GENERAL INFORMATION  IOC Code: RUS  Country: Russia  Continent: Europe President: Vladimir Putin  Prime Minister: Mikhail Fradkov  Capital: Moscow  Largest City: Moscow  Currency:  Ruble (RUB)  Official languages: Russian  Motto:  POPULATION  Population: 142 754 000  GDP/inhabitant (US $): 12 096  Density (inhabitants/km2): 8.3 Average age (in years):   Life expectancy (in years):  COMMUNICATION  Internet code: .ru  Calling code: +7

 DESCRIPTION
Russia, the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia. With an area of 17,075,400 km², Russia is the largest country in the world, covering almost twice the total area of the next-largest country, Canada, and has significant mineral and energy resources. Russia has the world's ninth-largest population. Russia shares land borders with the following countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It is also close to the United States, Sweden, and Japan across relatively small stretches of water.

Formerly the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Russia became the Russian Federation following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. After the Soviet era, the area, population, and industrial production of the Soviet Union that were located in Russia passed on to the Russian Federation.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly-independent Russian Federation emerged as a great power. Russia is considered the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic matters and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is the leading nation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a member of the G8 as well as other international organisations.

Source: www.wikipedia.com