Part 168
Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. Russian industry is primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers - in 2009 Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest exporter of oil, and the third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminum - and other less competitive heavy industries that remain dependent on the Russian domestic market. This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices. The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country's high technology sectors, but with few results so far. The economy had averaged 7% growth since the 1998 Russian financial crisis, resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class. The Russian economy, however, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up. The Central Bank of Russia spent one-third of its $600 billion international reserves, the world's third largest, in late 2008 to slow the devaluation of the ruble. The government also devoted $200 billion in a rescue plan to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts coming due. The economic decline bottomed out in mid-2009 and the economy began to grow in the first quarter of 2010. However, a severe drought and fires in central Russia reduced agricultural output, prompting a ban on grain exports for part of the year, and slowed growth in other sectors such as manufacturing and retail trade. Russia's long-term challenges include a shrinking workforce, a high level of corruption, difficulty in accessing capital for smaller, non-energy companies, and poor infrastructure in need of large investments.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$2.229 trillion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 7 $2.147 trillion (2009 est.)
$2.331 trillion (2008 est.)
note: data are in 2010 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$1.477 trillion (2010 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3.8% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 88 -7.9% (2009)
5.2% (2008)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$15,900 (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 71 $15,300 (2009 est.)
$16,600 (2008 est.)
note: data are in 2010 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4.2%
industry: 33.8%
services: 62% (2010 est.)
Labor force:
75.55 million (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 7
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 31.9%
services: 58.1% (2008)
Unemployment rate:
7.6% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 83 8.4% (2009)
Population below poverty line:
13.1% (2009)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 30.4% (September 2007)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
42.2 (2009) country comparison to the world: 53 39.9 (2001)
Investment (gross fixed):
18.9% of GDP (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 99
Public debt:
9.5% of GDP (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 123 8.3% of GDP (2009 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.7% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 172 11.7% (2009)
Central bank discount rate:
8.75% (31 December 2009) country comparison to the world: 28 13% (31 December 2008)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
15.31% (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 72 12.23% (31 December 2008 est.)
Stock of narrow money:
$269.1 billion (31 December 2010 est) country comparison to the world: 16 $203.7 billion (31 December 2009 est)
Stock of broad money:
$650.7 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 20 $645.5 billion (31 December 2009)
Stock of domestic credit:
$549.9 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 24 $420.4 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$861.4 billion (31 December 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 7 $1.322 trillion (31 December 2008)
$1.503 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
Agriculture - products:
grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk
Industries:
complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defense industries including radar, missile production, and advanced electronic components, shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts
Industrial production growth rate:
8.3% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 25
Electricity - production:
925.9 billion kWh (2009) country comparison to the world: 5
Electricity - consumption:
857.6 billion kWh (2009) country comparison to the world: 5
Electricity - exports:
17.7 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Electricity - imports:
3.066 billion kWh (2009)
Oil - production:
10.12 million bbl/day (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 1
Oil - consumption:
2.74 million bbl/day (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 6
Oil - exports:
5.43 million bbl/day (2009) country comparison to the world: 2
Oil - imports:
42,000 bbl/day (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 94
Oil - proved reserves:
74.2 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 8
Natural gas - production:
583.6 billion cu m (2009) country comparison to the world: 2
Natural gas - consumption:
439.6 billion cu m (2009) country comparison to the world: 3
Natural gas - exports:
179.1 billion cu m (2009) country comparison to the world: 1
Natural gas - imports:
35.1 billion cu m (2009) country comparison to the world: 8
Natural gas - proved reserves:
47.57 trillion cu m (1 January 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 1
Current account balance:
$68.85 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 4 $48.97 billion (2009 est.)
Exports:
$376.7 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 13 $303.4 billion (2009 est.)
Exports - commodities:
petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood and wood products, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Exports - partners:
Netherlands 10.62%, Italy 6.46%, Germany 6.24%, China 5.69%, Turkey 4.3%, Ukraine 4.01% (2009)
Imports:
$237.3 billion (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 19 $191.8 billion (2009 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, vehicles, pharmaceutical products, plastic, semi-finished metal products, meat, fruits and nuts, optical and medical instruments, iron, steel
Imports - partners:
Germany 14.39%, China 13.98%, Ukraine 5.48%, Italy 4.84%, US 4.46% (2009)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$483.1 billion (30 November 2010) country comparison to the world: 2 $439.4 billion (31 December 2009)
Debt - external:
$480.2 billion (30 November 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 21 $467.2 billion (31 December 2009)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$306.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 17 $256.8 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$260.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 16 $224.5 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Exchange rates:
Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar - 30 (2010), 31.742 (2009), 24.853 (2008), 25.581 (2007), 27.191 (2006)
Communications ::Russia
Telephones - main lines in use:
44.802 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 4
Telephones - mobile cellular:
230.5 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 4
Telephone system:
general assessment: the telephone system is experiencing significant changes; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; the estimated number of mobile subscribers jumped from fewer than 1 million in 1998 to some 230 million in 2009; a large demand for fixed line service remains unsatisfied
domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density
international: country code - 7; Russia is connected internationally by undersea fiber optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems (2008)
Broadcast media:
6 national TV stations with the federal government owning 1 and holding a controlling interest in a second; state-owned Gazprom maintains a controlling interest in a third national channel; government-affiliated Bank Rossiya owns controlling interest in a fourth and fifth, while the sixth national channel is owned by the Moscow city administration; roughly 3,300 national, regional, and local TV stations operating with over two-thirds completely or partially controlled by the federal or local governments; satellite TV services are available; 2 state-run national radio networks with a third majority-owned by Gazprom; roughly 2,400 public and commercial radio stations (2007)
Internet country code:
.ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy domain ".su" that was allocated to the Soviet Union and is being phased out
Internet hosts:
10.382 million (2010) country comparison to the world: 12
Internet users:
40.853 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 10
Transportation ::Russia
Airports:
1,213 (2010) country comparison to the world: 5
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 593
over 3,047 m: 51
2,438 to 3,047 m: 201
1,524 to 2,437 m: 126
914 to 1,523 m: 98
under 914 m: 117 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 620
over 3,047 m: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 68
914 to 1,523 m: 84
under 914 m: 452 (2010)
Heliports:
50 (2010)
Pipelines:
condensate 122 km; gas 159,552 km; liquid petroleum gas 127 km; oil 74,285 km; refined products 13,658 km (2009)
Railways:
total: 87,157 km country comparison to the world: 2 broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (on Sakhalin Island)
note: an additional 30,000 km of non-common carrier lines serve industries (2006)
Roadways:
total: 982,000 km country comparison to the world: 8 paved: 776,000 km (includes 30,000 km of expressways)
unpaved: 206,000 km
note: includes public, local, and departmental roads (2009)
Waterways:
102,000 km (including 48,000 km with guaranteed depth) country comparison to the world: 2 note: 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea (2009)
Merchant marine:
total: 1,097 country comparison to the world: 11 by type: bulk carrier 22, cargo 634, carrier 2, chemical tanker 38, combination ore/oil 39, container 13, passenger 15, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 236, refrigerated cargo 77, roll on/roll off 11, specialized tanker 4
foreign-owned: 145 (Belgium 4, Cyprus 11, Italy 9, South Korea 1, Switzerland 4, Turkey 104, Ukraine 12)
registered in other countries: 443 (Antigua and Barbuda 3, Belize 32, Bulgaria 2, Cambodia 60, Comoros 21, Cook Islands 1, Cyprus 47, Dominica 6, Georgia 7, Hong Kong 1, Liberia 108, Malaysia 2, Malta 47, Marshall Islands 6, Moldova 5, Mongolia 4, Panama 39, Saint Kitts and Nevis 11, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 15, Sierra Leone 6, Vanuatu 1, unknown 19) (2010)
Ports and terminals:
Kaliningrad, Kavkaz, Nakhodka, Novorossiysk, Primorsk, Saint Petersburg, Vostochnyy
Military ::Russia
Military branches:
Ground Forces (Sukhoputnyye Voyskia, SV), Navy (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot, VMF), Air Forces (Voyenno-Vozdushniye Sily, VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV), Strategic Rocket Forces (Raketnyye Voyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya, RVSN), and Space Troops (Kosmicheskiye Voyska, KV) are independent "combat arms," not subordinate to any of the three branches; Russian Ground Forces include the following combat arms: motorized-rifle troops, tank troops, missile and artillery troops, air defense of the ground troops (2010)
Military service age and obligation:
18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; service obligation - 1 year (conscripts can only be sent to combat zones after 6 months training); reserve obligation to age 50
note: over 60% of draft-age Russian males receive some type of deferment - generally health related - each draft cycle (2009)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 34,850,217
females age 16-49: 35,693,977 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 20,746,777
females age 16-49: 27,174,148 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 712,838
female: 678,623 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
3.9% of GDP (2005) country comparison to the world: 26
Transnational Issues ::Russia
Disputes - international:
China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with the 2004 Agreement, ending their centuries-long border disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting all but small, strategic segments of the land boundary and the maritime boundary; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed equidistance boundaries in the Caspian seabed but the littoral states have no consensus on dividing the water column; Russia and Norway reached an agreement on how to align Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean boundaries over EEZ and continental shelf in an agreement signed on 15 September 2010; this agreement is pending ratification by the respective national assemblies; various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union following the Second World War but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands; in May 2005, Russia recalled its signatures to the 1996 border agreements with Estonia (1996) and Latvia (1997), when the two Baltic states announced issuance of unilateral declarations referencing Soviet occupation and ensuing territorial losses; Russia demands better treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia; Estonian citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as an EU member state with an EU external border, where strict Schengen border rules apply; preparations for the demarcation delimitation of land boundary with Ukraine have commenced; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going expert-level discussions; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation should commence in 2007; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 18,000-160,000 (displacement from Chechnya and North Ossetia) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for various purposes; it remains a significant source of women trafficked to over 50 countries for commercial sexual exploitation; Russia is also a transit and destination country for men and women trafficked from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and North Korea to Central and Western Europe and the Middle East for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; internal trafficking remains a problem in Russia with women trafficked from rural areas to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation, and men trafficked internally and from Central Asia for forced labor in the construction and agricultural industries; debt bondage is common among trafficking victims, and child sex tourism remains a concern
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Russia is on the Tier 2 Watch List for a fifth consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking over the previous year, particularly in providing assistance to victims of trafficking; comprehensive trafficking victim assistance legislation, which would address key deficiencies, has been pending before the Duma since 2003 and was neither passed nor enacted in 2007 (2008)
Illicit drugs:
limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; major consumer of opiates
page last updated on January 20, 2011
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@Rwanda (Africa)
Introduction ::Rwanda
Background:
In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions, culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand remained in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; the former Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the RPF tried in 1990. Rwanda held its first local elections in 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in 2003. Rwanda in 2009 staged a joint military operation with the Congolese Army in DRC to rout out the Hutu extremist insurgency there and Kigali and Kinshasa restored diplomatic relations. Rwanda also joined the Commonwealth in late 2009.
Geography ::Rwanda
Location:
Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geographic coordinates:
2 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 26,338 sq km country comparison to the world: 148 land: 24,668 sq km
water: 1,670 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maryland
Land boundaries:
total: 893 km
border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible
Terrain:
mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m
highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m
Natural resources:
gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 45.56%
permanent crops: 10.25%
other: 44.19% (2005)
Irrigated land:
90 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
5.2 cu km (2003)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.15 cu km/yr (24%/8%/68%)
per capita: 17 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo
volcanism: Visoke (elev. 3,711 m, 12,175 ft), located on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the country's only historically active volcano
Environment - current issues:
deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note:
landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural
People ::Rwanda
Population:
11,055,976 country comparison to the world: 74 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2010 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.7% (male 2,309,323/female 2,277,269)
15-64 years: 54.8% (male 2,932,686/female 2,961,300)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 106,740/female 158,993) (2010 est.)
Median age:
total: 18.6 years
male: 18.4 years
female: 18.9 years (2010 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.818% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 16
Birth rate:
37.26 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 24
Death rate:
10.19 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 54
Net migration rate:
1.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 54
Urbanization:
urban population: 18% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4.2% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2010 est.)
Infant mortality rate: