Russia (2002) | Vanuatu (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 49 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics* (respublik, singular - respublika), 10 autonomous okrugs**(avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 6 krays*** (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (singular - gorod)****, and 1 autonomous oblast*****(avtonomnaya oblast'); Adygeya (Maykop)*, Aginskiy Buryatskiy (Aginskoye)**, Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)*, Altayskiy (Barnaul)***, Amurskaya (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'skaya, Astrakhanskaya, Bashkortostan (Ufa)*, Belgorodskaya, Bryanskaya, Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)*, Chechnya (Groznyy)*, Chelyabinskaya, Chitinskaya, Chukotskiy (Anadyr')**, Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)*, Dagestan (Makhachkala)*, Evenkiyskiy (Tura)**, Ingushetiya (Nazran')*, Irkutskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)*, Kaliningradskaya, Kalmykiya (Elista)*, Kaluzhskaya, Kamchatskaya (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)*, Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)*, Kemerovskaya, Khabarovskiy***, Khakasiya (Abakan)*, Khanty-Mansiyskiy (Khanty-Mansiysk)**, Kirovskaya, Komi (Syktyvkar)*, Koryakskiy (Palana)**, Kostromskaya, Krasnodarskiy***, Krasnoyarskiy***, Kurganskaya, Kurskaya, Leningradskaya, Lipetskaya, Magadanskaya, Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)*, Mordoviya (Saransk)*, Moskovskaya, Moskva (Moscow)****, Murmanskaya, Nenetskiy (Nar'yan-Mar)**, Nizhegorodskaya, Novgorodskaya, Novosibirskaya, Omskaya, Orenburgskaya, Orlovskaya (Orel), Penzenskaya, Permskaya, Komi-Permyatskiy (Kudymkar)**, Primorskiy (Vladivostok)***, Pskovskaya, Rostovskaya, Ryazanskaya, Sakha (Yakutiya)*, Sakhalinskaya (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samarskaya, Sankt-Peterburg (Saint Petersburg)****, Saratovskaya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya [North Ossetia] (Vladikavkaz)*, Smolenskaya, Stavropol'skiy***, Sverdlovskaya (Yekaterinburg), Tambovskaya, Tatarstan (Kazan')*, Taymyrskiy (Dudinka)**, Tomskaya, Tul'skaya, Tverskaya, Tyumenskaya, Tyva (Kyzyl)*, Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)*, Ul'yanovskaya, Ust'-Ordynskiy Buryatskiy (Ust'-Ordynskiy)**, Vladimirskaya, Volgogradskaya, Vologodskaya, Voronezhskaya, Yamalo-Nenetskiy (Salekhard)**, Yaroslavskaya, Yevreyskaya*****; note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending 'skaya' or 'skiy,' the word Oblast' or Avonomnyy Okrug or Kray should be added to the place name
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
6 provinces; Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea, Torba |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 16.7% (male 12,334,659; female 11,840,058)
15-64 years: 70.2% (male 49,330,660; female 52,402,610) 65 years and over: 13.1% (male 6,150,775; female 12,919,811) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
36.35% (male 35,822; female 34,299) 15-64 years: 60.43% (male 59,764; female 56,808) 65 years and over: 3.22% (male 3,348; female 2,869) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk | copra, coconuts, cocoa, coffee, taro, yams, coconuts, fruits, vegetables; fish, beef |
Airports | 2,743 (2001) | 32 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 471
over 3,047 m: 56 2,438 to 3,047 m: 178 1,524 to 2,437 m: 76 914 to 1,523 m: 69 under 914 m: 92 (2002) |
total:
2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 2,272
over 3,047 m: 28 2,438 to 3,047 m: 118 1,524 to 2,437 m: 204 914 to 1,523 m: 324 under 914 m: 1,598 (2002) |
total:
30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 17 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km water: 79,400 sq km |
total:
12,200 sq km land: 12,200 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes more than 80 islands |
Area - comparative | slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US | slightly larger than Connecticut |
Background | The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the Communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of the Communist period. A determined guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya. | The British and French who settled the New Hebrides in the 19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which administered the islands until independence in 1980. |
Birth rate | 9.71 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 25.4 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $45 billion
expenditures: $43 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues:
$94.4 million expenditures: $99.8 million, including capital expenditures of $30.4 million (1996 est.) |
Capital | Moscow | Port-Vila |
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 | tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds |
Coastline | 37,653 km | 2,528 km |
Constitution | adopted 12 December 1993 | 30 July 1980 |
Country name | conventional long form: Russian Federation
conventional short form: Russia local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya local short form: Rossiya former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
conventional long form:
Republic of Vanuatu conventional short form: Vanuatu former: New Hebrides |
Currency | Russian ruble (RUR) | vatu (VUV) |
Death rate | 13.91 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 8.38 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $149 billion (2001 est.) | $48 million (1997 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Alexander VERSHBOW
embassy: Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow mailing address: APO AE 09721 telephone: [7] (095) 728-5000 FAX: [7] (095) 728-5203 consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg |
the US does not have an embassy in Vanuatu; the ambassador to Papua New Guinea is accredited to Vanuatu |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV
chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708 FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735 consulate(s) general: New York, San Francisco, and Seattle |
Vanuatu does not have an embassy in the US, it does, however, have a Permanent Mission to the UN |
Disputes - international | 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable unanimity over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun; Russia hastens to delimit and demarcate boundary with Kazakhstan to limit illegal border activities; in 2002, Russia is the first state to submit data to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend its continental shelf by claiming two undersea ridges in the Arctic; Russia signed bilateral agreements with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan delimiting the Caspian seabed, but littoral states are far from multilateral agreement on dividing the waters and seabed regimes - Iran insists on division of Caspian Sea into five equal sectors while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan have generally agreed upon equidistant seabed boundaries; despite recent discussions, Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone; Russia continues to reject signing and ratifying the joint December 1996 technical border agreement with Estonia; the Russian Duma refuses to ratify boundary treaties signed with Latvia and Lithuania; Russia and Ukraine have successfully delimited land boundary in 2001, but disagree on delimitation of maritime boundary in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea; boundary with Georgia has been largely delimited, but not demarcated; several small, strategic segments remain in dispute; islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan | claims Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia |
Economic aid - recipient | ODA $5.6 billion (2000 est.) | $45.8 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | A decade after the implosion of the centrally planned Soviet Union in December 1991, Russia is still struggling to establish a modern market economy, modernize its industrial base, and maintain strong economic growth. The period 1992-98 was marked by a poor business climate, a deterioration in already threadbare living standards, and failure to institute modern market reforms. Conditions improved markedly in 1999-2002, with annual output growing by an average 6% and with progress in structural reforms. Yet serious problems persist. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for over 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's industrial base is increasingly dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to maintain strong economic growth. Other problems include widespread corruption, lack of a strong legal system, capital flight, and brain drain. | The economy is based primarily on subsistence or small-scale agriculture which provides a living for 65% of the population. Fishing, offshore financial services, and tourism, with about 50,000 visitors in 1997, are other mainstays of the economy. Mineral deposits are negligible; the country has no known petroleum deposits. A small light industry sector caters to the local market. Tax revenues come mainly from import duties. Economic development is hindered by dependence on relatively few commodity exports, vulnerability to natural disasters, and long distances from main markets and between constituent islands. The most recent natural disaster, a severe earthquake in November 1999 followed by a tsunami, caused extensive damage to the northern island of Pentecote and left thousands homeless. GDP growth has risen less than 3% on average in the 1990s. In response to foreign concerns, the government is moving to tighten regulation of its offshore financial center. |
Electricity - consumption | 767.08 billion kWh (2000) | 32.6 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 18 billion kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 8 billion kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 835.57 billion kWh (2000) | 35 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 66%
hydro: 19% nuclear: 15% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Tabwemasana 1,877 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides | a majority of the population does not have access to a potable and reliable supply of water; deforestation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Persistent Organic Pollutants |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94 signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Belarusian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1% | indigenous Melanesian 94%, French 4%, Vietnamese, Chinese, Pacific Islanders |
Exchange rates | Russian rubles per US dollar - 30.4669 (January 2002), 29.1685 (2001), 28.1292 (2000), 24.6199 (1999), 9.7051 (1998), 5,785 (1997)
note: the post-1 January 1998 ruble is equal to 1,000 of the pre-1 January 1998 rubles |
vatu per US dollar - 143.95 (December 2000), 137.82 (2000), 129.08 (1999), 127.52 (1998), 115.87 (1997), 111.72 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president since 31 December 1999, president since 7 May 2000)
head of government: Premier Mikhail Mikhaylovich KASYANOV (since 7 May 2000); Deputy Premiers Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 18 May 2000), Aleksey Vasilyevich GORDEYEV (since 20 May 2000), Viktor Borisovich KHRISTENKO (since 31 May 1999) cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and other agency heads; all are appointed by the president note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 March 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); note - no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier succeeds him; the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election results: Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN elected president; percent of vote - Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN 52.9%, Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV 29.2%, Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY 5.8% |
chief of state:
President Father John BANI (since 25 March 1999) head of government: Prime Minister Edward NATAPEI (since 16 April 2001); Deputy Prime Minister Serge VOHOR (since 16 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister, responsible to Parliament elections: president elected for a four-year term by an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the presidents of the regional councils for a five-year term; election for president last held 25 March 1999 (next to be held NA 2003); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by Parliament from among its members; election for prime minister last held 16 April 2001 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: Father John BANI elected president; percent of electoral college vote - NA%; Edward NATAPEI elected prime minister by Parliament with a total of 27 out of 52 votes note: the government of Prime Minister Barak SOPE was ousted in a no confidence vote on 14 April 2001 and Edward NATAPEI was elected the new prime minister by Parliament |
Exports | $104.6 billion (2002 est.) | $25.3 million (f.o.b., 1999) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures | copra, kava, beef, cocoa, timber, coffee |
Exports - partners | Germany 9.3%, US 8.3%, Italy 7.5%, China 5.6%, Belarus 5.2%, Ukraine 5.2% (2001) | Japan 32%, Germany 14%, Spain 8%, New Caledonia 7%, Australia 2% (1997 est.) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red | two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle); centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele leaves, all in yellow |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.27 trillion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $245 million (1999 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 7%
industry: 39% services: 53% (2001 est.) |
agriculture:
20% industry: 9% services: 71% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,800 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (1999 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2002 est.) | -2.5% (1999 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 60 00 N, 100 00 E | 16 00 S, 167 00 E |
Geography - note | 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; Mount Elbrus is Europe's tallest peak | - |
Highways | total: 952,000 km
paved: 752,000 km (including about 336,000 km of conventionally paved roads, and about 416,000 km of roads with all-weather gravel surfaces) unpaved: 200,000 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998) |
total:
1,070 km paved: 256 km unpaved: 814 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 34% (2001 est.) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; heroin increasingly popular in domestic market | - |
Imports | $60.7 billion (2001 est.) | $77.2 million (f.o.b., 1999) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar, semifinished metal products | machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, fuels |
Imports - partners | Germany 13.2%, Belarus 9.6%, Ukraine 9.3%, US 7.6%, Kazakhstan 4.8%, Italy 4.1% (2001) | Japan 52%, Australia 20%, New Caledonia, Singapore, New Zealand, France, Fiji (1997 est.) |
Independence | 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) | 30 July 1980 (from France and UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (2002 est.) | 1% (1997 est.) |
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; 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 | food and fish freezing, wood processing, meat canning |
Infant mortality rate | 19.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 61.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 16.2% (2002 est.) | 2.5% (1999 est.) |
International organization participation | APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, G- 8, GEF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC | ACCT, ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, NAM, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNTAET, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 35 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 46,630 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Superior Court of Arbitration; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president | Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, three other justices are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission) |
Labor force | 71.3 million (2001 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 11%, industry 28%, services 61% (2001 est.) | agriculture 65%, services 32%, industry 3% (1995 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 19,990 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 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 3,485 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Ukraine 1,576 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 7.46%
permanent crops: 0.11% other: 92.43% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
2% permanent crops: 10% permanent pastures: 2% forests and woodland: 75% other: 11% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Russian, other | English (official), French (official), pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) |
Legal system | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts | unified system being created from former dual French and British systems |
Legislative branch | bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; 225 seats elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 5% of the vote, and 225 seats from single-member constituencies; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: State Duma - last held 19 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2003) election results: State Duma - percent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party list seats - KPRF 24.29%, Unity 23.32%, OVR 13.33%, Union of Right Forces 8.52%, LDPR 5.98%, Yabloko 5.93%; seats by party - KPRF 113, Unity 72, OVR 67, Union of Rightist Forces 29, LDPR 17, Yabloko 21, other 16, independents 106, repeat election required 8, vacant 1 |
unicameral Parliament (52 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 6 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - VP 18, UMP 12, NUP 11, other and independent 11; note - political party associations are fluid; there have been four changes of government since the November 1995 elections note: the National Council of Chiefs advises on matters of custom and land |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 67.5 years
male: 62.29 years female: 72.97 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
60.95 years male: 59.58 years female: 62.39 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 100% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 53% male: 57% female: 48% (1979 est.) |
Location | Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia |
Map references | Asia | Oceania |
Maritime claims | continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 888 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,390,745 GRT/5,357,436 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 21, cargo 556, chemical tanker 7, combination bulk 21, combination ore/oil 6, container 29, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 41, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 153, refrigerated cargo 22, roll on/roll off 20, short-sea passenger 7 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belize 1, Cambodia 1, Cyprus 9, Denmark 1, Estonia 4, Greece 3, Honduras 1, Latvia 4, Lithuania 3, Moldova 3, Netherlands 1, South Korea 1, Turkey 18, Turkmenistan 2, Ukraine 10, United Kingdom 5, United States 1 (2002 est.) |
total:
54 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,067,384 GRT/1,330,543 DWT ships by type: bulk 23, cargo 7, chemical tanker 3, combination bulk 2, container 1, liquefied gas 3, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 7, vehicle carrier 6 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 2, Canada 1, China 1, France 1, Greece 1, Hong Kong 1, Japan 22, Netherlands 1, Norway 1, Switzerland 1, US 4 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Ground Forces, Navy, Air Forces, Space Forces, Airborne Forces, Strategic Rocket Forces | no regular military forces; Vanuatu Police Force (VPF; includes the paramilitary Vanuatu Mobile Force or VMF) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 38,906,796 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 30,392,946 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 1,242,778 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Russia Day, 12 June (1990) | Independence Day, 30 July (1980) |
Nationality | noun: Russian(s)
adjective: Russian |
noun:
Ni-Vanuatu (singular and plural) adjective: Ni-Vanuatu |
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; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia | tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanism causes minor earthquakes |
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 |
manganese, hardwood forests, fish |
Net migration rate | 0.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000 km (June 1993 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Agrarian Party [Mikhail Ivanovich LAPSHIN]; Communist Party of the Russian Federation or KPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Fatherland-All Russia or OVR [Yuriy Mikhaylovich LUZHKOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Union of Rightist Forces [Anatoliy Borisovich CHUBAYS, Yegor Timurovich GAYDAR, Irina Mutsuovna KHAKAMADA, Boris Yefimovich NEMTSOV]; Unity [Sergey Kuzhugetovich SHOYGU]; Yabloko Bloc [Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY]
note: some 150 political parties, blocs, and movements registered with the Justice Ministry as of the 19 December 1998 deadline to be eligible to participate in the 19 December 1999 Duma elections; of these, 36 political organizations actually qualified to run slates of candidates on the Duma party list ballot, 6 parties cleared the 5% threshold to win a proportional share of the 225 party seats in the Duma, 9 other organizations hold seats in the Duma: Bloc of Nikolayev and Academician Fedorov, Congress of Russian Communities, Movement in Support of the Army, Our Home Is Russia, Party of Pensioners, Power to the People, Russian All-People's Union, Russian Socialist Party, and Spiritual Heritage; primary political blocs include pro-market democrats - (Yabloko Bloc and Union of Right Forces), anti-market and/or ultranationalist (Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) |
Melanesian Progressive Party or MPP [Barak SOPE]; National United Party or NUP [Willie TITONGOA]; Union of Moderate Parties or UMP [Serge VOHOR]; Vanuaaku Party (Our Land Party) or VP [Edward NATAPEI]; Vanuatu Republican Party [Maxime Carlot KORMAN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 144,978,573 (July 2002 est.) | 192,910 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | -0.33% (2002 est.) | 1.7% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', De-Kastri, Indigirskiy, Kaliningrad, Kandalaksha, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Kholmsk, Krasnoyarsk, Lazarev, Mago, Mezen', Moscow, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Nevel'sk, Novorossiysk, Onega, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Rostov, Shakhtersk, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Taganrog, Tuapse, Uglegorsk, Vanino, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vostochnyy, Vyborg | Forari, Port-Vila, Santo (Espiritu Santo) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 420, FM 447, shortwave 56 (1998) | AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | 61.5 million (1997) | 62,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 87,157 km
broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km are electrified) narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (installed on Sakhalin Island) note: an additional 63,000 km of broad gauge routes serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use (2002) |
0 km |
Religions | Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other | Presbyterian 36.7%, Anglican 15%, Roman Catholic 15%, indigenous beliefs 7.6%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6.2%, Church of Christ 3.8%, other 15.7% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.48 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.17 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: the telephone system has undergone significant changes in the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; however, a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied
domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density international: Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems |
general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 30 million (1998) | 4,000 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.5 million (October 2000) | 154 (1996) |
Television broadcast stations | 7,306 (1998) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions | mostly mountains of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains |
Total fertility rate | 1.3 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 3.19 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8% (2001 est.), plus considerable underemployment (2002 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 95,900 km (total routes in general use)
note: routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet - 95,900 km; routes with night navigational aids - 60,400 km; man-made navigable routes - 16,900 km (Jan 1994) |
none |