Russian Facts & Figures

COUNTRY: Russia

HEADLINE: Facts & Figures

GEOGRAPHY:

Location
Russia extends from northeastern Europe to Asia and is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north; Norway, Finland, Latvia, and Estonia to the northwest; Belarus and Ukraine to the west; Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, China, Mongolia, and North Korea to the south; and the Sea of Japan, the Pacific Ocean, the Barents Sea, and the Okhotsk Sea to the east. The Baltic region of Kaliningrad is separated from the rest of Russia by Belarus and Lithuania.

Land Borders
12,514 miles

Coastline
23,398 miles

Capital
Moscow

Area
6,592,850 sq. miles

Land Use
7.7% cropland; 4.6% permanent pasture; 45.6% forests and woodland; 42.1% other.

Arable Land
11%

Arable Land Per Capita
3.1 acre(s)

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; FAO Production Yearbook; The World Factbook]

POPULATION:

Population
146,107,000 (1998 estimate)

World Population Rank
7th

Population Density
22 inhabs. per sq. mile (1998 estimate)

Population Distribution
73.9% urban (1991)

Age Distribution (1995) 0-14: 21.0%

15-64: 66.9%

65+: 12.1%

Median Age
35.3 years (1995)

Population Growth Rate
-0.2% per year (1995-2000 projection)

Regional Population Adygey (1989) 432,000

Bashkortostan (1989) 3,952,000

Buryatia (1989) 1,042,000

Chechnya (not available)

Chuvashia (1989) 1,336,000

Daghestan (1989) 1,792,000

Gorno-Altai (1989) 192,000

Ingushetia (not available)

Kabardino-Balkaria (1989) 760,000

Kalmykia (1989) 322,000

Karachai-Cherkessia (1989) 418,000

Karelia (1989) 792,000

Khakassia (1989) 569,000

Komi (1989) 1,263,000

Mari-El (1989) 750,000

Mordovia (1989) 964,000

North Ossetia (1989) 634,000

Sakha (Yakutia) (1989) 1,081,000

Tatarstan (1989) 3,640,000

Tuva (1989) 309,000

Udmurtia (1989) 1,609,000

Major Cities Population Moscow (1992) 8,800,000

St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) (1992) 4,400,000

Novosibirsk (1990) 1,443,000

Nizhny Novgorod (formerly Gorky) (1992) 1,400,000

Yekaterinburg (formerly Sverdlovsk) (1990) 1,367,000

Samara (formerly Kuybyshev) (1992) 1,200,000

Omsk (1990) 1,159,000

Chelyabinsk (1990) 1,148,000

Kazan (1990) 1,103,000

Ethnic Composition
Russian - 81.5%; Tatar - 3.8%; Ukrainian - 3.0%; Chuvash - 1.2%; Bashkir - 0.9%; Byelorussian - 0.8%; Moldovan - 0.7%; other - 8.1%.

Language
Russian is the principal and official language, but numerous others are also spoken.

Religion
Orthodox Russian and Muslim are the principal religions practiced in Russia.

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; The World Factbook; World Population Prospects]

HEALTH:

Average Life Expectancy
67.5 years (1995-2000 projection)

Average Life Expectancy (Male)
61.5 years (1995-2000 projection)

Average Life Expectancy (Female)
73.6 years (1995-2000 projection)

Maternal Mortality
(not available)

Infant Mortality
19 per 1,000 live births (1995-2000 projection)

Doctors
39 per 10,000 population (1992)

Hospital Beds
139 per 10,000 population (1992)

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; The World Almanac and Book of Facts; The World Factbook; World Military and Social Expenditures; World Population Prospects]

EDUCATION:

Illiteracy: 1% (1991). In 1990/91, there were 69,600 secondary schools with 20,900,000 students; 2,603 specialized secondary institutions with 2,270,000 students; and 514 higher education schools and universities with 2,824,500 students.

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; UNESCO Statistical Yearbook; The World Factbook]

ECONOMIC-DATA:

Budget
Revenues: $48,722,200,000 (1995); $21,573,200,000 (1994).
Expenditures: $59,858,600,000 (1995); $35,366,800,000 (1994).

Budget Deficit
4.1% of GDP (1995)

Expenditures by Function as % of Total (1994) General public services 10.8%

Defense 16.4%

Education 3.2%

Health 1.4%

Social security and welfare 28.5%

Housing and community amenities (not available)

Recreation, culture, and religion 1.0%

Fuel and energy (not available)

Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting (not available)

Mining, manufacturing, and construction (not available)

Transportation and communication (not available)

Other economic (not available)

Gross National Product
$348,413,000,000 (1993)

GNP per Capita
$2,338 (1993)

Gross Domestic Product
$357,528,700,000 (1995)

GDP per Capita
$2,329 (1995)

GDP as % by Sector
(not available)

Economic Aid Extended
(not available)

Economic Aid Received
Gross nonprivate: $2,254,500,000; United States only: $75,000,000 (1994).

External Public Debt
$64,703,500,000 (long-term) (1992); service payments: (not available).

International Liquidity
Reserves (minus gold): $14,382,800,000 (1995).
Gold reserves: 9,414,000 fine troy ounces (1995).

Consumer Price Change
1995: 197.4%
1994: 307.4%
1993: 874.6%

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; External Debt Statistics; Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to Aid Recipients; Government Finance Statistics Yearbook; International Financial Statistics; United Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics; World Military and Social Expenditures]

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES:

Electric Power Generation
1,041,800,000,000 kWh.; kWh. per capita: 6,824 (1992).

Generating Capacity
213,000,000 kW. (1992)

Nuclear Power Plants and Output
25 power plants; total output: 19,799 MWe. (1995)

Crude Oil Production
324,000,000 metric tons; 2,374,920,000 barrels (1994).

Natural Gas Production
24,000,000 terajoules; 2,157,600,000 cubic feet (1994).

Natural Resources
Coal, crude oil, natural gas, timber, minerals.

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; Information Digest; United Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics; The World Factbook]

INDUSTRY AND LABOR:

Agricultural Products
Grain, potatoes, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables, cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, milk, eggs, cannabis (illicit), opium (illicit).

Industrial Products
Coal, oil, natural gas, chemicals, textiles, telecommunications equipment, heavy agricultural and construction vehicles, metals, machinery and transportation equipment, timber. Aerospace and shipbuilding are also major industries.

Labor Profile
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing - 15.4%; manufacturing and mining - 27.7%; transportation and communication - 7.8%; construction - 10%; trade - 6.8%; community, social, and personal services - 25.9%; other - 6.4% (1992).

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; The World Almanac and Book of Facts; The World Factbook]

TRANSPORTATION:

Roads
Total miles: 580,400; paved miles: 450,500 (1994).

Vehicles
Registrations: 9,384,000 (1994). Passenger cars: 8,900,000 (1994); persons per car: 16 (1994). Trucks and buses: 484,000 (1994).

Railroads
Total track-miles: 95,700 (1994). Passenger-miles traveled: 141,119,940,000; freight ton-miles carried: 81,868,734,000,000 (1994).

Ports
Total: (not available). Major: 25 (including Vladivostok, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, and Kaliningrad; inland Moscow, Rostov, and Volgograd).
Cargo loaded (short tons): 28,082,200; unloaded (short tons): 2,090,000 (1994).

Merchant Fleet
503 freighters; 28 bulk carriers; 151 tankers; 11,138,336 dwt. tons (1993).

Civil Aviation
Usable airfields: 2,517 (1994); Paved runways 8,000 feet and over: 256 (1994). Commercial aircraft over 20,000 lbs takeoff weight: (not available). Scheduled airline traffic: passenger-miles 39,916,250,400, international 8,910,876,000; short ton-miles 630,687,700, international 266,443,100.

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; The World Almanac and Book of Facts; The World Factbook]

COMMUNICATIONS:

Radio
Stations: 1,050 (1994). Receivers: 48,800,000; per 1,000 pop.: 327 (1994).

Television
Stations: 7,183 (1993). Sets in use: 55,000,000; per 1,000 pop.: 372 (1993).

Newspapers
Major dailies: 7 (1993). Combined circulation: 9,700,000 (1993); per 1,000 pop.: 65 (1993).

Telephones
Sets in use: 24,400,000; per 1,000 pop.: 164 (1993).

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; Political Handbook of the World; UNESCO Statistical Yearbook; The World Factbook]

MILITARY:

Total Active Armed Forces
1,520,000 (20,000,000 reservists) (1995)
Russia maintains a military presence in the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Other forces abroad include troops stationed with United Nations or peacekeeping forces in Angola, Bosnia & Herezegovina, Croatia, Mozambique, Iraq/Kuwait, Vietnam, and Western Sahara.

Active Armed Forces (% of pop.)
1.0% (1995)

Annual Military Expenditure
$76,000,000,000 (1996 planned); $63,000,000,000 (1995).

Military Service
The Russian military uses a selective conscription system, with terms of service lasting 18 months for the army and two years for the navy.

ARMY

Army Personnel
670,000

Army Organization
8 military districts
1 group of forces
14 army headquarters
8 corps headquarters
17 tank divisions
47 motor rifle divisions
5 airborne divisions
7 machine gun/artillery divisions
4 artillery divisions, including:
1 training
47 artillery brigades/regiments
4 heavy artillery brigades
6 airborne brigades
1 tank brigade
15 motor rifle brigades
7 special forces brigades
24 surface-to-surface missile brigades
20 antitank brigades/regiments
28 surface-to-air missile brigades/regiments
22 attack helicopter regiments
4 assault transport helicopter regiments
6 helicopter training regiments
Front troops
Army troops
Strategic Rocket Forces:
5 rocket armies
125 launcher groups
1 control center

Major Army Equipment (1995)
19,000 main battle tanks
200 light tanks
17,000 armored infantry fighting vehicles
16,000 armored personnel carriers
2,000 reconnaissance vehicles
928 intercontinental ballistic missiles
Antiballistic missiles
Surface-to-air missiles
Surface-to-surface missiles
Antitank guided weapons
2,600 helicopters, including:
1,000 attack
100 electronic countermeasures/electronic warfare
1,300 transport
200 general purpose
20,650 artillery, including:
Towed
Self-propelled
2,500 multiple-rocket launchers
Rocket launchers
Recoilless launchers
Antitank guns
Air-defense guns
400 combined gun/mortar
5,000 mortars

Army Aviation
None

NAVY

Navy Personnel
200,000 (30,000 naval aviation; 13,000 marines)

Navy Organization
Northern Fleet
Baltic Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
Caspian flotilla
Pacific Fleet
Strategic forces
Coastal defense forces include:
Naval infantry (marines)
Coastal artillery and rocket troops
Coastal defense troops
Marine forces include:
1 infantry division
4 independent brigades
4 fleet special forces brigades
Naval aviation includes:
4 fleet air forces

Major Navy Equipment (1995)
2 aircraft carriers
22 missile destroyers:
19 antiair/antisurface unit warfare
3 antisubmarine warfare
112 frigates
46 nuclear-fueled ballistic missile submarines
127 tactical submarines, including:
44 nuclear-fueled
19 nuclear-fueled with nonballistic missiles
2 with surface-to surface missiles
12 miscellaneous submarines
25 missile cruisers, including:
3 nuclear-fueled
77 corvettes
28 missile craft:
15 fast
13 hydrofoil
27 hydrofoil torpedo craft
13 patrol craft:
7 coastal, fast
3 offshore
3 hydrofoil torpedo
193 mine warfare vessels:
87 coastal minesweepers
50 inshore minesweepers
36 offshore minesweepers
15 inshore mine countermeasures
3 minelayers
2 offshore countermeasures
27 underway support vessels, including:
20 tankers with replenishment-at-sea capability
230 maintenance and logistics vessels:
70 tugs
38 repair
30 cargo
20 tankers without replenishment-at-sea capability
18 missile support/resupply
15 submarine depot
14 special liquid carriers
13 water carriers
12 general maintenance/support
130 special purpose vessels:
63 icebreakers
50 intelligence collection
8 training
5 missile range instrumentation
4 hospital ships
210 survey/research vessels, including:
85 oceanographic research
85 hydrographic survey
10 space associated ships
69 amphibious vessels:
38 tank-landing ships
28 medium landing ships
3 dock-landing platforms
82 amphibious craft:
65 air-cushion landing/surface-effect ships
14 mechanized landing
3 wing-in-ground effect, experimental
700 main battle tanks
450 armored infantry fighting vehicles
1070 armored personnel carriers
Strategic missiles
Surface-to-surface missiles
Artillery includes:
516 towed
48 self-propelled
36 multiple-rocket launchers

Marine equipment:
260 main battle tanks
120 light tanks
900 armored personnel carriers
60 reconnaissance vehicles
320 surface-to-air missiles
72 antitank guided weapons
114 self-propelled artillery
96 multiple-rocket launchers
179 combined guns/mortars
60 air-defense guns

Naval Aviation
1,004 aircraft:
188 bomber
280 fighter/ground-attack
175 antisubmarine warfare
95 maritime reconnaissance/electronic warfare
120 transport
140 trainer
6 tanker
406 helicopters:
251 antisubmarine warfare
25 maritime reconnaissance/electronic warfare
25 mine countermeasures
25 combat assault
80 transport
Air-to-surface missiles

AIR FORCE

Air Force Personnel
130,000

Air Force Organization
Strategic aviation:
Long-Range Forces
2 air armies
Long-range aviation command:
2 air armies
4 divisions
Frontal aviation command:
6 air armies
Military transport command:
3 divisions
Reserve and training command, including:
6 schools

Major Air Force Equipment (1995)
177 strategic aviation aircraft:
158 bombers
19 trainer and test aircraft
Long-range aviation aircraft includes:
220 bombers
30 reconnaissance/electronic countermeasures
40 tankers
1,975 frontal aviation aircraft:
775 fighter/ground-attack
625 fighter
75 electronic countermeasures
200 reconnaissance
300 trainer
350 military transport command aircraft
1,500 reserve and training command trainer aircraft
Air-defense aircraft includes:
1,200 fighters
20 airborne early warning and control
300 trainer
Air-to-air missiles
Air-to-surface missiles
Surface-to-air missiles

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; The Military Balance]

GOVERNMENT:

Government

Russia (Rossiikaya Federatsiya Russian Federation) was the largest and dominant republic in the Soviet Union and was one of three republics to declare the demise of the Soviet state on Dec 8, 1991. On that day, the Soviet Union's constituent republics were declared autonomous states, and a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was created to coordinate economic, defense, and foreign affairs issues for Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The CIS now encompasses 12 former Soviet republics, including Russia.
Russia is a federal state within which several constituent republics are pressing for independence or autonomy, including the Tatar and Chechen-Ingushetia autonomous republics, both of which have seen ethnic unrest or full-scale war following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Constitution
A new 1993 Constitution, approved by referendum, provides for a presidential system of government and a new bicameral legislature with powers that are substantially reduced. The document also guarantees citizens' civil rights, including the right of private property and universal access to social security, pensions, free health care, and cheap housing.

Executive
Executive power is vested in the popularly elected president, who is assisted by a Council of Ministers (Cabinet). The president is empowered to overrule decisions made by republic presidents and to appoint local officials. President Boris Yeltsin's new Constitution granted him the right to appoint the prime minister of his liking without ratification from the Federal Assembly (legislature); to issue decrees regardless of legislative approval; to veto legislation; and to dissolve the legislature. The rules of impeachment were also made more narrow.

Legislature
A new legislature (Federal Assembly) was formed in December 1993. It is a bicameral body with an initial two-year term consisting of a 450-member lower house ( State Duma) and a 178-seat upper house (Federation Council). Within the State Duma 225 seats are filled according to proportional representation and the rest are elected in single-member constituencies. Two deputies from each of the nation's 89 regions and republics (except Chechnya) make up the Federation Council.

Judiciary
The Constitutional Court, an independent judiciary, was created in October 1991 to determine the constitutionality of the republic's laws, oversee foreign treaties, and adjudicate territorial disputes. The court's members are appointed by the legislature, which also confirms members of the Supreme Court.

Local Government
Russia is divided into six krays (territories), 20 autonomous republics, 49 oblasts (local regions), and one autonomous region.

International Affiliations
United Nations, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Commonwealth of Independent States.

Chief Government Officials
President: Boris Yeltsin - since May 1990.
Chairman of the Government: Viktor Chernomyrdin - since December 1992. Predecessor as acting Prime Minister: Yegor Gaidar, from June 1992 to December 1992.
First Deputy Prime Minister: Anatoly Chubais - since March 1997.
First Deputy Prime Minister: Boris Nemtsov - since March 1997.
Foreign Affairs Minister: Yevgeny Primakov - since January 1996.
Economics Minister: Yakov Urinson - since March 1997.
Justice Minister: Sergei Stepashin - since July 1997.
Defense Minister: Igor Sergeyev - since May 1997.

Election Qualifications
All citizens 18 years of age and older are eligible to vote.

Political Parties
The Communist Party, which had dominated the political system since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, was outlawed in August 1991 following a failed coup against the Soviet leadership. It was reestablished in 1993 by a ruling of the Constitutional Court. December 1993 legislative elections returned a greater proportion of far-right and leftist deputies (communists and nationalists) than radical reformers, reflecting voter unease over Russia's decline from superpower status and its painful transition to a free- market economy. In May 1995 embattled President Yeltsin endorsed a Western-style two-party system with a mainstream conservative grouping headed by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin on the right and a mainstream socialist/communist party led by Duma speaker Ivan Rybkin on the left.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) was founded in 1993 as a successor to the Communist Party of Russia, which was banned in 1991. The revived party surged to the top of the December 1995 polls under the slogan "For Our Soviet Motherland." Led by Gennady Zyuganov, the party advocates the restoration of "social justice."

The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) is an ultranationalist grouping formed in 1990 and headed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who has been called the "Russian Mussolini." The party secured the largest number of seats in 1993 elections, surprising many in the government who viewed Zhirinovsky as a fringe rightist demagogue. The LDPR has advocated crime crackdowns and the creation of a Greater Russia by conquest that would include parts of central Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Our Home is Russia ( Nash Dom-Rossiya NDR) is a progovernment center-right party launched by Premier Chernomyrdin in May 1995. At its debut, opponents ridiculed the party as an extension of Gazprom, the gas monopoly that Chernomyrdin headed before entering politics.

The Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc, or Yabloko, is named after the economic reformers who founded the party in October 1993: economist Grigory Yavlinsky, scientist Yuri Boldyrev, and former U.S. ambassador Vladimir Lukin. The Bloc of Three refused to sign Yeltsin's April 1994 Civic Accord bill. Yabloko also opposed the December 1994 Chechen invasion. The outspoken Yavlinsky contested 1996 presidential elections.

The Agrarian Party of Russia (APR) was formed in 1990 as an advocate of collective state farm managers opposed to land privatization.

Women of Russia ( Zhenshchiny Rossii ZR) is a centrist party that advocates social and political equality for women in Russia. The party has campaigned for law and order, free education and health care, and a "humane" approach to economic reforms. It is led by former Communist Party official Alevtina Fedulova.

Workers' Russia ( Rabochaya Rossiya RR) is an old-style communist party led by notorious hard-liner Viktor Anpilov before his ouster in July 1996.

The Congress of Russian Communities ( Kongress Russkikh Obshchin KRO) is a moderate nationalist party with a strong support base in the Russian military. It advocates the unity of the Russian Federation. Aleksandr Lebed campaigned as a KRO parliamentary candidate in 1995.

The Party of People's Self-Government ( Partiya Narodnogo Samoupravleniya PNS), led by Vyatoslav Fyodorov, is a centrist group dedicated to the interests of small business. It was launched by Fyodorov, a respected opthalmologist turned politician, on Aug 8, 1994.

Russia's Democratic Choice ( Demokraticheskiy Vybor Rossii DVR) is a proreform bloc of parties backed by several leading government ministers. It consists of Democratic Russia, an anticommunist pro-Yeltsin grouping; the Peasants' Party of Russia, which favors agricultural reform and private land ownership; the Association of Privatized and Private Entrepreneurs; the Party of Economic Freedom, which advocates economic liberalism; the Free Democratic Party of Russia, a radical democratic group; the Party of Constitutional Democrats; and the Republican Party of the Russian Federation, formed by members of a democratic wing of the old Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The reform alliance ended its endorsement of Yeltsin in March 1995 largely because of criticism of the Chechen invasion.

Power to the People is a right-wing antifascist party headed by former Soviet premier Nikolai Rhyzhkov. The party is part of the Russian Public Union alliance.

The Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) was founded in 1990. A centrist party, it advocates a market economy but has criticized many of Yeltsin's reforms.

The Party of Russian Unity and Accord ( Partiya Rossiiskogo Edinstva I Soglasiya PRES), a democratic alliance, was organized in 1993 by former ministers Sergei Shakhrai and Aleksandr Shokhin.

Results of Recent Elections
Distribution of seats in the State Duma following Dec 17, 1995 elections (Dec 12, 1993 election results appear in parentheses):
Note: Results include both party list and constituency voting.
CPRF - 157 (65); LDPR - 51 (70); NDR - 55; Yabloko - 45 (33); ZR - 3 (25); RR - 1 (0); KRO - 5; PNS - 1; DVR - 9 (96); APR - 20 (47); Power to the People - 9; other parties - 17; independents - 77.

[Sources: Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments; Europa World Year Book; Facts on File World News Digest; Keesing's Record of World Events; Political Handbook of the World; The World Factbook]

TRADE:

Imports
Machinery, foodstuffs, metals, petroleum, natural gas, wood and wood products, grain, sugar, chemicals.

Total Imports
$46,359,000,000 (1995); $38,545,000,000 (1994); $26,670,000,000 (1993).

Exports
Machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, iron and steel, wood and wood products, chemicals, nonferrous metals.

Total Exports
$77,398,000,000 (1995); $62,937,000,000 (1994); $43,891,000,000 (1993).

Trading Partners
(Imports) Ukraine - 14.3%; Germany - 14.1%; Kazakhstan - 5.9%; United States - 5.7%; Finland - 4.4% (1995).
(Exports) Ukraine - 8.9%; Germany - 7.8%; United States - 6.6%; Switzerland - 4.8%; China - 4.3% (1995).

Balance of Payments
1995: +$12,261,000,000
1994: +$11,369,000,000

[Sources: Direction of Trade Statistics Yearbook; Europa World Year Book; International Financial Statistics; The World Factbook]

STANDARDS:

Time
8 hours later than U.S. Eastern Standard (Moscow) Note: Russia covers 11 time zones.
3 hours later than Greenwich Mean (Moscow)

Currency
100 kopeks = 1 ruble

Weights and Measures
The metric system is in use.

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; The World Factbook]

TRAVEL AND TOURISM:

Climate
The climate varies dramatically across the country, with the central regions experiencing a wide range of temperatures and heavy winter snows. The south is more temperate, with average temperatures ranging from 23 F in the winter to 74 F in the summer. Siberia and the north experience very low temperatures in the winter, with short, hot summers, while the eastern part of the country suffers extreme temperatures as well as milder forms of the monsoons typical to other parts of Asia.

Holidays
[1998] Jan 1 (New Year's Day), Jan 7 (Christmas), Mar 8 (Women's Day), Apr 20 (Orthodox Easter), May 1-2 (Spring and Labor Day), May 9 (Victory Day), Jun 12 (Russian Independence Day), Aug 22 (National Flag Day), Nov 7 (Day of National Reconciliation).

Tourists
(not available)

Miscellaneous
Visitors are attracted to Russia's cultural and historical heritage. Under the communist system, tourism was often limited to Moscow and St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), but the rest of the country is now open to foreign visitors.

Health Precautions
None

Embassies
Canadian Embassy in Russia
Moscow
Starokonyushenny pereulok 23
Tel: (095) 201-47-36
Fax: (095) 241-76-68
Telex: 413401

U.S. Embassy in Russia
Moscow
Bolshoy Devyatinsky pereulok 8
Tel: (095) 242-24-51
Telex: 413160

Russian Embassy in Canada
285 Charlotte Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 8L5
Tel: (613) 235-4341
Fax: (613) 236-6342
Telex: 053-3332

Russian Embassy in the United States
1125 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 628-7551

[Sources: Europa World Year Book; International Travel and Health; Yearbook of Labor Statistics]

LOAD-DATE: February 18, 1998

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