The history of the Russian Federation is overwhelming. It is apparent on every corner of the country’s staggeringly awesome cities, such as Moscow and St Petersburg, with their architecturalmarvels. But it also dwells in huge and remote expanses such as Siberia, filled with ancient forests and the world’s deepest lake. Everything exists here on a mammoth level. Since the 15th century, when the Grand Prince of Moscow, Ivan III (the Great),
annexed the rival principalities of Russia, Russia’s ambitions have been as great as this first national sovereign’s appellation.
After Lenin’s death in 1924, his successor Josef Stalin instituted a crash programme of industrialisation and the forced collectivisation
of agriculture, an indiscriminately brutal process that caused mass starvation. Stalin begot purges in which thousands were
shot or disappeared into the vast network of concentration camps famously described as the ‘gulag archipelago’. An estimated
20 million people then died driving out Hitler’s armies in WWII – referred to as the Great Patriotic War.
Yet by the time the war damage had been repaired, the USSR had become the world’s second nuclear power, with a buffer zone
of Communist-controlled governments in Eastern Europe. Foreign policy was dominated by relations with the USA, which fluctuated
from outright hostility (coming to the brink of nuclear war during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis) to the ‘Cold Peace’ of détente,
fully actuated with the presidency of Boris Yeltsin in 1991 and the dismantling of Communism.
But some incredibly tricky problems remain. The ruling class are now the security forces, the military, the so-called ‘oligarchs’
and regional governors controlling fiefdoms; they have become more rich as the majority has suffered, despite economic improvements.
The crisis surrounding Chechnya is another blot to be cleaned: Russo-Chechen relations are replete with warfare and large-scale
brutality on both sides. A political solution is elusive.
Perhaps these are issues that come ’with the territory’. The Russian Federation’s enormity has brought with it the ‘nationalities
problem’. Gone are the days of the 100-plus distinct ethnic groups in the Soviet Union – but the Russian Federation is still
a melting pot, straddling two continents, breathing both Western and Eastern air, and sometimes undermining the cohesion and integrity of the nation in the process.
Yet it is precisely because this country is so complex that it remains so endlessly fascinating.
eneral Information
Area
17,075,400 sq km (6,592,850 sq miles).
Population
141.5 million (UN 2005).
Population Density
8.28 per sq km.
Capital
Moscow. Population: 8.3 million (2005).
Government
Republic since 1991.
Language
Russian. English, French or German are spoken by some people.
Religion
Mainly Christian with the Russian Orthodox Church being the largest Christian community. Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish minorities
also exist.
Time
Social Conventions
It is customary to shake hands when greeting someone. Company or business gifts are well received. Each region has its own
characteristic mode of dress. Conservative wear is suitable for most places and the seasonal weather should always be borne
in mind. Smoking is acceptable unless stated otherwise. Avoid ostentatious displays of wealth; it is advisable to keep expensive
jewellery, watches and cameras out of sight and take precautions against pickpocketing.
Photography: It is prohibited to take photographs of any military installation and/or establishments or sites of strategic importance.
Failure to abide by this could result in police arrest.
Overview 
