The main part of dry lands is situated between the 70º and 50º N in the temperate zone. About 18 % of Russian territory is situated within the Arctic Circle. That allows to designate subarctic and arctic territories within the country.

The northernmost point of Russia - Cape Chelyuskin (77043'N, 104018'E)- is situated in the continent in the Taimyr Peninsula. It was reached in May of 1742 by S.Chelyuskin, the member of the second Kamchatka (the Great North) expedition.

The insular northernmost point of our country is Cape Fligeli in the Rudolf Island of Franz Josef Land Archiepelago (81049'N). The distance between this point and the North Pole is only 900 km.

The southernmost point is situated in Dagestan in the watershed of rivers Samura and Kura, to the southwest of the mountain Bazardyuzyu (41010'N).

The parallel of the Russian southernmost point comes through Naples and Madrid in Europe and through New York in America.

The westernmost point of Russia (19038'W) is situated in Baltic sandbank of the Gdansk Bay in the Baltic Sea. Here Russia is bordered by Poland.

The easternmost contenental point - Cape Dezhnyov (6605'N, 169040'W) - is situated in the Chukchi Peninsula. The easternmost point of Russian territory is situated in the Ratmanov Island in the Strait of Bering (1690 02'W).

Russia is washed by the waters of three oceans: the Arctic in the north, the Atlantic in the west and the Pacific in the east, and has the most extensive borders - 62,3 thousand km, from which 24,6 thousand km are land borders and 37,7 thousand km are sea borders.

The sea borders of the Russian Federation lie in 12 miles (22,7 km) from the coast, they separate the territorial waters, where the entry of foreign ships is possible only by approbation of Russia.

In 200 miles from the coast lies the sea economic area of the country, within this territory the foreign ships are able to sail without special permition, but the scientific research and exploiting of natural resources are possible only by approbation of the Government of the Russian Federation. The western border rises from the coast of the Barents Sea in northwest of the Kola Peninsula, crosses the Baltic Sea and reaches the Black Sea. Almost over a length of this border there is no clearly defined nature boundary. The western neighbours of Russia are Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine. Kaliningradskaya oblast, separated from the main territory of Russia, is bordered by the Lithuania and Poland.

The southern border lies from the Black Sea coast up to the coast of the Sea of Japan. Along the Great Caucasus Range the border with Georgia and Azerbaijan lies. The rivers Argun, Amur and Ussuri separate Russia from Mongolia and China. In the sourth Russia is bordered also by Kazakhstan and Korea.

The sea eastern border of Russia comes through the waters of the Pasific Ocean and its seas: the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea, here the nearest neighbours of Russia are the USA and Japan. The rather narrow La Perouse Strait separates the Russian islands Sakhalin and Kuriles from the Japan island of Hokkaido. The Sea of Japan and its straits do not freeze. The border with the USA comes through the narrow (5 km) strait between the islands of Diomid, the Ratmanov island (Russia) and the Kruzenshtern island (USA).

The northern borders of Russia entily lies in the sea waters of the Arctic Ocean: the Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi seas. All of them, excepting the Barents Sea, the whole year are covered with drift-ice. Within the Arctic Ocean from the coast of Russia up to the North Pole the Russian sector of Arctic lies. It is situated between the 32º4'45''E and 168º49'30''W. All islands within this sector, excepting several islands of Spitsbergen Archipelago, also belong to the Russian Federation

PEOPLE

Population

Population Distribution

The peculiarity of the population distribution in Russia is a presence of two types of a territory settlements. In Far North of Russia, which occupies 2/3 of the whole its territory, live only 1/15 of population or about 10 million people. It is a zone of the focal settlements: separate inhabited localities and groups of them are scattered in vast expances of tundra and taiga. For example, in Evenk autonomus okrug the average distance between the settlements is 180 km. As for the European part of Russia, the South of Siberia and the Far East,

the zone of dense settlement occupies the most part of these territories. This zone is named the main belt of settlement. Occupying one third of the territory it accumulates more than 93 % of Russian population. Here the biggest cities of Russia, almost all manufacturing industry and agricultural enterprises are situated.

The Language

The State language of the Russian Federation on its whole territory is Russian. At the same time Russia being a multinational state, garantees to all nations, populating the territory of Russia, the right to maintain their native language and arrangement of conditions for its study and development. However, it is necessary to point, that according to the latest statistic data 86,6 % of the multinational population of Russia consider the Russian language to be their mother tongue and 97,7 % - speak fluent Russian.

Climate and Weather

Because of a huge territiry the climate of Russia is multifarious. The most part of the Russian territory lies in the continental climate zone, the Arctic ocean islands and the northern continental regions are situated in the arctic and sub-arctic zones. The Black sea coast of the Caucasus is situated in a hot subtropical zone. The climate almost everywhere is continental, with cold winter and enduring blanket of snow and hot summer. The coldest place of the northern hemisphere (with the minimal January temperature up to -72º C) is the town of Oimyakon in the Eastern Siberia. In the south of the Far East the climate is temperate monsoon with average January temperatures from 0º to -5º C. The largest precipitation quantity falls in the Caucasus and the Altai (up to 2000 mm per year), the most droughty region is the Caspian plain (about 150mm per year)

State Insignia

The National Flag

The National Flag of the Russian Federation is the official differential sign of the state, whose description is established by law. The National Flag is the symbol of the sovereignty of Russia. The National Flag of the Russian Federation is a rectangular cloth with three equal horisontal stripes: the uppermost is white, the middle is blue and the bottom is red. The proportion of the flag's width to its length is 2:3.

The State Seal

The State Seal is an official insignia of the state. The regaining of the double-headed eagle as the National Seal of Russia embodies the continuity and succession of the Russian history. The State Seal of the Russian Federation is a rectangular red heraldic shield with rounded bottom corners and a pointed middle. As a centerpiece the Russian state seal has a golden double-headed eagle spreading its wings upwards. Each head of the eagle is crowned with a small crown and a large one crowns them above; all the three are joined with a ribbon.

The National Anthem

The National Anthem is also the state insignia - it is the solemn musical and poetical composition, accepted as the symbol of the state unity. The Anthem's words reflect the feelings of patriotism, respect for the history of the country and its political system. During the official performance of the National Anthem of the Russian Federation present should listen to it upright, the men have to take off their hats. In case if the performance of the National Anthem of Russia is accompanied by the hoisting the National Flag present should face towards the flag.