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Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia. It is a semi-presidential republic comprising 83 federal subjects. Russia shares land borders withthe following countries (anticlockwise from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Abkhazia, Georgia, South Ossetia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and NorthKorea. It is also close to the U.S. state of Alaska, Iran, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey and Japan across relatively small stretches of water (the Bering Strait,the Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and La Pérouse Strait, respectively).

At 17,075,400 square kilometers, Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s land area;with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population. It extendsacross the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones andincorporating a great range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's greatest reserves of mineral and energy resources, and is considered an energy superpower. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakescontain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.

Though Russia's population is comparatively large, its population density is low because of the country's enormous size. Population is densest in European Russia, near the Ural Mountains, and in southwest Siberia.  Russia's 160 ethnicgroups speak some 100 languages. According to the 2002 census, 142.6 million people speak Russian, followed by Tatar with 5.3 million and German with 2.9 million speakers. Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives the individual republics the right to make their nativelanguage co-official next to Russian. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaismare Russia’s traditional religions, deemed part of Russia's "historical heritage" in a law passed in 1997.

Over the last six years, fixed capital investments have averaged real gains greater than 10% per year and personal incomes haveachieved real gains more than 12% per year. During this time, poverty has declined steadily and the middle class has continued to expand. In 2006, Russia signed a bilateral market access agreement with the US as a prelude to possible WTO entry, and its companies are involved in global merger and acquisition activity in the oil and gas, metals, and telecom sectors. Despite Russia's recent success, serious problems persist. Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of exports and 30% of government revenues, leavingthe 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 Russian 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. Political uncertainties associated with this year's power transition, corruption, and lack of trust ininstitutions continue to dampen domestic and foreign investor sentiment. Thehouse price boom continues in Russia, though there are signs of a slowdown, similar to other countries in Europe. According to the Land Code of 2001, private ownership of land and properties is allowed both for locals and foreigners. However, the legislation was extended to Moscow only in January 2006.

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