Ultimately, Russia is one of the select few countries around the world that’s lucky enough to be located in multiple continents at once. / Глава III Государственное устройство (ст.ст. Typical ethnic Russian musical instruments are gusli, balalaika, zhaleika, and garmoshka. [408], The 1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in Soviet cinema. Social and economic indicators 2015, "Lake Baikal—A Touchstone for Global Change and Rift Studies", "FAO. [286][288][286] In 2012, the trend continued, with 1,896,263 births, the highest since 1990, and even exceeding annual births during the period 1967–1969. Many Russian scientists and inventors were émigrés, like Igor Sikorsky, who built the first airliners and modern-type helicopters; Vladimir Zworykin, often called the father of television; chemist Ilya Prigogine, noted for his work on dissipative structures and complex systems; Nobel Prize-winning economists Simon Kuznets and Wassily Leontief; physicist Georgiy Gamov (an author of the Big Bang theory) and social scientist Pitirim Sorokin. The country of Russia is located on two continents: Asia and Europe. Both the strip of land along the shore of the Arctic Ocean and the Russian Arctic islands have a polar climate. Smetana (a heavy sour cream) is often added to soups and salads. [377] Many other countries and international organizations have spoken out on Russia's religious abuses. In the 2000s, in order to create higher education and research institutions of comparable scale in Russian regions, the government launched a program of establishing "federal universities", mostly by merging existing large regional universities and research institutes and providing them with a special funding. Easter is the most popular religious holiday in Russia, celebrated by a large segment of the Russian population, including large numbers of those who are non-religious. [390], Since 1990, the 11-year school education has been introduced. In Russia, services are the biggest sector of the economy and account for 58% of GDP. Famous Russian battle tanks include T34, the most heavily produced tank design of World War II,[260] and further tanks of T-series, including the most produced tank in history, T54/55. A new anti-religious campaign, launched in 1929, coincided with collectivization of peasants; destruction of churches in the cities peaked around 1932. [127] President Vladimir Putin had advocated a strategic partnership with close integration in various dimensions, including establishment of EU-Russia Common Spaces. The decision was taken in response to the move made by the Patriarchate of Constantinople a few days prior that effectively ended the Moscow Patriarchate's jurisdiction over Ukraine and promised autocephaly to Ukraine. [240], This restoration of agriculture was supported by a credit policy of the government, helping both individual farmers and large privatised corporate farms that once were Soviet kolkhozes and which still own the significant share of agricultural land. This is due largely to that West/East population difference outlined above. [173], Russia has an upper-middle income[174] mixed economy with enormous natural resources, particularly oil and natural gas. Russian poets, including Pyotr Yershov and Leonid Filatov, made a number of well-known poetical interpretations of the classical fairy tales, and in some cases, like that of Alexander Pushkin, also created fully original fairy tale poems of great popularity. [163] The largest and most prominent of Russia's bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world's deepest, purest, oldest and most capacious fresh water lake. According to the Constitution of Russia, the country is an asymmetric federation and semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state[116] and the Prime Minister is the head of government. Federal districts' envoys serve as liaisons between the federal subjects and the federal government and are primarily responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with the federal laws. Egypt also straddles both Asia and Africa, while Greece lies mostly in Europe, with a couple of islands close to Turkey in Asia. Luna-Glob is a Russian Moon exploration programme, with first planned mission launch in 2021. Kiev's dominance waned, to the benefit of Vladimir-Suzdal in the north-east, Novgorod Republic in the north-west and Galicia-Volhynia in the south-west. Russian pop music developed from what was known in the Soviet times as estrada into full-fledged industry, with some performers gaining wide international recognition, such as t.A.T.u., Nu Virgos and Vitas. [364][365], Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Paganism (either preserved or revived) are recognised by law as Russia's traditional religions, marking the country's "historical heritage". Most seminaries were closed, and the publication of most religious material was prohibited. [339] According to the same study, Christianity experienced significant increase since the fall of the USSR in 1991,[362] and more Russians say they are Christian now (73%) than say they were raised Christian (65%). But going back to Russia, the fact is that Russia is both in Europe and in Asia. Now that you know a bit more about Russia’s boundaries, try the Russia’s Borders quiz below: The Universal Distress Signal – What Does SOS Stand For? It has a number of urban centers and is a hub of tourism, finance, and trade. Putin suppressed the Chechen insurgency although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the Northern Caucasus. It has been estimated by the UN that Russia is home to more than 250 mammal species, many of which are indigenous. It also […], (Last Updated On: July 24, 2018) Where is Indonesia? The term gets tossed around around in the news and on social media frequently. Russia is in the news these days. The ancestors of modern Russians are the Slavic tribes, whose original home is thought by some scholars to have been the wooded areas of the Pinsk Marshes. [275] They were triggered by the lack of proper response from the Russian authorities to the published investigative film He Is Not Dimon To You, which has garnered more than 20 million views on YouTube. are now obsolete and no new motto has replaced them. Russia was the host nation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. )", "Конституция Кабардино-Балкарской Республики от 1 сентября 1997 г. N 28-РЗ (принята Парламентом Кабардино-Балкарской Республики 1 сентября 1997 г.) [137] Russian authorities dismiss these claims and especially criticise Freedom House. These include a number of immigrants who have flocked to the country recently. The occupation drained economic resources and dragged on without achieving meaningful political results. Exports in Russia is reported by the Central Bank of Russia. In the 18th century, during the era of Russian Enlightenment, the development of Russian literature was boosted by the works of Mikhail Lomonosov and Denis Fonvizin. However, since Asia and Europe occupy the same land mass, they are often referred to as one continent by the name of Eurasia. The monarchy was replaced by a shaky coalition of political parties that declared itself the Provisional Government. [176][177] In May 2016 the average nominal monthly wages fell below $450 per month,[178] and tax on the income of individuals is payable at the rate of 13% on most incomes. Dziga Vertov, whose kino-glaz ("film-eye") theory—that the camera, like the human eye, is best used to explore real life—had a huge impact on the development of documentary film making and cinema realism. In our opinion, it’s both. The Russian population is largely made up of Ethnic Russians. Over time Russia has been having improvement and application of environmental legislation, development and implementation of various federal and regional strategies and programmes, and study, inventory and protection of rare and endangered plants, animals, and other organisms, and including them in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation. Within the context of the ongoing Russia–Ukraine gas dispute in early January 2009, Nikolai Petrov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center said: "What we see right now is the dominant role of Putin. The age of feudalism and decentralization was marked by constant in-fighting between members of the Rurik Dynasty that ruled Kievan Rus' collectively. In the European part of the country the network of channels connects the basins of major rivers. [101], In 2014, after President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine fled as a result of a revolution, Putin requested and received authorization from the Russian Parliament to deploy Russian troops to Ukraine, leading to the takeover of Crimea. [159] Unlike the federal subjects, the federal districts are not a subnational level of government, but are a level of administration of the federal government. / Глава III. Popular non-public holidays include Old New Year (the New Year according to the Julian Calendar on 14 January), Tatiana Day (students holiday on 25 January), Maslenitsa (a pre-Christian spring holiday a week before the Great Lent), Cosmonautics Day (in tribute to the first human trip into space), Ivan Kupala Day (another pre-Christian holiday on 7 July) and Peter and Fevronia Day (which takes place on 8 July and is the Russian analogue of Valentine's Day, focusing, however, on family love and fidelity).