The russian federation is the largest country in the world

Unit 1. The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometers. The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Byelorussia, the Ukraine. It also has a sea-borders with the USA and Japan.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountains chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two million rivers in Russia. Europe’s biggest river, the Volga, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers- the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena- flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is very rich in oil, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It’s one of the oldest Russian cities.

At present, the political and economic situation in the country is rather complicated. There are a lot of problems in the national economy of the Russian Federation. The industrial production is decreasing. The prices are constantly rising, the rate of inflation is very high. People are losing their jobs because many factories and plants are going bankrupt.

But in spite of the problems Russia is facing at present, there are a lot of opportunities for this country to become one of the leading countries in the world. I’m sure that we, the younger generation, can do very much to make Russia as strong and powerful as it used to be.

5.1.2 Vocabulary. Pronounce the following words

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia; Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres. The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. There are steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are; over two million rivers in Russia. Europe’s biggest river, the Volga, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers — the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena — flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake (1,600 metres) is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can see the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north, to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President. The legislative power is exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities.

Today there are a lot of opportunities for this country to become one of the leading countries in the world. It has great past and promising future.

The Russian Federation. Российская Федерация

The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres.

The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Belorussia, the Ukraine. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There’s hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It’s its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It’s one of the oldest Russian cities.

There are a lot of opportunities Russia to become one of the leading countries in the world. I’m sure that we, the younger generation, can do very much to make our country strong and powerful.

Российская Федерация

Российская Федерация является самой большой страной в мире. Она занимает приблизительно одну седьмую часть земли. Она охватывает восточную часть Европы и северную части Азии. Ее общая площадь составляет около 17 миллионов квадратных километров.

Страна омывается 12 морями 3 океанов: Тихого океана, Арктического и Атлантического. На юге Россия граничит с Китаем, Монголией, Кореей, Казахстаном, Грузией и Азербайджаном. На западе она граничит с Норвегией, Финляндией, странами Балтии, Белоруссией, Украиной. Она также имеет морскую границу с США.

Едва ли есть другая страна в мире, где может быть найдено такое разнообразие пейзажа и растительности. Мы имеем степи на юге, равнины и леса в центральной части, тундру и тайгу на севере, горные местности и пустыни на востоке страны.

Есть две большие равнины в России: Великая Русская равнина и Западно-Сибирская низменность. Есть несколько горных цепей на территории страны: Урал, Кавказ, Алтай и другие. Большая горная цепь, Урал, отделяет Европу от Азии.

Россия обладает одной шестой частью мировых лесов. Они сосредоточены на европейском севере страны, в Сибири и на Дальнем Востоке.

На обширной территории страны существуют различные типы климата, от арктического на севере до субтропического на юге. В средине страны климат умеренно континентальный.

Россия богата нефтью, углем, железной рудой, природным газом, медью, никелем и другими полезными ископаемыми.

Россия является парламентской республикой. Главой государства является президент. Законодательные полномочия осуществляются Думой.

Есть много возможностей, чтобы Россия стала одной из ведущих стран в мире. Я уверен, что мы, молодое поколение, можем сделать очень многое, чтобы сделать нашу страну сильной и могучей.

«Иностранный язык» (английский язык) для экономистов

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.

The Russian Federation is a presidential republic headed by the President. The country government con­sists of three branches: legislative, executive and judi­cial. The President controls only the executive branch — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

Our country has a multiparty system. The largest and most influential political parties are the «United Russia», the Communist party, «The Patriots of Russia», «The Justice Russia», «The Apple», Liberal-Demo­cratic and some others.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social sys­tems.

But in spite of the problems Russia is facing at present, there are a lot of opportunities for this country to become one of the leading countries in the world. I’m sure that we, the younger generation, can do very much to make Russia as strong and powerful as it used to be.

Тема / Топик по английскому языку:
The Russian Federation

In area, the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres. It occupies most of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Russia stretches from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the East and from the Arctic Ocean in the North to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, the Altai, and the Sayan mountains, and the Amur and the Ussuri rivers in the South. It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the north-west, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and the Ukraine in the West, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the south-west, and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China along the southern border. The federation comprises 21 republics.

The climate in Russia varies from arctic in the north to continental in the central part of the country and subtropical in the south.

The current population of Russia is about 50 million people; 82% of the population are Russians.

Russia is a highly-industrialized-agrarian republic. Its vast mineral resources include oil and natural gas, coal, iron, zinc, lead, nickel, aluminium, gold and other non-ferrous metals. Russia has the world’s largest oil and natural gas resources. Three-quarters of the republic’s mineral wealth is concentrated in Siberia and the Far East.

Approximately 10 million people are engaged in agriculture and they produce half of the region’s grain, meat, milk and other dairy products. The largest granaries are located in the North Caucasus and the Volga and the Amur regions.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people.

Russia is a constitutional republic, with President as Head of State. The legislative power is vested in the Federal Assembly, consisting of the Council of Federation and the State Duma.

Topical Vocabulary

The Russian Federation (1)

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres.

The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Byelorussia and Ukraine. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two million rivers in Russia. Europe’s biggest river, the Volga, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers — the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena — flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into Pacific Ocean.

Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake (1600 meters) is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.
On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of the State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities.

At present, the political and economic situation in the country is rather complicated. There are a lot of problems in the national economy of the Russian Federation.

But in spite of the problems Russia is facing at present, there are a lot of opportunities for this country to become one of the leading countries in the world.

Российская Федерация (1)

Российская Федерация — самая большая страна в мире. Она занимает приблизительно одну седьмую часть поверхности земли. Она охватывает восточную часть Европы и северную часть Азии. Ее общая территория — приблизительно 17 миллионов квадратных километров.

Страна омывается 12 морями 3-х океанов: Тихого океана, Арктики и Атлантического океана на юге. Россия граничит с Китаем, Монголией, Кореей, Казахстаном, Грузией и Азербайджаном. На западе — с Норвегией, Финляндией, Балтийскими государствами, Белоруссией и Украиной. У нее также есть морская граница с США.

Едва ли найдется страна в мире, где есть такое разнообразие пейзажа и растительности. У нас есть степи на юге, равнины и леса в центре страны, тундра и тайга на севере, горная местность и пустыни на востоке.

В России есть две Великие равнины: Большая российская равнина и Западно-сибирская низменность. На территории страны есть несколько горных цепей: Урал, Кавказ, Алтай и другие. Наибольшая горная цепь, Урал, отделяет Европу от Азии.

В России есть более чем два миллиона рек. Самая большая река Европы, Волга, впадает в Каспийское море. Главные сибирские реки — Обь, Енисей и Лена — текут с юга на север. Амур на Дальнем Востоке впадает в Тихий океан.

Россия богата красивыми озерами. Самым глубоким в мире (1600 метров) является озеро Байкал. Оно намного меньше, чем Балтийское море, но в нем намного больше воды, чем в Балтийском море. Вода в озере настолько прозрачна, что, если посмотреть вниз, можно посчитать камни на дне.

На долю России приходится одна шестая часть лесов в мире. Они сконцентрированы на европейском севере страны, в Сибири и на Дальнем Востоке.
На обширной территории страны разнообразный климат — от арктического на севере до субтропического на юге. В центре страны климат является умеренно-континентальный.

Россия очень богата нефтью, углем, железной рудой, природным газом, медью, никелем и другими полезными ископаемыми.

Россия — парламентская республика. Глава государства — президент. Законодательные полномочия осуществляются Думой.

Столица России — Москва. Это ее наибольший политический, научный, культурный и индустриальный центр. Это один из самых старых российских городов.

В настоящее время политическая и экономическая ситуация в стране очень сложна. В народном хозяйстве Российской Федерации существует много проблем.

Но несмотря на проблемы, с которыми сталкивается Россия в настоящее время, у этой страны есть все шансы стать одной из ведущих стран в мире.

Russia

Российская Федерация — самая большая страна в мире. Она занимает примерно одну седьмую часть поверхности Земли. Россия покрывает территорию восточной Европы и северной Азии. Ее общая площадь — примерно 17 миллионов квадратных километров. Страну омывают 12 морей трех океанов: Тихого, Северного Ледовитого и Атлантического. На юге Россия граничит с Китаем, Монголией, Кореей, Казахстаном, Грузией и Азербайджаном. На западе — с Норвегией, Финляндией, странами Балтии, Белоруссией и Украиной. У нее также есть морская граница с США.
Население России составляет 145,5 миллиона человек. 83 процента из них русские. В России 1030 городов. Москва — столица и самый крупный город с населением почти 9 миллионов человек. В мире едва ли найдется другая страна, в которой можно найти такое разнообразие пейзажа и растительности. На юге у нас степи, в центре — равнины и леса, на севере — тундра и тайга, на востоке — горы и пустыни.
Россия расположена на двух равнинах. Это Русская (Восточно — Европейская) равнина и Западно-Сибирская низменность. По территории страны проходит несколько горных цепей: Урал, Кавказ, Алтай и другие. Самая большая горная цепь, Урал, отделяет Европу от Азии.
Россия — земля длинных рек и глубоких озер. В нашей стране больше двух миллионов рек. Сильно развитая речная система Волги имеет большую историческую, экономическую и культурную важность для страны. Она явилась колыбелью таких древних городов, как Владимир, Тверь, Ярославль, Казань, Нижний Новгород. Волга — крупнейшая река Европы. Она впадает в Каспийское море, которое в действительности является крупнейшим в мире озером. Главные реки Сибири — Обь, Енисей и Лена — текут с юга на север. Амур — река, протекающая на Дальнем Востоке, впадает в Тихий океан.
Россия богата прекрасными озерами. Глубочайшее озеро в мире (1600 метров) — Байкал. Байкал намного меньше Балтийского моря, но воды в нем куда больше. Вода в озере такая чистая, что если вы посмотрите вниз, то сможете сосчитать камни на дне.
В России находится одна шестая всех лесов мира. Они сконцентрированы на Европейском Севере страны, в Сибири и на Дальнем Востоке.
На обширной территории страны есть разные типы климата, от арктического на севере до субтропического на юге. Но преобладает зона умеренного климата с четырьмя временами года. Зимы холодные и ветреные, с большим количеством снега. Лето довольно жаркое и сухое. В Сибири температура зимой падает до 50 градусов ниже нуля. Самая низкая зарегистрированная температура — 70 градусов.
Животный мир Севера включает моржей, тюленей, полярных медведей и полярных лис. В центральных районах много волков, лис, зайцев и белок. Знаменитые русские меха — соболь, норка и горностай. Бурый медведь российских лесов — что-то вроде символа России.
Россия очень богата нефтью, углем, железной рудой, природным газом, медью, никелем и другими полезными ископаемыми. Три четверти всех полезных ископаемых, нефти, природного газа, угля, золота и бриллиантов добывают и производят в Сибири.
Российская Федерация — президентская республика. Федеральное правительство состоит из трех ветвей: законодательной, исполнительной и судебной. Законодательная власть осуществляется Федеральным Собранием. Оно состоит из двух палат: Совета Федерации и Государственной Думы. Исполнительная власть принадлежит правительству, возглавляемому премьер-министром. Судебную власть представляют Конституционный суд, Верховный суд и суды на местах. Все три ветви контролируются и уравновешиваются президентом.
Ныне государственный символ России — трехцветное знамя. Гимн Россия — «Патриотическая песня» Глинки. Новый национальный герб — двуглавый орел, самый древний символ России.
В настоящее время политическая и экономическая ситуация в стране довольно сложная. В национальной экономике Российской Федерации много проблем. Уровень промышленного производства падает. Цены постоянно растут, уровень инфляции очень высок. Люди теряют работу, потому что многие фабрики и заводы становятся банкротами.
Но несмотря на проблемы, с которыми в настоящем сталкивается Россия, у страны много возможностей стать одним из мировых лидеров. Я уверен, что мы, молодое поколение, можем сделать очень многое для того, чтобы Россия стала такой же сильной и могущественной, как раньше.
источник

Tourism in Russia
Tourism provides one of the possibilities to know more about other countries. Now people travel much more than they ever used to. Many people travel in their own country and millions of them travel abroad.
Russia, the largest country in the world, has always attracted visitors from neighbouring and distant countries. Russia is proud of its architecture, painting, and music. A lot of tourists come to our country to see its beauty and to admire its cultural achievements. As a rule they want to visit Moscow, St. Petersburg and the towns of the «Golden Ring».
Russia is located in the eastern part of Europe and in the northern part of Asia. It boarders on thirteen countries. Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans. Russia is connected with the Atlantic Ocean through the Baltic Sea in the west and the Black Sea in the south. The Arctic Ocean and its seas including the White, Barents, Kara, Laptev, East-Siberian Seas wash Russia in the north. The Pacific Ocean and its seas the Bering, Okhotsk, and Japanese Seas are in the east of Russia.
The Russian Plain, the Ural Mountains, the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, and the Far East are the main areas of Russia The Russian Plain occupies the European part of Russia. The Ural Mountains separate Europe from Asia. The West Siberian Plain links with the Central Siberian Plateau. The Far East of Russia comprises the Kamchatka and Chukchi peninsulas and the Kuril and Sakhalin islands.
Russia’s greatest rivers are the Don and Volga in its European part, and the Ob and Yenisey in West Siberia. The Ob is the longest river in Russia, but the Volga is the most important one. Many Russian towns are located along the Volga river.
Russia is densely populated, but its population is unequally distributed. People prefer to live in the European part of the country. Siberia is thinly inhabited. There are more than sixty nationalities and ethnic groups in Russia. Russia is an urban country — the majority of the Russian citizens live in cities. As Russia occupies vast territories there are various climatic zones in the country. Continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers prevails on the territory of Russia.
Russia is rich in mineral deposits such as coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as of iron ore, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, aluminium, and tin. Natural resources determine the development of the Russian economy. Russia’s heavy industries produce much of the nation’s steel and most of its heavy machinery.
The Russian Federation was founded in 1991. The Constitution was adopted in 1993. Russia is a Presidential Republic. It is headed by the President. The President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he makes treaties, enforces laws, appoints the Prime Minister, cabinet members, and key judges.
The Russian government consists of three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. The power is distributed in such a way that each branch checks and balances the others. The legislative power is vested in the Federal Assembly. It consists of the Federation Council (upper house) and the State Duma (lower house). The members of the State Duma are elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The Federation Council is not elected. It is formed of the heads of the regions. Each Chamber is headed by the Chairman. Legislature is initiated in the State Duma. But to become a law a bill must be approved by the Lower and Upper Houses and signed by the President. The executive power belongs to the Government. The judicial branch is represented by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and regional courts.
The national flag of the Russian Federation is three coloured: white, blue and red. The symbol of the country is a two-headed eagle. Russia’s hymn was created by Alexandrov and Mikhalkov.
According to the Chronicle the history of Early Russia began in the year 862. That year Rurik became the first Russian prince having merged Novgorod and Kiev. Rurik’s successor Prince Oleg did his best to strengthen and expand the nascent state. In 988 Prince Vladimir, the Red Sun, baptised Russia. After the adoption of Christianity churches and monasteries sprang up in the country. The beautiful cathedrals and churches of Early Russia still stand in their glory. From the 10-th to the 12-th centuries Russia was a progressive Christian state. With the development of feudalism the Russian state disintegrated into separate principalities. The princes quarrelled among themselves and waged feudal wars. The hordes of armed nomads conquered the Russian land. The yoke lasted till 1380. Russia’s strength was diminishing. Lands on the Black sea coast and along the Volga river were lost. The campaign to liberate Russia was headed by Moscow. For the first time Moscow was mentioned by the chroniclers in 1147. At that time Russian lands began to unite round Moscow, which led to the establishment of a strong centralised state.
During its long history Moscow was exposed to several invasions. In 1237 it fell under the power of the Golden Horde. Moscow began to rise in the 14-th century. Under Ivan III the Great, in the mid-fifteenth century, Moscow became the principal city of the state of Muscovy. During the Time of Troubles Moscow was occupied by the Polish invaders but they were defeated by the popular levy headed by Minin and Pozharsky. The army of Napoleon entered Moscow on September 15, 1812. The emperor was disappointed that no Russian bowed forward, offering him the city keys. Napoleon settled in the Kremlin. The city was set ablaze. Fires spread to the edge of the Kremlin. Napoleon tried to open peace talks. But Alexander I, who was in St. Petersburg, did not wish to discuss peace. Napoleon left Moscow. His warriors were routed by the Russian troops. In 1941 the German armies were defeated not far from Moscow.
Nowadays Moscow is the capital of Russia. It is the largest city of the country. Moscow lies in the valley of the Moskva river. Moscow is a political, administrative, economic, industrial, educational and cultural centre of the Russian Federation. A lot of educational institutions are located here.
There are many places of interest in Moscow. There are a lot of historical monuments, museums, art galleries and theatres in the city. The Historical Museum, the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the State Tretyakov Gallery are known all over the world. The Bolshoy, Mali and Art theatres are famous too.
The Kremlin — the oldest historical and architectural centre — is the heart of Moscow. At first the Kremlin was a wooden fort. Under Dmitry Donskoy the Kremlin was built of white stone. Redbrick walls and towers replaced the walls of white stone at the end of the 15th century. The most ancient tower is the Secret one. It was built in 1485. The Saviour Tower with its Kremlin chimes is the symbol of Russia. The chiming clock was established in 1625. Ivan III invited Italian architects to construct the Kremlin cathedrals. In 1547 Ivan the Terrible was the first Russian tsar to be crowned in the five-domed Assumption Cathedral. From 1721 the coronations of all Russian Emperors were held there. The Archangel Cathedral was the burial place of the Russian Princes and Tsars. Grand Prince Ivan Kalita was the first to be buried here. Altogether there are 53 royal tombs there. The Annunciation Cathedral is the main Russian Cathedral. It is famous for the icons created by Andrew Rublev and his apprentices. Not far from the Assumption Cathedral we can see the Faceted Palace. It is the oldest secular building in Moscow. All coronation feasts were held here. Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the construction of the 16th century, rises in the centre of the Kremlin. On the stone pedestal at the foot of the Bell Tower stands the Tsar-Bell, the largest bell in the world. The bell was cast for the Assumption Belfry. It was damaged during the great fire of Moscow in 1737. In 1836 it was put on the pedestal. Not far from it is the Tsar-Cannon. Senate Square is located between the Senate and the Arsenal. The Grand Kremlin Palace is situated not far from Senate Square. The Russian Emperors usually stayed in the palace when they came to Moscow. It was designed by the architect K. A. Ton in 1840. The Armoury Chamber is the famous museum where military trophies, Tsar’s regalia and church ceremonial items are displayed. The Kremlin workshop was made a museum of military glory after the battle of Poltava in 1709 by Peter Гs order.
All the ceremonies are held in Red Square. At its one end we can see St. Basil’s Cathedral the Blessed. It was built in the mid-16 century for Tsar Ivan IV to commemorate the victory over the Golden Horde. Lobnoye Mesto, a lifted railed platform of white stone, is situated to the left of St. Basil’s Cathedral. Built in the 16-th century it was the place from which all Tsar’s edicts were announced. Lenin’s Mausoleum, designed by A. Shchusev in 1924, is located in Red Square. Until recently it was a monument of great significance. The Historical Museum locks the other end of Red Square. Next to it one can see the reconstructed Iverskay Chapel and the Resurrection gates. Alexander Gardens, laid out at the beginning of the 19-th century, are located beneath the Kremlin walls. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is near the entrance to the Gardens. It is the major memorial to the warriors of the Great Patriotic War.
St. Petersburg is the second Russia’s largest city. St. Petersburg, one of the most beautiful cities of Europe, has played an important role in Russian history. It was founded by Peter I in 1703. St. Petersburg is situated on the Neva river. The city once spread across nearly 100 islands. Canals and natural channels make St. Petersburg a city of waterways and bridges. For two centuries St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire. After the revolutions of 1917, which took place in St. Petersburg it was renamed into Leningrad. During World War II the city was besieged and fiercely defended. Today the city is an important industrial centre and the nation’s largest seaport. In 1991 St. Petersburg got its original name back.
Central St. Petersburg is divided by the Neva River into four parts: the Admiralty Side, Vasilyevsky Island, the Petrograd Side, and the Vyborg Side. The Admiralty Side is rich in museums, monuments, historical buildings and squares. From the Admiralty, the heart of Peter’s city, an avenue known as Nevsky Prospect runs eastward. There are a lot of palaces, churches, stores, cafes, and theatres there.
St. Petersburg is proud of its rich architecture that includes the cathedral of the Peter-Paul Fortress, the Summer Palace, the Winter Palace, the Smolny Convent, the Kazan and St. Isaac’s cathedrals, the Smolny Institute, the new Admiralty, and the Senate. There are many important educational and scientific research centres in St. Petersburg. Among these are: the University of Saint Petersburg, the Academy of Fine Arts, the Institute of Mines, and the Military Medical Academy.
St. Petersburg is a city of culture. There are a lot of theatres and concert halls there. The Mariinsky Theatre has long enjoyed an international reputation. Famous museums include the State Russian Museum, which specialises in Russian painting, and the Hermitage with a rich collection of western European painting. In 1764 the Hermitage was established by Catherine II. It was opened to the public in 1852. In St. Petersburg there are many stadiums and other outdoor recreation facilities provided by the Kirov Park, the Zoo, the botanical gardens, and numerous other parks and gardens.
The «Golden Ring» is a very popular tourist route. It includes towns and villages in the north-eastern part of the former State of Muscovy. It is rich in historical and architectural monuments. Among the most notable towns of the «Golden Ring» route are Pereslavl-Zalessky, the birthplace of the Russian Prince Alexander Nevsky; Rostov Veliky, the finest and largest town of Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky’s principality; Borisoglebsky, the Fortress-Monastery, founded for the protection of the travellers; Uglich, the tragic stage of Tsarevich Dmitry death; Kostroma, known for its elaborate churches and cathedrals; Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Suzdal, and others. All these towns played a very important role in the making of the state of Russia.
The history of Vladimir dates back to the year 1108 when it was founded by Vladimir Monomakh. Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky moved his capital from Kiev to Vladimir in 1157. In 1160 he invited craftsmen to build the Assumption Cathedral. By the 15-th century the city declined. Now Vladimir is famous for its architecture of early Russia.
Suzdal was the capital city of Yury Dolgoruky’s Rostov-Suzdal Principality. After the fall of Kiev Suzdal became a religious, political and economic centre of medieval Russia. Many of its monasteries and convents are associated with the banished princes and nobility. Numerous churches and monasteries were built in Suzdal during the reign of Andrew Bogolyubsky. In the 13-th and 14-th centuries Suzdal-Vladimir principality disintegrated.
I am sure that everything that our foreign guests will see in Russia they will never be able to forget.

– How long are the Urals?
– The Urals stretch for about 2,100 km from north to south.

– What is the highest peak of the Ural Mountains?
– The highest peak, Mount Narodnaya, reaches 1,895 m, and other maintain tops range from 900 to 1,500 m.

– Have you recently visited any museums or theatres?
– Recently I have been to the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts to enjoy the Impressionists’ works of art and the Picasso. As for the theatre, the performance that impressed me greatly was «Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich» at the Mali Theatre. This classical play was wonderfully performed.

– What monuments would you recommend your foreign guests to see?
– First of all they should visit Red Square. There they will see the monuments connected with the history of Russia. In Red Square they will see a monument to Minin and Pozharsky. It was erected in 1818 to commemorate their victory over the Polish invaders in 1612. In front of the Historical museum they will see a monument to Marshal Zhukov. Under his leadership the Soviet Union won World War II. The monument was erected in May 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the victory over Fascist Germany. Then walking up Tverskaya Street their attention can be attracted by the monument to Yury Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow. In Pushkin Square they will see the monument to Alexander Pushkin, the great Russian poet. In Mayakovskaya Square there is a monument to Vladimir Mayakovsky, the Russian poet of the 20-th century. If our guests want to see the dismantled monuments to the political leaders of the previous epoch I shall take them to the square attached to the Central House of Painters.

Russia’s achievements

Russia is proud of its achievements in satellite technology and investigation of outerspace. On October 4, 1957, the world’s first artificial satellite was launched in our country. With «Sputnik-1» a great deal of programmes of space exploration were implemented. Over the next few years a number of unmanned spaceships of various kinds, ranging from meteorological and communications satellites to lunar probes were launched.
On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union launched «Vostok-1». For the first time in the history of mankind a manned spacecraft was launched into outerspace. It carried Yury Gagarin in a single orbit around the Earth. German Titov piloted «Vostok-2» spacecraft. It was launched on August 6, 1961, on the first manned spaceflight of more than a single orbit. Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to travel into space, was launched on June 16, 1963 in «Vostok-6», which completed 48 orbits in 71 hours. In space at the same time was Valery Bykovsky, who had been launched two days earlier in «Vostok-5»; both of them landed on June 19.
«Vostok» flights had demonstrated that man could function while weightless in space. The «Vostok» spacecraft enabled the preparation of new, more complicated flights. Taking over the traditions of the single-sitter «Vostok», multi-sitter «Voskhod» and «Soyuz» spacecraft began to circle around the orbits of the Earth. «Voskhod-2», a two-piloted spacecraft was constructed in such a way that the cosmonaut could leave the ship during flight. On March 18, 1965, Aleksey Leonov left the spacecraft through an airlock to become the first man to float free in space.
Developed for the Earth-orbital space station programme «Soyuz» aircraft were equipped for extended missions of scientific experimentation while in the Earth orbit of up to 30 days duration. There were 40 manned and unmanned «Soyuz» spaceships which were launched between 1967 and 1981. It should be stressed that 30 «Soyuz» flights involved its docking with an orbiting «Salyut» space station. The first record for the longest manned mission in spaceflight history was set in 1981 by the crew of «Soyuz-35». It remained on board «Salyut-6» for 185 days. Other notable «Soyuz» flights include «Apollo-Soyuz» Test Project, the first joint space venture undertaken by the United States and the Soviet Union. During this mission, conducted in July 1975, a three-man U.S. «Apollo» spacecraft met and docked with the two-man «Soyuz-19» craft. The crews performed joint experiments for two days. The joint «Apollo-Soyuz» mission achieved all its major objectives.
«Salyut-1», launched April 19, 1971, was the world’s first space station. In 1986 the Soviet Union launched a more advanced type of space station «Mir». This station — a large, permanent, multimanned orbiting complex — was designed to accommodate various modules for crew living quarters and research facilities. On March 13, 1986, cosmonauts Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyev were sent aboard a «Soyuz» spacecraft to dock with «Mir» and become its first occupants. They spent 53 days adjusting equipment and bringing the complex into workable order. Other cosmonauts later visited the station. In 1987 Yury Romanenko set a new endurance record of 326 days in space. The previous record 237 days, was set in 1984 by a Soviet crew in «Salyut-7» space station. In the 1970s and 1980s our scientists concentrated their efforts on numerous experiments into outerspace which involved the cosmonauts’ repeated docking. Various «Salyut» orbiting laboratories were equipped for extended missions of scientific experimentation. On board «Salyut» stations our cosmonauts conducted scientific research and made valuable observations of the solar system.

– How long did it take Yury Alekseyevich Gagarin to orbit the Earth?
– It took Yury Alekseyevich Gagarin 1 hour 29 minutes to orbit the Earth.

– How was the first cosmonaut awarded?
– Yury Gagarin’s spaceflight brought him world-wide fame. The first cosmonaut was awarded the Order of Lenin and given the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and Pilot Cosmonaut of the Soviet Union. Monuments were raised to him and streets were renamed in his honour across the Soviet Union.

– What do you know about the first cosmonaut?
– In 1951 Yury Gagarin, the son of a carpenter, finished as a moulder a trade school near Moscow. He continued his studies at the industrial college at Saratov. At the same time he took a course in flying. When Gagarin finished this course he entered the Soviet Air Force cadet school at Orenburg. He finished it in 1957. Yury Gagarin never went into space again. He participated in training other cosmonauts. Yury Gagarin visited several countries following his historic flight. From 1962 he served as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet.

– What do you know about the second Soviet cosmonaut?
– German Titov, the second Soviet cosmonaut, was accepted in 1953 for aviation cadet training. In 1957 he graduated from the Stalingrad Flying Academy as a jet fighter pilot. In 1960 Titov entered cosmonaut training. During this course he received the Order of Lenin for an engineering proposal. The «Vostok-2» flight lasted 25 hours 18 minutes. Titov was given a code name «Eagle.» His radio signal, «I am Eagle!» was spoken with excitement and impressed people all over the world. After his flight Titov became a Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1962 he became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet. He held the position until 1970. In 1968 Titov graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. He became a major general in 1975. In subsequent years Titov was an assistant to the chief editor of the Journal «Aviation and Cosmonautics».

– When did the USA launch the first satellite?
– The first U.S. satellite «Explorer-1» was launched on January 31, 1958, about four months after «Sputnik-1».

– How many satellites were launched by our country and the United States?
– For forty years both nations successfully launched more than 5,000 satellites and space probes of all varieties for conducting scientific research, communications, meteorological, photographic reconnaissance, and navigation satellites, lunar and planetary probes, and manned space flights.

– When did the USA launch its first manned spacecraft?
– On May 5, 1961, the United States launched its first manned spacecraft, a «Mercury» capsule in which astronaut Alan Shepard, Jr., made a 15 minute suborbital flight.

– When were men landed on the surface of the Moon?
– On July 20, 1969, the United States landed men on the surface of the Moon.

– Who was the first to step on the Moon?
– On July 16, 1969, Armstrong, with Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins, blasted off in the «Apollo-11» vehicle toward the Moon. Four days later, the «Eagle» lunar landing module, guided manually by Armstrong, touched down on a plain near the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquillity. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong stepped from the «Eagle» onto the Moon’s dusty surface with the words, «That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.» Armstrong and Aldrin left the module for more than two hours and deployed scientific instruments, collected surface samples, and took numerous photographs. On July 21, after 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon, they lifted off to rendezvous with Collins and begin the voyage back to the Earth. The astronauts splashed down in the Pacific on July 24. They visited 21 nations.

– How many lunar landings were made by the USA?
– The USA made five more lunar landings on subsequent «Apollo» flights. During the lunar landings astronauts explored the surface of the Moon, collected rock and soil samples, and performed a variety of scientific experiments. The last lunar landing was made in December 1972.

– What has the USA devoted its attention to since the mid- 1970s?
– Since the mid-1970s, the United States has devoted its attention to developing the space shuttle, a reusable space vehicle that lifts off like a rocket and lands like an ordinary aeroplane. The shuttle craft have been used to deploy and repair satellites in the Earth orbit.

– When did the United States launch the first reusable manned vehicle?
– On April 12, 1981 the United States launched the first reusable manned vehicle. It was the 20th anniversary of manned space flight.

– What can you say about planetary studies carried out by the U.S. and Soviet scientists?
– Although the United States and the Soviet Union made manned flight a major goal in their space programmes, during the 1960s and ’70s, the scientists of both countries undertook ambitious planetary studies with unmanned deep-space probes. The most significant missions were the «Viking» landings on the Mars; the «Voyager» flybys of the Jupiter, the Saturn, and the Uranus. The Soviet Union did not land men on the Moon. It launched a series of robot lunar probes («Luna» and «Zond») that returned important data and soil samples. «Luna-16», for example, made a soft-landing on the Moon in September 1970, obtained a core sample of soil, and returned it to the Earth in a sealed capsule.

– What do people want to gain by exploring outer space?
– The flight into outerspace allows man to penetrate into new spheres of unpredictable discoveries. Scientists are interested in space exploration because today physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy need new data, which can not be found on the Earth. Moreover, Space Age has given mankind a chance to find thinking creatures in other Galaxies. It is believed that there are more than 100 million civilisations throughout the world. It is known far and wide that since early times the human beings have been interested in the study of the Universe. Their hopes have been connected with the discovery of intellectual creatures on the planets of other galaxies. The idea of other worlds existing in the Universe cost Giordano Bruno his life. Now all the beliefs may become true, and living beings may be found in the distant worlds of other solar systems.

The Russian Federation is the large

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square km.
The Russian Federation is washed by 12 seas of three oceans^ Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.
There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousands rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.
On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.
The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is over 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a double headed eagle and a white-blue-red banner. The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President, the country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly. The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts. Our country has a multiparty system. The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

The Russian Federation is the large

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square km. THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION is my Homeland. It is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one-seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square km.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousands rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is over 140 million people.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch of power — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

The Russian Federation is the large

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Its area is over 17 million square kilometres. The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. It has a border with 12 states. The population of the country is nearly 145 million. Russian is the official language. Russia is a Parliamentary Republic. The head of the state is the president. The federal government consists of 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The state symbol of Russia is a three-coloured banner. The hymn of Russia is the melody composed by A. Alexandrov, the text is written by S. Mikhalkov. A new national emblem is the two-headed eagle the most ancient symbol of Russia.
The climate of the country varies greatly. It’s arctic in the north and subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country it’s temperate and continental.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the nirth, highlands and deserts in the east.
There are two great plains in Russia:the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountains chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.
There are over two million rivers in Russia. Europe’s biggest river, the Volga, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers- the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena- flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean.
Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake (1600 meters) is Lake Baikal. The country has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.
Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.
The Russian economy has undergone massive changes since the fall of the Soviet Empire, transitioning from a state controlled, socialist structure to a more market based, and globally integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industries and some energy and defense related sectors.
Russia is one of the most industrialized of the former Soviet republics. However, years of low investment have left much of Russian industry highly inefficient. Besides its resource-based industries, it has developed large manufacturing capacities, notably in metals, food product, and transport equipment. Russia is now the world’s third-largest exporter of steel and primarily aluminium. Russia inherited most of the defense industrial base of the soviet union, so armaments remain an important export category for Russia.
Russia has a very rich history. It is an acient country with a lot of historic places of interest, big cultural centres and small towns. There are a lot of museums, theatres, cinemas, libraries, restaurants, and clubs in big Russian cities. Such cities are usully noisy with heavy traffic in the streets and full of smoke.
The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the Russian cities.

The Russian Federation is the large

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square km. THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION is my Homeland. It is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one-seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square km.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousands rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is over 140 million people.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch of power — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

нашу землю омывается 12 морей, большинство из которых являются море три океана: арктика, атлантики и тихого океана.в южной и западной границы в 14 странах.она также имеет морской границы с сша.

российской федерации является многонациональным государством.он состоит из многих национальных округов, несколько автономных республик и регионов.население страны составляет более 140 миллионов человек.

российской федерации является конституционной республики во главе с президентом.в стране правительство состоит из трех ветвей власти: законодательной,

Tекст » Russia» c переводом и вопросами

1). Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. 2). It occupies about one seventh part of dry land. 3). The vast territory of Russia lies in the Eastern part of Europe and in the northern part of Asia. 4). Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres.

5). Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans: the Atlantic, the Arctic, the Pacific. 6). The northern and eastern coasts of Russia are washed by the White Sea, the Barents Sea and the Okhotsk Sea.

7). The land of Russia varies a lot from heavy forests to barren deserts, from high peaked mountains to deep valleys. 8). Russia is located on two plains: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Plain. 9). The Urals is the longest mountain chain. 10). It separates Europe from Asia.

11). There are various types of climate on the territory of Russia. 12). In the south the temperature is usually above zero all year round. 13). The climate of Siberia is continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold.

14). Russia is a land of long rivers and deep lakes. 15). The Volga River is the longest river in Europe (3690 km). 16). It runs into the Caspian Sea. which is in reality, the largest lake in the world. 17). The Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

18). Russia is rich in natural resources. 19). It has deposits of coal, oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, nickel, etc.

20). Russia borders on fourteen countries, including the former Republics of the USSR, which are now independent states.

21). The population of Russia is about 150 million people.

22). Now Russia (the Russian Federative Republic) is a Presidential Republic. 23). Today the state symbol of Russia is a three coloured banner. 24). It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. 25). The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. 26). A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle. 27). It is the most ancient symbol of Russia.

28). Russia has always played an important role in the world. 29). It is one of the leading Powers.

11). Климат отличается в разных частях страны. 12). На юге обычно выше нуля градуса в течение всего года. 13). Климат Сибири резко континентальный: лето жаркое и сухое, зима очень холодная.

18). Россия богата полезными ископаемыми. 19). Она имеет залежи угля, нефти, природного газа, железной руды, золота, никеля и других полезных ископаемых.

20). Россия граничит с 14 странами, включая прежние республики СССР, которые в настоящее время являются независимыми государствами.

21). Население России составляет почти 150 млн. человек.

28). Россия играла и играет важную роль в мире. 29). Она является одной из ведущих держав мира.

1. Where were you born?

2. Where is Russia situated?

3. What kind of climate is there in the country?

4. Is Russia a very rich country? Give your reasons.

5. What countries does the Russian Federation border on?

The Russian Federation, or Russia i

The Russian Federation, or Russia is the largest country in the world, lis vast territory lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. The country is washed by three oceans (the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Pacific) and twelve seas (the White Sea, the Barents Sea, the Okhotsk Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Azov Sea and others). Russia borders on many countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania in the north, China, Mongolia, North Korea and others in the south-east, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine in the west, and others. The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. Mountain ranges are found along the southern borders, such as the Caucasus and the Altai, and in the eastern parts, such as the Verkhoyansk Range. The Caucasus contain Mount Elbrus, Russia’s and Europe’s highest point at 5,633 m. The more central Ural Mountains, a north-south range that forms the primary divide between Europe and Asia, are also notable. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes in the country. Notable rivers of Russia in Europe are the Volga, Don, Kama, Oka and the Northern Dvina, while several other rivers originate in Russia but flow into other countries, such as the Dnieper and the Western Dvina. In Asia, important rivers are the Ob, Yrtysh, Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Amur and Kolyma. The largest lakes are Baikal, Ladoga and Onega. Baikal is the deepest fresh-water lake in the world and its water is the purest on Earth. The climate of Russia is varied, from arctic and subarctic in the north, continental in the centre, to subtropical in the south.

The Russian Federation is extremely rich in natural and mineral re-sources. It has deposits of oil, gas, iron, gold, non-ferrous metals and many other minerals.

The economy of Russia is going through a transitional period from the centrally planned socialist economy to a market economy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the greater part of industries were privatized, agriculture and land underwent partial privatization later and are still under-going it. After the crisis of 1997 and the depreciation of the rouble followed by sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population, Rus-sia’s economy faced recession. The economy started recovering in 1999, partially because of high export prices on oil and gas which Russia is rich in Russia is still heavily dependent on export of oil, gas and timber, while its industrial and farming sectors are still weak as compared with those of the developed countries, but the rate of economic growth of the country is very high. If the rate is the same within a period of several years, Russia will he the second largest European economy after Germany.

The current population of Russia is about 143 million people. The capilal of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with a population of about 11 million people.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. Head of State in the country is President, directly elected for a four-year term, who has considerable ex-OCUtlve power and is head of the executive branch of the government. The government consists of three branches: legislative (the Federal Assembly, consisting of the Federation Council and the State Duma), executive (the (government, or the Cabinet of Ministers) and judicial (the system of courts, including the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and other courts). The national flag of Russia is a white-blue-and-red banner. The national language of the Russian Federation is Russian. The Orthodox Church is the dominant religion in Russia.

Russian culture abounds in names which are famous all over the world. Actually, there is no field in science or arts where Russia failed to contribute to the world’s intellectual and artistic treasure-houses.

Россия, или Россия является крупнейшей страной в мире, Лис обширная территория расположена в восточной части Европы и в северной части Азии. Страна омывается тремя океанами (Арктики, Атлантики, Тихого океана) и двенадцать морей (Белого моря, Баренцево море, Охотское море, Балтийское море, Черное море, Каспийское море, Азовское море, а другие ). Россия граничит со многими странами: Норвегия, Финляндия, Эстония, Латвия, Литва на севере, Китаем, Монголией, Северной Кореей и другими в юго-восточной, Польши, Беларуси, Украины на западе, и другие. Земля России изменяется очень от лесов до пустынь, от высоких гор до глубоких долин. Горные хребты расположены вдоль южных границ, таких, как Кавказ и Алтай, и в восточной части, такие как Верхоянского хребта. Кавказ содержать Эльбрус, России и высшую точку Европы на 5,633 м. Чем больше говорят центральные Урал, ряд с севера на юг, что формирует основной раскол между Европой и Азией, также известны. Есть много больших рек и глубоких озер в стране. Известные реки России в Европе Волгу, Дон, Кама, Ока и Северная Двина, в то время как несколько других рек берут начало в России, но впадают в других странах, таких, как Днепр и Западная Двина. В Азии, важные реки Обь, Yrtysh, Енисей, Ангара, Лена, Амур и Колыма. Крупнейшие озера Байкал, Ладожское и Онежское. Байкал является самым глубоким пресноводным озером в мире, и его вода является чистейшей на Земле. Климат России разнообразны, от арктических и субарктических на севере, континентальный в центре, до субтропического на юге. Россия является чрезвычайно богата природными и минеральными повторных источников. Он имеет залежи нефти, газа, железа, золота, цветных металлов и многих других полезных ископаемых. Экономика России переживает переходный период от централизованной плановой социалистической экономики к рыночной экономике. После распада Советского Союза в 1991 году большая часть промышленности были приватизированы, сельское хозяйство и земля подверглась частичной приватизации позже и до сих пор под постоянной его. После кризиса 1997 года и девальвации рубля с последующим резким ухудшением в жизни, для большинства населения, экономика RUS-Sia столкнулось рецессии. Экономика начала восстанавливаться в 1999 году, частично из-за высоких экспортных цен на нефть и газ, которые Россия богата в России по-прежнему сильно зависит от экспорта нефти, газа и древесины, в то время как промышленные и сельскохозяйственные сектора по-прежнему слабы по сравнению с теми, развитые страны, но темпы экономического роста страны является очень высоким. Если скорость такая же, в течение нескольких лет, Россия будет он второй по величине экономика Европы после Германии. В настоящее время население России составляет около 143 млн человек. Capilal Российской Федерации Москва, с населением около 11 миллионов человек. Россия является парламентской республикой. Глава государства в стране президент, избирается непосредственно сроком на четыре года, который имеет значительный экс-OCUtlve власть и является главой исполнительной ветви власти. Правительство состоит из трех ветвей: законодательной (Федеральное Собрание, состоящее из Совета Федерации и Государственной Думы), исполнительный (в (правительства или Кабинета Министров) и судебной (в системе судов, в том числе Конституционного Суда, Верховный суд и другие суды). Государственный флаг России бело-сине-красный флаг. Национальный язык Российской Федерации является русский. Православная Церковь является доминирующей религией в России. Русская культура изобилует именами, которые известный во всем мире. На самом деле, там нет поля в науке или искусстве, где Россия не внести свой ​​вклад в интеллектуальной и художественной сокровищницы мира.

российской федерации чрезвычайно богата природными вновь источников.это месторождения нефти, газа, железа, золота, цветных металлов и многих других минералов.

нынешнего населения россии составляет 143 млн. человек.в capilal из российской федерации в москве, с населением около 11 миллионов человек.

Russia

Russia, the largest country in the world, occupies one-tenth of all the land on Earth.

FAST FACTS

GEOGRAPHY

Russia, the largest country in the world, occupies one-tenth of all the land on Earth. It spans 11 time zones across two continents (Europe and Asia) and has coasts on three oceans (the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic).

The Russian landscape varies from desert to frozen coastline, tall mountains to giant marshes. Much of Russia is made up of rolling, treeless plains called steppes. Siberia, which occupies three-quarters of Russia, is dominated by sprawling pine forests called taigas.

Russia has about 100,000 rivers, including some of the longest and most powerful in the world. It also has many lakes, including Europe’s two largest: Ladoga and Onega. Lake Baikal in Siberia contains more water than any other lake on Earth.

PEOPLE & CULTURE

There are about 120 ethnic groups in Russia who speak more than a hundred languages. Roughly 80 percent of Russians trace their ancestry to the Slavs who settled in the country 1,500 years ago. Other major groups include Tatars, who came with the Mongol invaders, and Ukrainians.

Russia is known all over the world for its thinkers and artists, including writers like Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and ballet dancers including Rudolf Nureyev.

NATURE

As big as Russia is, it’s no surprise that it is home to a large number of ecosystems and species. Its forests, steppes, and tundras provide habitat for many rare animals, including Asiatic black bears, snow leopards, polar bears, and small, rabbit-like mammals called pikas.

Russia’s first national parks were set up in the 19th century, but decades of unregulated pollution have taken a toll on many of the country’s wild places. Currently, about one percent of Russia’s land area is protected in preserves, known as zapovedniks.

Russia’s most famous animal species is the Siberian tiger, the largest cat in the world. Indigenous to the forests of eastern Russia, these endangered giants can be 10 feet (3 meters) long, not including their tail, and weigh up to 600 pounds (300 kilograms).

Left: Russia flag

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

Russia’s history as a democracy is short. The country’s first election, in 1917, was quickly reversed by the Bolsheviks, and it wasn’t until the 1991 election of Boris Yeltsin that democracy took hold.

Russia is a federation of 86 republics, provinces, territories, and districts, all controlled by the government in Moscow. The head of state is a president elected by the people. The economy is based on a vast supply of natural resources, including oil, coal, iron ore, gold, and aluminum.

HISTORY

The earliest human settlements in Russia arrived around A.D. 500, as Scandinavians (what is now Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) moved south to areas around the upper Volga River. These settlers mixed with Slavs from the west and built a fortress that would eventually become the Ukrainian city of Kiev.

Kiev evolved into an empire that ruled most of European Russia for 200 years, then broke up into Ukraine, Belarus, and Muscovy. Muscovy’s capital, Moscow, remained a small trading post until the 13th century, when Mongol invaders from central Asia drove people to settle in Moscow.

In the 1550s, Muscovite ruler Ivan IV became Russia’s first tsar, or emperor, after driving the Mongols out of Kiev and unifying the region. In 1682, 10-year-old Peter the Great and his older brother, Ivan, both became tsar (though Peter’s aunt and Ivan’s mother, Sophia, was in charge). Soon after, Sophia was overthrown, and Peter was considered by most to be the real tsar, though he allowed his brother to keep his official position. For 42 years, Peter worked to make Russia more modern and more European.

In 1762, Peter took a trip to Germany, and his wife, Catherine, named herself the sole ruler of Russia. Just six months later the tsar died—perhaps on his wife’s orders. Now known as Catherine the Great, the empress continued to modernize Russia; supported arts and culture; and expanded its territory, claiming Ukraine, Crimea, Poland, and other places. She ruled for 34 years.

In 1917, Russians unhappy with their leadership overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and formed an elected government. Just a few months later, though, a communist group called the Bolsheviks seized power. Their leader, Vladimir Lenin, created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R., or the Soviet Union) uniting Russia and 11 other countries.

The Soviet Union fought on the side of the United States in World War II, but relations between the two powers and their allies became strained soon after the war ended in 1945. The United States and many of its allies were worried about the spread of communism, the type of government the Soviet Union was. (In a communist society, all property is public and people share the wealth that they create.)

These concerns led to the Cold War, a long period of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. That ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union broke up after many of its republics—such as Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia—decided they didn’t want to be part of the communist country anymore.

INDEPENDENT REPUBLICS
After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 under the moderate Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the former republics became 15 independent states, or nations. The largest and most powerful of these is Russia. Others include Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus.

During this time, Boris Yeltsin became president, and Russia went through many changes. Instead of the government being controlled by the Communist party, people were elected to serve in a representative democracy with many political parties. Private businesses were now allowed to function instead of the government controlling most everything. Citizens had also had new political and cultural freedoms to express themselves without fear of breaking the law.

Yeltsin was reelected in 1996, but his bad health prevented him from completing his term. He resigned a few years later and named his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, to replace him as acting president.

In 2000, Putin was formally elected by the citizens of Russia. In the first years of his presidency, Putin continued many of Yeltsin’s reforms and supported the United States in the war on terror after the attacks on September 11, 2001. But he got rid of some of the cultural freedoms and took control of national television networks. This allowed his government to influence news reports.

Putin was elected to a second term in 2004. But as in the United States, he couldn’t serve more than two consecutive four-year terms. So in 1998 he appointed an aide, Dmitri Medvedev, to take his place as prime minister. Many believe that Putin still ruled Russia from behind the scenes during this time.

In 2012, Putin ran again for president and won. But he wasn’t as popular among the people, and citizens protested against unfair elections. His government arrested many political opponents and called the protesters traitors to Russia who wanted to be more like the West, especially the United States.

Many Ukrainians and leaders from several other countries didn’t like Putin’s actions and thought the «vote» wasn’t real. But in March of that year, Putin signed a treaty with some Crimean leaders that said that Crimea was part of Russia. Ukrainian officials announced that they would not recognize the agreement and still considered Crimea part of Ukraine, not Russia.

Russian forces remained in Crimea to keep Ukraine from taking it back. Later in 2014, fights along the eastern border broke out between Ukrainians and Russian-backed rebels who wanted all of Ukraine to become part of Russia.

In 2019, comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine. Zelensky ran on a platform of uniting the country and ending border battles in the east with Russia. To help with that, the United States planned to give Ukraine millions of dollars in military aid to help fight the Russian occupations.

In July 2019, U.S. president Donald Trump was accused of withholding those funds unless Zelensky investigated Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden. He refused, and Trump was eventually impeached, or formally accused of misconduct in office, by the U.S. House of Representatives over these claims. (Ukraine received the aid later in the year.)

RUSSIA INVADES
In February 2022, Putin announced an invasion on the country and sent troops to take over major cities, including the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian citizens have been fighting back against the attacks, and Zelensky has vowed to remain in the country and fight until Ukraine regains its freedom.

Many world leaders strongly condemned Putin’s actions, and some punished Russia by stopping trade with the country or putting travel bans in place. The hope is that these punishments—called sanctions—will hurt Putin and Russia enough to stop the fighting before the war spreads into other European nations.

Russia is the largest country in th

Russia is the largest country in the world. It covers half of Europe and the third part of Asia and is located in Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia. Russia borders on Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and other countries. Russia is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Arctic Ocean in the north. The main rivers are the Volga, the Yenisey, the Ob and the Lena. The Baikal Lake, the deepest fresh water lake in the world, is in Siberia. It contains about twenty percent of the world’s fresh water supply. There are several mountain chains in Russia: the Urals and the Altai. Large part of Russia is covered with forests.

On the vast territory of Russia there are four climatic zones. They are the arctic, the subarctic, the temperate, and the subtropical zones. The subtropical climate is the warmest. The central part of Russia has the moderate climate with four distinct seasons, which differ greatly in the weather. The most part of the territory of the country has continental climate.

Russia is rich in natural resources, including vast areas of fertile lands and forests, deep lakes and wide rivers. It is rich in mineral deposits, such as coal, oil, iron ore, gas, copper, lead, gold and others.

Russia has a developed industry. It has made a great progress in science and engineering.

The population of Russia is about 150 million people. It is a multinational country.

The highest legislative body of the Russian Federation is the Russian Parliament (Duma). The executive power is held by the President and the Cabinet of Ministers. The President is Head of State.

The Russian Federation is a free union of a number of regions, territories and autonomous republic, for example, Karelia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Mordovia and others.

Russia is the largest country in the world. It covers half of Europe and the third part of Asia and is located in Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia. Russia borders on Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and other countries. Russia is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Arctic Ocean in the north. The main rivers are the Volga, the Yenisey, the Ob and the Lena. The Baikal Lake, the deepest fresh water lake in the world, is in Siberia. It contains about twenty percent of the world’s fresh water supply. There are several mountain chains in Russia: the Urals and the Altai. Large part of Russia is covered with forests.

On the vast territory of Russia there are four climatic zones. They are the arctic, the subarctic, the temperate, and the subtropical zones. The subtropical climate is the warmest. The central part of Russia has the moderate climate with four distinct seasons, which differ greatly in the weather. The most part of the territory of the country has continental climate.

Russia is rich in natural resources, including vast areas of fertile lands and forests, deep lakes and wide rivers. It is rich in mineral deposits, such as coal, oil, iron ore, gas, copper, lead, gold and others.

Russia has a developed industry. It has made a great progress in science and engineering.

The population of Russia is about 150 million people. It is a multinational country.

The highest legislative body of the Russian Federation is the Russian Parliament (Duma). The executive power is held by the President and the Cabinet of Ministers. The President is Head of State.

The Russian Federation is a free union of a number of regions, territories and autonomous republic, for example, Karelia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Mordovia and others.

In area, the Russian Federation is

In area, the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres. It occupies most of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Russia stretches from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the East and from the Arctic Ocean in the North to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, the Altai, and the Sayan mountains, and the Amur and the Ussuri rivers in the South. It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the north-west, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and the Ukraine in the West, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the south-west, and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China along the southern border.

The climate in Russia varies from arctic in the North to continental in the central part of the country and subtropical in the South.

The current population of Russia is 143 million people; 82% of the population are Russians.

Russia is a highly-industrialized-agrarian republic. Its vast mineral resources include oil and natural gas, coal, iron, zinc, lead, nickel, aluminum, gold and other non-ferrous metals. Russia has the world’s largest oil and natural gas resources. Three-quarters of the republic’s mineral wealth is concentrated in Siberia and the Far East.

Approximately 10 million people are engaged in agriculture and they produce half of the region’s grain, meat, milk and other dairy products. The largest granaries are located in the North Caucasus and the Volga and the Amur regions.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people.

Russia is a constitutional republic with President as Head of State. The legislative power is vested in the Federal Assembly, consisting of the Council of Federation and the State Duma.

климат в россии колеблется от арктики на севере континентальной в центральной части страны и субтропических на юге.

нынешнего населения россии составляет 143 млн. человек;82% населения составляют русские.

россия является наиболее промышленно развитых аграрных республики.его огромные минеральные ресурсы включают нефти и природного газа, угля, железа, цинка, свинца, алюминия, никеля, золота и других цветных металлов.россия обладает крупнейшими в мире запасами нефти и природного газа.три четверти республики минеральные богатства сосредоточена в сибири и на дальнем востоке.

примерно 10 миллионов человек, заняты в сельском хозяйстве, и они производят половину региона зерновые, мясо, молоко и другие молочные продукты.крупнейших житниц, находятся в северной части кавказа и поволжья и амурской областях.

столицей российской федерации в москве, с населением около 10 миллионов человек.

россия является конституционная республика с президентом на пост главы государства.законодательная власть возложена на федеральное собрание, состоящее из совета федерации и государственной думы.

Топик по английскому «Россия» (Russia)

Russia is the world’s largest country, covering almost a seventh part of dry land. It occupies the territory of 17 million square kilometers both in Europe and Asia. In the north and in the east the country is washed by 12 seas which belong to the Pacific and the Arctic oceans. In the west and in the south Russia borders on 14 countries including the former Soviet republics.

The surface of the country is various. It contains the East European plain, the West Siberian plain, the Ural mountains, the Central Siberian plateau and the Far East. As the territory of Russia is vast, there are various types of climate and vegetation here, depending on latitude. We have zones of treeless tundra, taiga, deciduous forests and grass-covered steppe.

Russia is also a land of long rivers and deep lakes. The Volga is the longest river in Europe and the Yenisei and the Ob are the longest ones in Asia. Baikal and Ladoga are the deepest Russian lakes.

The population of Russia is nearly 150 million people. The European part of the state is more populated than the rest of it. People of many nationalities live in our country. But Russians constitute four-fifths of the total population.

Russian culture abounds in names of outstanding people: scientists, writers, composers, sportsmen. Everybody knows the names of Pushkin, Gagarin, Mendeleev, Lomonosov or Tchaikovsky. Our villages are world-famous for their national crafts: Dymkovo toys, Palekh painted boxes, Khokhloma wooden tableware.

The Russian Federation is a parliamentary republic. President is the head of state. Moscow is its capital. Today Russia cuts a great figure in the world. It is rich in natural resources (coal, iron, gold, nickel, copper and aluminium) and is known as one of the world’s largest exporters of oil, gas and grain. A lot of serious political and economical changes have happened in Russia recently but I do believe in the bright future of our country.

Россия

Россия является самым большим государством в мире, занимающим почти седьмую часть суши. Она расположена на территории в 17 млн. кв.км как в Европе, так и в Азии. На севере и востоке страна омывается 12 морями, принадлежащими Тихому и Северному Ледовитому океанам. На западе и юге Россия граничит с 14 странами, включая бывшие советские республики.

Земная поверхность страны разнообразна. Она состоит из Восточно-европейской равнины, Западно-Сибирской равнины, Уральских гор, Среднесибирского плоскогорья и Дальнего Востока. Поскольку территория России огромна, на ней существуют различные типы климата и растительности, в зависимости от географической широты. У нас есть зоны безлесной тундры, тайги, лиственных лесов и покрытых травой степей.

Россия – это еще и земля длинных рек и глубоких озер. Волга – самая длинная река в Европе, а Енисей и Обь – самые длинные в Азии. Байкал и Ладога являются самыми глубокими русскими озерами.

Население России составляет почти 150 млн. человек. Европейская часть государства более населена, чем остальная его часть. Люди многих национальностей проживают в нашей стране. Но русские насчитывают 4/5 от общего количества населения.

Русская культура изобилует именами выдающихся людей: ученых, писателей, композиторов, спортсменов. Любой знает имена Пушкина, Гагарина, Менделеева, Ломоносова или Чайковского. Наши деревни всемирно известны своими национальными ремеслами: дымковскими игрушками, палехскими расписными шкатулками и хохломской деревянной посудой.

Российская Федерация является парламентской республикой. Президент – глава государства. Москва – его столица. Сегодня Россия является значимой фигурой в мире. Она богата природными ресурсами (углем, железом, золотом, никелем, медью и алюминием) и известна как один из крупнейших мировых экспортеров нефти, газа и зерна. Немало серьезных политических и экономических изменений произошло в последнее время в России, однако я очень верю в большое будущее нашей страны.

Английский язык с репетиторами онлайн

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Рассказ про Россию на английском — полезная лексика, готовый текст

Russia is the world’s largest country, covering almost a seventh part of dry land. It occupies the territory of 17 million square kilometers both in Europe and Asia. In the north and in the east the country is washed by 12 seas which belong to the Pacific and the Arctic oceans. In the west and in the south Russia borders on 14 countries including the former Soviet republics.

The surface of the country is various. It contains the East European plain, the West Siberian plain, the Ural mountains, the Central Siberian plateau and the Far East. As the territory of Russia is vast, there are various types of climate and vegetation here, depending on latitude. We have zones of treeless tundra, taiga, deciduous forests and grass-covered steppe.

Russia is also a land of long rivers and deep lakes. The Volga is the longest river in Europe and the Yenisei and the Ob are the longest ones in Asia. Baikal and Ladoga are the deepest Russian lakes.

The population of Russia is nearly 150 million people. The European part of the state is more populated than the rest of it. People of many nationalities live in our country. But Russians constitute four-fifths of the total population.

Russian culture abounds in names of outstanding people: scientists, writers, composers, sportsmen. Everybody knows the names of Pushkin, Gagarin, Mendeleev, Lomonosov or Tchaikovsky. Our villages are world-famous for their national crafts: Dymkovo toys, Palekh painted boxes, Khokhloma wooden tableware.

The Russian Federation is a parliamentary republic. President is the head of state. Moscow is its capital. Today Russia cuts a great figure in the world.

It is rich in natural resources (coal, iron, gold, nickel, copper and aluminium) and is known as one of the world’s largest exporters of oil, gas and grain.

A lot of serious political and economical changes have happened in Russia recently but I do believe in the bright future of our country.

Россия

Россия является самым большим государством в мире, занимающим почти седьмую часть суши. Она расположена на территории в 17 млн. кв.км как в Европе, так и в Азии. На севере и востоке страна омывается 12 морями, принадлежащими Тихому и Северному Ледовитому океанам. На западе и юге Россия граничит с 14 странами, включая бывшие советские республики.

Земная поверхность страны разнообразна. Она состоит из Восточно-европейской равнины, Западно-Сибирской равнины, Уральских гор, Среднесибирского плоскогорья и Дальнего Востока.

Поскольку территория России огромна, на ней существуют различные типы климата и растительности, в зависимости от географической широты.

У нас есть зоны безлесной тундры, тайги, лиственных лесов и покрытых травой степей.

Россия – это еще и земля длинных рек и глубоких озер. Волга – самая длинная река в Европе, а Енисей и Обь – самые длинные в Азии. Байкал и Ладога являются самыми глубокими русскими озерами.

Население России составляет почти 150 млн. человек. Европейская часть государства более населена, чем остальная его часть. Люди многих национальностей проживают в нашей стране. Но русские насчитывают 4/5 от общего количества населения.

Русская культура изобилует именами выдающихся людей: ученых, писателей, композиторов, спортсменов. Любой знает имена Пушкина, Гагарина, Менделеева, Ломоносова или Чайковского. Наши деревни всемирно известны своими национальными ремеслами: дымковскими игрушками, палехскими расписными шкатулками и хохломской деревянной посудой.

Российская Федерация является парламентской республикой. Президент – глава государства. Москва – его столица. Сегодня Россия является значимой фигурой в мире.

Она богата природными ресурсами (углем, железом, золотом, никелем, медью и алюминием) и известна как один из крупнейших мировых экспортеров нефти, газа и зерна.

Немало серьезных политических и экономических изменений произошло в последнее время в России, однако я очень верю в большое будущее нашей страны.

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The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate (вопросы и ответы для подготовки к экзамену)

Материалы данной статьи помогут вам повторить тему «Russia» по вопросам и ответам. Текст «The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate» может являться основой для составления небольшого сообщения по данной теме в целях подготовки к экзамену ОГЭ и ЕГЭ по английскому языку.

The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate

Для начала проверьте себя и попробуйте ответить на вопросы по теме «Russia» на английском языке.

2. Questions to the topic: «The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate»

3. Answers to the questions on the topic: «The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate»

Russia is connected with the Atlantic Ocean through the Baltic Sea in the west and the Black Sea in the south. The Arctic Ocean and its seas including the White, Barents, Kara, Laptev, and East-Siberian Seas wash Russia in the north. The Pacific Ocean and its seas the Bering, Okhotsk and Japanese Seas wash Russia in the east.

The Ob is the longest river in Russia, but the Volga is the most important one. Many Russian towns are located on the Volga river: Vladimir, Tver, Yaroslavl, Kazan, and Nizhny Novgorod. Altogether there are over two million rivers in our country.

The lake has more than 2000 rare plants and animals – bears, elk (лось), lynx (рысь), sables (соболь), freshwater seal (тюлень), trout (форель), salmon (лосось) and sturgeon (осетр). It is fed by 336 rivers, with only one river feeding out (the Angara).

4. Text on the Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate

Russia is the largest country in the world. It occupies about the one seventh of the earth’s surface. Russia covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.

The country is washed by 12 seas of three oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Belorussia, the Ukraine. It also has a sea border with the USA.

The population of Russia is 145.5 million people. 83 percent are Russians. The capital of the country is Moscow. It is the largest city and has a population of about 12 million people (2016).

There is hardly a country in the world with such a variety of scenery and vegetation. Russia has steppes in the south, plains and forests in the central region, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

Russia is located on two plains. They are the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland.

There are several mountains chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

In Russia there are long rivers and deep lakes. The Volga is the biggest Europe’s river. The world’s deepest lake is Lake Baikal. The water in Lake Baikal used to be very clean. It was so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

Over the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the south-west the weather is usually mild and wet; northern Asia is one of the coldest places on the earth, and in the south the heat is unbearable. But in the middle of the country the climate is moderate and continental.

Russia is very rich in mineral resources. It exports oil and natural gas.

Описание России на английском: let me speak from my heart

13 December 2018 в 15:48, автор Ольга Мельникова

Вступление

Если рассказ является устным выступлением на английском языке, а не продолжением общения с иностранцем, то необходимо начать с логического вступления.

Начало сделает более красивым крылатое выражение о родине.

Например, высказывание Сенеки: «Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own» – «Родину любят не за то, что она велика, а за то, что она своя».

После можно продолжить, рассказав, что Россия – это ваша родная страна. Можно уточнить, в каком именно городе вы родились. Если речь идет о живом общении, то можно сразу приступать к основной части. В этом могут помочь вводные слова, например, «well» или «so».

Основная часть

В основной части нужно рассказать всю общую информацию о стране, привести конкретные цифры и данные. Это может выглядеть так:

It is a known fact that Russia is the largest country in the world. Its territory is about one-eighth part of the world’s land populated by men. This country has huge natural and mineral resources.

About 10 million people live in Moscow, the capital of my country and one of the biggest cities in the world.

Russia is a multinational country, and while the Russians make up the main part of population, there are over 160 nationalities living in various regions of the country.

Не секрет, что самая большая мировая страна – это Россия. Ее территория составляет 1/8 часть заселенной человеком суши. Страна обладает огромными минеральными и натуральными богатствами.

В Москве, в столице страны, проживает 10 млн человек, это один из самых больших городов мира. Россия – многонациональная страна, основное население составляют русские.

, и в различных регионах проживают свыше 160 национальностей.

There are many rivers and lakes in Russia. There are more than 2 million rivers. The Volga is considered to be the longest river in Europe. It flows into the Caspian Sea – the largest lake.

В России много рек и озер. Здесь более 2 млн рек. Река Волга считается самой длинной рекой в Европе. При этом она впадает в Каспийское море, являющимся самым большим озером.

В рассказе о России необходимо затронуть и культуру. Здесь можно назвать выдающихся русских писателей. (Есенин, Пушкин, Толстой. Лермонтов), художников (Айвазовский, Шишкин, Левитан) и композиторов (Глинка, Бородин, Мусоргский). Рассказ можно дополнить именами любимых актеров. Многие известные актеры имеют русские корни, например, Дэвид Духовны, Натали Портман.

There are many outstanding Russian composers who are world-renowned. Everyone knows the names of Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov.

Their music earned the admiration of the public and universally acclaimed. Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin are the most famous Russian authors.

For example, Alexander Pushkin is regarded as the founder of Russian literature. He is the author of more than 700 lyrical poems.

Многие русские композиторы известны на весь мир. Всем известны имена Чайковского, Глинки, Римского-Корсакова. Их музыка получила признание публики и вызывает восхищение. Толстой, Лермонтов, Пушкин – самые знаменитые русские писатели. К примеру, Александр Пушкин считается отцом русской литературы. Он является автором более 700 стихотворений.

Научись общаться на английском языке с зарубежными друзьями и коллегами, в том числе в социальных сетях

Конечно же, рассказывайте о ваших любимых деятелях искусства. Так вы позволите узнать вас лучше и продемонстрируете хороший уровень культурно-эстетического развития. Иностранцам будет интересно послушать о русских традициях.

Здесь можно рассказать не только о традиционных праздниках, но и необычных традициях. Например, о том, что в России Новый год праздную два раза: по новому и старому стилю.

Многие праздники в России проходят как застолье, русские любят петь за столом и говорить тосты:

The Old New Year is the strangest and most confusing Russian holiday. It is celebrated on January 14th and marks the changing of the year according to the “old style” Julian calendar. For most Russians it’s just another chance to prolong winter holdays, to have a festive meal and to make New Year wishes.

Заключение

Необходимо помнить, что имена собственные не нужно переводить, а записывать транслитерацией. В завершении рассказа стоит рассказать, что именно нравится в стране, и чем можно гордиться.

Если вы рассказываете о России во время живого общения с иностранцами, можно сводить гостей в ресторан, где готовят традиционные блюда, или приготовьте что-нибудь сами. Иностранцы не откажутся провести вечер с вашими друзьями, ведь всегда интересно, как проходят вечера в России.

На нашем сайте подготовлено 29 текстов про Россию и ее достопримечательности. Все материалы составлены с переводом.

Тексты про Россию

Текст про Россию на английском (кратко)

Вы узнаете о численности населения в России, крупных городах, экономике, природных ресурсах и т.д.

10 фактов о России на английском языке

10 интересных фактов о достопримечательностях, природе, городах и т.д.

10 предложений о России на английском языке

10 предложений о России на английском языке с переводом. Рассказывается о городах, культуре, природе и экономике.

Описание 10 достопримечательностей России. Красная площадь, Эрмитаж, собор Василия Блаженного, озеро Байкал и т.д.

Cities of Russia – Города России

Краткое описание крупных городов России: Москва, Санкт-Петербург, Новосибирск, Екатеринбург и т.д.

Animals of Russia – Животные России

Кратко рассказывается о разных животных России.

Russian Cuisine – Блюда русской кухни

Кратко рассказывается о блюдах русской кухни: окрошка, варенье, блины, винегрет, пельмени.

Russian Writers – Русские писатели

Кратко рассказывается о русских писателях: Пушкин, Лермонтов, Толстой, Достоевский, Тургенев, Некрасов, Булгаков.

Тексты про Москву

Текст про Москву на английском (кратко)

Вы узнаете о численности населения в Москве, достопримечательностях и музеях, крупных спортивных событиях, метро и т.д.

Топик про Москву на английском

Общая информация о столице: численность населения, экономика, крупные спортивные события, достопримечательности, транспорт и т.д.

Краткое описание 10 главных достопримечательностей Москвы: Красная площадь, Кремль, Большой театр, Останкинская телебашня и т.д.

Red Square – Красная площадь

Топик про Красную площадь. Even those who’ve never been to Moscow recognize the Kremlin and the colorful domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral, which sit on Red Square…

The Moscow Kremlin – Московский Кремль

Краткий топик про Московский Кремль. The Moscow Kremlin is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River to the south, Saint Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square to the east…

The Spasskaya Tower – Спасская башня

Краткий топик про Спасскую башню. The Spasskaya Tower is one of 20 towers of the Moscow Kremlin. It overlooks Red Square. Its height is 71 metres…

Saint Basil’s Cathedral – Храм Василия Блаженного

Краткий топик про Покровский собор. Saint Basil’s Cathedral is an Orthodox church on Red Square in Moscow. It is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia…

The Bolshoi Theatre – Большой театр

Топик про Большой театр. The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, which holds ballet and opera performances…

Tretyakov Gallery – Третьяковская галерея

Топик про Третьяковскую галерею. The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow. The Tretyakov Gallery is the main museum of Russian national art…

The Moscow Metro – Московский метрополитен

Топик про метро Москвы. The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow and some of the neighbouring Moscow Oblast cities…

Ostankino Tower – Останкинская телебашня

Топик про Останкинскую телебашню.Ostankino Tower is a television and radio tower in Moscow. Its height is 540.1 metres. Ostankino was designed by Nikolai Nikitin…

Тексты про Санкт-Петербург

Текст про Санкт-Петербург на английском (кратко)

Вы узнаете о численности населения в Санкт-Петербурге, достопримечательностях и музеях, крупных спортивных событиях и т.д.

Топик про Санкт-Петербург на английском

Автор рассказывает о родном городе: про численность населения, экономику, транспорт, достопримечательности, музеи и т.д.

Краткое описание 10 главных достопримечательностей Северной столицы: Дворцовая площадь, Мариинский театр, Эрмитаж, Невский проспект и т.д.

The State Hermitage Museum – Государственный Эрмитаж

Топик про Государственный Эрмитаж. The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg. It is the second largest art museum in the world after Louvre in Paris…

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral – Исаакиевский собор

Краткий топик про Исаакиевский собор. Saint Isaac’s Cathedral is a cathedral in Saint Petersburg that was designed by Auguste de Montferrand…

Краткий топик про Петергоф. Peterhof is a town at the shore of the Gulf of Finland, located about 30 kilometers west of St. Petersburg. This small town is famous for its palaces and gardens of Peterhof…

The State Russian Museum – Государственный Русский музей

Краткий топик про Государственный Русский музей. The State Russian Museum is the world’s largest collection of Russian art. It is located in the historical centre of Saint Petersburg…

Другие тексты о России

Сочинение про Россию на английском языке с переводом, небольшие тексты и рассказы на тему топика Russia topic

Мы подготовили для Вас несколько вариантов сочинений на английском языке про Россию. Используйте наши примеры для написания своего небольшого рассказа на урок английского в школе (для 5-7 классов)

Cочинение 1

I am very proud of the fact I was born and live in Russia!

Rus­sia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans. The cap­i­tal of Rus­sia is Moscow, with the pop­u­la­tion of about 10 mil­lion peo­ple. Saint Peters­burg has once been a cap­i­tal of the country.

The Russ­ian Fed­er­a­tion is rich in nat­ur­al and min­er­al resources. Russ­ian Fed­er­a­tion is a multi­na­tion­al coun­try. They are Rus­sians, Ukraini­ans, Chukchas, Tatars and many others. Rus­sia is the coun­try of new possibilities!

Я очень горд тем, я родился и живу в России! Россия омывается 12‑ю морями и тремя океанами. Наша столица — Москва, с численностью населения более 10 миллионов человек. Санкт-Петербург однажды являлся столицей страны. Российская федерация — богатейшая натуральными и минеральными ресурсами. Это многонациональная страна. Здесь живут русские, украинцы, чукчи, татары и много других.

Россия — страна новых возможностей!

Cочинение 2

I am from Russia. It is the biggest country in the world. The Russian Federation stretches from Eastern Europe to Asia and borders 14 countries. The capital of Russia is Moscow city. About 12 million people live in Moscow. It is one the biggest cities of the world.

I live in the city of Sochi. My city is located on the coast of the Black Sea. In the summer, my friends and I go swim and sunbathe almost every day. Winters are cold and frosty in Sochi. But they are very fun: we ski and play snowballs in the winter. I love my city and my country. And I am very proud of the fact Sochi was the location for the Winter Olympics in 2014.

Моя страна

Я из России. Это самая большая страна в мире. Российская Федерация протянулась от Восточной Европы до Азии, и при этом она граничит с 14 государствами. Столица России – город Москва. Более 12 миллионов людей живут в Москве. Это один из крупнейших городов мира.

Я живу в городе Сочи. Мой город расположен на побережье Черного моря. Летом я с друзьями ходу плавать и загорать чуть ли не каждый день. Зимы в Сочи холодные и морозные. Но они очень веселые: зимой мы катаемся на лыжах и играем в снежки. Я люблю свой город и свою страну. И еще я очень горд тем фактом, что Сочи был местом проведения зимних Олимпийских игр 2014 года.

Cочинение 3

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. It occupies a big part of dry land. The country is known as a Legend Empire, because it has been suffering from foreign invasion and dominance by outsiders from times immemorial, but still strong and alive.

The country is divided by Ural mountain range in two big parts. People who live closer to Europe are not the same with Russians from the other side of the Ural. Russia is rich in such natural treasures as coal, oil, nickel, copper, natural gas and even diamonds.

he oversize of the territory determines a big variety of climates: from arctic to subtropical one. In the centre of the country there is a temperate climate. One of the main sources of pride in Russia is unique nature from East to West.

The country is rich in numerous lakes, rivers and woods.

The head of the state is a president. The capital of the Russia is Moscow with population of about 10 million people and it increases every day. Russia is a big political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre now.

Россия – одна из самых больших стран мира. Она занимает большую часть суши. Страна известна как легендарная империя, потому что с незапамятных времен страдает от иноземных захватчиков и давления с внешней стороны, однако все еще сильна и жива.

Огромные размеры территории определяют местное климатическое разнообразие: от арктического до субтропического. В центре страны климат умеренный. Один из главных периодов для гордости в стране – ее уникальная природа с Востока до Запада.

Страна богата многочисленными озерами, реками и лесами.

Главой государства является президент. Столица страны – город Москва с населением около 10 миллионов человек и каждый день оно растет.

Россия является на сегодняшний день крупным политическим, научным, культурным и промышленным центром.

Факты о России на английском языке с переводом

Vast — огромный To vary — меняться, варьироваться The largest country – самая большая страна Densely peopled — густо населённый Population — население Deposits — месторождения

Рассказать про Россию можно с разных точек зрения. Мы не будет описывать герб и флаг, а построим сочинение на идее рассказать, какая большая страна — Россия, и чем она богата.

Если вам нужно сочинение для 5-7 классов, используйте простые недлинные предложения, как в примере ниже.

Если вам нужно эссе более высокого уровня, соедините небольшие предложения между собой с помощью союзов или вводных и связующих фраз, например:

Пельмени «Букет цветов» с любимой начинкой, рецепт с фото —

Moscow is the capital of Russian Federation. More than 10 million people live and work in Moscow.

Moscow is the capital of Russian Federation; furthermore about 10 million people live and work in Moscow.

Рассказ про Россию на английском языке

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. The vast territory of Russia lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans.

Обзор android-смартфона Xiaomi Redmi 3S

Россия — это крупнейшая страна в мире. Большая часть территории России лежит в восточной части Европы и в северной части Азии. Россия омывается 12-ю морями и тремя океанами.

Moscow is the capital of Russian Federation. About 10 million people live and work in Moscow.

Москва — столица России. Около 10 миллионов человек живут и работают в Москве.

The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain are the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes on its territory. Also there are many animals in Russia.

Территория России очень разнится — от лесов до пустынь, от высоких гор до глубоких долин. Главные горы — это Уральские, Кавказские и Алтайские. На ее территории очень много больших рек и глубоких рек. Также в России очень много животных.

The longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena in Asia. The largest lakes are Ladoga and Baikal. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and its water is the purest on earth.

Самые длинные реки — это Волга (в Европе) и Обь, Енисей и Лена в Азии. Крупнейшее озеро — это Ладога и Байкал. Байкал — самое глубокое озеро в мире, его воды — самые чистые на земле.

Почему Тихий океан назвали Тихим? Причины, фото и видео

The Russian Federation is rich in natural and mineral resources. It has huge deposits of oil, gas, iron, gold, silver and many others.

Российская федерация — богатейшая натуральными и минеральными ресурсами. Она имеет большие залежи нефти, газа, железа, золота, серебра и многих других.

The European part of the country is densely peopled, and most population lives in cities. The current population of Russia is more than 145 million people.

Европейская часть более заселена людьми и основная численность наблюдается в городах. Текущая численность населения России — более 145 миллионов человек.

Russia is a presidential republic. It is one of the leading powers in the world.

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Россия — президентская республика. Она — один из лидеров на мировой арене.

Сочинение о России на английском языке — 3 топика с переводом — Помощник для школьников Спринт-Олимпик.ру

Россия славится на весь мир своей самобытностью и контрастностью. Страна различных национальностей и огромных просторных полей интересует многих туристов по всей планете.

Кто-то заказывает туры по достопримечательностям, а кто-то читает о России в сочинениях на английском языке и различных рефератах, сообщениях и проектах.

3 топика «What Russia is famous for» с переводом расскажут об особенностях культуры и быта русских людей.

Удивительная природа России

Русский народ веками свою историю великими победами и большими открытиями новых земель, природа которых разнообразна, многогранна и очень красива.

Это эссе содержит описание русской природы и рассказывает, чем известна Россия: непроходимыми лесами, чудесными голубыми озёрами, глубокими морями и высокими горами.

Традиционные блюда

Рассказ о национальной русской кухне не сравнится с теми ощущениями, которые испытывают люди, пробуя её блюда.

Многим кажется: «Какой человек откажется от холодца или сельди под шубой во время застолья?».

На самом деле русская еда удивляет туристов, но чаще всего даже пугает.

Текст о России на английском

Короткий текст о России на английском поможет узнать главные факты о стране. Текст про Россию на английском языке с переводом можно дополнить интересными фактами.

Рассказ о России на английском кратко

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventhof the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.Its total area is about 17 million square kilometers. The country is washed by 12 seas of 3oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic.

The 14 countries bordering Russia are: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and North Korea.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation canbe found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountains chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two million rivers in Russia. Europe’s biggest river, the Volga, flows intothe Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers- the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena- flow fromthe south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Russia is reach in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake is Lake Baikal. Thewater in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European northof the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in thenorth to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate andcontinental.

Russia is very reach in oil, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineralresources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President. The legislativepowers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural andindustrial centre. It’sone of the oldest Russian cities.

Факты о России на английском

The deepest lake in the world is Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is the biggest water reservoir in the world holding 1/5 of the world’s freshwater reserves.

Russia has 11 time zones!

The country is one of the world’s leading producers of oil and natural gas

Рассказ про Россию на английском языке с переводом

Российская Федерация — самая большая страна в мире. Она занимает около 1/7 поверхности Земли. Страна занимает восточную часть Европы и северную часть Азии. Общая площадь составляет около 17 млн кв. км. Страна омывается 12 морями и 3 океанами: Тихим, Арктическим и Атлантическим.

Вряд ли в мире есть страна, где можно найти такое разнообразие пейзажей и растительности. Здесь есть степи на юге, равнины и леса в средней полосе, тундра и тайга на севере, высокогорья и пустыни на востоке.

В России есть две великие равнины: Великая русская равнина и Западно-Сибирская низменность. На территории страны расположено несколько горных цепей: Урал, Кавказ, Алтай и другие. Крупнейшая горная цепь Урал отделяет Европу от Азии.

В России более двух миллионов рек. Самая большая река Европы, Волга, впадает в Каспийское море. Основные сибирские реки — Обь, Енисей и Лена — протекают с юга на север. Амур на Дальнем Востоке впадает в Тихий океан.

Россия богата красивыми озерами. Самое глубокое озеро в мире — озеро Байкал. Вода в озере настолько чистая, что если вы посмотрите вниз, вы сможете сосчитать камни на дне.

В России одна шестая часть мировых лесов. Они сосредоточены на европейском севере страны, в Сибири и на Дальнем Востоке.

На обширной территории страны существуют различные типы климата, от арктического на севере до субтропического на юге. В центре страны климат умеренный и континентальный.

Россия очень богата нефтью, железной рудой, природным газом, медью, никелем и другими минеральными ресурсами.

Россия является парламентской республикой. Главой государства является президент. Законодательные полномочия осуществляет Дума.

Столица России — Москва. Это крупнейший политический, научный, культурный и промышленный центр. Это один из древнейших русских городов.

Рассказ о России на английском 10 предложений Вы можете выбрать сами, чтобы получить хорошую отметку и написать свое сочинение.

Russia is the largest country in th

Russia is the largest country in the world. It covers half of Europe and the third part of Asia and is located in Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia. Russia borders on Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and other countries. Russia is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Arctic Ocean in the north. The main rivers are the Volga, the Yenisey, the Ob and the Lena. The Baikal Lake, the deepest fresh water lake in the world, is in Siberia. It contains about twenty percent of the world’s fresh water supply. There are several mountain chains in Russia: the Urals and the Altai. Large part of Russia is covered with forests.

On the vast territory of Russia there are four climatic zones. They are the arctic, the subarctic, the temperate, and the subtropical zones. The subtropical climate is the warmest. The central part of Russia has the moderate climate with four distinct seasons, which differ greatly in the weather. The most part of the territory of the country has continental climate.

Russia is rich in natural resources, including vast areas of fertile lands and forests, deep lakes and wide rivers. It is rich in mineral deposits, such as coal, oil, iron ore, gas, copper, lead, gold and others.

Russia has a developed industry. It has made a great progress in science and engineering.

The population of Russia is about 150 million people. It is a multinational country.

The highest legislative body of the Russian Federation is the Russian Parliament (Duma). The executive power is held by the President and the Cabinet of Ministers. The President is Head of State.

The Russian Federation is a free union of a number of regions, territories and autonomous republic, for example, Karelia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Mordovia and others.

Пождскажите пожалуйста просто текст на английском про Россию? не более 15 предложений

The official name of the country is the Russian Federation. It’s the largest country in the world with the total area of about 17 million square kilometers. Russia is situated in Europe and in Asia. It is washed by 12 seas. Russia borders on Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It also has a sea border with Japan and the United States. The population of Russia is about 142 million people. It’s the ninth most populous nation in the world. The capital of the country is Moscow.

Russia has a great variety of landscapes. There are plains and forests, highlands and deserts, tundra and taiga. There are lots of mountains and over two million rivers in the country. The main ones are the Volga, which is the longest river in Europe, the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena. Russia’s lakes contain one-quarter of the world’s fresh water. The deepest and the purest lake Baikal is situated in Russia.

Russia is a highly developed industrial country. It has the world’s largest reserves of mineral and energy resources. The country is rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources. Despite the economic problems that Russia is facing nowadays, the country remains one of the leading countries in the world.

Russia is a parliamentary republic with the President being the Head of the State. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

Russia is a country of unique culture. Its largest and most beautiful cities are Moscow and St. Petersburg where one can find numerous museums, parks, theatres, monuments, churches and lots of other interesting places.
Russia attracts millions of tourists every year.
Официальное название страны – Российская Федерация. Это самая большая страна в мире, охватывающая территорию в 17 миллионов квадратных километров. Россия расположена в Европе и Азии. Она омывается 12 морями. Россия граничит с Норвегией, Финляндией, Эстонией, Латвией, Литвой, Украиной, Грузией, Азербайджаном, Казахстаном, Китаем, Монголией и Северной Кореей. Она также имеет морскую границу с Японией и США. Население России составляет около 142 миллионов человек. Эта девятая самая населенная нация в мире. Столица страны – Москва.

Россия – страна разнообразных пейзажей. В ней есть равнины и леса, нагорья и пустыни, тундра и тайга. В стране много гор и свыше двух миллионов рек, самые главные из которых Волга, длиннейшая река в Европе, Обь, Енисей и Лена. Озера России содержат четверть мировых ресурсов пресной воды. Самое глубокое и чистое озеро Байкал находится в России.

Россия – высокоразвитая промышленная страна. Она имеет самые большие запасы минеральных и энергетических ресурсов в мире. Страна богата нефтью, углем, газом, медью, никелем и другими минеральными ресурсами. Несмотря на экономические проблемы, с которыми Россия сталкивается в настоящее время, она остается одной из главнейших стран в мире.

Россия – парламентская республика, во главе которой стоит президент. Исполнительная власть осуществляются Думой.

Россия – это страна с уникальной культурой. Ее самыми крупными и красивыми городами являются Москва и Санкт Петербург, где можно найти множество музеев, парков, театров, памятников, церквей и других интересных мест.

Каждый год Россия привлекает миллионы туристов.

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. The vast territory of Russia lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans.

The capital of Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people.

The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain are the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes on its territory. Also there are many animals in Russia.

The longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena in Asia. The largest lakes are Ladoga and Baikal. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and its water is the purest on earth.

The Russian Federation is rich in natural and mineral resources. It has deposits of oil, gas, iron, gold, silver and many others. The European part of the country is densely peopled, and most population live in cities. The current population of Russia is more than 145 million people.

Russia is a presidential republic. It is one of the leading powers in the world.

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. The vast territory of Russia lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans.

The capital of Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people.

The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain are the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes on its territory. Also there are many animals in Russia.

The longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena in Asia. The largest lakes are Ladoga and Baikal. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and its water is the purest on earth.

The Russian Federation is rich in natural and mineral resources. It has deposits of oil, gas, iron, gold, silver and many others. The European part of the country is densely peopled, and most population live in cities. The current population of Russia is more than 145 million people.

Russia is a presidential republic. It is one of the leading powers in the world.

The Russian Federation is my Homela

The Russian Federation is my Homeland. It is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 17 one-seventh of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is about 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities on the globe. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch of power — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation upper Chamber and the State Duma lower Chamber. Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government the Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

нашу землю омывается 12 морей, большинство из которых являются море три океана: арктика, атлантики и тихого океана.в южной и западной границы в 14 странах.она также имеет морской границы с сша.

российской федерации является многонациональным государством.он состоит из многих национальных округов, несколько автономных республик и регионов.население страны составляет около 140 млн. человек.

москва является столицей нашей родины.она является крупнейшей политической, научной, культурной и промышленным центром страны и один из самых красивых городов по всему миру.русский является официальным языком государства.национальные символы российской федерации являются белый голубой красного знамени и двуглавый орёл.

внешняя политика россии состоит в том, что международного сотрудничества, мира и дружбы со всеми государствами, независимо от их политических и социальных систем.

Как рассказать о России на английском? Топик «Russia is My Motherland»

Очень часто при общении или переписке с иностранцами мы рассказываем о своей культуре, природе, традициях, природных особенностях — в общем, о нашей Родине. Поэтому для нас важно знать, что и как рассказать о России, чтобы зарубежным друзьям было понятно и интересно слушать или читать.

В этом посте мы рассмотрим особенности составления текста, соберем необходимую лексику (слова и выражения), а также приведем примеры текстов и сочинений для разных уровней владения английским языком.

О чем можно рассказать, говоря о России на английском?

Конечно, наша необъятная страна обладает настолько многочисленными особенностями, что выбор темы для обычного человека может быть довольно сложным.

Например, можно составить рассказ про географические особенности:

Это будет энциклопедическая статья про нашу Родину.

Второй вариант сочинения про Россию — это рассказ о менталитете, традициях и обычаях, праздниках и даже народных приметах. Зарубежным друзьям будет очень интересно узнать, чем живет русский человек.

Сочинение о достопримечательностях — хороший вариант рассказа. В нашей стране много уникальных памятников архитектуры, искусства и культуры. Недостатка в «материале» точно не будет.

Кроме того, можно составить рассказ на английском по истории России.

Как видите, вариантов довольно много. Можно даже объединить несколько тем для своего сочинения или рассказа.

Полезный словарь по теме «Россия»

С таким словарным запасом уже можно попробовать написать сочинение по английскому языку на тему «Россия». Тем более что для наглядного примера в следующем разделе приведено сразу несколько готовых образцов разного уровня сложности.

Примеры текстов о России на английском

Ниже представлены несколько вариантов рассказов о нашей стране с переводами на русский разного уровня сложности.

Сочинение для младшей школы

Особенности родной страны дети изучают с малых лет, причем в том числе и на уроках английского. Конечно, в силу возраста учащихся, топики очень краткие и содержат лишь основные факты. В принципе, таким же будет на английском языке и детское сочинение на тему «Россия»: приведем образец с переводом.

1) My country

I am from Russia. It is the biggest country in the world. The capital of Russia is Moscow city. About 12 million people live in Moscow. It is one of the biggest cities of the world.

I live in the city of Sochi. My city is located on the coast of the Black Sea. In summer, my friends and I go to swim and sunbathe almost every day. I love my city and my country. And I am very proud of the fact Sochi was the location for the Winter Olympic Games in 2014.

Перевод: Моя страна

Я из России. Это самая большая страна в мире. Столица России – город Москва. Более 12 миллионов людей живут в Москве. Это один из крупнейших городов мира.

Я живу в городе Сочи. Мой город расположен на побережье Черного моря. Летом я с друзьями хожу плавать и загорать чуть ли не каждый день. Я люблю свой город и свою страну. И еще я очень горд тем фактом, что Сочи был местом проведения зимних Олимпийских игр 2014 года.

2) Russia

I live in Russia. My country is very large. There are a lot of cities, towns and villages in it. The nature of my country is beautiful. There are rivers, lakes, mountains and forests in Russia. Summer is hot in my country. Winter is cold and there is much snow. I love my country very much.

Перевод: Россия

Я живу в России. Моя страна огромная. В России много больших и маленьких городов и деревень. Природа моей страны красива. В России есть реки, озёра, горы и леса. Лето в моей стране очень жаркое. Зимой холодно и очень много снега. Я очень люблю свою страну.

Рассказ про Россию ученикам 5-7 классов

Для учеников среднего звена лучше составить тексты также из общих фактов, только описать чуть более подробно, поскольку дети уже лучше владеют как словарем, так и устной речью. Рассмотрим примеры ниже.

3) My country Russia

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. It occupies a big part of dry land. The country is known as a Legend Empire, because it has been suffering from foreign invasion and dominance by outsiders from times immemorial, but still strong and alive.

The country is divided by Ural mountain range in two big parts. People who live closer to Europe are not the same with Russians from the other side of the Ural. Russia is rich in such natural treasures as coal, oil, nickel, copper, natural gas and even diamonds.

The oversize of the territory determines a big variety of climates: from arctic to subtropical one. In the centre of the country there is a temperate climate. One of the main sources of pride in Russia is unique nature from East to West.

The country is rich in numerous lakes, rivers and woods.

The head of the state is a president. The capital of the Russia is Moscow with population of about 10 million people and it increases every day.

Russia is a big political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre now.

Перевод: Моя страна Россия

Россия – одна из самых больших стран мира. Она занимает большую часть суши. Страна известна как легендарная империя, потому что с незапамятных времен страдает от иноземных захватчиков и давления с внешней стороны, однако все еще сильна и жива.

Огромные размеры территории определяют местное климатическое разнообразие: от арктического до субтропического. В центре страны климат умеренный. Один из главных периодов для гордости в стране – ее уникальная природа с Востока до Запада.

Страна богата многочисленными озерами, реками и лесами.

Главой государства является президент. Столица страны – город Москва с населением около 10 миллионов человек и каждый день оно растет.

Россия является на сегодняшний день крупным политическим, научным, культурным и промышленным центром.

4) The Russian Federation

Russia is well-known as the largest country in the world. Russian area covers a big part of Europe and Asia. Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Novosibirsk are the biggest cities.

The Coat of arms is represented by the double-headed eagle with the mounted figure slaying the black dragon in the center of it. The black dragon can be a symbol of enemies.

The Russian flag consists of three horizontal fields – white, blue and red.

The humid continental climate is prevalent on the most part of the area.

There are seven public holidays. The biggest is New Year. People celebrate New Year on the 31st of December. They buy New Year trees and exchange gifts.

The most known Christian holidays are Easter and Trinity Sunday.

Speaking about the symbols of Russia I want to mention Matryoshka doll which is very recognizable.

Перевод: Российская Федерация

Россия хорошо известна как самая большая страна в мире. Российская территория занимает большую часть в Европе и Азии. Москва, Санкт-Петербург и Новосибирск являются самыми большими городами.

Герб представляет собой двухголового орла с фигурой всадника, убивающего дракона в центре герба. Чёрный дракон может быть символом врагов.

Российский флаг состоит из трёх горизонтальных полей – белого, синего и красного.

Континентальный климат с равномерным увлажнением превалирует на большей части территории.

Есть семь государственных праздников. Самый большой из них – Новый год. Люди празднуют Новый год 31 декабря. Они покупают новогоднюю ёлку и обмениваются подарками.

Самыми известными христианскими праздниками являются Пасха и Троица.

Говоря российских символах, я хочу отметить матрёшку, как самый узнаваемый.

Эссе про Россию для старшеклассников и студентов

Для старшеклассников и студентов в сочинениях модно выражать свое мнение и отношение; сам текст выглядит, как рассуждение на заданную тему.

5) Russia is my Motherland

My motherland is Russia. Every person knows that it is a great country. There are many different reasons to call it that.

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It extends over two continents: Europe and Asia. From north to south the country stretches for over 4,000 km; from west to east – for almost 10,000 km. Its area is more than 17 million square km. Fourteen countries shares a border with Russia. Among these countries there are China, Georgia, Norway, Poland, Estonia, Kazakhstan and others.

Russia is the seventh largest in the world in terms of population. Its current population is about 145 million people. The Russian Federation is a multinational country; over 160 nationalities live in here. Russian is the official language but there are many other languages used in various parts of the country. Most of the Russian population lives in the western parts of the country. Here are the majority of the largest Russian cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara and Omsk.

There are many different reasons for travelling to Russia. The country is famous for its numerous places of interest. One of the Russian national feature is the beauty of its nature. There are many rivers, lakes, mountains, national parks and forests in Russia. Apart from nature, the country has a lot of unique architectural sights. Red Square, the Moscow Kremlin, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, the Winter Palace, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Hermitage Museum are the most famous Russian attractions.

Moreover, my motherland is the country with interesting history and the greatest cultural heritage. The merits of Russia are great in such areas as science, culture, art and sports. The Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to master outer space! Speaking of Russian history, it should be noted the role of Russian rulers in the world order. At all times, Russian rulers were respected for their determination and strong character.

So, my motherland is one of the leading powers in the world. I’m very proud to be living in such a great country.

Перевод: Россия – моя родина

Моя родина – Россия. Каждому в мире известно, что это великая страна. Есть множество разных причин на то, чтобы так ее называть.

Российская Федерация – крупнейшая в мире страна. Она простирается на два континента: Европу и Азию. С севера на юг ее протяженность насчитывает более 4 тыс. км; с запада на восток – почти 10 тыс. км. Площадь страны составляет более 17 миллионов квадратных километров. 14 стран делят границу с Россией. Среди них Китай, Грузия, Норвегия, Польша, Эстония, Казахстан и другие страны.

Россия – седьмая в мире по численности населения. Текущая численность ее населения составляет около 145 млн человек. Российская Федерация – многонациональная страна; более 160 национальностей живут здесь. Русский – официальный язык, но есть еще и другие языки, используемые в различных регионах страны. Большая часть населения России проживает на западе страны. Здесь находится большинство крупнейших городов России, таких как, Москва, Санкт-Петербург, Екатеринбург, Самара и Омск.

Есть много разных причин для путешествия в Россию. Эта страна известна множеством интересных мест. Одна из национальных особенностей России – красота ее природы. В России много рек, озер, горных цепей, национальных парков и лесов. Помимо природы, страна имеет много уникальных архитектурных достопримечательностей. Красная площадь, Московский Кремль, Собор Василия Блаженного, Зимний Дворец, Петропавловская крепость и Эрмитаж – самые известные русские достопримечательности.

Кроме того, моя родина – это страна с интересной историей и величайшим культурным наследием. Велики заслуги России в таких областях, как наука, культура, искусство и спорт. Русский космонавт Юрий Гагарин стал первым человеком, покорившим космос! Говоря об истории России, следует отметить роль русских правителей в мировом порядке. Во все времена правителей России уважали за их решительность и сильный характер.

Так что, моя родина – одна из главнейших мировых сил. Для меня большая гордость жить в такой великой стране.

6) Welcome to Russia

Every year millions of tourists visit Russia. There are many different reasons for travelling to Russia. First of all, it is the largest country in the world. Secondly, it is full of historical, architectural and natural wonders. Thirdly, Russia is a hospitable country, where visitors can easily feel at home. According to national traditions guests are always welcomed with bread and salt.

With the population over 140 million people, Russia spans eleven time zones and two continents. The culture of the country contains western and eastern features. A visit to Russia can become a fascinating adventure.

The cities that one should definitely visit include Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, and, of course, the “Golden Ring” towns. These places will help to learn more about rich Russian history. There are lots of museums, art galleries, historical monuments, ancient cathedrals, palaces of the czars.

Apart from that, there are unique landscapes, endless forests, several mountain ranges and crystal-clear water reservoirs. Everyone can find something enjoyable to do in Russia.

People, who like beach vacation, can visit the Black sea coast.

People, who are fond of old architecture, prefer spending time in such cities as Vladimir, Suzdal, Murom, Ivanovo.

Those, who like picturesque views, chose to visit Altai. To understand better the nature of Russian nation one should know its festivals and celebrations. One of the most favourite holidays in the country is Shrovetide, Maslenitsa in Russian. On this day people bake lots of pancakes and treat each other. It’s very fun outthere on this day!

Перевод: Добро пожаловать в Россию

Каждый год миллионы туристов посещают Россию. Есть множество причин для посещения России. Во-первых, это самая большая страна в мире. Во-вторых, она полна исторических, архитектурных и природных достопримечательностей. В-третьих, Россия – гостеприимная страна, где посетители с легкостью чувствуют себя как дома. В соответствии с национальными традициями гостей всегда встречают хлебом и солью.

С населением свыше 140 миллионов человек, Россия охватывает одиннадцать часовых поясов и два континента. Культура страны вобрала в себя западные и восточные черты. Посещение России может стать увлекательным приключением.

К городам, которые нужно обязательно посетить, относятся Москва, Санкт-Петербург, Казань, Екатеринбург, Сочи, Ростов-на-Дону, и, конечно же, города «Золотого кольца». Эти места помогут узнать больше о богатой истории России. Там расположено множество музеев, художественных галерей, исторических памятников, древних соборов, царских дворцов.

Помимо этого, там открываются уникальные пейзажи, бесконечные леса, несколько горных хребтов и кристально чистые водоемы. Каждый может занятие по душе в России.

Люди, которые любят пляжный отдых, могут посетить побережье Черного моря.

Люди, которые любят старинную архитектуру, предпочитают проводить время в таких городах, как Владимир, Суздаль, Муром, Иваново.

Те, кто любит живописные пейзажи, выбирают Алтай. Чтобы лучше понять природу русского народа, надо знать его фестивали и праздники. Одним из самых любимых праздников в стране является масленичная неделя, по-русски Масленица. В этот день люди пекут много блинов и угощают друг друга. В этот день очень весело!

Английский. ))ответьте на вопросы)))

Russian Federation
Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. It occupies about one-seventh part of dry land. It is situated in Europe and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers.

The country is washed by seas and oceans.

There are different types of climate on the territory of the country. It is very cold in the North even in summer. The central part of the country has mild climate: winters are cold, springs and autumns are warm or cool, summers are hot and warm. In the South the temperature is usually above zero all year round, even in winter. Summer is really hot, the climate is very favourable. The climate of Siberia is continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold.

Some parts of our country are covered with mountains and hills.

There are many rivers in Russia, the longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Yenisei and the Ob in Asia. The deepest lakes are the Baikal and the Ladoga.

The Russian Federation is very rich in mineral resources, such as oil, natural gas, coal, iron, gold and others.

Russia borders on many countries. Among them are Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Poland, China, Mongolia, Korea.

Moscow is the capital of our country. It was founded in 1147. It is a wonderful city. There are many sights in Moscow. You can see many museums, art galleries, theatres, churches and monuments in our capital. People of our country are proud of the Moscow Kremlin. There are also many big beautiful cities in Russia.

Страна вымыта морями и океанами.

Некоторые части нашей страны покрыты горами и холмами.

Российская Федерация очень богата полезными ископаемыми, типа нефти, природного газа, угля, железа, золота и других.

это не из цветковой текст, случайно?) как же можно переводчиком такое переводить) )

1. yes
2/It is situated in Europe and Asia
3/There are different types of climate on the territory of the country
4.In the South the temperature is usually above zero all year round, even in winter. Summer is really hot, the climate is very favourable
5.There are many rivers in Russia
6.The Russian Federation is very rich in mineral resources.
7.oil, natural gas, coal, iron, gold and others
8.
9/Moscow
10.Yes, of couse. You can see many museums, art galleries, theatres, churches and monuments in our capital. People of our country are proud of the Moscow Kremlin.

TEXT 2The Russian FederationThe Rus

TEXT 2
The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies
about 1/7 (onc—seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in
Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 mil-
lion square kilometres.

The Russian Federation is washed by 12 seas of three oceans: the Arc-
tic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country
borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea—border with the USA.

There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora
and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests,
plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest
mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are
over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them
are the Volga, the Ob’, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is
also rich in lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

TeMa ypoxaz Moscow. The Russian Federation 87

The territory ofthe Russian Federation is divided into 11 time zones.
The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to
continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural
resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, fer-
rous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many
national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The popula-
tion ofthe country is about 140 million people.

Moscow, the capital of Russian Federation, is the largest political,
scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most
beautiful cities on the globe. Russian is the official language of the state.
The national symbols ofthe Russian Federation are a white-bluc—rcd ban-
ner and a double-headed eagle.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the
President. The country government consists of three branches: legisla-
tive, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive
branch of power — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Fed-
eral Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising
two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State
Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The ex-
ecutive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers)
headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system
of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and
federal courts. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international
cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their po-
litical and social systems.

Text A: «THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION»

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Itoccupies about 1/6 of the Earthsurface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Cen­tral Asia. Itstotal area is over 17 million square km.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the countrybor­ders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country hasnumerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinationalstate. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is about 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the larg­est political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities on the globe. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a white-blue-redbanner and a double-headed eagle.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The country government con­sists of three branches:legislative, executive andjudi­cial. The President controls only the executive branch — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to theFederal Assem­bly comprising two chambers:the Council of Federa­tion (upper Chamber) and theState Duma (lower Cham­ber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The ex­ecutive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judi­cial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, theSupreme Court and fed­eral courts.

Our country has a multiparty system. The largest and mostinfluential political parties are the «Unity», the Communist party, the «Fatherland-All Russia», «The Union of the Right Forces», «The Apple», Liberal-Demo­cratic and some others.

Theforeign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social sys­tems.

Vocabulary:

to occupy— занимать

surface — поверхность

total area — общая площадь

to border on — граничить с

numerous— многочисленные

steppes — степи

taiga — тайга

highlands — горные возвышенности

the Urals — Уральские горы

the Caucasus— Кавказ

climate conditions — клима­тические условия

moderate — умеренный

ore —руда

ferrous and non-ferrous metals — черные и цветные металлы

state — государство

to comprise — включать, охватывать

banner — знамя, флаг

legislative — законодательный

executive — исполнительная

judicial — судебная

Federal Assembly — Федеральное Собрание

the Council of Federation — Совет Федерации

State Duma — Государственная Дума

Supreme Court — Верховный суд

influential — влиятельный

foreign policy — международная политика

irrespective — независимо

General understanding:

1. Is Russia the largest country in the world?

2. What oceans wash the borders of the Russian Fed­eration?

3. How many countries have borders with Russia?

4. Are Russian flora and fauna various?

5. What are the highest mountains in Russia?

6. What is Baikal famous for?

7. What is the climate inRussia like?

8. What is the national symbol of Russia?

9. What does the Federal Assembly consist of?

10. Who is the head of each Chamber of the Federal Assembly?

Exercise 5.1. Translate into English:

1. Общая площадь Российской федерации состав­ляет более 17 миллионов километров.

2. В мире вряд ли есть еще одна страна с такой разнообразной флорой и фауной.

3. Озеро Байкал — самое глубокое озеро на земном шаре и служит предметом гордости россиян.

4. На территории Российской федерации существу­ет 11 часовых поясов.

5. Россия является конституционной республикой с президентской формой правления.

6. Законадательная власть принадлежит Федераль­ному Собранию, состоящему из двух палат.

7. В Российском парламенте представлены такие партии, как «Единство», КПРФ, «Отечество—Вся Россия», «Яблоко», СПС, ЛДПР.

8. Законодательная и судебная власти прямо не под­чиняются Президенту.

Exercise 5.2. How well do you know your Homeland?

What is (are):

• the biggest Russian lake?

• the longest Russian river (in European and Asian parts of the Russian Federation)?

• a city with subtropical climate?

• cities with arctic climate?

• old historical cities?

• places of recreation and tourism?

Text B: «MOSCOW»

Moscow is the capital and largest city of Russia. It is also the capital of Moscow Oblast, and it stands on the Moskva River. Moscow is the economic, political and cultural centre of Russia. Railways and numerous air­lines link the city with all parts of Russia. Navigable waterways, including the Moscow Canal, Moskva River, and Volga-Don Canal, make the port areas of the city di­rectly accessible to shipping from the Baltic, White, Black, and Caspian seas and the Sea of Azov.

Moscow covers an area of about 880 sq.km. Concen­tric boulevards divide the city into several sections. At the centre of the concentric circles (and semicircles) are the Kremlin, the former governmental seat of Russia, and adjacent Red Square, which form the centre of a ra­dial street pattern. Moscow has a modern underground system famous for its marble-walled stations.

Situated on the north bank of the Moskva River, the Kremlin is the dominant landmark of Moscow. A stone wall, up to 21 m in height and 19 towers, surrounds this triangular complex of former palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of tsarist times, some of them dating from the Middle Ages. The Great Kremlin Palace, com­pleted in 1849, is the most imposing structure within the Kremlin. Other notable Kremlin palaces are the Granovitaya Palace (1491) and the Terem (1636).

Among many cathedrals, now used mainly as muse­ums, are the Cathedral of the Assumption (Успения) and the Archangel Cathedral, each with five gilded domes, and the Cathedral of the Annunciation (Благовещения) (13th-14th century), with nine gilded domes. Another landmark of the Kremlin is the Tower of Ivan the Great, a bell tower 98 m high. On a nearby pedestal is the Tsar’s Bell (nearly 200 tons), one of the largest in the world. A recent addition to the Kremlin is the Palace of Con­gresses, completed in 1961. In this huge modern build­ing were held meetings of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and congresses of the Communist party of the Soviet Union; theatrical and other artistic perform­ances have been held here as well.

St Basil’s Cathedral, famous for its unique architec­ture and coloured domes, stands at one end of Red Square.

One of the best-known sections of Moscow is the Kitaigorod (Chinese City), the ancient commercial quarter lying to the east of the Kremlin. This section is now the site of many government office buildings. Other points of interest in Moscow include the Central Lenin Stadium, comprising about 130 buildings for various sports and the tall Ostankino TV tower, which contains a revolving restaurant and an observation plat­form.

General understanding:

1. Where is Moscow located?

2. Is Moscow a port city?

3. How is Moscow divided into sections?

4. What is known about Moscow Underground system?

5. What are the places of interest in Moscow?

6. Why is the Kremlin the most important place of interest for tourists?

7. What Russian Orthodox cathedrals are situated inside the Kremlin?

8. What is Palace of Congresses used for at present time?

Exercise 5.3. Where are these places of interest situated?

* the Great Kremlin Palace

* the Cathedral of the Assumption

* the Archangel Cathedral

* the Cathedral of the Annunciation

* the Tower of Ivan the Great

* the Palace of Congresses

* St Basil’s Cathedral

* the Central Lenin Stadium

Exercise 5.4. Please, write a short story about your visit to Moscow. The following questions will certainly help you:

1) Have you ever been to Moscow?

2) If yes, when was it?

3) Was it a business trip or a pleasure tour?

4) Did you fly, take a bus or a train to Moscow?

5) What railway station (airport) did you arrive at?

6) What was your first impression of Moscow?

7) What places of interest have you visited?

8) Where did you stay in Moscow?

9) How long did you stayed in Moscow?

10) Did you enjoy your visit to Moscow?

GRAMMAR

§1. Времена английского глагола.

Таблица временных форм глагола

Глаголы в формах Indefinite (Simple) описывают обычные, повторяющиеся действия как факт — безотносительно ких длительности или к результату действия:

I go to school every day. — Я хожу в школу каждый день. В этом высказывании интересует не время, по­траченное на дорогу, не процесс движения, не резуль­тат походов, а сам факт: я хожу в школу, а не на ра­боту.

То же самое относится к прошедшему времени и к будущему:

I went to school when I was a boy. — Я ходил в шко­лу, когда был мальчиком.

I shall go to school when I grow up. —Я буду хо­дить в школу, когда вырасту.

Отрицательная и вопросительная формы в Indefi­nite образуются при помощи вспомогательных глаго­ловdo, does, did с частицей not, краткая форма:don’t, doesn’t, didn’t. Порядок слов прямой. Вопросительные предложения образуются, как правило, простой пере­становкой подлежащего и вспомогательного глагола. Вопросительные местоимения при этом стоят всегда впереди.

The Russian Federation is my Homela

The Russian Federation is my Homeland. It is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 17 one-seventh of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is about 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities on the globe. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch of power — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation upper Chamber and the State Duma lower Chamber. Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government the Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

нашу землю омывается 12 морей, большинство из которых являются море три океана: арктика, атлантики и тихого океана.в южной и западной границы в 14 странах.она также имеет морской границы с сша.

российской федерации является многонациональным государством.он состоит из многих национальных округов, несколько автономных республик и регионов.население страны составляет около 140 млн. человек.

москва является столицей нашей родины.она является крупнейшей политической, научной, культурной и промышленным центром страны и один из самых красивых городов по всему миру.русский является официальным языком государства.национальные символы российской федерации являются белый голубой красного знамени и двуглавый орёл.

Топик Russia

1) Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. 2) It occupies about one seventh part of dry land. 3) The vast territory of Russia lies in the Eastern part of Europe and in the northern part of Asia. 4) Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres.

5) Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans: the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Arctiс. 6) The northern and eastern coasts of Russia are washed by the White Sea, the Barents Sea and the Okhotsk Sea.

7) The land of Russia varies a lot from heavy forests to barren deserts, from high peaked mountains to deep valleys. 8) Russia is located on two plains: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Plain. 9) The Urals is the longest mountain chain. 10) It separates Europe from Asia.

11) There are various types of climate on the territory of Russia. 12) In the south the temperature is usually above zero all year round. 13) The climate of Siberia is continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold.

14) Russia is a land of long rivers and deep lakes. 15) The Volga River is the longest river in Europe (3630 km) 16) It runs into the Caspian Sea, which is in reality, the largest lake in the world. 17) The Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

18) Russia is rich in natural resources. 19) It has deposits of coal, oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, nickel, etc.

20) Russia borders on fourteen countries, including the former Republics of the USSR, which are now independent states.

21) The population of Russia is about 146 million people.

22) Now Russia (the Russian Federative Republic) is a Presidential Republic. 23) Today the state symbol of Russia is a three coloured banner. 24) It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. 25) The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. 26) A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle. 27) It is the most ancient symbol of Russia.

28) Russia has always played an important role in the world. 29) It is one of the leading Powers.

Россия

11) Климат отличается в разных частях страны. 12) На юге обычно выше нуля градуса в течение всего года. 13) Климат Сибири резко континентальный: лето жаркое и сухое, зима очень холодная.

18) Россия богата полезными ископаемыми. 19) Она имеет залежи угля, нефти, природного газа, железной руды, золота, никеля и других полезных ископаемых.

20) Россия граничит с 14 странами, включая прежние республики СССР, которые в настоящее время являются независимыми государствами.

21) Население России составляет почти 146 млн. человек.

28) Россия играла и играет важную роль в мире. 29) Она является одной из ведущих держав мира.

Вопросы к материалу:
1. Is Russia a very rich country? Give your reasons.
2. Where were you born?
3. What kind of climate is there in the country?
4. What countries does the Russian Federation border on?
5. What kind of state is Russia now?
6. Where is Russia situated?

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Russia is one of the largest countr

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. It occupies about one-seventh part of dry land. It is situated in Europe and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers. The country is washed by many seas and oceans. There are different types of climate on the territory of the country. It is very cold in the North even in summer. The central part of the country has mild climate: winters are cold, springs and autumns are warm or cool, summers are hot and warm. In the South the temperature is usually above zero all year round, even in winter. Summer is really hot, the climate is very favourable. The climate of Siberia is continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold. Some parts of our country are covered with mountains and hills. There are many rivers in Russia, the longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Yenisei and the Ob in Asia. The deepest lakes are the Baikal and the Ladoga. The Russian Federation is very rich in mineral resources, such as oil, natural gas, coal, iron, gold and others. Russia borders on many countries. Among them are Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Poland, China, Mongolia, Korea. Moscow is the capital of our country. It was founded in 1147. It is a wonderful city. There are many sights in Moscow. You can see many museums, art galleries, theatres, churches and monuments in our capital. People of our country are proud of the Moscow Kremlin. There are also many big beautiful cities in Russia. The population of Russia is about 150 million people. 83 per cent of the population are Russians. 70% of the population lives in cities.

The Russian Federation, or Russia i

The Russian Federation, or Russia is the largest country in the world, lis vast territory lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. The country is washed by three oceans (the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Pacific) and twelve seas (the White Sea, the Barents Sea, the Okhotsk Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Azov Sea and others). Russia borders on many countries: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania in the north, China, Mongolia, North Korea and others in the south-east, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine in the west, and others. The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. Mountain ranges are found along the southern borders, such as the Caucasus and the Altai, and in the eastern parts, such as the Verkhoyansk Range. The Caucasus contain Mount Elbrus, Russia’s and Europe’s highest point at 5,633 m. The more central Ural Mountains, a north-south range that forms the primary divide between Europe and Asia, are also notable. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes in the country. Notable rivers of Russia in Europe are the Volga, Don, Kama, Oka and the Northern Dvina, while several other rivers originate in Russia but flow into other countries, such as the Dnieper and the Western Dvina. In Asia, important rivers are the Ob, Yrtysh, Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Amur and Kolyma. The largest lakes are Baikal, Ladoga and Onega. Baikal is the deepest fresh-water lake in the world and its water is the purest on Earth. The climate of Russia is varied, from arctic and subarctic in the north, continental in the centre, to subtropical in the south.

The Russian Federation is extremely rich in natural and mineral re-sources. It has deposits of oil, gas, iron, gold, non-ferrous metals and many other minerals.

The economy of Russia is going through a transitional period from the centrally planned socialist economy to a market economy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the greater part of industries were privatized, agriculture and land underwent partial privatization later and are still under-going it. After the crisis of 1997 and the depreciation of the rouble followed by sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population, Rus-sia’s economy faced recession. The economy started recovering in 1999, partially because of high export prices on oil and gas which Russia is rich in Russia is still heavily dependent on export of oil, gas and timber, while its industrial and farming sectors are still weak as compared with those of the developed countries, but the rate of economic growth of the country is very high. If the rate is the same within a period of several years, Russia will he the second largest European economy after Germany.

The current population of Russia is about 143 million people. The capilal of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with a population of about 11 million people.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. Head of State in the country is President, directly elected for a four-year term, who has considerable ex-OCUtlve power and is head of the executive branch of the government. The government consists of three branches: legislative (the Federal Assembly, consisting of the Federation Council and the State Duma), executive (the (government, or the Cabinet of Ministers) and judicial (the system of courts, including the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and other courts). The national flag of Russia is a white-blue-and-red banner. The national language of the Russian Federation is Russian. The Orthodox Church is the dominant religion in Russia.

Russian culture abounds in names which are famous all over the world. Actually, there is no field in science or arts where Russia failed to contribute to the world’s intellectual and artistic treasure-houses.

Россия, или Россия является крупнейшей страной в мире, Лис обширная территория расположена в восточной части Европы и в северной части Азии. Страна омывается тремя океанами (Арктики, Атлантики, Тихого океана) и двенадцать морей (Белого моря, Баренцево море, Охотское море, Балтийское море, Черное море, Каспийское море, Азовское море, а другие ). Россия граничит со многими странами: Норвегия, Финляндия, Эстония, Латвия, Литва на севере, Китаем, Монголией, Северной Кореей и другими в юго-восточной, Польши, Беларуси, Украины на западе, и другие. Земля России изменяется очень от лесов до пустынь, от высоких гор до глубоких долин. Горные хребты расположены вдоль южных границ, таких, как Кавказ и Алтай, и в восточной части, такие как Верхоянского хребта. Кавказ содержать Эльбрус, России и высшую точку Европы на 5,633 м. Чем больше говорят центральные Урал, ряд с севера на юг, что формирует основной раскол между Европой и Азией, также известны. Есть много больших рек и глубоких озер в стране. Известные реки России в Европе Волгу, Дон, Кама, Ока и Северная Двина, в то время как несколько других рек берут начало в России, но впадают в других странах, таких, как Днепр и Западная Двина. В Азии, важные реки Обь, Yrtysh, Енисей, Ангара, Лена, Амур и Колыма. Крупнейшие озера Байкал, Ладожское и Онежское. Байкал является самым глубоким пресноводным озером в мире, и его вода является чистейшей на Земле. Климат России разнообразны, от арктических и субарктических на севере, континентальный в центре, до субтропического на юге. Россия является чрезвычайно богата природными и минеральными повторных источников. Он имеет залежи нефти, газа, железа, золота, цветных металлов и многих других полезных ископаемых. Экономика России переживает переходный период от централизованной плановой социалистической экономики к рыночной экономике. После распада Советского Союза в 1991 году большая часть промышленности были приватизированы, сельское хозяйство и земля подверглась частичной приватизации позже и до сих пор под постоянной его. После кризиса 1997 года и девальвации рубля с последующим резким ухудшением в жизни, для большинства населения, экономика RUS-Sia столкнулось рецессии. Экономика начала восстанавливаться в 1999 году, частично из-за высоких экспортных цен на нефть и газ, которые Россия богата в России по-прежнему сильно зависит от экспорта нефти, газа и древесины, в то время как промышленные и сельскохозяйственные сектора по-прежнему слабы по сравнению с теми, развитые страны, но темпы экономического роста страны является очень высоким. Если скорость такая же, в течение нескольких лет, Россия будет он второй по величине экономика Европы после Германии. В настоящее время население России составляет около 143 млн человек. Capilal Российской Федерации Москва, с населением около 11 миллионов человек. Россия является парламентской республикой. Глава государства в стране президент, избирается непосредственно сроком на четыре года, который имеет значительный экс-OCUtlve власть и является главой исполнительной ветви власти. Правительство состоит из трех ветвей: законодательной (Федеральное Собрание, состоящее из Совета Федерации и Государственной Думы), исполнительный (в (правительства или Кабинета Министров) и судебной (в системе судов, в том числе Конституционного Суда, Верховный суд и другие суды). Государственный флаг России бело-сине-красный флаг. Национальный язык Российской Федерации является русский. Православная Церковь является доминирующей религией в России. Русская культура изобилует именами, которые известный во всем мире. На самом деле, там нет поля в науке или искусстве, где Россия не внести свой ​​вклад в интеллектуальной и художественной сокровищницы мира.

российской федерации чрезвычайно богата природными вновь источников.это месторождения нефти, газа, железа, золота, цветных металлов и многих других минералов.

нынешнего населения россии составляет 143 млн. человек.в capilal из российской федерации в москве, с населением около 11 миллионов человек.

Lesson 3. The Russian Federation / Российская Федерация

Exercise 1: Read and translate the text, learn the active vocabulary:

The Russian Federation is my Homeland. It is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one-seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob’, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is about 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities on the globe. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.

At present, the political and economic situation in the country is rather complicated. There are a lot of problems in the national economy of the Russian Federation. The in­dustrial production is decreasing. The prices are constantly rising, the rate of inflation is very high. People are losing their jobs because many factories and plants are going bank­rupt.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal | courts. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

Vocabulary

to border on – граничить с

highlands – горные возвышенности

the Urals – Уральские горы

the Caucasus – Кавказ

ferrous and non-ferrous metals – чёрные и цветные металлы

banner – знамя, флаг

Federal Assembly – Федеральное Собрание

the Council of Federation – Совет Федерации

Supreme Court – Верховный суд

foreign policy – международная политика

irrespective of – независимо от

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions:

1. Is Russia the largest country in the world?

2. What oceans wash the borders of the Russian Federa­tion?

3. How many countries have borders with Russia?

4. Are Russian flora and fauna various?

5. What are the highest mountains in Russia?

6. What is Baikal famous for?

7. What is the climate in Russia like?

8. What is the national symbol of Russia?

9. What can you say about the Russian economy?

10. What does the Federal Assembly consist of?

11.Who is the head of each Chamber of the Federal Assembly?

Exercise 3. Insert the prepositions:

1. The country is washed … 12 seas.

2. … the south Russia borders … China and Mongolia.

3. It also has a sea – border … the USA.

4. The Urals separates Europe … Asia.

5. The Volga flows … the Caspian sea.

6. The Yenisei and the Lena flow … the south … the north.

7. Russia is rich … beautiful lakes.

8. If you look down you can count the stones … the bottom.

9. There are various types … climate: … arctic … subtropical.

10. The Russian Federation is headed … the President.

11. The country government consists … three branches.

12. The legislative power belongs … the Federal Assembly.

Exercise 4. Ask the questions to the underlined words:

1. Russia covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.

2. The Russian Federation borders on Finland, China, Korea.

3. The largest mountain chain, the Urals separates Europe from Asia.

4. Russian forests are concentrated in the European north of the country.

5. The legislative power in Russia is exercised by the Duma.

6. The Russian Federation produces machines, airplanes, ships, TV sets, refrigerators and other things.

7. The depth of Lake Baikal is 1600 metres.

8 In the middle of the country the climate is continental.

9. The President controls only the executive branch.

10. The population of the country is over 140 million people.

Exercise 5. Put the verbs in brackets into the right form:

1. I (to be) a citizen of the Russian Federation.

2. The Russian Federation (to occupy) about one seventh of the Earth surface.

3. The Russian Federation (to border) on fourteen countries.

4. It (to have) a sea –border with the USA.

5. The highest mountains in our land (to be) the Altai, the Urals, the Caucasus.

6. Our country (to have) a multiparty system.

7. The Black sea (to be) a very popular place for people who (to prefer) to spend their holidays at the seaside.

8. As for me, I (to visit) a lot of places in my country.

Exercise 6. Translate into English:

1. Общая площадь Российской Федерации составляет более 17 миллионов километров.

2. В мире нет стран с такой разнообразной флорой и фауной.

3. Озеро Байкал — самое глубокое озеро на земном шаре.

4. На территории Российской Федерации 11 часовых поясов.

5. Россия является конституционной республикой, с президентом во главе.

6. Законодательная власть принадлежит Федерально­му Собранию, состоящему из двух палат.

7. Президент контролирует только исполнительную ветвь власти.

Exercise 7. Read and translate the text “Moscow”: Moscow

Moscow was founded in 1147 by the prince Yuri Dolgoruky. Moscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the capital of Moscow region. It stands on the banks of the Moskva River. More than nine million people live in the city. Moscow is the economic, political and cultural centre of Russia. Railways and numerous airlines link the city with all parts of Russia. Moscow Canal, the Moskva River, and Volga-Don Canal link Moscow with the Baltic Sea, the White Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Moscow covers the area of about 880 square kilometres.

The Kremlin has the shape of a triangle with one side along the north bank of the Moskva River. A stone wall, up to 21 metres in height with 19 towers, surrounds this triangular complex of former palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments. The Great Kremlin Palace, completed in 1849, is the most impressive structure inside the Kremlin. Other famous Kremlin palaces are the Grano-vitaya Palace (built in 1491) and the Terem (built in 1636).

Among many cathedrals, now used mainly as museums, are the Cathedral of the Assumption (Успения) and the Archangel Cathedral, each with five gilded domes, and the Cathedral of the Annunciation (Благовещения) (built in 13th-14th century), with nine gilded domes. The bell tower of Ivan the Great has the height of 98 metres. On a nearby pedestal is the Tsar Bell (nearly 200 tons), one of the largest in the world. A recent addition to the Kremlin is the Palace of Congresses, completed in 1961.

St. Basil’s Cathedral, a masterpiece of Russian architecture with coloured domes, stands at one end of Red Square and at the other end there is Historical Museum.

Other points of interest in Moscow include the Central Lenin Stadium, comprising about 130 buildings for various sports and the tall Ostankino TV tower, which contains a revolving restaurant and an observation platform. Moscow has a modern railway underground system (Metro) famous for its marble-walled stations.

Moscow is a scientific and cultural center with a lot of institutes, universities, libraries and museums. The city leads a vast cultural life. It has a lot of cinemas, clubs, concert halls, more than 40 drama and musical theatres, including the Bolshoi Theatre, the Art Theatre, the Maly Theatre, the Vakhtangov Theatre.

Muscovites are proud of their museums: the Tretyakov Art Gallery, the A. S. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Historical Museum. Crowds of people visit Tretyakov Gallery to see beautiful pictures of Russian painters.

There are a lot of big plants and factories in Moscow. Among the products are aircraft, high-quality steel, ball bearings, cars and other motor vehicles, machine tools, electrical equipment, precision instruments, radios, chemicals, textiles, shoes, paper, furniture. Food processing, printing, and the repair of rail equipment are important industries.

bank – брег (реки)

cathedral – кафедральный собор

bell tower – колокольня

printing – печатание, печать

machine tool – станок

precision instruments – точные приборы

rail – рельс, железнодорожный путь

ball bearing – шарикоподшипник

Exercise 8. Answer the following questions:

1. When was Moscow founded?

2. Who founded Moscow?

3. Where is Moscow located?

4. Is Moscow a port city?

5. What is Moscow Metro famous for?

6. What are the places of interest in Moscow?

7. Why the Kremlin is the most important place of inter­est for tourists?

8. What cathedrals are situated inside the Kremlin?

9. What is Palace of Congresses used for at present time?

Exercise 9. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Старинные церкви, соборы и монастыри привлекают тысячи туристов со всего света.

2. Москва знаменита своими художественными музеями, в которых размещаются уникальные коллекции произведений русских и зарубежных художников.

3. Башни Кремля были построены для украшения, когда Москва перестала быть крепостью.

4. В соборах Кремля короновали и хоронили (bury) царей и императоров.

5. Соборы и колокольня Ивана Великого были построены между 15 и 17 веками.

6. Сначала Москва была посёлком (settlement), позже город был укреплён (to be fortified) и стал торговым центром.

7. Москва – промышленный и торговый центр, местонахождение правительства Российской федерации.

8. Официальная дата основания Москвы – 1147 год.

Lesson 4. The Astrakhan region / Астраханская область

I. Read the words:

II. Read the text.

The Astrakhan Region

The Astrakhan Region is located in the South-West part of Russia in the lower reaches of the Volga River and the North coast of the Caspian Sea. In the west the Region borders on the Kalmykia republic, in the north on the Volgograd region, in the east on the republic of Kazakhstan, in the south it is washed by the waters of the Caspian Sea. Its area is 44,1 thousand square kilometres.

The Region has 11 administrative Areas. There are 5 cities and towns, 13 townships and 140 rural settlements in the Region.

Astrakhan is a city in southern Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan region. The city lies on two banks of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 520,339. It is a major industrial and cultural center, a sea and river port. It is also a major transport junction linking Russia, to Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Northern Caucasus and Iran (via the Caspian Sea).

Natural conditions of the Region are mainly determined by the joint influence of the Delta rivers and the Caspian Sea. A large number of sunny days during the year and the neighbouring steppes of Kalmykia and Kazakhstan make the climate of the Region continental despite the proximity of the sea. Three climatic zones can be singled out in the Region territory: zone of hot and dry semi-desert climate, zone of extremely dry and hot desert climate, zone of moderate intermediate climate in the Volga River delta. Astrakhan features a temperate continental «Aralian» semi-arid climate with cold winters and hot summers. Astrakhan is one of the driest cities in Europe. Rainfall is scarce but relatively evenly distributed throughout the course of the year with, however, more precipitation (58%) in the hot season (six hottest months of the year), which determines the «Aralian» type.

It is this even distribution of rainfall and the relatively low annual temperature that causes the city to fall under this climate category as opposed to an arid climate.

Winters tend to be cold in the city, though by Russian standards, Astrakhan features relatively balmy winters. Summers in the city can be hot, with high temperatures in excess of +40 °C (104 °F). The mean annual temperature amplitude (difference between the mean monthly temperatures of the hottest and coldest months) is thus equal to 29.2 °C (52.6 °F) (+25.6 °C (78.1 °F) in July and −3.6 °C (25.5 °F) in January), so the climate is truly continental (amplitudes superior or equal to 21 °C (38 °F) determines continental climates, while in semi-continental climates amplitudes vary between 18 °C (32 °F) and 21 °C (38 °F)). Spring and fall are basically transitional seasons between summer and winter. The summers are much hotter than found further west on similar parallels in Europe and worldwide for the 46th parallel.

The Astrakhan Region is a multinational one. There are over one million inhabitants including Russians, Kazakhs, Tatars and Ukrainians. Besides there are over 100 less numerous nationalities in the Region.

The Region’s economic development and foreign economic activities are primarily determined by the geographic situation and natural resources.

Large deposits of oil and gas, silica clays, construction materials such as gypsum, lime-stone, clays, ceramzites, silica sands, etc. are found in the Astrakhan Region territory.

In terms of fish resources and seafood, Astrakhan ranks high among Russian regions. It is also the major producer of sturgeon and caviar.

The Astrakhan Region is one of the most industrialized regions in Russia. There are many enterprises here. The most important of them are shipyards, ship-repairing plants, paper mill the gas processing complex which is about 80 km to the North of the city. The Astrakhan gas-condensate field is the largest in Europe. The gas has a high condensate content and it is unique as for its hydrogen sulfide content.

Fishing industry is also well developed in our Region. Tinned fish famous delicious caviar, smoked and dried fish find many other fish products are produced at the fish processing plants.

Our Region is famous for its vegetables growing. The Astrakhan fresh tomatoes and water-melons are well-known for their taste while their tinned products are in great demand in our country.

The Astrakhan Region is a promising area for tourism and recreation.

There are many places of interest in Astrakhan, for example, a wonderful Kremlin, an architectural monument of the 16-th century, a lot of churches, monastery and mosque ensembles, civic buildings with very interesting architectural designs. Five museums of various specializations (local nature, history and economy, historical, devoted to famous people) are located here.

The Astrakhan Kustodiev picture gallery is one of the oldest galleries in Russia. Now it has a unique collection which includes masterpieces by famous Russian artists, such as Levitan, Nesterov, Korovin, Rerikh, Serov and other famous painters. There is also a large collection of works by the «Russian avant-garde artists, such well-know names Kandinsky, Malevich and Shagal.

The Astrakhan Region has favourable conditions for rest and recreation.

It is necessary to mention the Astrakhan state bio-sphere preserve, located in the Volga River delta. It is a center of international environmental tourism and a major research, institution At present there are about 50 preserve zones in the Region protected hy the State, which are used от can be used for organizing bird-watching, fishing and hunting tours.

Как правильно написать «Российская Федерация»

Мы часто рас­ска­зы­ва­ем или пишем в пись­мах и сооб­ще­ни­ях о сво­ей стране, её куль­ту­ре и досто­при­ме­ча­тель­но­стях. Поэто­му очень важ­но писать её назва­ние пра­виль­но. Рас­смот­рим как пра­виль­но напи­сать Рос­сий­ская феде­ра­ция на англий­ском язы­ке и как понят­но произносить.

Английские выражения с переводом по теме Российская Федерация

Рос­сий­ская Феде­ра­ция – The Russian Federation

Словосочетания со словом Россия

Сочинение на тему Российская Федерация на английском языке с переводом

The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres.

The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Belorussia, the Ukraine. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There’s hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake (1,600 metres) is Lake Baikal. It’s much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there’s much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It’s its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It’s one of the oldest Russian cities.

There are a lot of opportunities Russia to become one of the leading countries in the world. I’m sure that we, the younger generation, can do very much to make our country strong and powerful.

Пере­вод:

Рос­сий­ская Федерация

Пере­вод:
Рос­сий­ская Феде­ра­ция явля­ет­ся самой боль­шой стра­ной в мире. Она зани­ма­ет при­бли­зи­тель­но одну седь­мую часть зем­ли. Она охва­ты­ва­ет восточ­ную часть Евро­пы и север­ную части Азии. Ее общая пло­щадь состав­ля­ет око­ло 17 мил­ли­о­нов квад­рат­ных километров.

Стра­на омы­ва­ет­ся 12 моря­ми 3 оке­а­нов: Тихо­го оке­а­на, Арк­ти­че­ско­го и Атлан­ти­че­ско­го. На юге Рос­сия гра­ни­чит с Кита­ем, Мон­го­ли­ей, Коре­ей, Казах­ста­ном, Гру­зи­ей и Азер­бай­джа­ном. На запа­де она гра­ни­чит с Нор­ве­ги­ей, Фин­лян­ди­ей, стра­на­ми Бал­тии, Бело­рус­си­ей, Укра­и­ной. Она так­же име­ет мор­скую гра­ни­цу с США.

Есть две боль­шие рав­ни­ны в Рос­сии: Вели­кая Рус­ская рав­ни­на и Запад­но-Сибир­ская низ­мен­ность. Есть несколь­ко гор­ных цепей на тер­ри­то­рии стра­ны: Урал, Кав­каз, Алтай и дру­гие. Боль­шая гор­ная цепь, Урал, отде­ля­ет Евро­пу от Азии.

Есть более чем два мил­ли­о­на рек в Рос­сии. Самая боль­шая река Евро­пы, Вол­га, впа­да­ет в Кас­пий­ское море. Основ­ные сибир­ские реки – Обь, Ени­сей и Лена – текут с юга на север. Амур на Даль­нем Восто­ке впа­да­ет в Тихий оке­ан. Рос­сия бога­та пре­крас­ны­ми озе­ра­ми. Самое глу­бо­кое в мире озе­ро (1600 м)- озе­ро Бай­кал. Оно намно­го мень­ше, чем Бал­тий­ское море, но в нем намно­го боль­ше воды, чем в Бал­тий­ском море. Вода в озе­ре настоль­ко про­зрач­на, что если вы посмот­ри­те вниз, мож­но сосчи­тать кам­ни на дне.

Рос­сия обла­да­ет одной шестой частью миро­вых лесов. Они сосре­до­то­че­ны на евро­пей­ском севе­ре стра­ны, в Сиби­ри и на Даль­нем Востоке.

На обшир­ной тер­ри­то­рии стра­ны суще­ству­ют раз­лич­ные типы кли­ма­та, от арк­ти­че­ско­го на севе­ре до суб­тро­пи­че­ско­го на юге. В сре­дине стра­ны кли­мат уме­рен­но континентальный.

Рос­сия бога­та нефтью, углем, желез­ной рудой, при­род­ным газом, медью, нике­лем и дру­ги­ми полез­ны­ми ископаемыми.

Рос­сия явля­ет­ся пар­ла­мент­ской рес­пуб­ли­кой. Гла­вой госу­дар­ства явля­ет­ся пре­зи­дент. Зако­но­да­тель­ные пол­но­мо­чия осу­ществ­ля­ют­ся Думой.

Сто­ли­ца Рос­сии – Москва. Это круп­ней­ший поли­ти­че­ский, науч­ный, куль­тур­ный и про­мыш­лен­ный центр. Это один из древ­ней­ших рус­ских городов.

Есть мно­го воз­мож­но­стей, что­бы Рос­сия ста­ла одной из веду­щих стран в мире. Я уве­рен, что мы, моло­дое поко­ле­ние, можем сде­лать очень мно­гое, что­бы сде­лать нашу стра­ну силь­ной и могучей.

The russian federation is the largest country in the world

Задание №12094.
Чтение. ОГЭ по английскому

Установите соответствие между заголовками 1 — 8 и текстами A — G. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании один заголовок лишний.

1. A great source of water
2. A famous Russian toy
3. A great source of knowledge and information
4. Getting higher than the sky
5. The fresh air producer
6. Famous for its size
7. Named after a famous scientist
8. Spoken all over the world

A. Russia, also officially known as the Russian Federation, is the largest country in the world. Its territory is 17,075,400 square kilometers. According to scientists, the country’s territory would almost cover the surface of the planet Pluto. It is the only country which is washed by 3 oceans and 12 seas. Russia is considered to be a European country, but two-thirds of the country are in Asia. However, most of the population lives in the European part of Russia.

B. Siberian Lake Baikal is the largest source of fresh water on the planet. All the 12 major rivers of the world (the Volga, the Don, the Yenisei, the Ob, the Ganges, the Amazon, etc.) would need to flow almost a year to fill a pool equal to the volume of Lake Baikal. Another impressive fact is that even if all the rest of the planet’s fresh water supply were to disappear, there would be enough fresh water left in Lake Baikal to supply the people of the earth for up to 50 years.

C. Russia is the country with the largest forest reserves in the world. 45% of its territory is covered in green forests. The forests are located in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East. Forests play an important role in the life and welfare of people. Russian forests are the biggest ‘lungs’ of the Earth. They produce oxygen and clean the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

D. There are more than five thousand languages in the world. Russian is one of the five major world languages. 280 million people around the world speak Russian and it is one of the most widely spoken native languages in Europe. The United Nations uses Russian as one of the official languages of the organization. It is also used in international commerce, politics, academic and cultural life.

E. For its collection of books, the Russian State Library is considered to be the biggest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The Russian State Library was founded in 1862, in Moscow. The library has over 275 km of shelves with more than 43 million items, including books, journals and magazines, art publications, music scores and sound records, maps and other things. There are items in 247 languages of the world.

F. Russia is known all over the world for its space programmes. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite in the world. Four years later, in 1961, human space flight was accomplished. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man to journey into space. He orbited the Earth and landed the same day. There are other impressive space achievements of the country like the first long space flight, the first woman cosmonaut in space, and the first spacewalk.

G. One of the most popular souvenirs tourists buy in Russia is the Matryoshka. It is a doll made of wood and painted with colourful ornaments. Although the Matryoshka is called a doll, it is actually a set of dolls of different sizes placed inside one another. A traditional Russian Matryoshka has big black eyes, red healthy cheeks and a friendly smile. She wears a national Russian costume, and often has some flowers or a basket of fruit in her hands.

Решение:
Заголовок 6 (Famous for its size. — Известен своими размерами) соответствует содержанию текста A: «. is the largest country in the world.»

Заголовок 1 (A great source of water. — Отличный источник воды) соответствует содержанию текста B: «Siberian Lake Baikal is the largest source of fresh water. »

Заголовок 5 (The fresh air producer. — Производитель свежего воздуха) соответствует содержанию текста C: «Russian forests are the biggest ‘lungs’ of the Earth.»

Заголовок 8 (Spoken all over the world. — Говорят во всем мире) соответствует содержанию текста D: «Russian is one of the five major world languages.»

Заголовок 3 (A great source of knowledge and information. — Отличный источник знаний и информации) соответствует содержанию текста E: «. the Russian State Library is considered to be the biggest in Europe. »

Заголовок 4 (Getting higher than the sky. — Поднимаясь выше неба) соответствует содержанию текста F: «In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. »

Заголовок 2 (A famous Russian toy. — Знаменитая русская игрушка) соответствует содержанию текста G: «. tourists buy in Russia is the Matryoshka.»

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Источник: ФИПИ. Открытый банк тестовых заданий
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THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/6 of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square km.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is about 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities on the globe. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch – the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

2. Answer the following questions:

1. Is Russia the largest country in the world?

2. What oceans wash the borders of the Russian Federation?

3. How many countries have borders with Russia?

4. Are Russian flora and fauna various?

5. What are the highest mountains in Russia?

6. What is Baikal famous for?

7. What is the climate in Russia like?

8. What is the national symbol of Russia?

9. What does the Federal Assembly consist of?

10. Who is the head of each Chamber of the Federal Assembly?

3. How well do you know your Homeland? What is (are):

• the biggest Russian lake?

• the longest Russian river (in European and Asian parts of the Russian Federation)?

• a city with subtropical climate?

• cities with arctic climate?

• old historical cities?

• places of recreation and tourism?

4. Translate into English:

1. Общая площадь Российской федерации составляет более 17 миллионов километров.

2. В мире вряд ли есть еще одна страна с такой разнообразной флорой и фауной.

3. Озеро Байкал – самое глубокое озеро на земном шаре и служит предметом гордости россиян.

4. На территории Российской федерации существует 11 часовых поясов.

5. Россия является конституционной республикой с президентской формой правления.

6. Законодательная власть принадлежит Федеральному Собранию.

5. Learn the following words by heart:

to occupy – занимать

total area – общая площадь

to border on – граничить с

highlands – горные возвышенности

the Urals – Уральские горы

the Caucasus – Кавказ

climate conditions – климатические условия

ferrous and non-ferrous metals – черные и цветные металлы

to comprise – включать, охватывать

banner – флаг, знамя

Federal Assembly – Федеральное Собрание

the Council of Federation – Совет Федерации

The russian federation is the largest country in the world

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It is situated on two continents: Europe and Asia. Seas and oceans wash it in the north, south, east and west. The Black Sea is in the south; the Baltic Sea is in the west. The Arctic Ocean washes it in the north and in the east is the Pacific Ocean.

Russian Federation is a President Republic. The federal government consists of three branches: legislative, executive, judicial. All three branches are controlled by the President. Now our President is Putin.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It was founded by Yuri Dolgoruky in 1147. It is more than 800 years old. The city is situated on seven hills.

It is true to say that Russia is the most famous country. People all over the world know such great Russians as Pushkin, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Suvorov, Kutuzov, Lomonosov, Gagarin and many many others.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron, copper, nickel and other mineral resources. People find many of them in Siberia.

There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai, etc. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia. Russia is a land of long rivers and deep lakes. There are over two million rivers in our country. The Volga is the biggest river in Russia. The world’s deepest lake is Lake Baikal.

The plant and animal worlds of my country are also very rich. There are a lot of different animals, birds, plants in Russia.

Russia is my native land and I love it very much.

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

I am a citizen of the Russian Federation or Russia. The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one seventh) of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers.

Our land is washed by 12 seas and three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea – border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over thousands rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores and ferrous and non – ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is over 140 million people.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic, headed by the President, the country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch – the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma (lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitution Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts.

Our country has a multiparty system. The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

Тема «Россия» (Russia)

Russia is the world’s largest country, covering almost a seventh part of dry land. It occupies the territory of 17 million square kilometers both in Europe and Asia. In the north and in the east the country is washed by 12 seas which belong to the Pacific and the Arctic oceans. In the west and in the south Russia borders on 14 countries including the former Soviet republics.

The surface of the country is various. It contains the East European plain, the West Siberian plain, the Ural mountains, the Central Siberian plateau and the Far East. As the territory of Russia is vast, there are various types of climate and vegetation here, depending on latitude. We have zones of treeless tundra, taiga, deciduous forests and grass-covered steppe.

Russia is also a land of long rivers and deep lakes. The Volga is the longest river in Europe and the Yenisei and the Ob are the longest ones in Asia. Baikal and Ladoga are the deepest Russian lakes.

The population of Russia is nearly 150 million people. The European part of the state is more populated than the rest of it. People of many nationalities live in our country. But Russians constitute four-fifths of the total population.

Russian culture abounds in names of outstanding people: scientists, writers, composers, sportsmen. Everybody knows the names of Pushkin, Gagarin, Mendeleev, Lomonosov or Tchaikovsky. Our villages are world-famous for their national crafts: Dymkovo toys, Palekh painted boxes, Khokhloma wooden tableware.

The Russian Federation is a parliamentary republic. President is the head of state. Moscow is its capital. Today Russia cuts a great figure in the world. It is rich in natural resources (coal, iron, gold, nickel, copper and aluminium) and is known as one of the world’s largest exporters of oil, gas and grain. A lot of serious political and economical changes have happened in Russia recently but I do believe in the bright future of our country.

Перевод

Россия является самым большим государством в мире, занимающим почти седьмую часть суши. Она расположена на территории в 17 млн. кв.км как в Европе, так и в Азии. На севере и востоке страна омывается 12 морями, принадлежащими Тихому и Северному Ледовитому океанам. На западе и юге Россия граничит с 14 странами, включая бывшие советские республики.

Земная поверхность страны разнообразна. Она состоит из Восточно-европейской равнины, Западно-Сибирской равнины, Уральских гор, Среднесибирского плоскогорья и Дальнего Востока. Поскольку территория России огромна, на ней существуют различные типы климата и растительности, в зависимости от географической широты. У нас есть зоны безлесной тундры, тайги, лиственных лесов и покрытых травой степей.

Россия – это еще и земля длинных рек и глубоких озер. Волга – самая длинная река в Европе, а Енисей и Обь – самые длинные в Азии. Байкал и Ладога являются самыми глубокими русскими озерами.

Население России составляет почти 150 млн. человек. Европейская часть государства более населена, чем остальная его часть. Люди многих национальностей проживают в нашей стране. Но русские насчитывают 4/5 от общего количества населения.

Русская культура изобилует именами выдающихся людей: ученых, писателей, композиторов, спортсменов. Любой знает имена Пушкина, Гагарина, Менделеева, Ломоносова или Чайковского. Наши деревни всемирно известны своими национальными ремеслами: дымковскими игрушками, палехскими расписными шкатулками и хохломской деревянной посудой.

Российская Федерация является парламентской республикой. Президент – глава государства. Москва – его столица. Сегодня Россия является значимой фигурой в мире. Она богата природными ресурсами (углем, железом, золотом, никелем, медью и алюминием) и известна как один из крупнейших мировых экспортеров нефти, газа и зерна. Немало серьезных политических и экономических изменений произошло в последнее время в России, однако я очень верю в большое будущее нашей страны.

The Russian Federation (1)

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres.
The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Byelorussia and Ukraine. It also has a sea-border with the USA.
There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.
There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.
There are over two million rivers in Russia. Europe’s biggest river, the Volga, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers — the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena — flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into Pacific Ocean.
Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake (1600 meters) is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.
Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.
On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.
Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.
Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of the State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.
The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities.
At present, the political and economic situation in the country is rather complicated. There are a lot of problems in the national economy of the Russian Federation.
But in spite of the problems Russia is facing at present, there are a lot of opportunities for this country to become one of the leading countries in the world.

Российская Федерация (1)

Российская Федерация — самая большая страна в мире. Она занимает приблизительно одну седьмую часть поверхности земли. Она охватывает восточную часть Европы и северную часть Азии. Ее общая территория — приблизительно 17 миллионов квадратных километров.
Страна омывается 12 морями 3-х океанов: Тихого океана, Арктики и Атлантического океана на юге. Россия граничит с Китаем, Монголией, Кореей, Казахстаном, Грузией и Азербайджаном. На западе — с Норвегией, Финляндией, Балтийскими государствами, Белоруссией и Украиной. У нее также есть морская граница с США.
Едва ли найдется страна в мире, где есть такое разнообразие пейзажа и растительности. У нас есть степи на юге, равнины и леса в центре страны, тундра и тайга на севере, горная местность и пустыни на востоке.
В России есть две Великие равнины: Большая российская равнина и Западно-сибирская низменность. На территории страны есть несколько горных цепей: Урал, Кавказ, Алтай и другие. Наибольшая горная цепь, Урал, отделяет Европу от Азии.
В России есть более чем два миллиона рек. Самая большая река Европы, Волга, впадает в Каспийское море. Главные сибирские реки — Обь, Енисей и Лена — текут с юга на север. Амур на Дальнем Востоке впадает в Тихий океан.
Россия богата красивыми озерами. Самым глубоким в мире (1600 метров) является озеро Байкал. Оно намного меньше, чем Балтийское море, но в нем намного больше воды, чем в Балтийском море. Вода в озере настолько прозрачна, что, если посмотреть вниз, можно посчитать камни на дне.
На долю России приходится одна шестая часть лесов в мире. Они сконцентрированы на европейском севере страны, в Сибири и на Дальнем Востоке.
На обширной территории страны разнообразный климат — от арктического на севере до субтропического на юге. В центре страны климат является умеренно-континентальный.
Россия очень богата нефтью, углем, железной рудой, природным газом, медью, никелем и другими полезными ископаемыми.
Россия — парламентская республика. Глава государства — президент. Законодательные полномочия осуществляются Думой.
Столица России — Москва. Это ее наибольший политический, научный, культурный и индустриальный центр. Это один из самых старых российских городов.
В настоящее время политическая и экономическая ситуация в стране очень сложна. В народном хозяйстве Российской Федерации существует много проблем.
Но несмотря на проблемы, с которыми сталкивается Россия в настоящее время, у этой страны есть все шансы стать одной из ведущих стран в мире.

Английский. Пожалуйста))) Помогите)

TEXT 2
The Russian Federation.
____
The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7(one-seventh) of the Earth suriace. The country is situated in Eastern Europe. Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over million square kilometres.

—The Russian Federation is washed by 12 seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

—There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna found as in our land. Our country has nurmerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob’, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

———(НА ФОТО ВТОРАЯ ЧАСТЬ ТЕКСТА)

Российская Федерация является крупнейшей страной в мире. Она занимает около 1/7(одна седьмая) от suriace Земле. Страна расположена в Восточной Европе. Северной и Центральной Азии. Его Общая площадь составляет более миллиона квадратных километров.

—Российская Федерация омывается 12 морями трех океанов: Северного Ледовитого, Атлантического и Тихого океана. На юге и на Западе страна граничит с четырнадцатью странами. Она также имеет морской границы с США.

—Нет таких стран в мире, где такое большое разнообразие флоры и фауны, как на нашей земле. Наша страна nurmerous леса, равнины и степи, Тайга и тундра, высокогорье и пустыни. Самые высокие горы на нашей земле Алтая, Урала и Кавказа. Насчитывается свыше двух тысяч рек в Российской Федерации. Самая длинная из них Волга, Обь, Енисей, Лена и Амур. Наша земля также богата озерами с самое глубокое озеро в мире, Байкал, включены.

The Russian Federation (Russia) is the world’s largest country in area. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea and from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It is located in Europe and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres. Russia borders many countries, such as Finland, the Ukrain, the Baltic States, China, Mongolia, and others.

The surface of Russia is various. You can see lowlands and highlands, forests and wide grasslands on its territory. There are many rivers and lakes in our country. Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world’s deepest lake.

There are different climatic zones on the vast area of our country.

Russia has abundant natural resources. Three quarters of the mineral wealth are concentrated in Siberia and in the Far East.

The population of Russia is over 143 million people. Most of Russia’s people are ethnic Russians, but more than 100 minority nationalities also live in our country. The official language is Russian. The capital of Russia is Moscow.

The head of the state is the President, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The head of the government is the Prime Minister.

The Russian flag has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. Besides the flag, there is another national symbol of Russia. It is a two-headed eagle.

1. Fill in the missing words in the following sentences; the first letter of each word has been given to help you.

2. Agree or disagree with the following statements; add some more information.

1. Russia borders many countries.
2. The area of the Russian Federation is not large.
3. The surface is the same on the vast territory of Russia.
4. Russia has abundant natural resources.
5. More than 160 million people live in Russia.

3. Complete the following sentences.

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The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate (вопросы и ответы для подготовки к экзамену)

Материалы данной статьи помогут вам повторить тему «Russia» по вопросам и ответам. Текст «The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate» может являться основой для составления небольшого сообщения по данной теме в целях подготовки к экзамену ОГЭ и ЕГЭ по английскому языку.

The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate

2. Questions to the topic: «The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate»

3. Answers to the questions on the topic: «The Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate»

4. Text on the Geographical Position of Russia, its Nature and Climate

Russia is the largest country in the world. It occupies about the one seventh of the earth’s surface. Russia covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.

The country is washed by 12 seas of three oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Belorussia, the Ukraine. It also has a sea border with the USA.

The population of Russia is 145.5 million people. 83 percent are Russians. The capital of the country is Moscow. It is the largest city and has a population of about 12 million people (2016).

There is hardly a country in the world with such a variety of scenery and vegetation. Russia has steppes in the south, plains and forests in the central region, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

Russia is located on two plains. They are the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland.

There are several mountains chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

In Russia there are long rivers and deep lakes. The Volga is the biggest Europe’s river. The world’s deepest lake is Lake Baikal. The water in Lake Baikal used to be very clean. It was so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

Over the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the south-west the weather is usually mild and wet; northern Asia is one of the coldest places on the earth, and in the south the heat is unbearable. But in the middle of the country the climate is moderate and continental.

Russia is very rich in mineral resources. It exports oil and natural gas.

In recent years the political and economic situation in the country has started getting out of the crisis.

There are a lot of opportunities for our country to become one of the leading countries in the world.

Russia (6)

To begin with I’d like to say that the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one seventh of the earth’s surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometers. The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders with China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders with Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Byelorussia, the Ukraine. It also has a seaboard with USA. There is hardly a country where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east. There are over 2 million rivers in Russia. The country is rich in beautiful lakes. The world’s deepest lake, Baikal, is situated in Russia. They say, that the water in the lake is so clear, that if you look down you can even count stones on the bottom. Russia has one sixth of world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East. On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental. In Russia, therefore, you can observe different seasons of the same time in autumn and spring months. For example, in Murmansk and Archangel April is still a winter month, while in Moscow in April spring has already begun. Russia is very rich in oil, cool, iron ore, natural gas, copper and other mineral resources. Nature has richly bestowed upon Russia all the mineral resources. Another point I want to deal with is the Russian language. Russian is the first language of more than 220 million of people throughout the world, and it is the official language of Russian Federation. It is also spoken to some extent by the 130 million of people in former republics of the USSR. Russian, in fact, is among the 4 most widely spoken languages in the world. I shall now elaborate the Russian stereotype. To my mind, Russians have many peculiarities. They are believed to be industrious, tough, suspicious, brave and progressive. They are very hospitable, fond of being with other people and enjoying social life. They have a great sense of patriotism. They are generous, emotional, kind-hearted and loyal to their families. From my point of view Russians are patriarchal, dogmatic in following conventional values. They are mostly faithful and tradition-loving. It may be interesting to say some words about Russian food. The wide range of Russian food is really worth exploring. There are many tasty dishes to try, such as Beef Stroganoff, stuffed cabbage leaves, soups, such as borshch, lovely salads, blini, pelmeni, kissel and many others. When Russians invite guests for a meal the table is usually groaning with food. In the latter half of our century international tourism has become truly massive. But in the times of the Cold War not much tourists visited USSR. And now thousands of people from all over the world visit Russia. The country’s history is long and eventful. There are more than 150 000 historical and architectural landmarks and monuments. There are many places of interest in Russia. And foreigners come to explore its historic buildings, to see its museums and galleries, its streets and parks. But the greatest reason to my mind is the great will to find out something about life of Russian people. How do Russian people live? How do they work and spend their free time? People visiting Russia want to see that for themselves. That’s why Russia encourages international tourism.

УРОВЕНЬ. Задание 1. Ответьте на вопросы, опираясь на текст«The Russian Federation» 1 уровня

Задание 1. Ответьте на вопросы, опираясь на текст«The Russian Federation» 1 уровня

1. Is Russia the largest country in the world?

2. What is the size of Russia?

3. What oceans wash the borders of the Russian Federa­tion?

4. How many countries have borders with Russia?

5. Are Russian flora and fauna various?

6. What are the main rivers of Russia?

7. What are the highest mountains in Russia?

8. What is Baikal famous for?

9. What are the natural resources of Russia?

10. What is the climate in Russia like?

11. What is the national symbol of Russia?

12. What does the Federal Assembly consist of?

13. Who is the head of each Chamber of the Federal Assembly?

Задание 2. Перескажите текст

I live in Russia. Russia is my native country. The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world, occupies one seventh of the Earth’s surface. It is situated both in Europe and Asia. The total area is about 17 million square kilometers. The country is washed by 12 seas and 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic oceans. Our neighbours in the south are China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west we have borders with Norway, Finland, Belarus the Ukraine. There is no country in the world like Russia, with the steppes in the south, plains and forests the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east. There is a great number of rive in Russia. The Volga, the longest in Europe river, flow into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian Rivers — the Yenisey and the Lena flow from the south to the north! The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific осеan. The deepest lake in the world is Baikal. The water in the lake is so clear, that you can see the stones on the bottom.

Because of the vast territory there are various types of climate in the country.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic with the stroll power of the President who is the head of the state. State Duma and the Council of Federation are the legis­lative branch of the government.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is the largest po­litical, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities.

The national banner of Russia is a tricolour with white, blue and red stripes.

Тема / Топик по английскому языку:
Russia

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. The vast territory of Russia lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia.

Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans. The oceans are: the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Pacific. The seas are: the White Sea, the Barents Sea, the Okhotsk Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and others.

Russia borders on many countries, such as Mongolia and China in the south-east, Finland and Norway in the north-west, and so on.

The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain chains are the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes on its territory. The longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena in Asia. The largest lakes are Ladoga and Baikal. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and its water is the purest on earth.

The Russian Federation is rich in natural and mineral resources. It has deposits of oil, gas, coal, iron, gold and many others.

The current population of Russia is more than 150 million people. The European part of the country is densely peopled, and most population live in cities and towns and their outskirts.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 12,5 million people.

Russia is a presidential republic. It is one of the leading powers in the world.

Topical Vocabulary

Помогите ответить на вопросы по английскому.

1.2 Text 1
The Russian Federation
In area, the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Its total area is
about 17 million square kilometres. It occupies most of Eastern Europe and Northern
Asia. Russia stretches from the Baltic Sea in the West to the Pacific Ocean in the East
and from the Arctic Ocean in the North to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, the Altai,
and the Sayan mountains, and the Amur and the Ussuri rivers in the South. It is bordered
by Norway and Finland in the north-west, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and the Ukraine in
the West, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the south-west, and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China
along the southern border. The federation comprises 21 republics.
The land of Russia varies from thick forests to barren deserts, from high peaked
mountains to deep valleys. Russian Federation is located on two plains, Great Russian
Plain and West Siberian Lowland. The longest mountain chains are the Urals, separating
Europe from Asia, the Caucasus, the Altai. Russia’s most important rivers are the Volga,
Europe’s biggest river, flowing into the Caspian Sea, the main Siberian rivers (the Ob,
the Yenisei and the Lena), and the Amur in the Far East, flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
The total number of rivers in Russia is over two million. The world’s deepest lake –
Lake Baikal, with the depth of 1600 metres, is situated in Russia, too.
The climate in Russia varies from arctic in the north to continental in the central part
of the country and subtropical in the south.
The current population of Russia is about 50 million people; 82 % of the population
are Russians.
Russia is a highly-industrialized-agrarian republic. Its vast mineral resources include
oil and natural gas, coal, iron, zinc, lead, nickel, aluminium, gold and other non-ferrous
metals. Russia has the world’s largest oil and natural gas resources. Three-quarters of
the republic’s mineral wealth is concentrated in Siberia and the Far East.
Approximately 10 million people are engaged in agriculture and they produce half of
the region’s grain, meat, milk, and other dairy products. The largest granaries are located
in the North Caucasus and the Volga and the Amur regions.
The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10
million people.

Russia is a constitutional republic, with President as Head of State. The legislative
power is vested in the Federal Assembly, consisting of the Council of Federation and the
State Duma.

1.3 Answer the questions
1) What territory does Russia occupy?
2) What countries does it border on?
3) What plains is it located on?
4) What are the longest mountain chains?
5) What sea does Europe’s biggest river flow into?
6) What river flows into the Pacific Ocean?
7) How deep is the world’s purest lake Baikal?
8) How does the climate in Russia vary?
9) What mineral resources does Russia possess?
10) What industries are developed in Russia?
11) What products do agricultural enterprises produce?

11) What products do agricultural enterprises produce? – They produce grain, meat, milk, and other dairy products, fruit and vegetables.

Текст «Россия» с заданиями

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. It occupies about one-seventh part of dry land. It is situated in Europe and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers.

The population of Russia is about 150 million people. 83 per cent of the population are Russians. 70 per cent of the population live in cities.

The country is washed by seas and oceans, by the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Pacific Ocean in the east. There are many rivers in Russia. The largest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Yenisei and OB in Asia. All rivers flow in the seas. The deepest lakes are the Baikal and Ladoga.

Russia has one-sixth of the world’s forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

There are different types of climate on the territory of the country. It is very cold in the North even in summer. The central part of the country has mild climate: winters are cold, springs and autumns are warm or cool, summers are hot and warm. In the South the temperature is usually above zero all year round, even in winter. Summer is really hot. The climate of Siberia is continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold.

Some parts of our country are covered with mountains and hills. Here are three main mountains chains in Russia. The Caucasus is a range of mountains, which extend from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. The highest mountain is the Caucasus. The highest mountain in Caucasus is Mount Elbrus. The Urals extend from the Arctic Ocean to the steppes. This mountain chain divides the European and Asian parts of Russia. The Urals are famous for their valuable minerals. There are 150 volcanoes in Kamchatka, 30 of which are active.

The Russian Federation is very rich in mineral resources, such as oil, natural gas, coal, iron, gold and others.

Today Russia is one of the world’s largest grain products and exporters. It produced 78 % of all its natural gas, 60 % of steel, 80 % of timber and 91 % of oil. So, today Russia becomes greatest industrial country.

Russia borders on fourteen countries including the former republics of the USSR, which are now independent states. Russia borders with Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Poland, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan and so on.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

Today the state symbol of Russia is a three coloured banner. It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle.

Moscow is the capital of our country. It was founded in 1147. It is a wonderful city. There are many sights in Moscow. You can see many museums, art galleries, theatres, churches and monuments in our capital. People of our country are proud of the Moscow Kremlin. There are also many big beautiful cities in Russia.

A lot of holidays are celebrated in Russia. The New Year holiday is very popular, especially with children. There is a firtree in every house. The presents are supposed to be sent by Father Frost and the Snow Maiden.

The Russian Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January. The holiday is connected with the wonderful birth of Jesus Christ as it is described in the Holy Bible.

Easter is a very popular holiday in Russia in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus. Easter has no fixed date. People nowadays greet each other on the Easter day by the words «Christ is risen!» And the expected answer is «He is risen indeed!» People also paint eggs and give them to one another as a symbol of eternal life.

On February, 23, which is Day of the Defenders of the Motherland Russia, people honour those who are serving in the Armed Forces and those who have served in the past.

International Women’s Day is celebrated every March, 8. On this day, women in Russia are presented with gifts and thanked for their work, love and devotion.

Every May, 9, Russia celebrates the Victory Day commemorating victory over Nazi Germany, while remembering those who fell in order to achieve it.

There are different sporting societies and clubs in Russia. Many of them take part in different international tournaments and are known all over the world. A great number of world records have been set by Russian sportsmen: weightlifters, tennis players, swimmers, figure skaters, high jumpers. Our sportsmen also participate in the Olympic Games and always win a lot of gold, silver and bronze medals.

2. Find the equivalents in the text:

3. Complete the sentences and translate them.

1. Russia is one of … 2. The population of Russia is …. 3. The largest rivers are …. 4. They are concentrated in … 5. The central part of the country has … 6. There are 150 volcanoes … 7. Russia is a parliamentary … 8. A new national emblem is …. 9. Moscow is … 10. There is a firtree … 11. People also paint eggs … 12. On February, 23, … 13. On this day, women … 14. Our sportsmen also participate…

1. Where is Russia situated? 2. How many per cent of the population is Russians? 3. What are the deepest lakes in Russia? 4. What is the climate of Siberia? 5. How many mountain chains are there in Russia? Name them. 6. What mineral resources is Russia rich in? 7. What countries does Russia border? 8. Who is the Head of State in Russia? 9. When was Moscow founded? 10. When is the Russian Christmas celebrated?

5. Make the sentences True or False.

1. The country is washed by seas and oceans, by the Arctic Ocean in the south and the Pacific Ocean in the west. 2. The Head of State is the Queen. 3. A great number of world records have been set by Russian sportsmen. 4. It has three horizontal stripes: white, green and red. 5. There are many sights in Moscow. 6. On February, 23, which is Day of the Defenders of the Motherland Russia, people honour only those who are serving in the Armed Forces. 7. The central part of the country has mild climate: winters are cold, springs and autumns are warm or cool, summers are hot and warm.

6. Translate from Russian into English.

1. 8 Марта женщинам дарят подарки. 2. Россия экспортирует нефть, природный газ, уголь, железо, золото и другие минеральные ресурсы. 3. Леса России сконцентрированы на севере и востоке страны. 4. Люди красят и дарят яйца на Пасху как символ вечной жизни. 5. Русские спортсмены выиграли большое количество медалей на Олимпийских играх. 6. Двуглавый орел и трехцветны флаг – символы России. 7. Эстония, Польша и Латвия – бывшие республики СССР. 8. На Новый Год люди России покупают ёлку. 9. Люд нашей страны гордятся Россией. 10. Дума – это законодательная власть России, во главе которой стоит президент.

Russia: the largest country in the world

Russia (Rossiyskaya Federacija/Russian Federation) is the largest country of the world. Even after the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the creation of 15 independent nations Russia possesses by far the largest territory of all successor states of the defunct Soviet Union. This vast country stretches over great parts of Europe and Asia between the Baltic Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between the Arctic Ocean, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and Siberia.

Due to its enormous size Russia has borders with various countries of Europe and Asia. In Asia it borders on China, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia, while in Europe it has borders with Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Norway. The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad has borders with Poland and Lithuania.

The country is made up of 83 federal entities: provinces called oblasti, autonomous republics, territories (krais), autonomous districts (okrugs) and federal cities. The capital city of Russia is Moscow. Other major cities are St. Petersburg (ex-Leningrad), Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod (ex-Gorky), Yekaterinburg (ex-Sverdlovsk), Samara (ex-Kuybyshev), Omsk and Kazan.

EUROPEAN RUSSIA

Because of its enormous extent the Russian territory has signicantly different topography, climate and vegetation from area to area. The distance from west to east between the extreme points of the country is around 8.000 km.

The European part of the country is largely formed by the East European Plain (Russian Plain), which is closed toward the east by the mountain range of the Urals and towards the south by the mountains of the Caucasus, where the highest elevation of Russia is to be found: Mount Elbrus with 5.642 m.

The East European Plain is furrowed by numerous rivers, including the Volga, the longest river in Europe, with 3.688 km and the Ural, which both flow to the Caspian Sea and the Don, which flows to the Sea of Azov. The northern region of the European part of Russia is rich in lakes. Among these are Lake Ladoga, the largest lake of Europe with 17.891 km² and Lake Onega ranking second second with 9.894 km².

ASIAN RUSSIA AND THE SIBERIAN LOWLAND

The Caspian Sea with 371,000 square kilometers is the largest lake in the world and is located in the south of Russia and east of the Caucasus. Beyond the Urals mountains begins the Asian part of the country. Here you find the huge West Siberian Plain with 2,700,000 sq km, crossed by great rivers like the Ob-Irtysh and further east the Jenisej/Yenisei, which is with its tributaries Angara and Selenga the longest river in Russia and the fifth longest river of the world with 5.539 kilometers. This is a region characterized by the tundra, the taiga (coniferous forest) and the steppe.

THE SIBERIAN PLATEAU

Between the valleys of the rivers Lena and Jenisej with a length of 4.400 kilometers is the Central Siberian Plateau with 3,500,000 km², located on an average height between 300 and 700 meters, but reaching 1.700 meters in the Putorian mountains. This plateau is after the Amazon basin the largest green lung of the earth. The area is rich in large forests of coniferous trees. In the south there is Lake Bajkal with 31.494 sq km. It is the deepest lake of the world with a depth of 1.673 meters, containing the largest volume of freshwater the world over.

Beyond the Lena River several mountainous areas are located, divided between them by wide river valleys, which slope toward the Pacific Ocean. In the Far East of the country you find the huge peninsula of Kamchatka, which extends for 1.250 km in the noth-south direction. The peninsula has a rich wildlife and significantly high volcanoes. The highest peak is the volcano Kljuevskaja Sopka with 4,750 meters.

THE RUSSIAN ISLANDS

Among the Russian islands are significant the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, made up of two main islands Severny ostrov with 48.904 sq km and Yuzhny ostrov with 33.275 sq km, the archipelago of Franz-Joseph- Land and the New Siberian isdlands, all being located in the Arctic Ocean. In the Pacific Ocean there are the Kuril islands and the large island of Sakhalin with 72.492 sq km, being the biggest island of the whole country.

THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

Russia is one of the world-wide richest countries in raw materials. There are extracted large quantities of petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, coal, precious stones and more. Besides rich forest resources agricultural products like cereals, potatoes and flax are grown. Industry is another important source of income: especially steel production, mechanical, chemical and textile industries.

English text correction by Dietrich Köster.

The Geographical Position of the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It lies both in Europe and in Asia. It covers almost twice the territory of such states as China and the United States. In the west the country has borders with Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Poland. In the south we have such neighbors as Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and North Korea.
Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans.
The main regions of Russia are the East European Plain, the Ural Mountains, the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, the Far East.
There are many rivers in Russia. They differ in size and importance.
Some of them are very small, some are very large and deep. The main rivers of Russia are the Volga and the Don, the Ob and the Yenisei. They have a lot of important ports and play a very important role in the transport system of the country. The Baikal is the deepest lake in die world which has the cleanest water.
Russia holds the sixth place in the world according to the size of the population. The main groupof the population of Russia are die Russians, although there are about a hundred different nationalities in the country.
Each of them speaks its language and tries to preserve its traditions.
The highest population density is in the central part of the country, the Siberian region is inhabited very insufficiendy, and there is almost no population in the Northern part of the country. It is closely connected with the severe climatic conditions.
The climate of Russia differs from one part to the other. For the most part it is continental with cold winters and warm summers.

Система образования в России

1. Where is Russia situated?
2. Is it the largest country on Earth?
3. What countries does Russia border on?
4. How many seas and oceans is it washed by?
5. What are the main regions of Russia?
6. What are the main rivers of the country?
7. How many nationalities live there?
8. What is the most inhabited part of the country?
9. Why is there almost no population in the North?

it covers almost twice занимает почти две территории
borders with границы с
is washed омывается
in size по размеру
holds the sixth place удерживает шестое место
preserve its traditions сохраняют свои традиции
population density плотность населения
insufficiently inhabited незначительно заселена
severe climatic conditions суровые климатические условия

The Russian Federation is my Homela

The Russian Federation is my Homeland. It is the largest country in the world. It occupies about 17 one-seventh of the Earth surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country borders on fourteen countries. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There are no countries in the world where such a great variety of flora and fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousand rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in lakes with the deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil, natural gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is about 140 million people.

Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities on the globe. Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian Federation are a white-blue-red banner and a double-headed eagle.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional republic headed by the President. The country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The President controls only the executive branch of power — the government, but not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.

The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two chambers: the Council of Federation upper Chamber and the State Duma lower Chamber. Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power belongs to the government the Cabinet of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts. Our country has a multiparty system.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all nations irrespective of their political and social systems.

нашу землю омывается 12 морей, большинство из которых являются море три океана: арктика, атлантики и тихого океана.в южной и западной границы в 14 странах.она также имеет морской границы с сша.

российской федерации является многонациональным государством.он состоит из многих национальных округов, несколько автономных республик и регионов.население страны составляет около 140 млн. человек.

москва является столицей нашей родины.она является крупнейшей политической, научной, культурной и промышленным центром страны и один из самых красивых городов по всему миру.русский является официальным языком государства.национальные символы российской федерации являются белый голубой красного знамени и двуглавый орёл.

Рассказ про Россию на английском языке — образцы, план, тематическая лексика

Важную часть в изучении английского языка занимают тексты и письменные работы. Тема сегодняшней статьи как раз связана с подобным форматом занятий: поговорим о том, как составить рассказ про Россию на английском. Такое задание часто задают на школьных уроках английского и даже на студенческих парах. Но оно редко бывает в отрыве от учебного текста и соответствующей лексики, так что получается не просто эссе, а целый топик «Россия» на английском языке с переводом. Мы тоже предлагаем работать в таком формате, поскольку он позволяет больше углубиться в тему и лучше усвоить изучаемый материал. Итак, приступаем к разбору!

О чем должен быть рассказ про Россию на английском

Начнем с изучения теории. Итак, о чем же рассказывает тема «Россия» на английском языке? Конечно же, о нашей необъятной стране. Но уникальность этого топика в том, что он может нести в себе самую разную информацию. Например, можно сделать доклад по английскому языку «Россия – самая большая страна мира». В таком тексте описывают географические особенности государства: указывают площадь и численность населения, подсчитывают число стран с общей границей, перечисляют моря и океаны, омывающие побережье. В общем, подобное сочинение представляет собой краткую энциклопедическую справку о стране.

Можно пойти другим путем, и написать на английском рассказ про русский менталитет. Расскажите в сочинении о принятых в России обычаях, опишите главные праздники, поделитесь историей о семейных традициях, назовите народные приметы или раскройте понятие «русского характера». Вариантов здесь очень много, поскольку менталитет включает в себя множество характерных для нации черт. А если еще учесть, что в России проживает порядка 190 народов, то можно вовсе сказать, что описание русского менталитета безгранично.

Также по теме «Россия» сочинение на английском языке можно посвятить описанию достопримечательностей. В нашей стране много красивых мест и уникальных памятников искусства, известных на весь мир. Так что недостатка в «материале» для эссе точно не будет. Можно даже пойти менее стандартным путем, и описать достопримечательности не страны, а родного города. Ведь Россия – это не только Москва и Санкт-Петербург. Малые города тоже вносят значительный вклад в облик страны.

Кроме того, ваш рассказ может быть про историю России на английском. Причем здесь тоже встречается разные вариации содержания текста. Для примера приведем несколько тем:

И, наконец, рассказ о России на английском языке может объединять в себе все перечисленные пункты. Яркий пример – эссе-рассуждение о том, почему вы любите свою родину. В таком тексте можно обозначить и природные особенности страны, и исторические факты, и достижения наших соотечественников в культуре, спорте, политике и т.д.

В общем, сочинения о России бывают очень разными. Главный критерий составления текста – это ваша личная копилка знаний. Если грамматика и лексический запас позволяют раскрывать сложные темы, то вы легко напишите эссе с выражением собственного мнения и аргументацией. Для тех же, кто только начинает учить английский, лучшим решением станут простые тексты с указанием основных фактов о стране.

Общие английские фразы для сочинения о России

Итак, помимо идеи текста, чтобы написать рассказ про Россию на английском языке, нужно обладать грамматическими и лексическими знаниями. Грамматика – вопрос сложный и требующий тщательной проработки, а вот с лексикой мы вам поможем прямо сейчас. Дело в том, что по своей структуре, и даже отчасти содержанию, сочинения типичны, а значит, можно предугадать совпадение общих мыслей и фраз. Как раз такие речевые клише о России на английском с переводом и представлены в следующей таблице.

С таким словарным запасом уже можно попробовать написать сочинение по английскому языку на тему «Россия». Тем более что для наглядного примера в следующем разделе приведено сразу несколько готовых образцов разного уровня сложности.

Вот еще темы, посвященные странам, городам, культуре и праздникам:

Примеры рассказов о России на английском

Итак, мы обсудили, что написать в сочинении о стране, и изучили часто используемую в подобных текстах лексику. Недостает только полноценного примера сочинения, и этот пробел будет восполнен прямо сейчас, причем даже с лихвой: составим несколько разноплановых сочинений. Для удобства приведем рассказы о России на английском языке с переводом на русский, но все же во время чтения старайтесь понимать содержание текста самостоятельно. Приступаем к работе!

Сочинение для младшей школы

Особенности родной страны дети изучают с малых лет, причем в том числе и на уроках английского. Конечно, в силу возраста учащихся, топики очень краткие и содержат лишь основные факты. В принципе, таким же будет на английском языке и детское сочинение на тему «Россия»: приведем образец с переводом.

I am from Russia. It is the biggest country in the world. The Russian Federation stretches from Eastern Europe to Asia and borders 14 countries. The capital of Russia is Moscow city. About 12 million people live in Moscow. It is one the biggest cities of the world.

I live in the city of Sochi. My city is located on the coast of the Black Sea. In the summer, my friends and I go swim and sunbathe almost every day. Winters are cold and frosty in Sochi. But they are very fun: we ski and play snowballs in the winter. I love my city and my country. And I am very proud of the fact Sochi was the location for the Winter Olympics in 2014.

Я из России. Это самая большая страна в мире. Российская Федерация протянулась от Восточной Европы до Азии, и при этом она граничит с 14 государствами. Столица России – город Москва. Более 12 миллионов людей живут в Москве. Это один из крупнейших городов мира.

Я живу в городе Сочи. Мой город расположен на побережье Черного моря. Летом я с друзьями ходу плавать и загорать чуть ли не каждый день. Зимы в Сочи холодные и морозные. Но они очень веселые: зимой мы катаемся на лыжах и играем в снежки. Я люблю свой город и свою страну. И еще я очень горд тем фактом, что Сочи был местом проведения зимних Олимпийских игр 2014 года.

Рассказ про Россию ученикам 5-7 классов

По мере взросления, дети пополняют свои знания, так что к ученикам среднего школьного звена требования уже совсем другие. Такие школьники и о родной стране больше фактов знают, и по английскому языку их знания уже намного шире. Однако, это все еще дети, и высказать собственную точку зрения им будет крайне сложно. Поэтому сочинение по-прежнему будет состоять из общеизвестных фактов, только раскрыты они будут уже более подробно. Например, вот как напишет стандартный рассказ про Россию на английском языке 5 класс обычной общеобразовательной школы.

Russia Is My Motherland

My motherland is Russia. Every person knows that it is a great country. There are many different reasons to call it that.

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It extends over two continents: Europe and Asia. From north to south the country stretches for over 4,000 km; from west to east – for almost 10,000 km. Its area is 17 098.242 thousand square km. Fourteen countries shares a border with Russia. Among these countries there are China, Georgia, Norway, Poland, Estonia, Kazakhstan and others.

Russia is the seventh largest in the world in terms of population. Its current population is about 143,9 million people. The Russian Federation is a multinational country; over 160 nationalities live in Russia. Russian is the official language of Russia but there are many other languages used in various parts of the country. Most of the Russian population lives in the western parts of the country. Here are the majority of the largest Russian cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara and Omsk.

There are many different reasons for travelling to Russia. The country is famous for its numerous places of interest. One of the Russian national feature is the beauty of its nature. There are many rivers, lakes, mountains, national parks and forests in Russia. Apart from nature, the country has a lot of unique architectural sights. Red Square, the Moscow Kremlin, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, the Winter Place, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Hermitage Museum are the most famous Russian attractions.

Moreover, my motherland is the country with interesting history and the greatest cultural heritage. The merits of Russia are great in such areas as science, culture, art and sports. The Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to master outer space! Speaking of Russian history, it should be noted the role of Russian rulers in the world order. At all times, Russian rulers were respected for their determination and strong character.

So, my motherland is one of the leading powers in the world. I’m very proud to be living in such great country.

Россия – моя родина

Моя родина – Россия. Каждому в мире известно, что это великая страна. Есть множество разных причин на то, чтобы так ее называть.

Российская Федерация – крупнейшая в мире страна. Она простирается на два континента: Европу и Азию. С севера на юг ее протяженность насчитывает более 4 тыс. км; с запада на восток – почти 10 тыс. км. Площадь страны составляет 17 098, 232 тысячи квадратных километров. 14 стран делят границу с Россией. Среди них Китай, Грузия, Норвегия, Польша, Эстония, Казахстан и другие страны.

Россия – седьмая в мире по численности населения. Текущая численность ее населения составляет 143, 9 млн человек. Российская Федерация – многонациональная страна; более 160 национальностей живут в России. Русский – официальный язык в России, но есть еще и другие языки, используемые в различных регионах страны. Большая часть населения России проживает на западе страны. Здесь находится большинство крупнейших городов России, таких как, Москва, Санкт-Петербург, Екатеринбург, Самара и Омск.

Есть много разных причин для путешествия в Россию. Эта страна известна множеством интересных мест. Одна из национальных особенностей России – красота ее природы. В России много рек, озер, горных цепей, национальных парков и лесов. Помимо природы, страна имеет много уникальных архитектурных достопримечательностей. Красная площадь, Московский Кремль, Собор Василия Блаженного, Зимний Дворец, Петропавловская крепость и Эрмитаж – самые известные русские достопримечательности.

Кроме того, моя родина – это страна с интересной историей и величайшим культурным наследием. Велики заслуги России в таких областях, как наука, культура, искусство и спорт. Русский космонавт Юрий Гагарин стал первым человеком, покорившим космос! Говоря об истории России, следует отметить роль русских правителей в мировом порядке. Во все времена правителей России уважали за их решительность и сильный характер.

Так что, моя родина – одна из главнейших мировых сил. Для меня большая гордость жить в такой великой стране.

Эссе о России для старшеклассников и студентов

В противовес сочинению, эссе про Россию на английском языке больше связано с выражением собственного мнения, чем с фактической информацией. Поэтому такое задание дают уже сформировавшейся личности, т.е. школьникам 9-11 классов, студентам и людям старшего возраста. Как правило, подобные тексты пишут в формате рассуждения. Приведем пример.

Why I love my country

I was born and raised in Russia. It is a beautiful northern country with the greatest historical and cultural heritage. I am happy and very proud that I can call Russia my homeland.

There are many noteworthy places in the world, but Russia is a special country. Firstly, it is the largest and one of the most populated of the world’s countries. And it is an interesting fact, that despite such great distances, Russian people are very united. Our people are strong, kind and responsive. The kindheartedness is rare in other countries.

Secondly, my feel comfortable with quiet Russian nature. Its spellbinding landscapes, endless fields, tall mountains, beautifull forests, deep rivers and lakes just cannot be described in words! You need to see it for yourself. The vast expanses of Russia are highly generous and strong. Thank to this, there are many different animals and plants in Russia. So, I can say without exaggeration that Russian nature is very diverse.

The next reason why I’m fond of my homeland is its rich history and culture. There were many hard and critical moments in Russian history: Mongol-Tatar invasion, the Time of Troubles, Russian-Turkish wars, World wars I and II. But due to the amazingly strong spirit and unbending will of the Russian people, my motherland could survive, develop and turn into one of the strongest world powers. And now Russia continues to move forward: it is participating in significant political and economic events.

Speaking of the Russian culture, it should be noted its huge role in the glorification of Russia. There is not a single area of culture where my motherland wouldn’t be famous. There are many outstanding Russian writers, poets, artists, composers and singers who are world-renowned. Russian architecture is also remarkable. It has a distinct style, which can be seen in Orthodox cathedrals and numerous Kremlins.

For all this I love my country. And how can I not? Russia is forever in my heart and I wouldn’t trade my homeland for any other country!

Я родился и вырос в России. Это красивая северная страна с величайшим историческим и культурным наследием. Я счастлив и очень горд тем, что я могу называть Россию своей родиной.

В мире есть много примечательных мест, но Россия – страна особая. Во-первых, она крупнейшая и одна из густонаселенных стран мира. И что интересно, несмотря на огромные расстояния, русские люди едины. Наши люди сильные, добрые и отзывчивые. Редко встретишь такую добросердечность в других странах.

Во-вторых, я прекрасно гармонирую с тихой русской природой. Ее завораживающие пейзажи, бескрайние поля, высокие горы, красивые леса, глубокие реки и озера просто невозможно описать словами! Это нужно видеть самому. Огромные пространства России очень плодородны и сильны. Благодаря этому, в России есть множество различных видов животных и растений. Таким образом, я без преувеличения могу сказать, что русская природа очень разнообразна.

Следующая причина, почему мне нравится родная страна, это ее богатая история и культура. В истории России было много тяжелых и критических моментов: Монголо-татарское нашествие, Смутное время, Русско-турецкие войны, Первая и Вторая мировые войны. Но благодаря удивительно сильному духу и несгибаемой воле русского народа, моя родина смогла выжить, развиться и стать одной из ведущих мировых сил. И сейчас Россия продолжает движение вперед: она активно участвует в важных политических и экономических процессах.

Говоря о русской культуре, будет правильным отметить ее огромную роль в прославлении России. Пожалуй, нет ни одной области культуры, в которой бы моя родина не стала известной. Есть множество выдающихся русских писателей, поэтов, художников, композиторов и певцов со всемирной известностью. Также выделяется и русская архитектура. У нее отчетливый стиль, который можно наблюдать у Православных соборов и многочисленных Кремлей.

За все это я люблю свою страну. Да и как ее не любить? Россия навсегда в моем сердце, и я ни за что не променяю свою родину на любую другую страну!

Что ж, теперь с теорией, лексикой и изученными образцами, вам вполне под силу составить собственный рассказ о России на английском языке. Чаще практикуйте английский, ставьте перед собой новые цели и пополняйте знания с помощью наших обучающих материалов.

А если формат работы пришелся по душе, то еще больше текстов можно найти в соседних материалах, рассказывающих на английском о достопримечательности Англии и отдельно о достопримечательностях Лондона.

Советуем также изучить полезный материал про 1000 слов на английском, которые нужно знать, он обязательно пригодится при составлении своих текстов на английском языке.

Russian Federation

The Russian Federation (Росси́йская Федера́ция, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya), commonly known as Russia (Rossiya), is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia (Asia and Europe).

The largest country in the world by land area, Russia has the world’s ninth-largest population.

Formerly the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), 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 (then one of the world’s two Cold War superpowers, the other being the United States) that were located in Russia passed on to the Russian Federation.

Contents

The Russian Federation emerged as a great power in the early twenty-first century, also considered to be an energy superpower. The country is considered the Soviet Union’s successor state in diplomatic matters, and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

Geography

The Russian Federation stretches across much of the north of the supercontinent of Eurasia. Because of its size, Russia displays both monotony and diversity. As with its topography, its climates, vegetation, and soils span vast distances.

Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It is also close to the United States (the state of Alaska), Sweden, and Japan across relatively small stretches of water (the Bering Strait, the Baltic Sea, and La Pérouse Strait, respectively).

With an area of 6,592,800 square miles (17,075,400 square kilometers), Russia is by far 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.

Most of the land consists of broad plain with low hills west of Urals, and vast plains in Siberia. These plains are predominantly steppe to the south and heavily forested to the north, with tundra along the northern coast.

Mountain ranges are found along the southern borders, such as the Caucasus (containing Mount Elbrus, Russia’s and Europe’s highest point at 18,511 feet (5642 meters), and the Altai, and in the eastern parts, such as the Verkhoyansk Range or the volcanoes on Kamchatka. The more central Ural Mountains, a north-south range that form the primary divide between Europe and Asia, are also notable. The lowest point is the Caspian Sea, at 28 meters below sea level.

Russia has thousands of rivers and inland bodies of water, providing it with one of the world’s largest surface-water resources. The most prominent of Russia’s bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest and most capacious freshwater lake. Lake Baikal alone contains over one fifth of the world’s liquid fresh surface water. Truly unique on Earth, Baikal is home to more than 1700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world.

Of its 100,000 rivers, the Volga River is the most famous—not only because it is the longest river in Europe but also because of its major role in Russian history. Major lakes include Lake Baikal, Lake Ladoga, and Lake Onega.

Russia has major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, timber and many strategic minerals. Russia has the world’s largest forest reserves, which supply lumber, pulp and paper, and raw material for woodworking industries. Formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources. Permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development.

There is volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands, volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula, and spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia.

From north to south the East European Plain is clad sequentially in tundra, coniferous forest (taiga), mixed forest, broadleaf forest, grassland (steppe), and semidesert (fringing the Caspian Sea) reflecting the changes in climate. Siberia supports a similar sequence but lacks the mixed forest. Most of Siberia is taiga.

Environmental issues include air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; and abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides.

Moscow is the capital and the country’s economic, financial, educational, and transportation center. Located on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District, in the European part of Russia, Moscow’s population constitutes about seven percent of the total population. Moscow is home to many scientific and educational institutions, as well as numerous sport facilities. It possesses a complex transport system that includes the world’s busiest rapid transit system, which is famous for its architecture. Moscow also hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second major city, is located in the Northwestern Federal District of Russia on the Neva River at the east end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. Saint Petersburg’s informal name, Piter is based on how Peter the Great was called by foreigners. The city’s other names were Petrograd and Leningrad. Founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703 as a «window to Europe» it was capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1712-1728, 1732-1918). Saint Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917.

There are 1108 cities and towns in Russia, according to the 2002 Russian Census.

History

Pre-Slavic inhabitants

The vast steppes of Southern Russia were home to disunited tribes, such as Proto-Indo-Europeans and Scythians. Astonishing remnants of these long-gone civilizations were discovered in the course of the twentieth century at Ipatovo, and Pazyryk. In the latter part of the eighth century B.C.E., Greek merchants brought classical civilization to the trade emporiums in Tanais and Phanagoria.

Between the third and sixth centuries C.E., the Bosporan Kingdom, a Hellenistic polity which succeeded the Greek colonies, was overwhelmed by successive waves of nomadic invasions, led by warlike tribes which would often move on to Europe, as was the case with Huns and Turkish Avars. A Turkic people, the Khazars, reigned over the lower Volga basin steppes between the Caspian and Black Seas through the eighth century. Noted for their laws, tolerance, and cosmopolitanism, the Khazars were the main commercial link between the Baltic and the Muslim Abbasid empire centered in Baghdad. They were important allies of the Byzantine Empire, and waged a series of successful wars against the Arab Caliphates. In the eighth century, the Khazars embraced Judaism.

Early East Slavs

The ancestors of the Russians were the Slavic tribes, whose original home is thought by some scholars to have been the wooded areas of the Pripet Marshes. Moving into the lands vacated by the migrating Germanic tribes, the Early East Slavs gradually settled Western Russia in two waves: one moving from Kiev toward present-day Suzdal and Murom, and another from Polotsk toward Novgorod and Rostov. From the seventh century onwards, the East Slavs constituted the bulk of the population in Western Russia and slowly but peacefully assimilated the native Finno-Ugric tribes, such as the Merya, the Muromians, and the Meshchera.

Kievan Rus’

Scandinavian Norsemen, called «Vikings» in Western Europe and «Varangians» in the East, combined piracy and trade in their roamings over much of Northern Europe. In the mid-ninth century, they began to venture along the waterways from the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas. According to the earliest chronicle of Kievan Rus’, a Varangian named Rurik was elected ruler of Novgorod in about 860, before his successors moved south and extended their authority to Kiev, which had been previously dominated by the Khazars.

Thus, the first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus’, emerged in the ninth century along the Dnieper River valley. A coordinated group of princely states with a common interest in maintaining trade along the river routes, Kievan Rus’ controlled the trade route for furs, wax, and slaves between Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire along the Volkhov and Dnieper rivers.

The name «Russia,» together with the Finnish Ruotsi and Estonian Rootsi, are found by some scholars to be related to Roslagen. The etymology of Rus and its derivatives are debated, and other schools of thought connect the name with Slavic or Iranic roots.

By the end of the tenth century, the Norse minority had merged with the Slavic population, particularly among the aristocracy, which also absorbed Greek Christian influences in the course of the multiple campaigns to loot Tsargrad, or Constantinople. One such campaign claimed the life of the foremost Slavic druzhina leader, Svyatoslav I, who was renowned for having crushed the power of the Khazars on the Volga. While the fortunes of the Byzantine Empire had been ebbing, its culture was a continuous influence on the development of Russia in its formative centuries.

Kievan Rus’ is important for its introduction of a Slavic variant of the Eastern Orthodox religion, dramatically deepening a synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next thousand years. The region adopted Christianity in 988 by the official act of public baptism of Kiev inhabitants by Prince Vladimir I. Some years later the first code of laws, Russkaya Pravda, was introduced. From the onset the Kievan princes followed the Byzantine example and kept the Church dependent on them, even for its revenues, so that the Russian Church and state were always closely linked.

By the eleventh century, particularly during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, Kievan Rus’ could boast an economy and achievements in architecture and literature superior to those that then existed in the western part of the continent. Compared with the languages of European Christendom, the Russian language was little influenced by the Greek and Latin of early Christian writings. This was due to the fact that Church Slavonic was used directly in liturgy.

Nomadic Turkic people Kipchaks replaced the earlier Pechenegs as a dominant force in the south steppe regions neighboring to Rus’ at the end of eleventh century and founded a nomadic state in the steppes along the Black Sea. Repelling their regular attacks, especially on Kiev, which was just one day riding away from the steppe, was a heavy burden for the southern areas of Rus’. The nomadic incursions caused a massive influx of Slavic population to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north.

Kievan Rus’ ultimately disintegrated as a state because of the armed struggles among members of its princely family. Kiev’s dominance waned, to the benefit of Vladimir-Suzdal in the north-east, Novgorod in the north, and Halych-Volhynia in the south-west. Conquest by the Mongol Golden Horde in the thirteenth century was the final blow. Kiev was destroyed. Halych-Volhynia would eventually be absorbed into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while the Mongol-dominated Vladimir-Suzdal and independent Novgorod Republic, two regions on the periphery of Kiev, would establish the basis for the modern Russian nation.

Mongol invasion

The invading Mongols accelerated the fragmentation of the Ancient Rus’. In 1223, the disunited southern princes faced a Mongol raiding party at the Kalka River and were soundly defeated. In 1237-1238 the Mongols burned down the city of Vladimir(February 4, 1238) and other major cities of northeast Russia, routed the Russians at the Sit’ River, and then moved west into Poland and Hungary. By then they had conquered most Russian principalities. Only the Novgorod Republic escaped occupation and continued to flourish in the orbit of the Hanseatic League.

The impact of the Mongol invasion on the territories of Kievan Rus’ was uneven. The advanced city culture was almost completely destroyed. As older centers such as Kiev and Vladimir never recovered from the devastation of the initial attack, the new cities of Moscow, began to compete for hegemony in the Mongol-dominated Russia. Although a Russian army defeated the Golden Horde at Kulikovo in 1380, Tatar domination of the Russian-inhabited territories, along with demands of tribute from Russian princes, continued until about 1480.

Russo-Tatar relations

After the fall of the Khazars in the tenth century, the middle Volga came to be dominated by the mercantile state of Volga Bulgaria, the last vestige of Greater Bulgaria centered at Phanagoria. In the tenth century, the Turkic population of Volga Bulgaria converted to Islam, which facilitated its trade with the Middle East and Central Asia. In the wake of the Mongol invasions of the 1230s, Volga Bulgaria was absorbed by the Golden Horde and its population evolved into the modern Chuvashes and Kazan Tatars.

The Mongols held Russia and Volga Bulgaria in sway from their western capital at Sarai, which with a population of 600,000, was one of the largest cities of the medieval world. The princes of southern and eastern Russia had to pay tribute to the Mongols of the Golden Horde, commonly called Tatars, and in return they received charters authorizing them to act as deputies to the khans. The princes were allowed considerable freedom to rule as they wished.

To the Orthodox Church and most princes, the fanatical Northern Crusaders seemed a greater threat to the Russian way of life than the Mongols. In the mid-thirteenth century, Alexander Nevsky, elected prince of Novgorod, acquired heroic status as the result of victories over the Teutonic Knights and the Swedes. Alexander obtained Mongol protection and assistance in fighting invaders from the west who, hoping to profit from the Russian collapse since the Mongol invasions, tried to grab territory and convert the Russians to Roman Catholicism.

The Mongols left their impact on the Russians in such areas as military tactics and transportation. Under Mongol occupation, Russia also developed its postal road network, census, fiscal system, and military organization. Eastern influence remained strong well until the seventeenth century, when Russian rulers made a conscious effort to Westernize their country.

The rise of Moscow

Daniel Aleksandrovich (1261-1303), the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, founded the principality of Moscow (known in the western tradition as Muscovy), which eventually expelled the Tatars from Russia. Well-situated in the central river system of Russia and surrounded by protective forests and marshes, Moscow was at first only a vassal of Vladimir, but soon it absorbed its parent state. A major factor in the ascendancy of Moscow was the cooperation of its rulers with the Mongol overlords, who granted them the title of Grand Prince of Moscow and made them agents for collecting the Tatar tribute from the Russian principalities. The principality’s prestige was further enhanced when it became the center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its head, the metropolitan, fled from Kiev to Vladimir in 1299 and a few years later established the permanent headquarters of the Church in Moscow.

By the middle of the fourteenth century, the power of the Mongols was declining, and the Grand Princes felt able to openly oppose the Mongol yoke. In 1380, at Kulikovo on the Don River, the Mongols were defeated, and although this hard-fought victory did not end Tatar rule of Russia, it did bring great fame to the Grand Prince. Moscow’s leadership in Russia was now firmly based and by the middle of the fourteenth century its territory had greatly expanded through purchase, war, and marriage.

Ivan III, the Great

In the fifteenth century, the grand princes of Moscow continued gathering Russian lands to increase the population and wealth under their rule. The most successful practitioner of this process was Ivan the Great, (1462–1505), who laid the foundations for a Russian national state. Ivan competed with his powerful northwestern rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for control over some of the semi-independent Upper Principalities in the upper Dnieper and Oka River basins.

Through the defections of some princes, border skirmishes, and a long war with the Novgorod Republic, Ivan III was able to annex Novgorod and Tver. As a result, the Grand Duchy of Moscow tripled in size under his rule. During his conflict with Pskov, a monk named Filofei (Philotheus of Pskov) composed a letter to Ivan III, with the prophecy that the latter’s kingdom would be the Third Rome. The Fall of Constantinople and the death of the last Greek Orthodox Christian emperor contributed to this new idea of Moscow as the «New Rome» and the seat of Orthodox Christianity.

A contemporary of the Tudors and other «new monarchs» in Western Europe, Ivan proclaimed his absolute sovereignty over all Russian princes and nobles. Refusing further tribute to the Tatars, Ivan initiated a series of attacks that opened the way for the complete defeat of the declining Golden Horde, now divided into several khanates and hordes. Ivan and his successors sought to protect the southern boundaries of their domain against attacks of the Crimean Tatars and other hordes. To achieve this aim, they sponsored the construction of the Great Abatis Belt and granted manors to nobles, who were obliged to serve in the military. The manor system provided a basis for an emerging horse army.

In this way, internal consolidation accompanied outward expansion of the state. By the sixteenth century, the rulers of Moscow considered the entire Russian territory their collective property. Various semi-independent princes still claimed specific territories, but Ivan III forced the lesser princes to acknowledge the grand prince of Moscow and his descendants as unquestioned rulers with control over military, judicial, and foreign affairs. Gradually, the Russian ruler emerged as a powerful, autocratic ruler, a tsar. The first Russian ruler to officially crown himself «Tsar» was Ivan IV.

Ivan IV, the Terrible

The development of the Tsar’s autocratic powers reached a peak during the reign (1547–1584) of Ivan the Terrible. He strengthened the position of the monarch to an unprecedented degree, as he ruthlessly subordinated the nobles to his will, exiling or executing many on the slightest provocation. Nevertheless, Ivan is often seen a farsighted statesman who reformed Russia as he promulgated a new code of laws, established the first Russian feudal representative body, curbed the influence of clergy, and introduced the local self-management in rural regions.

Although his long Livonian War for the control of the Baltic coast and the access to sea trade ultimately proved a costly failure, Ivan managed to annex the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. These conquests complicated the migration of the aggressive nomadic hordes from Asia to Europe through Volga and Ural. Through these conquests, Russia acquired a significant Muslim Tatar population and emerged as a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state. Also around this period, the mercantile Stroganov family established a firm foothold at the Urals and recruited Russian Cossacks to colonize Siberia.

In the later part of his reign, Ivan divided his realm in two. In the zone known as the oprichnina, Ivan’s followers carried out a series of bloody purges of the feudal aristocracy (which he suspected of treachery after the betrayal of prince Kurbsky), culminating in the Massacre of Novgorod (1570). This combined with the military losses, epidemics and poor harvests so weakened Muscovy that the Crimean Tatars were able to sack central Russian regions and burn down Moscow in 1571. At the end of Ivan IV’s reign the Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish armies carried out the powerful intervention into Russia, devastating its northern and northwest regions.

Time of troubles

The death of Ivan’s childless son Feodor was followed by a period of civil wars and foreign intervention known as the «Time of Troubles» (1606–1613). An extremely cold summer (1601-1603) destroyed crops, leading to famine and increased social disorganization. Boris Godunov’s reign ended in chaos, with civil war, foreign intrusion, devastation of many cities, and depopulation of the rural regions. The internal chaos attracted several waves of interventions by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The invaders reached Moscow and installed, first, the impostor False Dmitriy I and, later, a Polish prince Wladyslaw IV Vasa on the Russian throne. The Moscow population revolted but the riots were brutally suppressed and the city was set on fire.

The crisis provoked the patriotic national uprising against the invasion and in the autumn of 1612, the volunteer army led by the merchant Kuzma Minin and prince Dmitry Pozharsky, expelled foreign forces from the capital. The Russian statehood survived the «Time of Troubles» and the rule of weak or corrupt Tsars due to the strength of the government’s central bureaucracy. Government functionaries continued to serve, regardless of the ruler’s legitimacy or the faction controlling the throne.

Early Romanovs

In February, 1613, with the chaos ended and the Poles expelled from Moscow, a national assembly composed of representatives from 50 cities and even some peasants, elected Michael Romanov, the young son of Patriarch Filaret, to the throne. The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia until 1917.

The immediate task of the new dynasty was to restore peace. Fortunately for Moscow, its major enemies, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, were engaged in a bitter conflict with each other, which provided Russia the opportunity to make peace with Sweden in 1617 and to sign a truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1619. Recovery of lost territories began in the mid-seventeenth century, when the Khmelnitsky Uprising in Ukraine against Polish rule brought about the Treaty of Pereyaslav. According to the treaty, Russia granted protection to the Cossacks state in the Left-bank Ukraine, formerly under the Polish control. This triggered a prolonged Russo-Polish War which ended with the Treaty of Andrusovo in 1667 in which Poland accepted the loss of Left-bank Ukraine, Kiev and Smolensk.

Rather than risk their estates in continued civil war, the great nobles cooperated with the first Romanovs, enabling them to finish the work of bureaucratic centralization. Thus, the state required service from both the old and the new nobility, primarily in the military. In return the tsars allowed the boyars to complete the process of enserfing the peasants.

Peasant rebellions

In the preceding century, the state had gradually curtailed peasants’ rights to move from one landlord to another. With the state now fully sanctioning serfdom, runaway peasants became state fugitives, and the power of the landlords over the peasants «attached» to their land had become almost complete. Together the state and the nobles placed the overwhelming burden of taxation on the peasants, whose rate was 100 times greater in the mid-seventeenth century than it had been a century earlier. In addition, middle-class urban tradesmen and craftsmen were assessed for taxes, and, like the serfs, they were forbidden to change residence. All segments of the population were subject to military levy and to special taxes.

Under such circumstances, peasant disorders were endemic; even the citizens of Moscow revolted against the Romanovs during the Salt Riot (1648), Copper Riot (1662), and the Moscow Uprising (1682). By far the greatest peasant uprising in seventeenth century Europe erupted in 1667. As the free settlers of South Russia, the Cossacks, reacted against the growing centralization of the state, serfs escaped from their landlords and joined the rebels. The Cossack leader Stenka Razin led his followers up the Volga River, incited peasant uprisings and replaced local governments with Cossack rule. The tsar’s army finally crushed his forces in 1670; a year later Stenka was captured and beheaded. Yet, less than half a century later, the strains of military expeditions produced another revolt in Astrakhan, which was ultimately subdued.

Peter the Great

Peter the Great (1672–1725) consolidated autocracy in Russia and played a major role in bringing his country into the European state system. From its modest beginnings in the fourteenth century principality of Moscow, Russia had become the largest state in the world by Peter’s time. Three times the size of continental Europe, it spanned the Eurasian landmass from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Much of its expansion had taken place in the seventeenth century, culminating in the first Russian settlement of the Pacific in the mid-seventeenth century, the reconquest of Kiev, and the pacification of the Siberian tribes. However, this vast land had a population of only 14 million. Grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, due partly to heavier climatic conditions, in particular long cold winters and a short vegetative period compelling almost the entire population to farm. Only a small fraction of the population lived in urban areas. Russia remained isolated from sea trade, its internal trade communications and many manufactures were dependent on the seasonal changes.

Peter’s first military efforts were directed against the Ottoman Turks. His aim was to establish a Russian foothold on the Black Sea by taking the town of Azov. His attention then turned to the north. Peter still lacked a secure northern seaport except at Archangel on the White Sea, whose harbor was frozen nine months a year. Access to the Baltic was blocked by Sweden, whose territory enclosed it on three sides. Peter’s ambitions for a «window to the sea» led him in 1699 to make a secret alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Denmark against Sweden resulting in the Great Northern War. The war ended in 1721 when an exhausted Sweden sued for peace with Russia. Peter acquired four provinces situated south and east of the Gulf of Finland, thus securing his coveted access to the sea. There, in 1703, he had already founded the city that was to become Russia’s new capital, St. Petersburg, as a «window opened upon Europe» to replace Moscow, long Russia’s cultural center. Russian intervention in the Commonwealth marked, with the Silent Sejm, the beginning of a 200-year domination of that region by the Russian Empire. In celebration of his conquests, Peter assumed the title of emperor as well as tsar, and Muscovite Russia officially became the Russian Empire in 1721.

Peter reorganized his government on the latest Western models, molding Russia into an absolutist state. He replaced the old boyar Duma (council of nobles) with a nine-member senate, in effect a supreme council of state. The countryside was also divided into new provinces and districts. Peter told the senate that its mission was to collect taxes, which tripled over the course of his reign. As part of the government reform, the Orthodox Church was partially incorporated into the country’s administrative structure, in effect making it a tool of the state. Peter abolished the patriarchate and replaced it with a collective body, the Holy Synod, led by a lay government official. Meanwhile, all vestiges of local self-government were removed, and Peter continued and intensified his predecessors’ requirement of state service for all nobles.

Peter died in 1725, leaving an unsettled succession and an exhausted realm. His reign raised questions about Russia’s backwardness, and its relationship to the West. Nevertheless, he had laid the foundations of a modern state in Russia.

Catherine the Great

Nearly 40 years were to pass before a comparably ambitious and ruthless ruler appeared on the Russian throne. Catherine the Great (Russian: Yekaterina II) was a German princess who married the German heir to the Russian crown. Finding him incompetent, Catherine tacitly consented to his murder. It was announced that he had died of «apoplexy,» and in 1762 she became ruler.

Catherine contributed to the resurgence of the Russian nobility that began after the death of Peter the Great. Mandatory state service was abolished, and Catherine delighted the nobles further by turning over most government functions in the provinces to them.

Catherine the Great extended Russian political control over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, although the cost of her campaigns, on top of the oppressive social system that required serfs to spend almost all of their time laboring on the lords’ land, provoked a peasant uprising in 1773, after Catherine legalized the selling of serfs separate from land. Inspired by another Cossack named Pugachev, with the emphatic cry of «Hang all the landlords!» the rebels threatened to take Moscow before they were ruthlessly suppressed. Catherine had Pugachev drawn and quartered in Red Square, but the specter of revolution continued to haunt her and her successors.

Catherine successfully waged war against the decaying Ottoman Empire and advanced Russia’s southern boundary to the Black Sea. Then, by allying with the rulers of Austria and Prussia, she incorporated the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where after a century of Russian rule, the non-Catholic mainly Orthodox population prevailed during the Partitions of Poland, pushing the Russian frontier westward into Central Europe. By the time of her death in 1796, Catherine’s expansionist policy had turned Russia into a major European power. This continued with Alexander I’s wresting of Finland from the weakened kingdom of Sweden in 1809 and of Bessarabia from the Ottomans in 1812.

Napoleon made a major misstep when he declared war on Russia after a dispute with Tsar Alexander I and launched an invasion of Russia in 1812. The campaign was a catastrophe. In the bitterly cold Russian weather, thousands of French troops were ambushed and killed by peasant guerrilla fighters. As Napoleon’s forces retreated, the Russian troops pursued them into Central and Western Europe and to the gates of Paris. After Russia and its allies defeated Napoleon, Alexander became known as the ‘savior of Europe,’ and he presided over the redrawing of the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna (1815), which made Alexander the monarch of Congress Poland.

Although the Russian Empire would play a leading political role in the next century, secured by its defeat of Napoleonic France, its retention of serfdom precluded economic progress of any significant degree. As West European economic growth accelerated during the Industrial Revolution, sea trade and exploitation of colonies which had begun in the second half of the eighteenth century, Russia began to lag ever farther behind.

The Decembrist Revolt

Russia’s great power status obscured the inefficiency of its government, the isolation of its people, and its economic backwardness. Following the defeat of Napoleon, Alexander I was willing to discuss constitutional reforms, and though a few were introduced, no thoroughgoing changes were attempted.

The tsar was succeeded by his younger brother, Nicholas I (1825–1855), who at the onset of his reign was confronted with an uprising. The background of this revolt lay in the Napoleonic Wars, when a number of well-educated Russian officers traveled in Europe in the course of the military campaigns, where their exposure to the liberalism of Western Europe encouraged them to seek change upon their return to autocratic Russia. The result was the Decembrist Revolt (December 1825), the work of a small circle of liberal nobles and army officers who wanted to install Nicholas’ brother as a constitutional monarch. But the revolt was easily crushed, leading Nicholas to turn away from the Westernization program begun by Peter the Great and champion the maxim «Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality.»

In the early decades of the nineteenth century, Russia expanded into Transcaucasia and the highlands of the North Caucasus. In 1831 Nicholas crushed a major uprising in Congress Poland; it would be followed by another large-scale Polish and Lithuanian revolt in 1863.

Ideological schisms

In this setting Mikhail Bakunin would emerge as the father of anarchism. He left Russia in 1842 for Western Europe, where he became active in the socialist movement. After participating in the May Uprising in Dresden of 1849, he was imprisoned and shipped to Siberia, but eventually escaped and made his way back to Europe. There he practically joined forces with Karl Marx, despite significant ideological and tactical differences. Alternative social doctrines were elaborated by such Russian radicals as Alexander Herzen and Peter Kropotkin.

The question of Russia’s direction had been gaining steam ever since Peter the Great’s program of Westernization. Some favored imitating Europe while others renounced the West and called for a return to the traditions of the past. The latter path was championed by Slavophiles, who heaped scorn on the «decadent» West. The Slavophiles were opponents of bureaucracy, preferred the collectivism of the medieval Russian village community, to the individualism of the West.

Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom

Tsar Nicholas died with his philosophy in dispute. One year earlier, Russia had become involved in the Crimean War, a conflict fought primarily in the Crimean peninsula. Since playing a major role in the defeat of Napoleon, Russia had been regarded as militarily invincible, but, once pitted against a coalition of the great powers of Europe, the reverses it suffered on land and sea exposed the decay and weakness of Tsar Nicholas’ regime.

When Alexander II came to the throne in 1855, desire for reform was widespread. A growing humanitarian movement, which in later years has been likened to that of the abolitionists in the United States before the American Civil War, attacked serfdom. In 1859, there were 23 million serfs (total population of Russia 67.1 million) living under conditions frequently worse than those of the peasants of Western Europe on sixteenth century manors. Alexander II decided to abolish serfdom from above rather than wait for it to be abolished from below through revolution.

The emancipation of the serfs in 1861 was the single most important event in nineteenth century Russian history. It was the beginning of the end for the landed aristocracy’s monopoly of power. Emancipation brought a supply of free labor to the cities, industry was stimulated, and the middle class grew in number and influence. However, instead of receiving their lands as a gift, the freed peasants had to pay a special tax for what amounted to their lifetime to the government, which in turn paid the landlords a generous price for the land that they had lost. In numerous instances the peasants wound up with the poorest land. All the land turned over to the peasants was owned collectively by the mir, the village community, which divided the land among the peasants and supervised the various holdings. Although serfdom was abolished, since its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants, revolutionary tensions were not abated, despite Alexander II’s intentions.

In the late 1870s Russia and the Ottoman Empire again clashed in the Balkans. The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was popular among Russians, who supported the independence of their fellow Orthodox Slavs, the Serbs and the Bulgarians. However, the war increased tension with Austria-Hungary, which also had ambitions in the region. During this period Russia expanded its empire into Central Asia, which was rich in raw materials, conquering the khanates of Kokand, Bokhara and Khiva, as well as the Trans-Caspian region.

Nihilism

In the 1860s a movement known as Nihilism developed in Russia. For some time many Russian liberals had been dissatisfied by what they regarded as the empty discussions of the intelligentsia. The Nihilists questioned all old values and shocked the Russian establishment. The Nihilists first attempted to convert the aristocracy to the cause of reform. Failing there, they turned to the peasants. Their «go to the people» campaign became known as the Narodnik movement. While the Narodnik movement was gaining momentum, the government quickly moved to extirpate it. In response to the growing reaction of the government, a radical branch of the Narodniks advocated and practiced terrorism. One after another, prominent officials were shot or killed by bombs. Finally, after several attempts, Alexander II was assassinated in 1881, on the very day he had approved a proposal to call a representative assembly to consider new reforms in addition to the abolition of serfdom designed to ameliorate revolutionary demands.

Autocracy and reaction under Alexander III

Unlike his father, the new tsar Alexander III (1881–1894) was throughout his reign a staunch reactionary who revived the maxim of «Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and National Character.» A committed Slavophile, Alexander III believed that Russia could be saved from chaos only by shutting itself off from the subversive influences of Western Europe. In his reign Russia concluded the union with republican France to contain the growing power of Germany, completed the conquest of Central Asia, and exacted important territorial and commercial concessions from China.

The tsar’s most influential adviser was Konstantin Pobedonostsev, tutor to Alexander III and his son Nicholas, and procurator of the Holy Synod from 1880 to 1895. He taught his royal pupils to fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press and to hate democracy, constitutions, and the parliamentary system. Under Pobedonostsev, revolutionaries were hunted down and a policy of Russification was carried out throughout the empire.

New revolutionary movements

Alexander was succeeded by his son Nicholas II (1894–1917). The Industrial Revolution, which began to exert a significant influence in Russia, was meanwhile creating forces that would finally overthrow the tsar. Politically, these opposition forces organized into three competing parties: The liberal elements among the industrial capitalists and nobility, who believed in peaceful social reform and a constitutional monarchy, founded the Constitutional Democratic party or Kadets in 1905. Followers of the Narodnik tradition established the Socialist-Revolutionary Party or Esers in 1901, advocating the distribution of land among those who actually worked it—the peasants. A third and more radical group founded the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party or RDSLP in 1898; this party was the primary exponent of Marxism in Russia. Gathering their support from the radical intellectuals and the urban working class, they advocated complete social, economic and political revolution.

Bolsheviks and Mensheviks

In 1903 the RDSLP split into two wings: the radical Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), and the relatively moderate Mensheviks, led by Lenin’s former friend Yuli Martov. The Mensheviks believed that Russian socialism would grow gradually and peacefully and that the tsar’s regime should be succeeded by a democratic republic in which the socialists would cooperate with the liberal bourgeois parties. The Bolsheviks, under Lenin, advocated the formation of a small elite of professional revolutionists, subject to strong party discipline, to act as the vanguard of the proletariat in order to seize power by force.

The disastrous performance of the Russian armed forces in the Russo-Japanese War was a blow to the Russian State and increased the potential for unrest. In January 1905, an incident known as «Bloody Sunday (1905)» occurred when Father Gapon led an enormous crowd to the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg to present a petition to the tsar. When the procession reached the palace, Cossacks opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds. The Russian masses were so aroused over the massacre that a general strike was declared demanding a democratic republic. This marked the beginning of the Russian Revolution of 1905. Soviets (councils of workers) appeared in most cities to direct revolutionary activity.

National duma created

In October 1905, Nicholas reluctantly issued the famous October Manifesto, which conceded the creation of a national duma (legislature) to be called without delay. The right to vote was extended, and no law was to go into force without confirmation by the Duma. The moderate groups were satisfied; but the socialists rejected the concessions as insufficient and tried to organize new strikes. By the end of 1905, there was disunity among the reformers, and the tsar’s position was strengthened for the time being.

World War I

Bound by treaty, Tsar Nicholas II and his subjects entered World War I to defend Serbia. At the opening of hostilities in August of 1914, the Russians took the offensive against both Germany and Austria-Hungary in support of France.

Later, military failures and bureaucratic ineptitude soon turned large segments of the population against the government. Control of the Baltic Sea by the German fleet, and of the Black Sea by combined German and Ottoman forces prevented Russia from importing supplies and exporting goods.

By the middle of 1915, the impact of the war was demoralizing. Food and fuel were in short supply, casualties kept occurring, and inflation was mounting. Strikes increased among low-paid factory workers, and the peasants, who wanted land reforms, were restless. Meanwhile, public distrust of the regime was deepened by reports that a semiliterate mystic, Grigory Rasputin, had great political influence within the government. His assassination in late 1916 ended the scandal but did not restore the autocracy’s lost prestige.

February Revolution

The first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917, The February Revolution took place March 8–12 [Feb. 24–28, old style], 1917. On March 3, 1917, a strike occurred in a factory in the capital Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg). On March 8 [February 23], 1917, International Women’s Day, thousands of women textile workers in Petrograd walked out of their factories protesting the lack of food and calling on other workers to join them. Within days, nearly all the workers in the city were idle, and street fighting broke out. The tsar ordered the duma to disband, ordered strikers to return to work, and ordered troops to shoot at demonstrators in the streets, and thus triggered the February Revolution. Soldiers openly sided with the strikers.

On March 15 [2, old style], Nicholas II abdicated. To fill the vacuum of authority, the duma declared a provisional government, headed by Prince Lvov. Meanwhile, the socialists in Petrograd organized elections among workers and soldiers to form a soviet (council) of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies, to pressure the «bougeois» provisional government.

In July, following a series of crises that undermined their authority with the public, the head of the provisional government resigned and was succeeded by Alexander Kerensky, who was more progressive, but not radical enough for the Bolsheviks, or for many Russians discontented with the deepening economic crisis and the continuing war. While Kerensky’s government marked time, the socialist-led soviet in Petrograd joined with soviets throughout the country to create a national movement.

October Revolution

Lenin returned to Russia from exile in Switzerland with the help of Germany, which hoped that widespread strife would cause Russia to withdraw from the war. After many behind-the-scenes maneuvers, the soviets seized control of the government in November 1917, and drove Kerensky and his moderate provisional government into exile, in the events that would become known as the October Revolution.

When the national constituent assembly, elected in December 1917 and which met in January 1918, refused to become a rubber-stamp of the Bolsheviks, Lenin’s troops dissolved it, thus removing all vestiges of bourgeois democracy. Lenin was able to withdraw from the war by the harsh Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) with Germany, in which Russia lost Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, parts of the territories of Latvia and Belarus, and the territories captured from the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Russian Civil War

The Bolshevik grip on power was by no means secure and a lengthy struggle broke out between the new regime and its opponents, who included the Socialist Revolutionaries, right-wing «Whites» and large numbers of peasants. At the same time the Allied powers sent several expeditionary armies to support the anti-Communist forces in an attempt to force Russia to rejoin the world war. The Red Army and the Cheka (the secret police) tried to destroy all «enemies of the Revolution.» The Bolsheviks fought against national independence movements in the former Russian Empire. By 1921, they had defeated their internal enemies and brought most of the newly independent states under their control, with the exception of Finland, the Baltic States, the Moldavian Democratic Republic (which joined Romania), and Poland (with whom they had fought the Polish-Soviet War). Finland annexed the region Pechenga of the Russian Kola peninsula, Romania annexed Northern Bukovina; Soviet Russia and allied Soviet republics conceded parts of its territory to Estonia, (Pechory and the right bank of Narva), Latvia (Pytalovo) and Turkey (Kars). Poland incorporated the contested territories of West Belarus and West Ukraine.

Soviet Union created

The history of Russia between 1922 and 1991 is essentially the history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or Soviet Union. This ideologically-based union, established in December 1922 by the leaders of the Russian Communist Party, was roughly coterminous with the Russian Empire. At that time, the new nation included four constituent republics: the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, Belarusian SSR, and the Transcaucasian SFSR.

The constitution, adopted in 1924, established a federal system of government based on a succession of soviets set up in villages, factories, and cities in larger regions. This pyramid of soviets in each constituent republic culminated in the All-Union Congress of Soviets. But while it appeared that the congress exercised sovereign power, this body was actually governed by the Communist Party, which in turn was controlled by the Politburo from Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, just as it had been under the tsars before Peter the Great.

War communism and the New Economic Policy

The period from the consolidation of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 until 1921 is known as the period of war communism. Land, all industry and small businesses were nationalized and money–economy was restricted. Strong opposition soon developed. The peasants wanted cash payments for their products and resented having to surrender their surplus grain to the government as a part of its civil war policies. Confronted with peasant opposition, Vladimir Lenin began a strategic retreat from war communism known as the New Economic Policy (NEP). The peasants were freed from wholesale levies of grain and allowed to sell their surplus produce in the open market. Commerce was stimulated by permitting private retail trading. The state continued to be responsible for banking, transportation, heavy industry, and public utilities.

Although the left opposition among the communists criticized the rich peasants or kulaks who benefited from the NEP, the program proved highly beneficial and the economy revived. The NEP would later come under increasing opposition from within the party following Lenin’s death in early 1924.

Changes in society

While the Russian economy was being transformed, the social life of the people underwent equally drastic changes. From the beginning of the revolution, the government attempted to weaken patriarchal domination of the family. Divorce no longer required court procedure; and to make women completely free of the responsibilities of childbearing, abortion was legalized as early as 1920. As a side-effect, the emancipation of the women increased the labor market. Girls were encouraged to secure an education and pursue a career in the factory or the office. Communal nurseries were set up for the care of small children and efforts were made to shift the center of people’s social life from the home to educational and recreational groups, the soviet clubs.

The regime abandoned the tsarist policy of discriminating against national minorities in favor of a policy of incorporating the more than two hundred minority groups into Soviet life. Another feature of the regime was the extension of medical services. Campaigns were carried out against typhus, cholera, and malaria; the number of doctors was increased as rapidly as facilities and training would permit; and infant mortality rates rapidly decreased while life expectancy rapidly increased.

The government also promoted atheism and materialism, which formed the basis of Marxist theory. It opposed organized religion, especially in order to break the power of the Russian Orthodox Church, a former pillar of the old tsarist regime and a major barrier to social change. Many religious leaders were sent to internal exile camps. Members of the party were forbidden to attend religious services and the education system was separated from the Church. Religious teaching was prohibited except in the home and atheist instruction was stressed in the schools.

Industrialization and collectivization

The years from 1929 to 1939 comprised a tumultuous decade in Russian history—a period of massive industrialization and internal struggles as Joseph Stalin (1878 – 1953) established near total control over Russian society, wielding virtually unrestrained power. Following Lenin’s death in January 1924, Stalin wrestled to gain control of the Soviet Union with rival factions in the Politburo, especially Leon Trotsky’s. By 1928, with the Trotskyists either exiled or rendered powerless, Stalin was ready to put a radical program of industrialization into action.

In 1928 Stalin proposed the First Five-Year Plan. Abolishing the NEP, it was the first of a number of plans aimed at swift accumulation of capital resources through the build-up of heavy industry, the collectivization of agriculture, and the restricted manufacture of consumer goods. For the first time in history a government controlled all economic activity.

As a part of the plan, the government took control of agriculture through the state and collective farms. By a decree of February 1930, about one million individual peasants were forced off their land. Many peasants strongly opposed regimentation by the state, often slaughtering their herds when faced with the loss of their land. In some sections they revolted, and countless peasants were executed.

The combination of bad weather, deficiencies of the hastily-established collective farms, and massive confiscation of grain precipitated a serious famine, and several million peasants died of starvation, mostly in Ukraine and parts of southwestern Russia. Deteriorating conditions in the countryside drove millions of desperate peasants to the rapidly growing cities, fueling industrialization, and vastly increasing Russia’s urban population in the space of just a few years.

The plans received remarkable results in areas aside from agriculture. Russia, in many measures the poorest nation in Europe at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution, now industrialized at a phenomenal rate, far surpassing Germany’s pace of industrialization in the nineteenth century and Japan’s earlier in the twentieth century.

While the Five-Year Plans were forging ahead, Stalin was establishing his personal power. The NKVD gathered tens of thousands of Soviet citizens to face arrest, deportation, or execution. Of the six original members of the 1920 Politburo who survived Lenin, all were purged by Stalin. Old Bolsheviks who had been loyal comrades of Lenin, high officers in the Red Army, and directors of industry were liquidated in the Great Purges. Purges in other Soviet republics also helped centralize control in the USSR.

Stalin’s repressions led to the creation of a vast system of internal exile, of considerably greater dimensions than those set up in the past by the tsars. Draconian penalties were introduced and many citizens were prosecuted for fictitious crimes of sabotage and espionage. The labor provided by convicts working in the labor camps of the Gulag system became an important component of the industrialization effort, especially in Siberia. Perhaps around five percent of the population passed through the Gulag system.

Rise of Hitler

The Soviet Union viewed the 1933 accession of fervently anti-Communist Hitler’s government to power in Germany with the great alarm from the onset, especially since Hitler proclaimed the Drang nach Osten as one of the major objectives in his vision of the German strategy of Lebensraum. The Soviets supported the republicans of Spain who struggled against the fascist German and Italian troops in the Spanish Civil War. In 1938-1939, immediately prior to World War II, the Soviet Union successfully fought against Imperial Japan in the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars in the Russian Far East, which led to the Soviet-Japanese neutrality and the tense border peace that lasted until August 1945.

In 1938 Germany annexed Austria and, together with major Western European powers, signed the Munich Agreement following which Germany, Hungary and Poland divided the Czech territory. German plans for further eastward expansion as well as the lack of resolve from the Western powers to oppose it became more apparent. Despite the fact that the Soviet Union strongly opposed the Munich deal and repeatedly reaffirmed its readiness to militarily back the Soviet commitments given earlier to Czechoslovakia, the Western Betrayal of Czechoslovakia further increased fears in the Soviet Union of a coming German attack, which led the Soviet Union to rush the modernization of Soviet military industry and carry its own diplomatic maneuvers. In 1939 the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact with with Nazi Germany, dividing spheres of influence between themselves in Eastern Europe. Following the agreement, the USSR normalized relations with Nazi Germany and resumed the Soviet-German trade.

World War II

In the meantime, the negotiations with Finland about the Soviet-proposed land swap that would redraw the Soviet-Finnish border further away from Leningrad failed; and in December, 1939 the USSR started a campaign against Finland, known as the Winter War (1939–1940). The war took a heavy toll on the Red Army but forced Finland to sign a Moscow Peace Treaty and cede the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia.

In the summer of 1940, the USSR issued an ultimatum to Romania forcing it to cede the territories of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. At the same time, the Soviet Union also occupied the three formerly independent Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The peace with Germany was tense, as both sides were preparing for the military conflict, and abruptly ended when the Axis forces led by Germany swept across the Soviet border on June 22, 1941. By the autumn of 1941, the German army had seized Ukraine, besieged Leningrad, and threatened to capture the capital, Moscow, itself. Despite the fact that in December 1941, the Red Army threw off the German forces from Moscow in a desperate but successful counterattack, the Germans retained the strategic initiative for approximately another year and held a deep offensive in the south-eastern direction, reaching the Volga and the Caucasus. However, two major German defeats in Stalingrad and Kursk proved decisive and reversed the course of World War II.

By the end of 1943, the Red Army had broken through the German siege of Leningrad and liberated much of Ukraine, much of Western Russia and moved into Belarus. By the end of 1944, the front had moved beyond the 1939 Soviet frontiers into eastern Europe. Soviet forces drove into eastern Germany, capturing Berlin in May 1945. The war with Germany thus ended triumphantly for the Soviet Union. As agreed at the Yalta Conference, three months after the Victory Day in Europe the USSR launched the Operation August Storm defeating the Japanese troops in neighboring Manchuria, the last Soviet battle of World War II.

Cold War

Collaboration among the major Allied nations had won the war and was supposed to serve as the basis for post-war reconstruction and security. However, the conflict between Soviet and U.S. national interests, known as the Cold War, came to dominate the international stage in the post-war period.

The Cold War emerged out of a conflict between Stalin and U.S. President Harry Truman over the future of Eastern Europe during the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945. Russia had suffered three devastating Western onslaughts in the previous 150 years during the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War, and Stalin’s goal was to establish a buffer zone of states between Germany and the Soviet Union.

Truman charged that Stalin had betrayed the Yalta agreement. With Eastern Europe under Red Army occupation, Stalin was also biding his time, as his own atomic bomb project was steadily and secretly progressing.

In April 1949 the United States sponsored the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact in which most Western nations pledged to treat an armed attack against one nation as an assault on all. The Soviet Union established an Eastern counterpart to NATO in 1955, dubbed the Warsaw Pact. The division of Europe into Western and Soviet blocks later took on a more global character, especially after 1949, when the U.S. nuclear monopoly ended with the testing of a Soviet bomb and the communist takeover in China.

The foremost objectives of Soviet foreign policy were the maintenance and enhancement of national security and the maintenance of hegemony over Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union maintained its dominance over the Warsaw Pact through crushing the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, suppressing the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968, and supporting the suppression of the Solidarity movement in Poland in the early 1980s. The Soviet Union opposed the United States in a number of proxy conflicts all over the world, including the Korean and Vietnamese Wars.

As the Soviet Union continued to maintain tight control over its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, the Cold War gave way to Détente and a more complicated pattern of international relations in the 1970s in which the world was no longer clearly split into two clearly opposed blocs. Less powerful countries had more room to assert their independence, and the two superpowers were partially able to recognize their common interest in trying to check the further spread and proliferation of nuclear weapons in treaties such as SALT I, SALT II, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

U.S.-Soviet relations deteriorated following the beginning of the nine-year Soviet War in Afghanistan in 1979 and the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, a staunch anti-communist, but improved as the Soviet bloc began to unravel in the late 1980s. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia lost the superpower status that it had won in the Second World War.

The Khrushchev and Brezhnev years

In the power struggle that erupted after Stalin’s death in 1953, his closest followers lost out. Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) solidified his position in a speech before the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party in 1956 detailing Stalin’s atrocities. In 1964, Khrushchev was ousted by the Communist Party’s Central Committee, charging him with a host of errors that included Soviet setbacks such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. After a brief period of collective leadership, a veteran bureaucrat, Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982), took Khrushchev’s place. Brezhnev followed Stalin’s emphasis on heavy industry, and also attempted to ease relationships with the United States. However, his latter mentioned emphasis led to post-mortem criticism due to the falling standard of living that resulted.

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first space satellite Sputnik. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space in the Soviet spaceship Vostok 1. In the 1960s the USSR became a leading producer and exporter of petroleum and natural gas.

Gorbachev, perestroika and glasnost

Two developments dominated the decade that followed: the increasingly apparent crumbling of the Soviet Union’s economic and political structures, and the patchwork attempts at reforms to reverse that process. After the rapid succession of former KGB Chief Yuri Andropov (1914-1984) and Konstantin Chernenko (1911-1985), transitional figures with deep roots in Brezhnevite tradition, to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev (elected as general secretary in 1985 at the age of 54)) announced perestroika (economic restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Soviet communism, and made significant changes in the party leadership.

In June 1988, Gorbachev launched radical reforms to reduce party control of the government apparatus, and proposed a new executive in the form of a presidential system, as well as a new legislative element, to be called the Congress of People’s Deputies. On March 15, 1990, Gorbachev was elected as the first executive President of the Soviet Union. However, Gorbachev’s social reforms led to unintended consequences. Because of his policy of glasnost (openness), which facilitated public access to information after decades of government repression, social problems received wider public attention, undermining the Communist Party’s authority.

In the revolutions of 1989, the USSR lost its satellites in Eastern Europe. Glasnost allowed ethnic and nationalist disaffection to reach the surface. Many constituent republics, especially the Baltic republics, Georgian SSR and Moldavian SSR, sought greater autonomy, which Moscow was unwilling to provide. Gorbachev’s attempts at economic reform were not sufficient, and the Soviet government left intact most of the fundamental elements of communist economy. Suffering from low pricing of petroleum and natural gas, ongoing war in Afghanistan, outdated industry and pervasive corruption, the Soviet planned economy proved to be ineffective, and by 1990 the Soviet government had lost control over economic conditions. Due to price control, there were shortages of almost all products, reaching their peak in the end of 1991, when people had to stand in long lines to be lucky enough to buy even the essentials. Control over the constituent republics was also relaxed, and they began to assert their national sovereignty over Moscow.

Yeltsin elected president

The tension between Soviet Union and Russian SFSR authorities came to be personified in the bitter power struggle between Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Squeezed out of Union politics by Gorbachev in 1987, Yeltsin, an old-style party boss with no dissident background or contacts, needed an alternative platform to challenge Gorbachev. He established it by representing himself as a committed democrat. In a remarkable reversal of fortunes, he gained election as chairman of the Russian republic’s new Supreme Soviet in May 1990. The following month, he secured legislation giving Russian laws priority over Soviet laws and withholding two-thirds of the budget. In the first Russian presidential election in 1991 Yeltsin became president of the Russian SFSR.

Coup attempted

At last Gorbachev attempted to restructure the Soviet Union into a less centralized state. However, on August 19, 1991, a coup against Gorbachev, conspired by senior Soviet officials, was attempted. The coup faced wide popular opposition and collapsed in three days, but disintegration of the Union became imminent. The Russian government took over most of the Soviet Union government institutions on its territory. Because of the dominant position of Russians in the Soviet Union, most gave little thought to any distinction between Russia and the Soviet Union before the late 1980s. In the Soviet Union, only the Russian SFSR lacked even the paltry instruments of statehood that the other republics possessed, such as its own republic-level Communist Party branch, trade union councils, Academy of Sciences, and the like. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was banned in Russia in 1991-1992, although no rehabilitation has ever taken place, and many of its members became top Russian officials.

Soviet Union collapses

However, as the Soviet government was still opposed to market reforms, the economic situation continued to deteriorate. By December 1991, the shortages had resulted in the introduction of food rationing in Moscow and Saint Petersburg for the first time since World War II. Russia received humanitarian food aid from abroad.

On December 1, 1991, the Ukrainian people voted for independence. The Presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus met in Belovezh Forest, near Brest, Belarus, on December 8, founded the Commonwealth of Independent States and declared the end of the Soviet Union in the Belavezha Accords. Gorbachev reluctantly agreed with Yeltsin, on December 17, to dissolve the Soviet Union. Gorbachev resigned on Christmas Day, and the Russian Federation (formerly the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic took power on December 26. The Russian government lifted price control on January 2, 1992. Prices rose dramatically, but shortages disappeared.

Economic crisis

After the disintegration of the USSR, the Russian economy went through a crisis. The «shock therapy» recommendations by the US and the IMF, of ending Soviet-era price controls, drastic cuts in state spending, and an open foreign trade regime in early 1992, resulted in the economy being shattered, with millions plunging into poverty and a severe fall in the standard of living, and triggered an explosion in corruption and organized crime. Russia took responsibility for settling the USSR’s external debts, even though its population made up just half of the population of the USSR at the time of its dissolution.

The largest state enterprises (petroleum, metallurgy, and the like) were controversially privatized by President Boris Yeltsin to insiders (who became billionaires virtually overnight) for far less than they were worth, while the majority of the population plunged into poverty. Corruption became rampant, and the Yeltsin government was accused of conspiring with insiders to loot countless billions in cash and assets from the State (for example, Yeltsin’s son-in-law became the CEO of Aeroflot, Russia’s largest airline).

Meanwhile, the profusion of small parties and their aversion to coherent alliances left the legislature chaotic. During 1993, Yeltsin’s rift with the parliamentary leadership led to a constitutional crisis. The crisis climaxed on October 3, when Yeltsin chose a radical solution to settle his dispute with parliament: he called up tanks to shell the Russian White House, blasting out his opponents. As Yeltsin was taking the unconstitutional step of dissolving the legislature, Russia came close to a serious civil conflict. Yeltsin was then free to impose the Russian constitution with strong presidential powers, which was approved by referendum in December 1993. The cohesion of the Russian Federation was also threatened when the republic of Chechnya attempted to break away, leading to two bloody conflicts.

By the mid-1990s Russia had a system of multiparty electoral politics. But it was harder to establish a representative government because of two structural problems—the struggle between president and parliament and the anarchic party system.

Meanwhile, the central government had lost control of the localities, bureaucracy, and economic fiefdoms; tax revenues had collapsed. Still in deep depression by the mid-1990s, Russia’s economy was hit further by a financial crash in 1998, after which Yeltsin was at the end of his political career. Just hours before the first day of 2000, Yeltsin made a surprise announcement of his resignation, leaving the government in the hands of the little-known Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a former KGB official and head of the KGB’s post-Soviet successor agency FSB.

Putin named president

In 2000, the new acting president defeated his opponents in the presidential election on March 26, and won a landslide four years later. International observers were alarmed by late 2004 moves to further tighten the presidency’s control over parliament, civil society, and regional officeholders. Nevertheless, reversion to a socialist command economy seemed almost impossible, meeting widespread relief in the West. Russia’s economy also recovered somewhat since 1999, thanks to the rapid rise of the world price of oil and gas, one of Russia’s largest exports.

Conflicts

The 1990s were plagued by armed ethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus. Such conflicts took a form of separatist Islamist insurrections against federal power (most notably in Chechnya), or of ethnic/clan conflicts between local groups (e.g., in North Ossetia-Alania between Ossetians and Ingushs, or between different clans in Chechnya). Since the Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an intermittent guerrilla war (First Chechen War, Second Chechen War) has been fought between disparate Chechen groups and the Russian military. Russia has severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement, although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.

Following a diplomatic crisis with neighboring Georgia; the Russo-Georgian War took place during 1–12 August 2008, resulting in Russia imposing two unrecognized states in the territory of Georgia.

Government and politics

The politics of the Russian Federation take place in a framework of a federal presidential republic. According to the 1993 constitution, the president is head of state, and of a pluriform multi-party system with executive power exercised by the government, headed by the prime minister, who is appointed by the president by the parliament’s approbation. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the federal assembly, while the president and the government issue numerous legally binding by-laws. Although Russia has traditionally been ruled by absolute monarchs and dictators today it has a democratic system of government.

Structure

For the executive, the president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term (eligible for a second term, but not for a third consecutive term). The president appoints a cabinet comprising the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals.

The legislature, termed the Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye, consists of two chambers, the 450-member State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma and the 178-member Federation Council or Soviet Federatsii.

The Russian judiciary is divided into three branches: The courts of general jurisdiction (including military courts) subordinated to the Supreme Court; the arbitration (commercial) court system under the High Court of Arbitration; and the Constitutional Court (including constitutional courts in a number of administrative entities). Civil and criminal cases are tried in municipal courts, which hear more than 90 percent of all civil and criminal cases, courts of appeals, and higher courts. Judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president.

The legal system is based on civil law system, there is judicial review of legislative acts, and the Russian Federation has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction. Constitutional justice is based on the equality of all citizens. Judges are independent and subject to the law. Trials are to be open, and the accused is guaranteed a defense.

Constitutional challenges

Since gaining its independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, Russia has faced serious challenges in its efforts to forge a political system to follow nearly 75 years of Soviet rule. For instance, leading figures in the legislative and executive branches have put forth opposing views of Russia’s political direction and the governmental instruments that should be used to follow it. That conflict reached a climax in September and October 1993, when President Boris Yeltsin used military force to dissolve the parliament and called for new legislative elections. This event marked the end of Russia’s first constitutional period, which was defined by the much-amended constitution adopted by the Russian Republic in 1978. A new constitution, creating a strong presidency, was approved by referendum in December 1993.

With a new constitution and a new parliament representing diverse parties and factions, Russia’s political structure subsequently showed signs of stabilization. As the transition period extended into the mid-1990s, the power of the national government continued to wane as Russia’s regions gained political and economic concessions from Moscow. Although the struggle between executive and legislative branches was partially resolved by the new constitution, the two branches continued to represent fundamentally opposing visions of Russia’s future. Most of the time, the executive was the center of reform, and the lower house of the parliament, the State Duma, was a bastion of anti-reform communists and nationalists.

Foreign relations

The Russian Federation (Russia), recognized in international law as continuing the legal personality of the former Soviet Union, continues to implement the international commitments of the USSR, and has assumed the USSR’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council, membership in other international organizations, the rights and obligations under international treaties and property and debts. Russia is one of the key players in international relations. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia has a special responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.

Russia is the leading nation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Since 1994, Russia has participated as a member of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, although the Finance Ministers/Secretaries of Finance and Leaders of the G7 central banks continue to meet several times a year, without their Russian counterparts. Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and OSCE. Russia takes a special role in the organizations created on the territory of the former USSR, largely under the leadership of Russia: CIS, EurAsEC, CSTO, SCO.

The collapse of the Soviet Union has also resulted in Russia becoming a somewhat more NATO-friendly country and the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council, which brings together the NATO members and the Russian Federation; however, Russia has not formally joined the NATO as an ally, nor has Russia expressed any desire to join NATO.

Russia has a multifaceted foreign policy. It maintains diplomatic relations with 178 countries and has 140 embassies. Russia’s foreign policy is determined by the President and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Subdivisions

The Russian Federation comprises 85 federal subjects, namely:

Federal subjects are grouped into seven federal districts, each administered by an envoy appointed by the President of Russia. Unlike the federal subjects, the federal districts are not a sub-national level of government, but are a level of administration of the federal government. Federal districts’ envoys serve as liaisons between the federal subjects and the federal government and are primarily responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with the federal laws.

For economic and statistical purposes the federal subjects are grouped into 12 economic regions. Economic regions and their parts sharing common economic trends are in turn grouped into economic zones and macrozones.

Military

After the dissolution of the USSR, in 1991, Russia assumed control of Soviet assets abroad, and received the lion’s share of the Soviet Union’s production facilities and military forces. About 70 percent of the former Soviet Union’s defense industries are located in the Russian Federation.

The Russian military is divided into the ground forces, navy, and air force. There are also three independent arms of service: Strategic Rocket Forces, Russian Space Forces (VKS), and the airborne troops. Russia ranks at or near the top of many measures of military power including in numbers of tanks, fighter aircraft and naval vessels; it has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. It also has the second largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines, and is the only country apart from the U.S. with a modern strategic bomber force. As of 2005, 330,000 men are brought into the army via conscription annually, though the army in 2007 was phasing out conscription altogether.

Economy

Russia’s economy has improved since the 1998 financial crisis. Poverty has declined steadily and the middle class has continued to expand.

Oil export earnings allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves. During Putin’s first administration, a number of important reforms were implemented in the areas of tax, banking, labor, and land codes. These achievements raised business and investor confidence in Russia’s economic prospects. Growth was driven by non-tradable services and goods for the domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports. In December 2011, Russia was approved as a member of the World Trade Organization after 18 years of dialogue, World Trade Organization.

Despite Russia’s recent success, serious problems persist. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80 percent of exports and 32 percent of government revenues, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world commodity prices. Russia’s manufacturing base is dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve broad-based economic growth. The banking system, while increasing consumer lending and growing at a high rate, is still small relative to the banking sectors of Russia’s emerging market peers.

The economic development of the country has been extremely uneven geographically. The Moscow region contributes one-third of the country’s GDP while having only a tenth of its population. While the huge capital region of Moscow is an affluent metropolis, much of the country, especially indigenous and rural communities in Asia, lags significantly behind.

Political uncertainties ahead of the elections, corruption, and widespread lack of trust in institutions continue to dampen domestic and foreign investor sentiment. Russia has made little progress in building the rule of law, the bedrock of a modern market economy. The government has promised additional legislation to make its intellectual property protection WTO-consistent, but enforcement remains problematic.

Export commodities include petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures. Import commodities include machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar, semi-finished metal products.

Demographics

Population

Though Russia’s population is large, close to 150,000,000, its average population density is low because of its enormous size. Its population is densest in European Russia, near the Ural Mountains, and in the southwest Siberia. About 75 percent of the population live in urban areas. The two largest cities in Russia are Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Eleven other cities have between one and two million inhabitants: Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Ufa, Volgograd, and Yekaterinburg.

Health

Russia’s constitution guarantees free, universal health care for all Russian citizens. While Russia has more physicians, hospitals, and health care workers than almost any other country in the world, it has struggled to provide high levels of health care services. In the early twenty-first century, the health of the Russian population declined considerably, a result of social, economic, and lifestyle changes. Life expectancy also declined. The biggest factor contributing to this relatively low life expectancy is a high mortality rate among working-age males due to preventable causes such as alcohol, smoking, traffic accidents, and violent crimes.

Ethnicity

The Russian Federation is home to as many as 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples, although the majority (approximately 80 percent) are ethnic Russians. Other ethnicities include Tatars, Ukrainians, Bashkirs, Armenians, and Chuvashes. Nearly all groups besides Russians live compactly in their respective regions. Ethnic relations are stressed with tension resulting from centuries of Russian and Soviet domination and were activated by the collapse of the Soviet state. Conflicts center on political control, rights to natural resources, relocation of ethnic groups, and the revitalization of ethnic cultures, religions, languages, and identities. The Soviet regime compelled the use of the Russian language, forcibly relocated whole populations, installed ethnic Russian political elites in non-Russian regions, and drained regional resources.

Religion

Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism are Russia’s traditional religions. Estimates of the number of believers range from 85-90 percent (non-atheists) to 7-15 percent (people who attend worship at least once a month). Estimates of believers widely fluctuate between sources, and some reports put the number of non-believers in Russia as high as 24-48 percent of the population. The ancestors of today’s Russians adopted Orthodox Christianity in the tenth century. The majority of Russian citizens, and as many as 80 percent of ethnic Russians, self-identify as Russian Orthodox. According to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 63 percent of respondents consider themselves Russian Orthodox. This makes the Russian Orthodox Church by far the most widespread religion. However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis. The percentage of Russians who attend church services on a weekly basis was estimated by the Interior Ministry to be less than 2 percent. Nonetheless, the church is widely respected by both believers and non-believers, who see it as a symbol of Russian heritage and culture. Small numbers of other Christian denominations exist. The number of Roman Catholics is estimated to be approximately 400,000 to 500,000; Armenian Gregorian, about 1.2 million; and Protestants, about 1 million.

Russia has from 10 to 20 million Muslims, constituting the largest religious minority. Most Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus, Moscow, Saint Petersburg and western Siberia. In Russia there are more than 6000 mosques (in 1991 it was about 100). A particularly large number of Muslims live in rural areas, mainly in the Caucasus. According to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, the number of Jews in Russia is about 1.5 million. Of these, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, Moscow is home to some 500,000 Jews, and Saint Petersburg about 170,000. In Russia there are about 70 synagogues.

Buddhism is traditional for three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia, and those practicing Buddhism number 1.5 to 2 million. Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, including Yakutia and Chukotka, practice pantheistic and pagan rites, along with the major religions.

Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Ethnic Russians are mainly Orthodox whereas most people of Turkic extraction are Sunni Muslim. On the other hand, the New Age movement has led to emergence of some «non-traditional» religions in large cities. On May 17, 2007, an Act of Canonical Communion was signed between the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

Language

Russian is the only official state language, but the individual republics have often made their native language co-official next to Russian. The Cyrillic alphabet is the only official script, which means that these languages must be written in Cyrillic in official texts. Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages.

Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of three living members of the East Slavic languages; the others being Belarusian and Ukrainian (and possibly Rusyn, often considered a dialect of Ukrainian). The roots of the Russian language are some 3000 to 4000 years old. Written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the tenth century onwards.

While Russian preserves much of East Slavonic grammar and a Common Slavonic word base, modern Russian exhibits a large stock of borrowed international vocabulary for politics, science, and technology. Due to the status of the Soviet Union as a superpower, Russian had great political importance in the twentieth century. Hence, the language is still one of the official languages of the United Nations.

Men and women

Traditionally, newly married women were subservient in the families of their husbands until they had borne sons. Under communist ideology, which aimed to free women from oppressive norms, women were trained to take up men’s work, such as operating agricultural machinery, working in construction, and working on roads and railways. Nurseries and day care centers were set up to free women from child rearing. Soviet women gained authority and status in medicine and education, and increased political representation. But as unemployment grew in the 1990s, women were the first to lose their jobs. As a traditionalist view of work and family reappeared, some women whose husbands had succeeded in the new economy were glad to become full-time mothers. Fewer women hold political office, and significant numbers of young women have been lured into prostitution, which is illegal, but punished by small fines.

Marriage and the family

Traditionally, the multi-generational extended family characterized peasant life until the twentieth century, and strict patriarchal control over the household was common to all social classes. The communist revolution sought to replace the traditional family with non-authoritarian communal living units, in a short-lived experiment that failed by the end of the 1930s.

The nuclear family has become the preferred domestic unit. While most married couples want their own apartment, housing shortages and expense mean families often live in apartments holding three generations, with a widowed parent providing childcare, food preparation, and money.

During and since the Soviet period, the most important real property consisted of apartments and dachas (summer homes). Children must be officially registered as residents of those places before the death of the title holder, or the title can revert to the government, although inheritance laws were being reformulated.

Women give birth in crowded maternity hospitals, and stay in the hospital a week after a birth. Government maternity benefits and laws on maternity leave are generous. Infants are wrapped tightly. Babies are kept very warm.

Education

Russia’s free, widespread and in-depth educational system, inherited with almost no changes from the Soviet Union, produces 100 percent literacy. Pre-school education is well developed, with four-fifths of children aged three to six attending day nurseries or kindergartens. School is compulsory for nine years, from age seven, leading to a basic general education certificate. Two or three years are required for the secondary-level certificate. Non-Russian pupils are taught in their own language, although Russian is compulsory at the secondary schools

Ninety seven percent of children receive their compulsory nine-year basic or complete 11-year education in Russian. Entry to higher education is selective and highly competitive. Most undergraduate courses require five years. As a result of great emphasis on science and technology in education, Russian medical, mathematical, scientific, and space and aviation research is generally of a high order.

The Russian educational system may be arranged into three major groups: basic education, higher education and postgraduate education. Basic education in Russia takes either 10 (skipping the fourth form) or 11 years to complete, depending on the school. In Russia school accreditation/national recognition is directly overseen by the Education Ministry of Russia. Since 1981, Russia has followed the UNESCO international regulations to ensure Russian institutions and international institutions meet high quality standards. It is illegal for a school to operate without government approval.

Under the Soviet regime, the state owned and operated nearly every school, the curriculum was rigid, and the system aimed to indoctrinate students in the communist system. Education at all levels was free for anybody who could pass entrance exams. In addition, students were provided with small scholarships and free housing. This was considered crucial because it provided access to higher education to all skilled students, as opposed to only those who could afford it. Free higher education is the main reason why more than 20 percent of Russians age 30–59 hold six-year degrees (this number is twice as high as that of the United States). The downside of that system was that institutions had to be funded entirely from the federal and regional budgets; therefore, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, expenses on education took a big blow; institutions found themselves unable to provide adequate teachers’ salaries, students’ scholarships, and to maintain their facilities. To address the issue, many state institutions started to open commercial positions. The number of those positions has been growing steadily since then. Many private higher education institutions have emerged, mostly in the fields where the Soviet system was inadequate or was unable to provide enough specialists for post-Soviet realities, such as economics, business/management, and law.

Class

For hundreds of years, Russian society consisted of caste-like aristocratic and merchant classes, and a largely impoverished rural peasant and serf population. Emancipation in 1861, brought development along capitalist lines—peasants migrated to urban factories to form a poor working class. Under communist ideology, Stalin in the 1930s, killed, imprisoned, exiled, or forced aristocrats, merchants, and well-off peasants kulaks to emigrate, and confiscated their property. Soviet society became a class-conscious state where communist elites had special access to goods, services, and housing. Those who controlled goods and services would channel them to benefit themselves through a set of practices known as blat.

Post communist privatization allowed many of the communist elites to build large fortunes by using their political status to gain direct ownership of state resources and industries. But industrial collapse, inflation, financial crises, and privatization structures meant most of the population remained impoverished. Late-model Mercedes or Jeeps, new red brick dachas, designer clothes, cell phones, and heavy gold chains, rings, and diamonds are linked with the “new rich.”

Culture

The culture of Russia is a hybrid that developed from native Slavic culture with borrowings from foreign cultures. In the Kievan period (c. tenth–thirteenth centuries), Russia borrowed from Eastern Orthodox Byzantine culture. During the Muscovite period (c. fourteenth–seventeenth centuries), Mongol hordes brought Asiatic influences. In the modern period (since the eighteenth century), Russia drew upon the cultural heritage of western Europe.

Russian language and culture has dominated, since Russians constitute the vast majority of the population, and because many times through history the cultures of other nationalities were suppressed through russification.

The politics of the Soviet Union with respect to culture was controversial: on one side there was a politically-motivated desire to create a «Soviet people,» which was expressed in the notion of Soviet culture, exemplified by Socialist Realism. From the other side there were periodical campaigns of preservation of national cultures: every ethnicity had «great national writers» and folk cultural practices were officially supported.

Architecture

At the time of the 1917 revolution, the population was more than 80 percent rural, living in rural villages. The Soviet period brought movement to the cities, so that by 1996, 73 percent of the population was urban, with most people living in high-rise apartment blocks constructed after the 1950s. Many urban dwellers own modest rural dachas within an hour or two of their city and on weekends work in their vegetable gardens, hike, or hunt in the forests, and bathe in lakes and rivers.

Cities including Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, and Yaroslavl grew around old fortresses (kremlins) and monasteries, so reflect their complex histories through the coexistence of multiple styles—Byzantine churches from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries stand by modernist high-rises, with Renaissance, Baroque, or Neoclassical architecture nearby.

The great churches of Kievan Rus’, built after the adoption of Christianity in 988, were the first examples of monumental architecture in the East Slavic lands. The architectural style of the Kievan state which quickly established itself was strongly influenced by the Byzantine.

The fourteenth-century churches of Muscovy are sparse, and their dating is disputed. Typical monuments—found in Nikolskoe village near Ruza and Kolomna—are diminutive single-domed fortified churches built of roughly-hewn («wild») stone and capable of withstanding brief sieges. By the time of the construction of the Assumption Cathedral in Zvenigorod, the Muscovite masons managed to regain the mastery of the pre-Mongolian builders and solved some of the construction problems that had puzzled their ancestors. Signature monuments of early Muscovite architecture are to be found in the Holy Trinity Lavra (1423), Savvin Monastery of Zvenigorod, and Saint Andronik Monastery in Moscow (1427).

In the sixteenth century, the key development was the introduction of tented roof into brick architecture. Tent-like roof construction is thought to have originated in the Russian North, as it prevented snow from piling up on wooden buildings during long winters. In wooden churches (even modern ones) this type of roof has been very popular. The first ever tent-like church built in brick is the Ascension church of Kolomenskoe (1531), designed to commemorate the birth of Ivan the Terrible.

Seventeenth-century Moscow churches are profusely decorated, but are much smaller. The Patriarch Nikon encouraged building of fairy-like ecclesiastical residences, such as the Rostov Kremlin on the Nero Lake, with five tall churches, innumerable towers, palaces, and chambers. Nikon personally designed his new residence at the New Jerusalem Monastery which was dominated by a rotunda-like cathedral, the first of its type in Russia.

In 1712, Peter I of Russia moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, which he planned to design in the Dutch style usually called Petrine baroque. Its major monuments include the Peter and Paul Cathedral, Menshikov Palace, and the Menshikov Tower.

Catherine the Great patronized neoclassical architects invited from Scotland and Italy. Some of the most representative buildings from her reign are the Alexander Palace by Giacomo Quarenghi and the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra by Ivan Starov. During Catherine’s reign, the Russian Gothic Revival style was developed by Vasily Bazhenov and Matvei Kazakov in Moscow.

Alexander I favored the Empire Style, as evidenced by the Kazan Cathedral, the Admiralty, the Bolshoi Theatre, Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, and the Narva Triumphal Gates. Later, the nineteenth century saw a revival of traditional Russian architecture. The redevelopment of the center of Moscow saw the Neo-Byzantine construction of the Great Kremlin Palace (1838-1849), the Kremlin Armoury (1844-1851) and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (1832-1883), all designed by Konstantin Ton.

Stalinist architecture put a premium on conservative monumentalism. In the 1930s, there was rapid urbanization as a result of Stalin’s policies. There was an international competition to build the Palace of the Soviets in Moscow in that decade.

After 1945, the focus was on rebuilding the buildings destroyed in World War II but also erecting new ones: The Seven Sisters in Moscow are seven high-rise buildings built at symbolic points in Moscow. The building of Moscow University (1948-1953) by Lev Rudnev and associates is particularly notable for its use of space. Another notable example is the Exhibition Centre in Moscow, which was built for the second All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV) in 1954, that featured a series of pavilions each decorated in the style of the feature that they represent. The other famous examples are the stations of the Moscow Metro and Saint Petersburg Metro’s that were built during the 1940s and 1950s are world famous for their extravagant designs and vivid decorations. Stalinist architecture changed the way many post-war cities look, and mostly survive to this day in central avenues and public buildings.

In terms of simpler buildings, the 1960s are mostly remembered for their massive housing plans. A new typical project was developed using nothing but concrete panels to make a simple five-story house. These Pyatietazhki became the most dominant housing constructions. Although rapidly built, the quality was in nothing compared to earlier housing and their almost identical look contributed to the grey and dull stereotype of socialist cities.

As the Soviet Union fell apart many of its projects were put on hold, and some cancelled altogether. However for the first time, there was no longer any control over what theme or how high a building should be. As a result, and with generally improving financial conditions, architecture blossomed in unbelieving rates. For the first time modern methods of skyscraper buildings were implemented and resulted in an ambitious business center being built in Moscow.

Russian icon painting was inherited from the art of the Byzantine churches, and it soon became an offshoot version of the mosaic and fresco traditions. Icon paintings in Russia attempted to help people with their prayers without idolizing the figure in the painting. The most comprehensive collection of Icon art is found at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

During the Russian Revolution, a movement was initiated to put all arts to service of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The instrument for this was created just days before the October Revolution, known as Proletkult, an abbreviation for «Proletarskie kulturno-prosvetitelnye organizatsii» (Proletarian Cultural and Enlightenment Organizations). A prominent theorist of this movement was Alexander Bogdanov. Initially Narkompros (ministry of education), which was also in charge of the arts, supported Proletkult. After Stalin died, Soviet Art went into decline as gradually Russian artists became more independent of the state. In the 1980s, the government ruled that it could not restrict what Russians artists could paint.

Matryoshka dolls

A Matryoshka doll is a Russian nesting doll. A set of Matryoshka dolls consists of a wooden figure which can be pulled apart to reveal another figure of the same sort inside. It has in turn another figure inside, and so on. The number of nested figures is usually six or more. The shape is mostly cylindrical, rounded at the top for the head and tapered towards the bottom. The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate. The theme is usually peasant girls in traditional dress, but can depict almost anything, for instance fairy tales or Soviet leaders.

Cinema

Russian film-making came to prominence during the 1920s, when editing was explored as the primary mode of cinematic expression, resulting in world-renowned films such as The Battleship Potemkin. Because of the depletion of resources during World War I, Russian film schools would take copies of D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance and re-cut it as an exercise in creating meaning. This outburst of creativity and innovation was short-lived, however. In the 1930s, Soviet censorship stifled creativity, though it did produce the hit Chapaev. Later Soviet-era filmmakers, most notably Sergei Eisenstein and Andrei Tarkovsky, would become innovative and influential directors.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russian cinema has transformed. Although still largely funded by the state, the topics and dynamic have been updated, through exploration of contemporary subjects like sexuality in the 2004 film You, I Love.

«Soviet Cinema» should not be used as a synonym for «Russian Cinema.» Although Russian language films predominated, several republics developed lively and unique cinemas, while others did not. Most notable for their republican cinema were Armenia, Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and, to a lesser degree, Belarus and Moldova.

Cuisine

The foundations of Russian cuisine were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate, with a combination of plentiful fish, poultry, game, mushrooms, berries, and honey. Crops of rye, wheat, barley, and millet provided the ingredients for a plethora of breads, pancakes, cereals, kvass, beer, and vodka. Flavorful soups and stews centered on seasonal or storable produce, fish, and meats. This wholly native food remained the staples for the vast majority of Russians well into the twentieth century. Russia’s close proximity to the northern reaches of the ancient Silk Road, the Caucasus, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire has provided an Eastern character to cooking methods.

During the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, smoked meats and fish, pastry cooking, salads and green vegetables, chocolate, ice cream, wines, and liquor were imported from abroad. At least for the urban aristocracy and provincial gentry, this opened the doors for the creative integration of these new foodstuffs with traditional Russian dishes. The result is extremely varied in technique, seasoning, and combination.

Soups have always played an important role in the Russian meal. The traditional range of soups such as shchi, borscht, ukha, rassolnik, solyanka, botvin, okroshka, and teur was enlarged in the eighteenth to twentieth centuries by both European and Central Asian staples like clear soups, pureed soups, stews, and many others.

Tea was introduced to Russia from China in the seventeenth century, becoming the most popular national drink. Black tea is by far the most popular type, but since nineteenth century incursions in Central Asia the knowledge and interest in green tea increased. Today Russia remains one of the biggest tea consumers and importers in the world.

Literature

Russia has a rich literary history, beginning with the poet Alexander Pushkin, considered the greatest Russian poet and often described as the «Russian Shakespeare.» In the nineteenth century Russian literature underwent an astounding golden age, beginning with the poet Pushkin and culminating in two of the greatest novelists in world literature, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Significant Russian writers of the Soviet period were Boris Pasternak, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Vladimir Mayakovski, Mikhail Sholokhov, and the poets Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Andrei Voznesensky. In the field of the novel, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in particular were titanic figures, and have remained internationally renowned.

Music

Russia is a large and culturally diverse country with dozens of ethnic groups; each with their own forms of folk music. Music in nineteenth century Russia was defined by the tension between classical composer Mikhail Glinka and his followers, who embraced a Russian national identity and added religious and folk elements to their compositions, and the Russian Musical Society led by composers Anton and Nikolay Rubinstein, which was musically conservative. The later Romantic tradition of Tchaikovsky was brought into the twentieth century by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

During the Soviet era, music was highly scrutinized and kept within certain boundaries of content and innovation; notable composers included Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich.

In the 1960s, Vyacheslav Shchurov organized concerts featuring folk singers from across Russia, beginning in 1966. Shchurov thus inspired a wave of singing ethnomusicologists who appeared among the urban intellectuals and recorded rural folk musicians. Perhaps the most important group to follow in Shchurov’s wake was the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble. A group of musicians called bards arose at the same time. Generally ignored by the state, bards like Vladimir Vysotsky helped lead a popular return to traditional music.

The same period saw the birth of Russian rock with the band Pojuschie Gitary who created a style called VIA and later released the first Russian rock opera, Orpheus and Eurydice. Other rock bands of the era included Tcvety, Sinyaya Ptica and Golubiye Gitary. By the 1980s, popular folk-oriented groups had arisen. The Cossack Kazachy Krug and Pesen Zemli became most popular. A musical underground (magnitizdat) also arose, where poetic and satirical musicians like Bulat Okudzhava and Vladimir Vysotskiy gained black market fame playing their self played songs.

Many underground rock bands arose during early 1980s in Moscow (Mashina Vremeni, Center), Leningrad (Aquarium, Zoopark), Sverdlovsk (Urfin Dzhyus, Trek) and other cities. They formed active musical communities. During Perestroika they became mainstream, notable bands of that time include DDT, Alisa, Nautilus Pompilius, Kino, Sektor Gaza, Aria. Middle 1990s showed decline for Russian rock due to economical problems, changes in mentality and mass media reorientation.

Heavy metal bands include Aria and its offspring Kipelov, which are the most popular, with new bands genres like Power Metal (Catharsis, Epidemia), Progressive Metal (Orgia Pravednikov, Mechanical Poet), Pagan Metal (Butterfly Temple, Temnozor). An alternative scene arose with bands such as Amatory, Psiheja, 7000$, Jane Air, and Stigmata.

Ballet

Sports

Russia is a keen sporting country, successful at a number of sports and continuously finishing in the top rankings at the Olympic Games. During the Soviet era the team placed first in the total number of medals won at 14 of its 18 appearances; with these performances, the USSR was the dominant Olympic power of its era. Since the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 and continuing today, the Soviet and later Russian athletes never went below third place in the world, in number and gold medals collected at the Summer Olympics. The 1980 Summer Olympic Games were held in Moscow while the 2014 Winter Olympics will be hosted by Sochi. Among the most played sports are football and ice hockey. Where football is played more as a pastime than professionally, Russia’s ice hockey team has a long history of traditions and success, and today more than 70 Russians play in the NHL.

Figure skating is another popular sport; in the 1960s the Soviet Union rose to become a dominant power in figure skating, especially in pairs skating and ice dancing. At every Winter Olympics from 1964 until the present day, a Soviet or Russian pair has won gold, often considered the longest winning streak in modern sports history. Since the end of the Soviet era tennis has grown in popularity and Russia has produced a number of famous tennis players. Chess is a favorite pastime, and a sport that has been dominated by Russians in the post-war (1945-) era. The winner of the 1948 World Chess Championship, Russian Mikhail Botvinnik, started an era of Soviet dominance in the chess world. Until the end of the Soviet Union, there was only one non-Soviet champion. Other sports widely played in Russia include weightlifting, gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, martial arts, volleyball, basketball and skiing.

Notes

References

External links

All links retrieved May 6, 2022.

Subdivisions of RussiaFederal subjectsRepublics

1 On March 1 2008, Chita Oblast and Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug are due to merge to form Zabaykalsky Krai.
2 On January 1, 2008, Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug is due to merge into Irkutsk Oblast.

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