The Russian Federation at a glance
Official name: Russian Federation
System of government: Federal republic
Head of state: President Vladimir Putin (since 2000)
Head of government: Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov (since March 2004)
Legislature: Bicameral Federal Assembly — Federal Council (Upper House) and State Duma (Lower House)
Capital city: Moscow
Major cities: Moscow (approximately 14 million), St. Petersburg (4.5 million), Nizhny Novgorod,
Total area: 17,075,200 square kilometres
Land borders: 20,017 kilometres
Coastline: 37,653 kilometres
Arable land: 7.33%
Population: 143 million (July 2005 estimate)
Population growth: -0.37% per annum (2005 estimate)
Birth rate: 9.8 births per 1000 population
Age structure: 0–14 years: 14.6%, 15–64 years: 71.3%, over 65 years: 14.2%
Life expectancy: male 60.55 years, female 74.04 years
Major ethnic groups: Russian (81.5%), Tatar (3.8%), Ukrainian (3.0%), Chuvash (1.2%), others (10.5%).
Major languages: Russian, other
Major religions: Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other
Literacy: 99.6%
About Austrade
Austrade is the Australian Trade Commission, an agency of the Australian Government whose mission is to promote export trade for Australian companies. It achieves this goal by helping Australian companies develop international markets for their products and services and by helping organisations in countries such as Russia to find Australian suppliers and business partners.
