At the height of Imperial rule, Russia occupied more than 1/6 of all the land surface of the earth. Today it is still significantly large, almost 1/6th.

Approximately twice the size of the United States.

It spans 17 million sq. kilometers (6000 miles east to west and 3000 miles north to south---9 time zones).

Lies on two continents, Europe and Asia.

Largest country in the world in terms of land, but most of the land is unusable for agricultural or development purposes because of permafrost and lack of proper soil and climate.

There are approximately 143 million people (click here for more information on Russian demographics).

There are more deaths than births. The population is shrinking.

Male life expectancy is only 63 years old for men, but 75 years old for women.

The literacy rate is 99.7 among all adults over 15.