{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy emerged from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and gradually conquered and absorbed surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new ROMANOV dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms. Devastating defeats and food shortages in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow of the ROMANOV Dynasty in 1917. The communists under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The brutal rule of Iosif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened communist control and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. After defeating Germany in World War II as part of an alliance with the US (1939-1945), the USSR expanded its territory and influence in Eastern Europe and emerged as a global power. The USSR was the principal US adversary during the Cold War (1947-1991). The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the decades following Stalin's rule, until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize communism. His initiatives inadvertently released political and economic forces that by December 1991 led to the dissolution of the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent states. In response to the ensuing turmoil during President Boris YELTSIN's term (1991-99), Russia shifted toward a centralized authoritarian state under President Vladimir PUTIN (2000-2008, 2012-present) in which the regime seeks to legitimize its rule through managed elections, populist appeals, a foreign policy focused on enhancing the country's geopolitical influence, and commodity-based economic growth.
In 2014, Russia purported to annex Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and occupied large portions of two eastern Ukrainian oblasts. In sporadic fighting over the next eight years, more than 14,000 civilians were killed or wounded as a result of the Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine. On 24 February 2022, Russia escalated its conflict with Ukraine by invading the country on several fronts in what has become the largest conventional military attack on a sovereign state in Europe since World War II. The invasion received near-universal international condemnation, and many countries imposed sanctions on Russia and supplied humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. In September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts -- Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia -- even though none were fully under Russian control. The annexations remain unrecognized by the international community.
permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia
volcanism: significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands; the peninsula alone is home to some 29 historically active volcanoes, with dozens more in the Kuril Islands; Kliuchevskoi (4,835 m), which erupted in 2007 and 2010, is Kamchatka's most active volcano; Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes, which pose a threat to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, have been deemed Decade Volcanoes by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Bezymianny, Chikurachki, Ebeko, Gorely, Grozny, Karymsky, Ketoi, Kronotsky, Ksudach, Medvezhia, Mutnovsky, Sarychev Peak, Shiveluch, Tiatia, Tolbachik, and Zheltovsky; see note 2 under \"Geography - note\"
" }, "Geography - note": { "text": "note 1: 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
note 2: Russia's far east, particularly the Kamchatka Peninsula, lies along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire
note 3: Mount El'brus is Europe's tallest peak; Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, is estimated to hold one fifth of the world's fresh surface water
note 4: Kaliningrad oblast is an exclave annexed from Germany following World War II (it was formerly part of East Prussia); its capital city of Kaliningrad -- formerly Koenigsberg -- is the only Baltic port in Russia that remains ice free in the winter
46 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respubliki, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnyye okrugi, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 krays (kraya, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast')
oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad (Gatchina), Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan, Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl
republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)
autonomous okrugs: Chukotka (Anadyr'), Khanty-Mansi-Yugra (Khanty-Mansiysk), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)
krays: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok), Stavropol, Zabaykalsk [Transbaikal] (Chita)
federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg]
autonomous oblast: Yevreyskaya [Jewish] (Birobidzhan)", "note": "note 1: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments (c); Kizhi Pogost (c); Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow (c); Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands (c); Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings (c); White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal (c); Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad (c); Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye (c); Virgin Komi Forests (n); Lake Baikal (n); Volcanoes of Kamchatka (n); Golden Mountains of Altai (n); Western Caucasus (n); Curonian Spit (c); Ensemble of the Ferapontov Monastery (c); Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan Kremlin (c); Central Sikhote-Alin (n); Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent (c); Uvs Nuur Basin (n); Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent(c); Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve (n); Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl (c); Struve Geodetic Arc (c); Putorana Plateau (n); Lena Pillars Nature Park (n); Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex (c); Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the town-island of Sviyazhsk (c); Landscapes of Dauria (n); Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture (c); Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea (c); Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University (c); Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake (c)
" } } }, "Economy": { "Economic overview": { "text": "natural resource-rich Eurasian economy; leading energy exporter to Europe and Asia; decreased oil export reliance; endemic corruption, Ukrainian invasion, and lack of green infrastructure limit investment and have led to sanctions" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity)": { "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2023": { "text": "$5.816 trillion (2023 est.)" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2022": { "text": "$5.614 trillion (2022 est.)" }, "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2021": { "text": "$5.732 trillion (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: data in 2021 dollars" }, "Real GDP growth rate": { "Real GDP growth rate 2023": { "text": "3.6% (2023 est.)" }, "Real GDP growth rate 2022": { "text": "-2.07% (2022 est.)" }, "Real GDP growth rate 2021": { "text": "5.61% (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency" }, "Real GDP per capita": { "Real GDP per capita 2023": { "text": "$39,800 (2023 est.)" }, "Real GDP per capita 2022": { "text": "$38,300 (2022 est.)" }, "Real GDP per capita 2021": { "text": "$38,900 (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: data in 2021 dollars" }, "GDP (official exchange rate)": { "text": "$2.021 trillion (2023 est.)", "note": "note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices)": { "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2021": { "text": "6.69% (2021 est.)" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2020": { "text": "3.38% (2020 est.)" }, "Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2019": { "text": "4.47% (2019 est.)" }, "note": "note: annual % change based on consumer prices" }, "Credit ratings": { "Fitch rating": { "text": "BBB (2019)" }, "Moody's rating": { "text": "Baa3 (2019)" }, "Standard & Poors rating": { "text": "BBB- (2018)" }, "note": "note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained." }, "GDP - composition, by sector of origin": { "agriculture": { "text": "3.3% (2023 est.)" }, "industry": { "text": "30.6% (2023 est.)" }, "services": { "text": "56.9% (2023 est.)" }, "note": "note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data" }, "GDP - composition, by end use": { "household consumption": { "text": "49.8% (2023 est.)" }, "government consumption": { "text": "18.5% (2023 est.)" }, "investment in fixed capital": { "text": "21.9% (2023 est.)" }, "investment in inventories": { "text": "3.8% (2023 est.)" }, "exports of goods and services": { "text": "23.1% (2023 est.)" }, "imports of goods and services": { "text": "-18.7% (2023 est.)" }, "note": "note: figures may not total 100% due to rounding or gaps in data collection" }, "Agricultural products": { "text": "wheat, sugar beets, milk, barley, potatoes, sunflower seeds, maize, soybeans, chicken, pork (2022)", "note": "note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage" }, "Industries": { "text": "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; defense industries (including radar, missile production, advanced electronic components), shipbuilding; 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, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts" }, "Industrial production growth rate": { "text": "3.56% (2023 est.)", "note": "note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency" }, "Labor force": { "text": "72.459 million (2023 est.)", "note": "note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work" }, "Unemployment rate": { "Unemployment rate 2023": { "text": "3.33% (2023 est.)" }, "Unemployment rate 2022": { "text": "3.87% (2022 est.)" }, "Unemployment rate 2021": { "text": "4.72% (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: % of labor force seeking employment" }, "Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)": { "total": { "text": "12.7% (2023 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "12.3% (2023 est.)" }, "female": { "text": "13.2% (2023 est.)" }, "note": "note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment" }, "Population below poverty line": { "text": "11% (2021 est.)", "note": "note: % of population with income below national poverty line" }, "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income": { "Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 2021": { "text": "35.1 (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: index (0-100) of income distribution; higher values represent greater inequality" }, "Average household expenditures": { "on food": { "text": "25.3% of household expenditures (2023 est.)" }, "on alcohol and tobacco": { "text": "5.9% of household expenditures (2023 est.)" } }, "Household income or consumption by percentage share": { "lowest 10%": { "text": "2.7% (2021 est.)" }, "highest 10%": { "text": "26.6% (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population" }, "Remittances": { "Remittances 2023": { "text": "0.13% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Remittances 2022": { "text": "0.14% of GDP (2022 est.)" }, "Remittances 2021": { "text": "0.52% of GDP (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities" }, "Budget": { "revenues": { "text": "$776.897 billion (2022 est.)" }, "expenditures": { "text": "$719.521 billion (2022 est.)" }, "note": "note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated" }, "Public debt": { "Public debt 2022": { "text": "19.51% of GDP (2022 est.)" }, "note": "note: central government debt as a % of GDP" }, "Taxes and other revenues": { "text": "10.97% (of GDP) (2022 est.)", "note": "note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP" }, "Current account balance": { "Current account balance 2023": { "text": "$50.133 billion (2023 est.)" }, "Current account balance 2022": { "text": "$237.735 billion (2022 est.)" }, "Current account balance 2021": { "text": "$124.953 billion (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars" }, "Exports": { "Exports 2023": { "text": "$465.66 billion (2023 est.)" }, "Exports 2022": { "text": "$640.878 billion (2022 est.)" }, "Exports 2021": { "text": "$549.717 billion (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars" }, "Exports - partners": { "text": "China 21%, India 8%, Germany 6%, Turkey 5%, Italy 5% (2022)", "note": "note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports" }, "Exports - commodities": { "text": "crude petroleum, natural gas, refined petroleum, coal, fertilizers (2022)", "note": "note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars" }, "Imports": { "Imports 2023": { "text": "$379.315 billion (2023 est.)" }, "Imports 2022": { "text": "$347.384 billion (2022 est.)" }, "Imports 2021": { "text": "$376.923 billion (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars" }, "Imports - partners": { "text": "China 39%, Germany 8%, Turkey 5%, Kazakhstan 5%, South Korea 3% (2022)", "note": "note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports" }, "Imports - commodities": { "text": "packaged medicine, broadcasting equipment, cars, garments, plastic products (2022)", "note": "note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars" }, "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold": { "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 2023": { "text": "$597.217 billion (2023 est.)" }, "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 2022": { "text": "$581.71 billion (2022 est.)" }, "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 2021": { "text": "$632.242 billion (2021 est.)" }, "note": "note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars" }, "Debt - external": { "Debt - external 2022": { "text": "$135.301 billion (2022 est.)" }, "note": "note: present value of external debt in current US dollars" }, "Exchange rates": { "Currency": { "text": "Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar -" }, "Exchange rates 2023": { "text": "85.162 (2023 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2022": { "text": "68.485 (2022 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2021": { "text": "73.654 (2021 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2020": { "text": "72.105 (2020 est.)" }, "Exchange rates 2019": { "text": "64.738 (2019 est.)" } } }, "Energy": { "Electricity access": { "electrification - total population": { "text": "100% (2022 est.)" }, "electrification - urban areas": { "text": "99.1%" }, "electrification - rural areas": { "text": "100%" } }, "Electricity": { "installed generating capacity": { "text": "301.123 million kW (2022 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "1.026 trillion kWh (2022 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "18.582 billion kWh (2022 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "1.532 billion kWh (2022 est.)" }, "transmission/distribution losses": { "text": "95.804 billion kWh (2022 est.)" } }, "Electricity generation sources": { "fossil fuels": { "text": "60.3% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)" }, "nuclear": { "text": "19.6% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)" }, "solar": { "text": "0.2% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)" }, "wind": { "text": "0.3% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)" }, "hydroelectricity": { "text": "19.2% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)" }, "biomass and waste": { "text": "0.3% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)" } }, "Nuclear energy": { "Number of operational nuclear reactors": { "text": "36 (2023)" }, "Number of nuclear reactors under construction": { "text": "4 (2023)" }, "Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors": { "text": "26.8GW (2023 est.)" }, "Percent of total electricity production": { "text": "18.4% (2023 est.)" }, "Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down": { "text": "11 (2023)" } }, "Coal": { "production": { "text": "508.19 million metric tons (2022 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "310.958 million metric tons (2022 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "220.306 million metric tons (2022 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "23.074 million metric tons (2022 est.)" }, "proven reserves": { "text": "162.166 billion metric tons (2022 est.)" } }, "Petroleum": { "total petroleum production": { "text": "10.727 million bbl/day (2023 est.)" }, "refined petroleum consumption": { "text": "3.684 million bbl/day (2022 est.)" }, "crude oil estimated reserves": { "text": "80 billion barrels (2021 est.)" } }, "Natural gas": { "production": { "text": "617.83 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)" }, "consumption": { "text": "472.239 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)" }, "exports": { "text": "176.056 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)" }, "imports": { "text": "8.129 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)" }, "proven reserves": { "text": "47.805 trillion cubic meters (2021 est.)" } }, "Carbon dioxide emissions": { "total emissions": { "text": "1.84 billion metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)" }, "from coal and metallurgical coke": { "text": "517.718 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)" }, "from petroleum and other liquids": { "text": "414.253 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)" }, "from consumed natural gas": { "text": "907.83 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)" } }, "Energy consumption per capita": { "Total energy consumption per capita 2022": { "text": "225.235 million Btu/person (2022 est.)" } } }, "Communications": { "Telephones - fixed lines": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "21.988 million (2022 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "15 (2022 est.)" } }, "Telephones - mobile cellular": { "total subscriptions": { "text": "245 million (2022 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "169 (2021 est.)" } }, "Telecommunication systems": { "general assessment": { "text": "the telecom market is the largest in Europe, supported by a population of about 143 million; the overall market is dominated by the western regions, particularly Moscow and St Petersburg which are the main cities and economic centers; many other regions in the east and north of the country were settled during the Soviet period; the telecommunication companies continue to deploy and modernize fixed-line network infrastructure to offer improved broadband services as well as a range of IP-delivered content; the number of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections continues to decrease as subscribers are migrated to fiber; the development of 5G services has been hindered by the lack of frequencies; the 3.4GHz range commonly used for 5G in Europe has been restricted for use in Russia by the military and intelligence agencies; the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have an equal share in a joint venture, New Digital Solutions, aimed at developing a strategy to deploy 5G using a shared network
(2024)" }, "domestic": { "text": "16 per 100 for fixed-line and mobile-cellular is 169 per 100 persons (2022)" }, "international": { "text": "country code - 7; landing points for the Far East Submarine Cable System, HSCS, Sakhalin-Kuril Island Cable, RSCN, BCS North-Phase 2, Kerch Strait Cable and the Georgia-Russian submarine cable system connecting Russia, Japan, Finland, Georgia and Ukraine; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems (2019)" } }, "Broadcast media": { "text": "13 national TV stations with the federal government owning 1 and holding a controlling interest in a second; state-owned Gazprom maintains a controlling interest in 2 of the national channels; government-affiliated Bank Rossiya owns controlling interest in a fourth and fifth, while a sixth national channel is owned by the Moscow city administration; the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian military, respectively, own 2 additional national channels; roughly 3,300 national, regional, and local TV stations with over two-thirds completely or partially controlled by the federal or local governments; satellite TV services are available; 2 state-run national radio networks with a third majority-owned by Gazprom; roughly 2,400 public and commercial radio stations" }, "Internet country code": { "text": ".ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy domain \".su\" that was allocated to the Soviet Union and is being phased out" }, "Internet users": { "percent of population": { "text": "92% (2023 est.)" } }, "Broadband - fixed subscriptions": { "total": { "text": "35.9 million (2022 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "25 (2022 est.)" } } }, "Transportation": { "National air transport system": { "number of registered air carriers": { "text": "32 (2020)" }, "inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers": { "text": "958" }, "annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers": { "text": "99,327,311 (2018)" }, "annual freight traffic on registered air carriers": { "text": "6,810,610,000 (2018) mt-km" } }, "Civil aircraft registration country code prefix": { "text": "RA" }, "Airports": { "text": "904 (2024)" }, "Heliports": { "text": "383 (2024)" }, "Pipelines": { "text": "177,700 km gas, 54,800 km oil, 19,300 km refined products (2017)" }, "Railways": { "total": { "text": "85,494 km (2019)" }, "narrow gauge": { "text": "957 km" } }, "Roadways": { "total": { "text": "1,283,387 km" }, "paved": { "text": "927,721 km (includes 39,143 km of expressways)" }, "unpaved": { "text": "355,666 km (2012)" } }, "Waterways": { "text": "102,000 km (2009) (including 48,000 km with guaranteed depth; the 72,000-km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea)" }, "Merchant marine": { "total": { "text": "2,910 (2023)" }, "by type": { "text": "bulk carrier 15, container ship 20, general cargo 976, oil tanker 387, other 1,512" } }, "Ports": { "total ports": { "text": "67 (2024)" }, "large": { "text": "4" }, "medium": { "text": "5" }, "small": { "text": "19" }, "very small": { "text": "38" }, "size unknown": { "text": "1" }, "ports with oil terminals": { "text": "32" }, "key ports": { "text": "Arkhangels'k, De Kastri, Dudinka, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Novorossiysk, Sankt-Peterburg, Vladivostok, Vyborg" } }, "Transportation - note": { "text": "Russia operates the largest polar-class icebreaker fleet in the world with 52 vessels, seven of which are the world's only nuclear-powered heavy icebreakers; the primary mission includes keeping open ports, terminals, and shipping lanes along the Northern Sea Route (see Arctic Ocean map), in the Baltic Sea, and in the Russian Far East, including the Sea of Okhotsk" } }, "Military and Security": { "Military and security forces": { "text": "Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: Ground Troops (Sukhoputnyye Voyskia, SV), Navy (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot, VMF), Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno-Kosmicheskiye Sily, VKS); Airborne Troops (Vozdushno-Desantnyye Voyska, VDV), and Missile Troops of Strategic Purpose (Raketnyye Voyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya, RVSN) referred to commonly as Strategic Rocket Forces, are independent \"combat arms,\" not subordinate to any of the three branchesa destination country for heroin and other Afghan opiates; a transit country for cocaine from South America, especially Ecuador to Europe, Belgium and Netherlands; synthetic drugs are produced in clandestine drug laboratories throughout the country; marijuana cultivated in Russian Far East and the North Caucasus; the majority of hashish is smuggled in from Northern Africa
" } } }