wfbook93_texi.lha/texi/200.data

Text File | 1995-03-27 | 22.8 KB | 598 lines

@node Geography (Russia)
@section Geography (Russia)

@display

Location:
  Europe/North Asia, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Map references:
  Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States,
  Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Standard Time Zones of
  the World
Area:
 total area:   17,075,200 km2
 land area:
  16,995,800 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly more than 1.8 times the size of the US
Land boundaries:
  total 20,139 km, Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605
  km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 290 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km,
  Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania
  (Kaliningrad 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 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; boundary with Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia; Etorofu, Kunashiri, and
  Shikotan Islands and the Habomai island group occupied by the Soviet Union
  in 1945, claimed by Japan; maritime dispute with Norway over portion of the
  Barents Sea; 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:
  NA%
 permanent crops:
  NA%
 meadows and pastures:
  NA%
 forest and woodland:
  NA%



@end display

@node Geography (Russia 2. usage)
@section Geography (Russia 2. usage)

@display

 other:   NA%
 note:
  agricultural land accounts for 13% of the total land area
Irrigated land:
  61,590 km2 (1990)
Environment:
  despite its size, only a small percentage of land is arable and much is too
  far north for cultivation; permafrost over much of Siberia is a major
  impediment to development; catastrophic pollution of land, air, water,
  including both inland waterways and sea coasts
Note:
  largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in
  relation to major sea lanes of the world



@end display

@node People (Russia)
@section People (Russia)

@display

Population:
  149,300,359 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  0.21% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  12.73 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  11.32 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  0.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  27.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  68.69 years
 male:
  63.59 years
 female:
  74.04 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  1.83 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Russian(s)
 adjective:
  Russian
Ethnic divisions:
  Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%,
  Belarusian 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%



@end display

@node Government (Russia)
@section Government (Russia)

@display

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, Chuvashia (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Gorno-Altay
  (Gorno-Altaysk), Ingushetia, 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, Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma,
  Kurgan, Kursk, St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow,
  Murmansk, 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, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl'; 6
  krays (krayev, singular - kray); Altay (Barnaul), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar,
  Krasnoyarsk, Primorskiy (Vladivostok), Stavropol'
 note:
  the autonomous republics of Chechenia and Ingushetia were formerly the
  automous republic of Checheno-Ingushetia (the boundary between Chechenia and
  Ingushetia has yet to be determined); 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); 4 more administrative divisions may be added
Independence:
  24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Constitution:
  adopted in 1978; 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:
  Independence Day, June 12



@end display

@node Government (Russia 2. usage)
@section Government (Russia 2. usage)

@display

Political parties and leaders:
 proreformers:
  Christian Democratic Party, Aleksandr CHUYEV; Christian Democratic Union of
  Russia, Aleksandr OGORODNIKOV; Democratic Russia Movement, pro-government
  faction, Lev PONOMAREV, Gleb YAKUNIN, Vladimir BOKSER; Democratic Russia
  Movement, radical-liberal faction, Yuriy AFANAS'YEV, Marina SAL'YE; Economic
  Freedom Party, Konstantin BOROVOY, Svyatoslav FEDOROV; Free Labor Party,
  Igor' KOROVIKOV; Party of Constitutional Democrats, Viktor ZOLOTAREV;
  Republican Party of Russia, Vladimir LYSENKO, Vyacheslav SHOSTAKOVSKIY;
  Russian Democratic Reform Movement, Gavriil POPOV; Social Democratic Party,
  Boris ORLOV; Social Liberal Party, Vladimir FILIN
 moderate reformers:
  All-Russian Renewal Union (member Civic Union), Arkadiy VOL'SKIY, Aleksandr
  VLADISLAVLEV; Democratic Party of Russia (member Civic Union), Nikolay
  TRAVKIN, Valeriy KHOMYAKOV; People's Party of Free Russia (member Civic
  Union), Aleksandr RUTSKOY, Vasiliy LIPITSKIY; Russian Union of
  Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Arkadiy VOL'SKIY, Aleksandr VLADISLAVLEV
 antireformers:
  Communists and neo-Communists have 7 parties - All-Union Communist Party of
  Bolsheviks, Nina ANDREYEVA; Labor Party, Boris KAGARLITSKIY; Russian
  Communist Worker's Party, Viktor ANPILOV, Gen. Albert MAKASHOV; Russian
  Party of Communists, Anatoliy KRYUCHKOV; Socialist Party of Working People,
  Roy MEDVEDEV; Union of Communists, Aleksey PRIGARIN; Working Russia
  Movement, Viktor ANPILOV; National Patriots have 6 parties - Constitutional
  Democratic Party, Mikhail ASTAF'YEV; Council of People and Patriotic Forces
  of Russia, Gennadiy ZYUGANOV; National Salvation Front, Mikhail ASTAF'YEV,
  Sergey BABURIN, Vladimir ISAKOV, Il'ya KONSTANTINOV, Aleksandr STERLIGOV;
  Russian Christian Democratic Movement, Viktor AKSYUCHITS; Russian National
  Assembly, Aleksandr STERLIGOV; Russian National Union, Sergey BABURIN,
  Nikolay PAVLOV; extremists have 5 parties - Liberal Democratic Party,
  Vladimir ZHIRNOVKSKIY; Nashi Movement, Viktor ALKSNIS; National Republican
  Party of Russia, Nikolay LYSENKO; Russian Party, Viktor KORCHAGIN; Russian
  National Patriotic Front (Pamyat), Dmitriy VASIL'YEV
Other political or pressure groups:
  Civic Union, Aleksandr RUTSKOY, Nikolay TRAVKIN, Arkadiy VOL'SKIY, chairmen
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
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; election held
  before parties were formed
 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; elected from
  Congress of People's Deputies
Executive branch:
  president, vice president, Security Council, Presidential Administration,
  Council of Ministers, Group of Assistants, Council of Heads of Republics
Legislative branch:
  unicameral Congress of People's Deputies, bicameral Supreme Soviet
Judicial branch:
  Constitutional Court, Supreme Court



@end display

@node Government (Russia 3. usage)
@section Government (Russia 3. usage)

@display

Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN (since 12 June 1991); Vice President
  Aleksandr Vladimirovich RUTSKOY (since 12 June 1991); Chairman of the
  Supreme Soviet Ruslan KHASBULATOV (28 October 1991)
 Head of Government:
  Chairman of the Council of Ministers Viktor Stepanovich CHERNOMYRDIN (since
  NA December 1992); First Deputy Chairmen of the Council of Ministers
  Vladimir SHUMEYKO (since 9 June 1992), Oleg LOBW (since NA April 1993), Oleg
  SOSKOVETS (since NA April 1993)
Member of:
  BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CERN (observer), CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, IAEA, IBRD,
  ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM
  (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NACC, NSG, OAS (observer), PCA, UN,
  UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNPROFOR, UN Security Council, UNTAC, UN
  Trusteeship Council, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Vladimir Petrovich LUKIN
 chancery:
  1125 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
 telephone:
  [phone] and 8548
 consulates general:
  New York and San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  (vacant)
 embassy:
  Ulitsa Chaykovskogo 19/21/23, Moscow
 mailing address:
  APO AE 09721
 telephone:
  [7] [phone] through 2459
 FAX:
  [7] [phone]
 consulates:   St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), Vladivostok
Flag:
  three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red



@end display

@node Economy (Russia)
@section Economy (Russia)

@display




@end display

@node Economy (Russia 2. usage)
@section Economy (Russia 2. usage)

@display

Overview:
  Russia, a vast country with a wealth of natural resources and a diverse
  industrial base, continues to experience great difficulties in moving from
  its old centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. President
  YEL'TSIN's government made significant strides toward a market economy in
  1992 by freeing most prices, slashing defense spending, unifying foreign
  exchange rates, and launching an ambitious privatization program. At the
  same time, GDP fell 19%, according to official statistics, largely
  reflecting government efforts to restructure the economy, shortages of
  essential imports caused by the breakdown in former Bloc and interstate
  trade, and reduced demand following the freeing of prices in January. The
  actual decline, however, may have been less steep, because industrial and
  agricultural enterprises had strong incentives to understate output to avoid
  taxes, and official statistics may not have fully captured the output of the
  growing private sector. Despite the large drop in output, unemployment at
  yearend stood at an estimated 3%-4% of Russia's 74-million-person labor
  force; many people, however, are working shortened weeks or are on forced
  leave. Moscow's financial stabilization program got off to a good start at
  the beginning of 1992 but began to falter by midyear. Under pressure from
  industrialists and the Supreme Soviet, the government loosened fiscal
  policies in the second half. In addition, the Russian Central Bank relaxed
  its tight credit policy in July at the behest of new Acting Chairman, Viktor
  GERASHCHENKO. This loosening of financial policies led to a sharp increase
  in prices during the last quarter, and inflation reached about 25% per month
  by yearend. The situation of most consumers worsened in 1992. The January
  price liberalization and a blossoming of private vendors filled shelves
  across the country with previously scarce food items and consumer goods, but
  wages lagged behind inflation, making such goods unaffordable for many
  consumers. Falling real wages forced most Russians to spend a larger share
  of their income on food and to alter their eating habits. Indeed, many
  Russians reduced their consumption of higher priced meat, fish, milk,
  vegetables, and fruit, in favor of more bread and potatoes. As a result of
  higher spending on food, consumers reduced their consumption of nonfood
  goods and services. Despite a slow start and some rough going, the Russian
  government by the end of 1992 scored some successes in its campaign to break
  the state's stranglehold on property and improve the environment for private
  businesses. More peasant farms were created than expected; the number of
  consumers purchasing goods from private traders rose sharply; the portion of
  the population working in the private sector increased to nearly one-fifth;
  and the nine-month-long slump in the privatization of small businesses was
  ended in the fall. Although the output of weapons fell sharply in 1992, most
  defense enterprises continued to encounter numerous difficulties developing
  and marketing consumer products, establishing new supply links, and securing
  resources for retooling. Indeed, total civil production by the defense
  sector fell in 1992 because of shortages of inputs and lower consumer demand
  caused by higher prices. Ruptured ties with former trading partners, output
  declines, and sometimes erratic efforts to move to world prices and
  decentralize trade - foreign and interstate - took a heavy toll on Russia's
  commercial relations with other countries. For the second year in a row,
  foreign trade was down sharply, with exports falling by as much as 25% and
  imports by 21%. The drop in imports would have been much greater if foreign
  aid - worth an estimated $8 billion - had not allowed the continued inflow
  of essential products. Trade with the other former Soviet republics
  continued to decline, and support for the ruble as a common currency eroded
  in the face of Moscow's loose monetary policies and rapidly rising prices
  throughout the region. At the same time, Russia paid only a fraction of the
  $20 billion due on the former USSR's roughly $80 billion debt; debt
  rescheduling remained hung up because of a dispute between Russia and
  Ukraine over division of the former USSR's assets. Capital flight also
  remained a serious problem in 1992. Russia's economic difficulties did not



@end display

@node Economy (Russia 3. usage)
@section Economy (Russia 3. usage)

@display

  abate in the first quarter of 1993. Monthly inflation remained at
  double-digit levels and industrial production continued to slump. To reduce
  the threat of hyperinflation, the government proposed to restrict subsidies
  to enterprises; raise interest rates; set quarterly limits on credits, the
  budget deficit, and money supply growth; and impose temporary taxes and cut
  spending if budget targets are not met. But many legislators and Central
  Bank officials oppose various of these austerity measures and failed to
  approve them in the first part of 1993.
National product:
  GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
  -19% (1992)
National product per capita:
  $NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  25% per month (December 1992)
Unemployment rate:
  3%-4% of labor force (1 January 1993 est.)
Budget:
  revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
  $39.2 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
 commodities:
  petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products,
  metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
 partners:
  Europe
Imports:
  $35.0 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
 commodities:
  machinery and equipment, chemicals, consumer goods, grain, meat, sugar,
  semifinished metal products
 partners:
  Europe, North America, Japan, Third World countries, Cuba
External debt:
  $80 billion (yearend 1992 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate -19% (1992)
Electricity:
  213,000,000 KW capacity; 1,014.8 billion kWh produced, 6,824 kWh per capita
  (1 January 1992)
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, sugar beet, sunflower seeds, meat, milk, vegetables, fruits; because
  of its northern location does not grow citrus, cotton, tea, and other warm
  climate products
Illicit drugs:
  illicit producer 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 (1990-92), $9.0 billion; other countries,
  ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1988-92), $91 billion



@end display

@node Economy (Russia 4. usage)
@section Economy (Russia 4. usage)

@display

Currency:
  1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks
Exchange rates:
  rubles per US$1 - 415 (24 December 1992) but subject to wide fluctuations
Fiscal year:
  calendar year



@end display

@node Communications (Russia)
@section Communications (Russia)

@display

Railroads:
  158,100 km all 1.520-meter broad gauge; 86,800 km in common carrier service,
  of which 48,900 km are diesel traction and 37,900 km are electric traction;
  71,300 km serves specific industry and is not available for common carrier
  use (31 December 1991)
Highways:
  893,000 km total, of which 677,000 km are paved or gravelled and 216,000 km
  are dirt; 456,000 km are for general use and are maintained by the Russian
  Highway Corporation (formerly Russian Highway Ministry); the 437,000 km not
  in general use are the responsibility of various other organizations
  (formerly ministries); of the 456,000 km in general use, 265,000 km are
  paved, 140,000 km are gravelled, and 51,000 km are dirt; of the 437,000 km
  not in general use, 272,000 km are paved or gravelled and 165,000 are dirt
  (31 December 1991)
Inland waterways:
  total navigable routes 102,000 km; routes with navigation guides serving the
  Russian River Fleet 97,300 km (including illumination and light reflecting
  guides); routes with other kinds of navigational aids 34,300 km; man-made
  navigable routes 16,900 km (31 December 1991)
Pipelines:
  crude oil 72,500 km, petroleum products 10,600 km, natural gas 136,000 km
  (1992)
Ports:
  coastal - St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Petropavlovsk,
  Arkhangel'sk, Novorossiysk, Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Kholmsk, Korsakov,
  Magadan, Tiksi, Tuapse, Vanino, Vostochnyy, Vyborg; inland - Astrakhan',
  Nizhniy Novgorod (Gor'kiy), Kazan', Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Samara
  (Kuybyshev), Moscow, Rostov, Volgograd
Merchant marine:
  865 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 8,073,954 GRT/11,138,336 DWT;
  includes 457 cargo, 82 container, 3 multi-function large load carrier, 2
  barge carrier, 72 roll-on/roll-off, 124 oil tanker, 25 bulk cargo, 9
  chemical tanker, 2 specialized tanker, 16 combination ore/oil, 5 passenger
  cargo, 18 short-sea passenger, 6 passenger, 28 combination bulk, 16
  refrigerated cargo
Airports:
 total:
  2,550
 useable:
  964
 with permanent surface runways:
  565
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  19
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  275
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  426



@end display

@node Communications (Russia 2. usage)
@section Communications (Russia 2. usage)

@display

Telecommunications:
  NMT-450 analog cellular telephone networks are opertional in Moscow and St.
  Petersburg; expanding access to international E-mail service via Sprint
  networks; the inadequacy of Russian telecommunications is a severe handicap
  to the economy, especially with respect to international connections; total
  installed telephones 24,400,000, of which in urban areas 20,900,000 and in
  rural areas 3,500,000; of these, total installed in homes 15,400,000; total
  pay phones for long distant calls 34,100; telephone density is about 164
  telephones per 1,000 persons; international traffic is handled by an
  inadequate system of satellites, land lines, microwave radio relay and
  outdated submarine cables; this traffic passes through the international
  gateway switch in Moscow which carries most of the international traffic for
  the other countries of the Confederation of Independent States; a new
  Russian Raduga satellite will soon link Moscow and St. Petersburg with Rome
  from whence calls will be relayed to destinations in Europe and overseas;
  satellite ground stations - INTELSAT, Intersputnik, Eutelsat (Moscow),
  INMARSAT, Orbita; broadcast stations - 1,050 AM/FM/SW (reach 98.6% of
  population), 7,183 TV; receiving sets - 54,200,000 TV, 48,800,000 radio
  receivers; intercity fiberoptic cables installation remains limited



@end display

@node Defense Forces (Russia)
@section Defense Forces (Russia)

@display

Branches:
  Ground Forces, Navy, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces, Strategic Rocket
  Forces, Command and General Support, Security Forces
 note:
  strategic nuclear units and warning facilities are under joint CIS control;
  Russian defense forces will be comprised of those ground-, air-, and
  sea-based conventional assets currently on Russian soil and those still
  scheduled to be withdrawn from other countries
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 37,092,361; fit for military service 29,253,668; reach
  military age (18) annually 1,082,115 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  $NA, NA% of GDP



@end display