Executive Summary

ThisreportdescribesfactsabouttheRussianeconomyandanalysestheeconomicconditions
ofthecountry.FormerlyamajorpartofwhatwasknownastheSovietUnion-thesuper
power,Russiaisstillsaidtobeoneofthelargestcountriesoftheworld.Notonlyisitlargein
termsofarea,butalsohashighpopulation,andisconsideredtobeafairlydeveloped
country.
Thereportshallfocus,indetail,onthebasicfactsandfiguresaboutthecountry,likeits
locationandtheculturalspecificationsofitscitizens,aswellasonRussiaseconomic
relationswithitsneighbouringandothercountries.Itshallalsoanalysetheextenttowhich
Russiaisbestowedwithnaturalandhumanresources,andhowwellitisabletoutilizeboth
foreconomicandsocialbenefits.Furthermore,thereportalsoobservesthestandardofliving
andconditionofthecitizensofRussiathroughthepercapitaincomeaswellasthroughan
analysisofhowthegovernmentsupportsthepopulation.

Facts about Russia

Location
RussiaislocatedinnortherpartofEurasia,thatis,innorth-easternEuropeandnorthernAsia.
Consideredasthelargestcountryintheworldbyarea,Russiacoversninetimezones,and
expandsoveranareaof17,098,242squarekilometres(TheWorldFactBook,n.d.).

Population
Inadditiontobeingthelargestcountryintheworld,Russiaalsohousesanenormous
populationofaroundonehundredandforty-twomillionpeople(142,423,773asperestimates
onJuly,2015),whoaredividedintoover190ethnicgroups,withRussians,Tatar,Ukrainian
andBashkirasthemostnotableones(TheWorldFactBook,n.d.).

Currency
ThecurrencyofRussiaisRussianRuble(RUB),whichequalsaround0.02USDcurrently.

Language
TheofficiallanguageofRussiaisRussian(BBC,n.d.),whichisalsothemostwidelyspoken
languageinthecountry,usedbyaround96.3%ofthepopulation.Thesecondmostpopular
languageisDolgang(spokenby5.3%citizens),followedbyGerman(spokenby1.5%ofthe
population)(TheWorldFactBook,n.d.).

Religion
Accordingtoa2006estimateofpracticingbelievers,around15-20%oftheRussian
populationisRussianOrthodox,whilearound10-15%areMuslimsand2%areChristians.
Theremay,however,bemanynon-practicingbelievers,whohavenotbeenaccountedforin
theabovequotedstatistics(TheWorldFactBook,n.d.).

Borders and Surrounding Countries

RussiahastheArcticOceanonitsnorthernborder,andthePacificOceanonitswestern
border.ItsharesborderswithChina,Georgia,theCaspianSea,Kazakhstan,andAzerbaijan
onthesouth,andFinland,Estonia,Latvia,Belarus,theBackSeaandUkraineonthewest.
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RussiaalsoshareslandborderswithNorthKorea(18km),Lithuania(261km),Norway(191
km),andPoland(210km)(NationsEncyclopaedia,2015).

Trade Agreements
RussiagotinaFreeTradeAgreementwithNewZealand,BelarusandKazakhstanin2011.
Theagreementaffectsthetradeingoodsinareaslikemarketaccess,technicalbarriersto
trade,customscooperation,sanitarymeasures,andrulesoforigin.Italsoaffectsissueslike
intellectualproperty,disputesettlement,andenvironmentalandsocialaspectsoftrade(New
ZealandMinistryofForeignAffairsandTrade,2014).
RussiaalsojoinedtheWorldTradeOrganizationin2012,pavingwayforimprovedtrade
relationswithmembercountries,aswellasothercountriesoftheworld(USTR,n.d.).
AccordingtoanewreportinBusinessToday,Russiaalsosignedtradeagreementswithseven
oftheex-sovietcountries,includingArmenia,Ukraine,Tajikistan,Moldova,Belarus,
Kazakhstan,andKyrgyzstan.Theagreementaimstoreduce/eliminatetariffsonvarious
goods,promotingtradeamongthememberstates(BusinessToday,2015).

Factors of Production
ThefactorsofproductioninRussiaincludeland(thenaturalresourcesincludingoilandgas
reserves,aswellastheagriculturallandwhichcomprisesof13.1%ofthetotallandareaof
thecountry),labour(includingtheskilledandnon-skilledlabour,whichcomprisesofaround
95%oftheRussianlabourforce),enterprise(includingtheservicesectorthatcontributes
mosttothecountrysGDP,aswellastheindustrialsector),andcapital(whichthecountry
earnsthroughexportsetc.)(TheWorldFactBook,n.d.).

Natural Resources
Russiahasseveralnaturalresourcesatitsdisposalthatitcanusetosupportitseconomyand
itspeople.Thereareoildeposits,coalmines,naturalgasreserves,aswellasvaluable
mineralsliketinore,titanium,gemdiamond,etc.(Safirova,2013).Russiaalsohasample
supplyoftimberandrareelementsofearth.However,adverseclimaticconditionsand
difficultterrainmakeresourceexploitationsomewhattroublesome(TheWorldFactBook,
n.d.).

Human Resources
Russiahasalabourforceofaround75.25million,accordingtotheestimatesof2014,which
istheeightlargestworkforceintheworld.Mostofthelabourforce,around62.5%is
involvedintheservicesector,while27.8%isinvolvedintheindustrialsector.The
agriculturalsectoremploysaround9.7%oftheRussianworkforce.Theunemploymentrate
inthecountryis5.1%,whichisthe46thlargestintheworld.Hence,mostoftheRussian
workforceisskilled(TheWorldFactBook,n.d.).

Main Industry Supporting the Economy

Theservicesector,whichcontributesaround59.7%tothecountrysGDPisthemainindustry
thatsupportstheRussianeconomy,followedbytheindustrialandtheagriculturalsectors.

Major Trade Partners

AccordingtoRussiaInsider(2015),Russiasmajortradepartnersinclude:China,
Netherlands,Germany,Italy,Ukraine,Belarus,Turkey,Japan,USA,SouthKorea,and
Poland.

People
Accordingto2014estimates,theGDPpercapitaforRussiais$24,800(TheWorldFact
Book,n.d.).
TheRussiangovernmenthasprovidedseveralservicestoitscitizensincludingenhanced
accesstofinancialservices(TheWorldBank,2013),financialservicesforthelowincome
people(Ivanov,2008),aswellasutilitiesandproductionbenefits.

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