RUSSIA

Russia: officially the Russian Federation , is the largest state of the planet. Its population was estimated 143.3 million in 2013 . The country straddles the Northeast Asia (74.7 %) and Europe (25.3 % of the area ) . Its territory extends from west to east ( from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok ) over 9000 km an area of seventeen million square kilometers (twice that of the United States, thirty-one times the France , 413 times that of Switzerland , 560 times the size of Belgium) and nine time horaires . Its capital is Moscow, the official language and the Russian ruble currency . Although surrounded by many oceans and seas , Russia is characterized by a continental climate with cold and hostile environments on most of the territory .
Russia has mineral resources ( coal , iron, nickel , diamond, etc. . ) And energy ( oil, natural gas , hydro) abundant that make it one of the largest producers and exporters . She inherited the USSR , a powerful heavy industry ( steel mills , refineries, chemical industry, etc. . ) . Sectors related to armaments, nuclear and aerospace are also highly developed , which enabled the country to play a pioneering role in the conquest of space.

The Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR ) was the largest of the fifteen republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , which it was the historic core .
At the end of 1991, the USSR broke into fifteen independent sovereign states , including Russia, which inherited the former superpower three quarters of its territory , more than half of its population , two-thirds of its industry and half of its agricultural production. Russia also occupies its place in continuity in international institutions, including the permanent seat in the Security Council of the UN, while also taking on the financial liability of the USSR. She is also founder of the Community of Independent States (CIS ), which brings together eleven of the fifteen former Soviet republics .
It remains a federation of 83 subjects have varying political and economic autonomy . Cutting, taking into account inter alia the presence of minorities existed in the former USSR.
After the end of the Soviet system in the late 1980s and early 1990s , the country has gradually adopted a market economy and a pluralistic parliamentary system. Aspiring to follow globalization , Russia also considers the bridge between Europe and Asia. Today, Russia is part of the BRICS alongside China, India, South Africa and Brazil . She is currently the ninth world power in 2011 in terms of nominal GDP and the sixth in terms of purchasing power.
Becoming the first European market capitalization, gas giant Gazprom became the symbol of the Russian expansion , as well as the global leader in aluminum Rusal .