- Surface area: 17,075,400 km2
- Population: 141,850,000 (2009)
Urban population: 72.8% (2009) - Language: There are about 160 different ethnic groups that speak around 100 languages. Russian is the only official language, but the Constitution grants the republics of the Russian Federation the right to declare native languages co-official.
- GDP: US$ 1,230,725,856,403 (2009)
GDP per capita: US$ 8.676 (2009)
Unemployment: 6.7% (2010) - Politics and society: The Russian Federation was founded in 1991, after the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Its system of government is that of a semi-presidential republic: the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister the head of government. The Federation is divided into 83 politico-administrative bodies: 21 republics that exercise a high degree of autonomy over most internal issues and have their own constitution; 9 krais (territories); 46 óblasts(provinces); 4 autonomous districts; 1 autonomous province; and 2 federal cities. The Russian Federation has a great wealth of natural resources and an extraordinary cultural diversity. Ethnic conflicts are among its main problems.
Internet penetration: 42.8% (2010)
Mobile phone penetration: 147% (2010) - Literacy: 100% (2008)
- Publishing industry: Russia has over 5,000 publishing houses and 3,000 bookstores. In 2010 the number of titles published was 121,738, 4.6% less than in 2009. This downward trend was more pronounced in 2009, a year in which recorded sales amounted to 2.45 billion dollars – 20% less than in 2008. Piracy is one of the main problems facing the industry. In addition, there is currently no fixed-price policy. With regard to exports, the main destinations are the former Soviet republics, as well as Germany, Israel and the United States. Russia has a rich tradition of book fairs with the main exhibitions being the Moscow International Book Fair, the Saint Petersburg Book Salon, and the Krasnoyarsk Book Culture Fair.
Sources: International Telecommunication Union; Internet World Stats; World Bank; Russian Book Chamber; Laborsta.