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Russia: Country Profile and Geographic Description

Discover the geography, languages, constitution, people, religions, and national geography of Russia, a vast country located in both Eastern Europe and northern Asia. This country profile provides key insights about Russia's population, borders, and administrative structure.

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Russia: Country Profile and Geographic Description

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  1. RUSSIA Prepared by Elena V. Fedorova VSUE Vladivostok,2005

  2. COUNTRY PROFILE • Geography • Languages • Constitution • People • Religions • National

  3. Geography

  4. Russia on the map of the world

  5. Russia is a country lying in eastern Europe and northern Asia. It has an area of 17,075.4 thousand square kilometers. Russia is the legal successor of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that ceased to exist on December 26, 1991. It has a federative structure. Russia includes: 21 autonomous republics, 49 "oblasts" (regions), 6 "krais" (territories), 10 autonomous "okrugs" (districts), 1 autonomous "oblast," 2 capital cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg, a total of 89 subjects.Russia's population - 145.5 million. Russia is a multinational state. People of more than 100 nationalities and ethnic groups live in its territory. Russians constitute more than 4/5 of the entire population.Russia has common borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the northwest; with Belarus and Poland in the west; with Ukraine in the southwest; with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in the south; with China, Mongolia and North Korea in the southeast. Russia is washed by the Arctic Ocean - the Barents, Beloye (White). Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi Seas in the north; by the Baltic Sea in the northwest; by the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas in the southwest; by the Bering Sea and the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan in the east.The territory of Russia is divided into 11 time belts, from Chukotka to Kaliningrad Region. From north to south the country extends almost 4,000 kilometers, and from east to west - more than 9,000 kilometers. The overall borderline of the RF is 60,932.8 kilometers.Russia occupies one-eighth of the Earth's land surface and more than 3/4 of the territory of the former USSR.

  6. Political Administrative System • Central federal district • Northwestern federal district • Volga federal district • Southern federal district • Ural federal district • Siberian federal district • Far-Eastern federal district

  7. Central Federal District • Belgorod Region • Bryansk Region • Ivanovo Region • Kaluga Region • Kostroma Region • Kursk Region • Lipetsk Region • Moscow • Moscow Region • Ryazan Region • Smolensk Region • Tambov Region • Tula Region • Tver Region • Vladimir Region • Voronezh Region • Yaroslavl Region

  8. The Central Federal District consists of 17 regions: Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Ivanov, Kaluga, Kostroma, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula and Yaroslaval. Moscow is the capital city of the CFD.The CFD covers an area of 650.7 thousand square kilometers. It borders Belarus and Ukraine in the west, the Northwestern Federal District in the north, the Volga Federal District in the east and the Southern Federal District in the south.The CFD has the country's largest population - 37,309,000. Most of the people live in the cities.The CFD accounts for 40.5% of Russia's prospected iron ores (Kursk Magnetic Anomaly).Non-ferrous mineral resources include peat, tripoli, gypsum, limestone, chalk; glass, mold, building and ballast sand, brick earth, claydite, refractory clay, mineral paints and others. There are two major phosphorite deposits. The large Ulyanovsk deposit of quality refractory clays (16% of Russia's explored resources) plays an important role in the District's metallurgy. The CFD has the country's biggest deposits of raw carbonate. Precious and non-ferrous metals, rare-earth elements, glauconites, zeolites and medicinal and table mineral water have also been discovered in the CFD.The CFD holds leading positions in the country's industrial production. The most important industries are ferrous metallurgy, electricity generation, chemical and petrochemical industries, engineering and metalworking, the production of building materials, and the food-processing industry.Plenipotentiary Envoy - Georgy S. Poltavchenko

  9. North Western Federal District • Arkhangelsk Region • Kaliningrad Region • Komi Republic • Leningrad Region • Murmansk Region • Nenets Autonomous Area • Novgorod Region • Republic of Karelia • Vologda Region

  10. The North Western Federal District includes 2 republics (Karelia, Komi), 7 regions (Archangel, Vologda, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, Pskov), 1 autonomous area (Nenets), and the city of St. Petersburg.Center: St. Petersburg.Area: 1,700,000 square kilometers. In the north, the NWFD borders on Norway and Finland and is washed by the White, Barents, and Kara seas; in the west, it borders on Estonia, Latvia and Belarus; in the south, on the Volga Federal District, and in the east on the Ural Federal District. Kaliningrad Region is an enclave on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and borders on Poland and Lithuania.Population: 14,500,000, mostly urban. Ethnic composition: more than 100 different ethnic groups.The District includes one of Russia's more developed mining areas (Murmansk Region) boasting major effective sources of mineral raw materials at the federal level. It also has powerful mining and metallurgical industries, which fill the predominant part of national requirements in phosphates, phlogopite, nepheline and ceramic raw materials, nickel, iron, copper, cobalt, and other rare earth elements. There are considerable reserves of clays, limestone, timber, peat, gravel--and-sand mixtures, coal, and high-quality rock salt.Geological prospecting has revealed deposits of diamonds, bauxites, oil, gas, gas condensate, carbonate raw materials, industrial and building stone, fresh and mineral water sources. Confirmation has been received of promising amounts of oil and gas likely to be found on the Barents Sea shelf. Active exploration is in progress, with Prirazlomnoye oil field being prepared for development.The District boasts a unique commercial deposit of amber (Kaliningrad Region) accounting for over 90% of the world reserves.Plenipotentiary Representative Viktor V. Cherkesov.

  11. Volga Federal District • Chuvashia Republic • Khabarovsk territory • Kirov Region • Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area • Nizhni Novgorod Region • Orenburg Region • Penza Region • Perm Region • Republic of Bashkortostan • Republic of Mariy-El • Republic of Mordovia • Republic of Tatarstan • Samara Region • Saratov Region • Udmurt Republic • Ulyanovsk Region

  12. The Volga Federal District (VFD) consists of 15 subjects of the Russian Federation, including six republics (Bashkortostan, Marii-El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Udmurtia and Chuvashiya), eight regions (Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Penza, Perm, Samara, Saratov, and Ulyanovsk) and one autonomous region (Komi-Permyak). Nizhny Novgorod is the capital city of the Volga Federal District.The VFD borders the Northwestern Federal District in the north, the Ural Federal District in the east, the Southern Federal District in the southwest, the Central Federal District in the west and Kazakhstan in the south. The area of the VFD accounts for 7.27% of the territory of the Russian Federation (1,038,000 square kilometers).The VFD is the second largest federal district in terms of population. Its multi-ethnic population accounts for 22.1% of Russia's total (32,156,000). Most of its people live in the cities. Its population includes Russians (more than 70%), Tartars, Bashkirs, Chuvashis, Udmurts, Mordvinians, Maris, Komi-Permyaks and representatives of other ethnic groups.The VFD accounts for the biggest share of Russia's industrial production (23.9%). Engineering and the fuel and energy industry hold leading positions in its industry. Farming, chemicals and consumer goods also represent a sizable share of its industrial production. The share of agricultural produce accounts for just over 25% of Russia's total.Plenipotentiary Envoy is Sergei V. Kiriyenko

  13. Southern Federal District • Astrakhan Region • Kabardin-Balkar Republic • Karachai-Cherkes Republic • Krasnodar Territory • Republic of Adygea • Republic of Daghestan • Republic of Ingushetia • Republic of Kalmykia • Republic of North Ossetia - Alania • Rostov Region • Stavropol territory • Volgograd Region

  14. The Southern Federal District consists of 13 subjects of the Russian Federation: 8 republics (Adygeya, Daghestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykiya, Karachai-Circassian Republic, North Osetia-Alania, Chechnya); 2 territories (Krasnodar, Stavropol) and 3 regions (Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov). The capital city is Rostov-on-Don.The SFD covers an area of 589.2 thousand sq. km. In the west it borders the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, in the north - Ukraine and the Central Federal District, in the east - the Caspian Sea, the Volga Federal District and Kazakhstan and in the south - Azerbaijan and Georgia.The population (21,625,000) consists of more than 120 ethnic groups: Russians, Ingushis, Osetians, Circassians, Abazins, Nogais, Karachayevs, Chechens, Kabardins, Balkars, Kalmyks and others.The District's sources of raw materials include oil and gas (the Krasnodar Territory is Russia's oldest oil-producing region - since 1864), brick earth, loams, sand and gravel, construction gypsum, construction sand and high-quality limestone.The mountains are rich in molybdenum, tungsten, heavy spar, polymetals, rare-earth metals, silver, gold, marble and marbleized building materials, dolomites and limestone pebble.The Rostov region is the main source of coal in the North Caucasus. It holds more than 6.5 billion tons of coal reserves. New coal mines could be built on the basis of explored deposits amounting to more than 1.5 billion tons of coal.Europe's largest reservoir of subterranean sources of fresh water - the Azov-Kuban reservoir - has a significant reserve of thermal and mineral water.The District's industries include engineering, non-ferrous industry, and chemical, petrochemical and woodworking industries.Farming and the food industry are well developed due to favorable climatic conditions and fertile soils (Krasnodar and Stravropol Territories).Plenipotentiary Envoy - Viktor Kazantsev

  15. Ural Federal District • Chelyabinsk Region • Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area • Kurgan Region • Sverdlovsk Region • Tyumen Region

  16. The Ural Federal District includes 2 autonomous areas (Khanty-Mansi, Yamalo-Nenets) and 4 regions (Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk). Its center is in the city of Yekaterinburg.Area: 1,789,400 square kilometers. In the south, the UFD borders on Kazakhstan; in the west, on the Volga and North Western Federal Districts; in the east, on the Siberian Federal District. In the north, it is washed by the Kara Sea.Population: 12,563,000 (8.7% of Russia). Ethnic composition: over 120 ethnic groups, including small Northern peoples.The Ural Federal District accounts for almost 17% of national industrial output and 15% of federal budget revenues. It boasts almost one-third of all explored mineral fuel reserves, one-sixth of iron ores, 4.5% of non-ferrous metals, and almost 10% of timber. It produces nearly 90% of all Russian gas, having within its borders Russia's biggest oil and gas condensate fields (Samotlor, Fedorovskoye, Mamontovskoye, Priobskoye).The UFD is the location of the Surgut power system and the main enterprises of Russia's biggest oil companies - LUKOIL, YUKOS, Tyumen Oil Company, Surgutneftegaz - as well as major gas industry outfits: OAO Gazprom, AO "Noyabrskneftegaz," and AO "Rosneft-Purneftegaz."The UFD possesses almost unlimited reserves of building stone, building sand, brick clays, and ornamental stone. There are numerous shows of raw gems: industrial stone, jewellery-grade industrial stone, semi-precious and precious stone.The District is distinguished by a number of unique mineral deposits: Upper Ural ore province; one of the world's biggest Satka magnesite field; Europe's biggest Koelginskoye white marble deposit; Russia's only Zhuravliny Log deposit of China clay used in the production of fine stoneware, china, earthenware, paper, etc.Iron-and-steel, machine-building, metal-working, fuel-and-power, nuclear, and agricultural industries are important.Plenipotentiary Representative Pyotr M. Latyshev.

  17. Siberian Federal District • Altai Territory • Chita region • Evenki Autonomous Area • Irkutsk Region • Kemerovo Region • Krasnoyarsk Territory • Novosibirsk Region • Omsk Region • Republic of Altai • Republic of Buryatia • Republic of Khakassia • Republic of Tyva • Taimyr Autonomous Area • Ust-Ordynsk Buryat Autonomous Region

  18. The Siberian Federal District consists of 16 subjects of the Russian Federation, including 4 republics (Altai, Buryat, Tyva and Khakas), 2 territories (Altai, Krasnoyarsk), 6 regions ((Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Oms, Tomsk, Chita) and 4 autonomous regions (Aginsk, Buryat, Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenetsk) and Ust-Orda (Buryat, Evenk). Novosibirsk is the capital city of the SFD.The SFD covers an area of 6,770,400 square kilometers. It borders China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan in the south, the Far-Eastern Federal District in the east and the Ural Federal District in the west. In the north it borders on the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.Most of the District's population (21,512,900) lives in the countryside. The Kemerovo region is the exception. It is one of Russia's most densely populated and urbanized regions where 87% of the population lives in the cities.The SFD has considerable mineral resources: polymetallic ores, salt, mirabilite, iron ore, tungsten, molybdenum, berillium, tin, fluor-spar, chrysotile asbestos, precious metals, apatite, phosphorite, boron, graphite, zeolite, bentonite, pearlite and other deposits. Altai is famous for its unique deposits of jasper, porphyry, marble, granite, thermal mineral and drinking water and curative mud. Some of the deposits have not yet been industrially developed.Most of the ore deposits contain composite ores carrying valuable additives such as bismuth, indium, scandium and others. Titanium ores have been discovered in gravel deposits at Tugansk and Georgiyevsk. The Tugansk deposit holds 5.1 million tons of quartz sand and rare earth elements.The SFD also has oil and gas fields (Tomsk and Omsk regions). Work is underway to implement a program for the development of gas fields and deposits of gas condensate in the Tomsk region.The fuel and energy industry plays a key role in the development of the District's economy, with coal and electricity production forming its basis. Estimates put the potential of the Angara and the Yenisei at 600 billion kWh of low-cost electricity annually (40% of the country's total resources). When the Boguchansk hydropower station is commissioned, it will be able to produce 110-115 billion kWh, just over one sixth of the potential production of the Angara-Yenisei hydroelectric system.Forestry is represented by lumbering and woodworking enterprises (including sawmills and pulp-and-paper mills).Plenipotentiary Envoy - Leonid V. Drachevsky

  19. Far Eastern Federal District • Amur Region • Chukotka Autonomous Area • Jewish Autonomous Region • Kamchatka Region • Koryak Atonomous Area • Magadan Region • Maritime Territory • Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) • Sakhalin Region

  20. The Far Eastern Federal District comprises 10 subjects of the Russian Federation, including 2 Territories (Khabarovsk, Maritime), 5 Regions (Amur, Kamchatka, Magadan, Sakhalin, Jewish Autonomous), 2 Autonomous Areas (Koryak, Chukot), and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).The FEFD borders on Japan (in La Perouse Strait, Proliv Izmeny, and Sovetsky Proliv) and on China. In the north, it is washed by the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea, and in the east by the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, and the Pacific. In the west, the FEFD borders on the Siberian Federal District.Area: 6,215,000 square kilometers.Population: 7,345,000, mostly urban. Ethnic composition: more than 100 ethnic groups, including Russians, Ukrainians, Yakuts, the Nanai, the Udeghe, small Northern peoples, as well as representatives of other nations, nationalities and ethnic groups.Mineral resources: major deposits of tin (Komsomolskiy and Khingan-Olonoyskiy ore areas), mercury, apatite ores (Dzhugdzhur and Baladensky nassifs); considerable commercial reserves of noble, non-ferrous, and rare metals (gold, platinum, silver, tungsten, copper, molybdenum, polymetallic ores), chromatic and ornamental stone; combustible minerals (coal, oil, gas), all intensely produced (coal reserves in the main fields are due to last for the next 49 to 90 years); raw materials for the chemical and cemen industries; commercial reserves of building materials.Sakhalin oil and gas are transported via a system of long-distance pipelines. The carrying capacity of the Okha-Komsomolsk main pipeline is five million tons of oil a year.The Far Eastern Federal District possesses huge water reserves, both surface and subterranean and is a leading area on the national scale in terms of fresh water reserves. It is also the only area boasting practically the full spectrum of the main balneologic mineral water groups.The District's biological resources are on the world scale and unique both numerically and quality-wise. The Sakhalin-Kurile basin is one of Russia's biggest fishery areas. The overall biomass of the local commercial fish species is more than 6.3 million tons, the authorized production rate being over 1 million tons a year, including over 800,000 tons of fish, about 285,000 tons of invertebratae, and about 300,000 tons of algae. Prospectively, it may serve as a basis for a thriving bio-pharmaceutical industry.Its border location, non-freezing seaports, rich raw material reserves, and the existing industrial and social potential create favorable conditions for the District's cooperation with nations of the Asia-Pacific Region.Plenipotentiary Representative Konstantin B. Pulikovsky.

  21. Time zones

  22. The area of the globe is divided into 24 time belts for the convenience of determining current time. Common time is established for each belt. The width of a time belt is 15 degrees in longitude. The first belt is the one in the middle of which the zero (Greenwich) meridian runs.In reality, on the ground the borderlines between the time belts run not along meridians but along the borders of the countries that are close to the meridians. For large countries crossed by several time belts, the borderline between the belts usually runs along the lines of administrative-territorial division of those countries.The territory of the Russian Federation includes 11 time belts - from the 2nd to the 24th. The time difference between Moscow and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski is 9 hours.The difference between Moscow and West European cities is not very big. It is three hours between Moscow and London and two hours' difference with Paris, Rome, Vienna and Berlin. The time difference with America is greater, ranging from 8 hours with New York to 13 hours with Hawaii.In Russia, like in many other countries, there is "winter" time introduced for saving electricity during a few months and "summer" time. Going over from winter to summer time usually occurs on the last Sunday of March, and going back to winter time is on the last Sunday of October. When such a change is made, clocks and watches are put one hour ahead from the winter time.Because it is difficult to change one local time into another, it was agreed to use common world time in many spheres of human activity (in particular, in radio communication). It is time that corresponds to the zero (Greenwich) meridian, that is, to the first time belt. World time is called Universal Time (UT), and in scientific and technical literature a more exact name is used - UT1. The time scale used in practice in different countries and associated with world time is called Universal Time Coordinated (UTC).Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the outdated name for world time.

  23. Languages

  24. The Russian Language • In accordance with Article 68 of the Russian Constitution, the Russian language is a state language in Russia's territory. It is taught as first language in educational institutions, official documents are published in Russian, and Russian is used in the country's legislative, executive and judicial institutions. However, the fact that Russian is a state language throughout the Russian Federation does not mean that subjects of the Federation cannot designate ethnic languages as a state language in their territory.Russian is one of the world's commonest languages. In 1990 there were more than 250 million Russian-speaking people in the world. Russian is the mother tongue of more than 100 million people.Russian is the working language of the executive bodies of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Russia-Belarus Union state. It has the status of a working language at the World Customs Organization and is used in the harmonized system of commodity description and encoding. Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.Russian belongs to the Eastern group of Slavonic languages of the Indo-European family of languages. The written language is based on the Russian alphabet. As distinct from Romanic and Germanic languages, the article and perfect verbal forms are absent from the Russian language. Its case system is much more developed, and the Russian sentence has a looser word order. With a reform of the Russian language in the offing, a draft bill On the Russian Language and a style sheet and orthographic rules are being studied by research institutions and the Russian Language Council under the government.

  25. Constitution

  26. Constitution

  27. We, the multinational people of the Russian Federation, united by a common fate on our land, establishing human rights and freedoms, civic peace and accord, preserving the historically established state unity, proceeding from the universally recognized principles of equality and self-determination of peoples, revering the memory of ancestors who have conveyed to us the love for the Fatherland, belief in the good and justice, reviving the sovereign statehood of Russia and asserting the firmness of its democratic basic, striving to ensure the well-being and prosperity of Russia, proceeding from the responsibility for our Fatherland before the present and future generations, recognizing ourselves as part of the world community, adopt the CONSTITUTION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

  28. People

  29. Nationalities in the population of Russia

  30. Russia is a multinational country inhabited by representatives of more than a hundred nationalities and ethnic groups. The majority of them is classified as indigenous peoples and ethnic groups of the country since Russia is the main or even only place of their habitat. Besides that, in the Russian Federation there are also representatives of more than 60 nationalities whose main place of residence is outside Russia.The indigenous peoples constitute approximately 93% of the country's overall population, out of which more than 80% are Russians.More than 6% of the population is made up of peoples of the former Soviet republics (for example, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Armenians and others make up 5%) and foreign countries (for example, Germans, Koreans and others). Ethnographers classify the indigenous peoples of Russia into several regional groups that are close to each other both from the point of view of geography and, to a certain extent, culture and history. Less than 8% of the country's overall population is made up of the peoples living in the Volga River basin and the Urals area - Bashkirs, Kalmyks, Komis, Maris, Mordovans, Tatars, Udmurts and Chuvash. Out of this number, almost half are Tatars - the second largest nationality in Russia in terms of numbers. The traditional religion of Tatars and Bashkirs is Islam, Kalmyks - Buddhism, the rest - Orthodoxy.The peoples living in the North Caucasus: Abazians, Adygeis, Balkars, Ingushetians, Kabardins, Karachayevs, Ossetians, Cherkessians, Chechens, the peoples in Dagestan (Avars, Aguls, Dargins, Kumyks, Laks, Lezgins, Nogays, Rutuls, Tabasarans and Tsakhurs) make up less than 3% of the population of Russia. Besides the majority of Ossetians being Christians, the peoples of the North Caucasus profess Islam.The peoples living in Siberia and the Far North - Altais, Buryats, Tuvas, Khakass, Shors, Yakuts and almost three dozen of the so-called "small" peoples in the Far North constitute 0.6% of the entire population. The Buryats and Tuvas are Buddhists, the rest - Orthodox. There are also pagans among the peoples in the Far North.The last time trustworthy data concerning the ethnic composition of the population of Russia were obtained during the national census in 1989. Much later data of the same trustworthiness does not exist. However, bearing in mind that during this interim the ethnic composition of the country could not change, specialists have attempted to estimate the numerity of various peoples living in Russia by calculations based on current statistics, summarizing the natural and migration increment of the population.Numerity based on 1989 census (thousands): total population - 147022, Russians - 119866 (81.53%), Tatars - 5522 (3.76%), Ukranians - 4364 (2.97%), Chuvash - 1774 (1.21%), Peoples of Dagestan - 1749 (1.19%), Bashkirs - 1345 (0.92%), Belorussians - 1206 (0.82%), Mordovans - 1073 (0.73%), Chechens - 899 (0.61%), Germans - 843 (0.57%).Numerity in 1999 (thousands): total population: 146370, Russians - 117884 (80.58%), Tatars - 5821 (3.98%), Chuvash 1837 (1.26%), Peoples of Dagestan - 2122 (1.45%), Bashkirs - 1473 (1.01%), Belorussians - 1152 (0.79%), Mordovans - 1027 (0.70%), Chechens - 1085 (0.74%), Germans - 585 (0.40%)

  31. Nationalities in the population of Russia • Bashkirs • Byelorussians • Chechens • Chuvash • Germans • Mordva • Peoples of Daghestan • Russians • Tatars • Ukrainians

  32. Religions in Russia

  33. Religions in Russia • Buddhism • Islam • Judaism • Orthodoxy • Roman Catholicism

  34. Historically, the Russian Federation is a multi-confessional state formation in spite of the fact that in the pre-revolutionary period of Russia's history there were stringent national-confessional borderlines that spiritually divided and alienated the followers of different religions among themselves. Under Soviet rule, when religious life was supressed, there was also no possibility to develop genuine religious-confessional relations.But from the beginning of the 1990s, when religious life in the country acquired freedom, for the first time in the history of Russia, the Constitution guaranteed legal equality of all religious associations irrespective of their confessional affiliation.Unprecedented changes have occurred in the religious-confessional structure of Russia during the past 15-20 years.Today there are approximately 60 religious vectors in the country.Along with the faiths that are traditional in Russia - Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Catholicism - there are also numerous religious currents and sects in the country:- Confessions and sects that are relatively traditional for Russia - Lutherans, Protestants, Old Believers, followers of Zoroastriansm, fire-worshippers, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecostalists and others. Traditionally, these confessions were practised in specific ethnic groups - Germans, Poles, Lithuanians and other communities. However, these confessions today are actively trying to swell their ranks.- Totalitarian sects of pseudo-Christian orientation, such as "The Church of Jesus," "New Apostolic Church," charismatic movements such as "Testament," Korean Protestant sects, "Family."- Sects vying to possess "the new revelation" - Mormones ("Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints"), Jehovah's Witnesses, White Brotherhood, "Virgin Center," Moon movement (Association with its frontal organizations), "Aum Shinri Kyo," "Church of the Last Testament" of false-Vissarion, Bahaism.- Teachings and sects from the New Age movement ("New Age," "New Aquarius") of an occult nature that have as their objective to develop human paranormal and extrasensory capabilities, healers and sorcerers, Oriental cults - Krishnaism, Yoga practioners, including Sahaja Yoga, transcedental meditation, neo-Vedantism, Theosophy, "live ethics" (Agni Yoga) Rerikh, anthroposophy, the sect of P. Ivanov, Scientology sect of Ron Hubbard (Dianetics, Narconon, Criminon centers and so on), astrology, "Academy of Frontal Problems" ("Zolotov Academy"), the "Univer" neo-pagan center, valeology, "Trojan Path" and others.- Satanic cults of fanatical nature and relying mainly on young people.In terms of the number of believers, the largest religious currents in Russia are: Christianity, first of all, Orthodoxy that is traditional for Russia and the most numerous religious vector, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Catholicism - the latter also being one of the directions of Christianity.

  35. Buddhism

  36. Buddhism ranks third in Russia in number of followers. The religion is professed by less than one percent - around 900,000 people - of the poulation. Russia no longer has predominantly Buddhist-populated regions. It is the faith of one-half of the Kalmyks, one-third of the Buryats, and one-fourth of the Altaians. Followers of non-traditional and marginal forms of Buddhism represent evenly all nationalities. There are about 200 Buddhist communities in this country.Gelukpa, or the Yellow Hat sect, is the school of Budhism traditional to Russia. Other forms of Buddhism, predominantly marginal, have become widespread since the start of the 1990s. By the present time, they have almost as many followers as traditional Buddhism.In consequence of its ethnic and confessional heterogeneity, Russia's Buddhist sangha (community) does not have a single center.This country's biggest Buddhist organization is the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia (BTSR), the successor of the USSR Buddhist Central Spiritual Board. The BTSR has within its jurisdiction predominantly Buddhist communities of Buryatia, Aginskoye and Ust-Ordynskiy Buryat Autonomnous Areas, as well as a part of the Buddhist communities of the Republic of Tyva (negotiations are presently in progress on the accession of Tyva's all Gelukpa communities to the BTSR). The BTSR head is Pandito Hambo Lama Damba Ayusheyev.The Buddhist Central Spiritual Board of Russia (BCSBR) is an alternative to the BTSR. It sprung up in July 1998 after its followers seized the BTSR-owned St. Petersburg Gunzechoinei datsan (monastery), something that made it possible to add one more BCSBR community to the existing two (Ulan-Ude-based Dharma and Moscow-based Orion) and on that basis to register a centralized organization. The BCSBR head is Pandito Hambo Lama Nimazhap Ilyukhinov. At the present time, it is in a state of internal split.Tyva's Buddhist communities obey the BTSR and local centralized organizations: Inter-District Buddhist Society of Tyva, Tyva Buddhist Society, and others.The majority of the Buddhist communities in Kalmykia are members of the Buddhist Association of Kalmykia, which is headed by a representative of the Dalai Lama, Telo Rinpoche. The republic's other widespread Buddhist schools, along with Gelukpa Buddhism, are Karma-pa and Karma-Kagyupa.As of today, Russia has two Buddhist institutes (based in Ivolginsk and Aginskoye datsans), their student body totalling 150 people.

  37. Islam

  38. Islam, in terms of importance and number of followers, is the second religion in the Russian Federation after Christianity. From 8 to 10% of the population, or 12-15 million people practice this religion. Islam is the dominating religion in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachayevo-Cherkessia.Approximately half of the populations in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan are followers of Islam. There are up to 4,500 Muslim communities throughout the Russian Federation.Ethnically, the Muslims of Russia include all the peoples belonging to the Nakhsko-Dagestani and Abkhazo-Adygian language families, the Tatars (with the exception of the Kryashens and Nagaibaks), Bashkirs, Kumyks and Nogais, as well as the Azeris, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Turkmenians and Kyrgyzians living in the country.Sunnism is the main form of Islam practiced in the Russian Federation.The Muslims in the Turkic group of peoples profess Hanafi Maz'hab Sunnism, while the Northern Caucasian peoples, in their majority, adhere to Shafii Maz'hab. A considerable part of Azeris living in Russian territories profess Shiism of the Djafra (Imamite) branches, however, organizationally they are, as a rule, included in the Sunni centralized structures. The Sufi Tarikat Kadyrs are to be encountered in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia (primarily in the mountainous regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia), Nashkban (plain lands of Chechnya) and Shadyl (Dagestan). Hanbali Maz'hab Islam, in its most radical branches of Salafism and Wahhabism, began to spread actively throughout the country in 1994. Today Salafism is practiced by part of the populations in Dagestan and Chechnya. Communities of Salafism are also to be found in other parts of the country.Non-traditional branches of Islam in Russia are represented rather weakly. They include certain marginal syncretic Sufi Orders, the Akhmad sect (branch of Kadiani), as well as two new religions of Islamic origin - Bahai Faith (Bahaism) and SUBUD.The Muslim community in Russia today does not have a single center. The Soviet pattern for the administrative-territorial division of the Muslim community did not survive the disintegration of the USSR. On its ruins there appeared more than 50 centralized Muslim organizations - Spiritual Boards of Muslims (SBM), half of which are absolutely autonomous. Nonetheless, attempts are continuing to unite the Muslim communities under a single leadership.At the moment, the main struggle for dominating the Muslim wold in Russia is going on between the Central Spiritual Board of Muslims in Russia and the European members of the CIS and the Council of Muftis of Russia. But in one way or another, no less than 80% of all the Muslim communities in Russia are involved in that struggle.The Central Spiritual Board of Muslims in Russia and the European members of the CIS (CSBM) is the successor of the Orenburg Mahometanian Spiritual Assembly that was founded in 1789. It unites the Muslims of the Turkic language group, primarily Tatars, Bashkirs and Kazakhs. As of 1992 a considerable number of regional branches of the CSBM announced their secession from the central structure and their reorganization into independent muftiates.Their emergence was prompted first of all by ethnic, political, economic, and only in the last place - confessional considerations.At the moment, the CSBM has elaborated a maximally rigid organizational structure - its chairman, bearing the title of Supreme Mufti and Sheikh-ul-Islama, is elected only once and for life. The procedure for removing him from office is considerably complicated. The heads of regional SBMs also bear lifetime titles and are appointed by the Supreme Mufti. On the whole, the structure of the CSBM copies the organizational structure of the Russian Orthodox Church.The CSBM extends its jurisdiction over the Muslim communities throughout Russia with the exception of the Northern Caucasus and the European members of the CIS. The overall number of communities controlled by the CSBM is as high as 1,600.The Council of Muftis of Russia (CMR) is primarily a consultative body that includes equitable SBMs, the heads of which automatically become cochairmen of the Council. The Chairman of the CMR is elected to his post. The CMR vies for all the Muslim communities within Russia. The total number of communities controlled by members of that organization exceeds 3,000. The CMR also includes several SBMs and SBM associations.The nucleus of the CMR and only structure that is fully controlled by its Chairman, Mufti Ravil Gainutdin, is the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the European part of Russia (SBMER) that includes approximately 150 communities.The SBM of the Asian part of Russia (SBMAR) was established in August 1997 by the former head of the Supreme Coordinating Center (SCC) of the SBMR, Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov. By analogy with the SBMER, it vies for representing all Mulsims to the east of the Urals. In reality, the SBMAR unites not more than a quarter of all the Muslim communities in the Asian part of Russia, located primarily in the East Siberian and Far East economic regions.The Coordinating Center of the Spiritual Boards of the Muslims in Northern Caucasia (CCSBMNC) that includes the majority of SBMs of the Northern Caucasus is headed by the Mufti of Ingushetia, Magomed Albogachiyev, and is a collective member of the CMR. The overall number of communities controlled by the CCSBMNC exceeds 2,000. It includes the SBMs of Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Adygei and formally, Chechnya.Prior to the antiterrorist operation, the SBM of the Republic of Ichkeria (Chechnya) formally united more than 600 communities. At the moment, the real degree of influence by the CBMRI is unknown.The SBM of the Republic of Ingushetia, in spite of its small size, is the main structure of the CCSBMNC and plays the leading role in the integration of Muslim communities in the North Caucasus, however at the all-Russia level, its activity is practically negligble.

  39. Judaism

  40. Followed by less than one percent of the population, Judaism is the fourth biggest religion in Russia. The number of the faithful is believed to be in the environs of 600,000. The majority of Jews live in big cities. Their most numerous communities are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Nizhni Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, and Novosibirsk. The religion is professed predominantly by the Ashkenazic Jews, the Karaites, the Tats, the Mountain Jews, and the Russian Subbotniks. The number of Jews shrinks steadily on account of continuous repatriation. There are about 100 Jewish communities in this country.Judaism in Russia is not homogeneous and is represented by both Talmudic and non-Talmudic varieties. The main trends in Talmudic Judaism are Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Habad-Lubavitcher Hasidism. Non-Talmudic Judaism is mostly professed by the Karaites and the Subbotniks in the form of Pentateuch Judaism or Karaism. The post-perestroika period saw penetration of some new trends of Judaism, in the first place so-called Messianic Judaism which, in fact, is a variety of Christian Methodism.Russia's Jewish community does not have a single center and is split on the confessional principle. The main clash for spheres of influence is between the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations (CJRCO) uniting Conservative and Reform Jews, which is headed by the chief rabbi of Russia and the CIS, A.S. Shayevich, and rabbi Z.L. Kogan, and the Federation of CIS Jewish Communities (the Federation of CIS Jewish Communities was only created in December 1999; before that the confrontation between the Hasidim and the traditional Jews was of a somewhat different nature) with Levi Levayev and rabbi Behrl Lazar at the head, which has the Hasid communities as its support base.Also there are other centralized Jewish organizations, but they do not wield much influence.

  41. Orthodoxy

  42. The largest religious current in the territory of Russia is Orthodoxy that is professed by the followers of the Russian Orthodox Church.The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is the largest religious association in Russia. At the moment is consists of 128 eparchies (dioceses) throughout the territory of Russia, as well as in the former Soviet republics and foreign countries. In particular, the Russian Orthodox Church includes the administratively independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Belorussian Orthodox Church (Belorussian exarchate) headed by the Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, patriarchate exarch, the Orthodox Church in Moldova headed by the Metropolitan of Kishinev and Moldavia, the Latvian Orthodox Church headed by the Bishop of Riga and Latvia, the Orthodox Church in Estonia headed by the Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia, as well as the Japanese Orthodox Church.More than 120 parishes abroad constitute 3 deaneries (Finnish, Hungarian and Mexican) and 5 eparchies. Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada are under the special supervision of the hierarch of the Moscow Patriarchy.The Russian Orthodox Church today has 128 eparchies, more than 19,000 parishes and approximately 480 monasteries.Pastoral services are conducted by more than 150 archpriests, 17,500 priests and 2,300 deacons.At present there are 5 theological academies, 26 theological seminaries and 29 theological schools that did not exist before the 1990s. Two Orthodox universities, one theological institute, one theological school for women and 28 icon painting schools have been opened. The total number of persons studying at theological schools, including by correspondence courses, is approximately 6,000.The network of Orthodox teaching establishments is supervized by the Educational Committee of the ROC.The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) was formed at the end of the Xth century. It was headed by the Metropolitans obedient to the Patriarchate of Constantinople; they resided in Kiev, from 1299 - in Vladimir, from 1325 - in Moscow. In 1448 the ROC received an autocephalous status. A patriarchate was founded in 1589. The reforms of Patriarch Nikon in 1653-1656 led to a schism and the emergence of the Old Belief.Following the adoption of the Spiritual Regulations in 1721, the Church came under the supreme administration of the Holy and Governing Synod. The patriarchate was restored by a decision of the Local Council in 1917-1918.In accordance with a Decree by the Sovnarkom (Council of Peoples Commissars) of the RSFSR on January 23 (February 5) 1918, the Russian Orthodox Church was separated from the State, and schools were separated from the Church.At the beginning of the 1920s, there emerged in Russian Orthodoxy a movement under slogans of modernizing the cult that led to a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1923.In the years of Soviet rule, the State unlawfully interfered in the affairs of the Church, and the clergy was subjected to reprisals. After the demise of Patriarch Tikhon in 1925, the authorities obstructed the convocation of Councils and the election of a patriarch. During the Great Patriotic War, an attempt was made by the authorities to bank on the prestige of the Church.In 1943 the Council of Bishops elected Metropolitan Sergiy (Stragorodsky) Patriarchal Locum Tenens. Since 1983 the Moscow Patriarchy, as the spiritual and administrative center, has been in Moscow at the St. Danilov Monastery.According to the Charter of 1988, the highest bodies of church authority and administration are the Local Council, the Council of Archpriests and the Holy Synod headed by the Patriarch.Since 1990 the Primate of Russian Orthodox Church is His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II (secular name - Alexei Mikhailovich Ridiger) who together with the Holy Synod governs the Church.

  43. Roman Catholicism

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