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$Unique_ID{COW03938}
$Pretitle{295}
$Title{Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Hippocrene Books, Inc}
$Affiliation{Embassy of USSR, Washington DC}
$Subject{russian
federation
research
east
far
nuclear
}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Table 8.*0393801.tab
Table 9.*0393802.tab
Table 10.*0393803.tab
}
Country: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Book: USSR Yearbook '90
Author: Hippocrene Books, Inc
Affiliation: Embassy of USSR, Washington DC
Date: 1990
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Area-17,075,000 sq.k.m.
Population-147.3 million, of which 83 per cent are Russians
Capital-Moscow (8,900,000)
Towns and cities-1,030
The RSFSR or Russian Federation occupies three-quarters of the country
territory, running 4,000 km. from north to south and 9,000 km. from west to
east.
It comprises 16 autonomous republics, 6 territories, 49 regions, 5
autonomous regions and 10 autonomous areas.
Nature. Winters are cold, windy and snowy, and summers are hot and dry.
Autumn brings rains and fogs. The coldest point of the Northern Hemisphere,
where temperatures plunge to minus 70 Celsius, is located in Siberia. Typical
representatives of the Russian fauna are the wolf, fox, brown bear, elk, hare
and lynx. The Siberian fauna is represented by the reindeer, while polar bear
is found along the Arctic Ocean coast and the tiger in the Far East.
Among the trees growing in the European part of the Russian Federation
are birch, pine and oak; in Siberia-cedar, larch and fir trees, and in the
Far East-argan and cork trees, lotus, ginseng and lianas.
There are 150 volcanoes in Kamchatka Peninsula, about 30 of which are
active.
Three-quarters of the country's minerals and fuels, including oil,
natural gas, coal, diamonds and gold, are concentrated in Siberia and the Far
East. There are the major ferrous ore deposits near Kursk, in the southern
Urals and Eastern Siberia. About half of the variety of minerals known to
humankind, including rare ones, are extracted in the Urals.
Industry. The Russian Federation accounts for 90 per cent of the USSR's
oil output and 70 per cent of its natural gas output. The republic also has
large metalmaking plants and timber producing complexes. It manufactures
nuclear reactors, large machines, hydrofoil craft, powerful excavating
machines and diesel locomotives.
Hydropower stations' aggregate capacity increases 40 million kilowatts.
About a dozen nuclear power stations supply heat and energy for the industrial
and household needs.
Agriculture. In the Russian Federation, there are 12,000 state farms and
12,200 collective farms, more than a hundred research institutions, and
10,000 other related enterprises and organizations. The 15 million people
engaged in the agricultural sector produce over half of the country's grain
and animal products.
The Soviet Union's largest granaries are located in the North Caucasus
and the Volga and Amur regions, in Southern Siberia and the Far East.
Science. One-fifth of the world's scientists work in the Russian
Federation. They have achieved considerable success in space research, nuclear
physics, and studies in molecular structure, genetics and selection.
Whole towns of science have emerged, such as Dubna, an international
centre for nuclear research, and Pushchino, the centre of biological research.
The city of Serpukhov produces powerful nuclear accelerators. Siberia's
research centre with 60 institutes is situated in the town of Akademgorodok
near Novosibirsk. There are also major research centres in Leningrad, the
Urals, Irkutsk, the Far East, Yakutsk and Ulan-Ude.
Culture. The writers of the Russian Federation write in 50 of the
languages of peoples of the USSR. Such famous authors as Rasul Gamzatov (an
Avar), David Kugultinov (a Kalmyk), Kaisyn Kuliev (a Balkar) and Yuri Rytkheu
(a Chukchi) are representatives of nationalities which are very small.
Of Russia's 500 higher educational establishments 60 are located in the
autonomous republics and areas. The opera and ballet theatres in Perm and
Novosibirsk are on a par with those in Moscow and Leningrad. The Sverdlovsk
film studios successfully compete with the country's leading studios.
There are many villages famous for their specific crafts: painted boxes
in Palekh, wooden tablewear in Khokhloma, and toys in Dymkovo. Also well
known are Vologda lace and articles of carved bone from the North and artistic
metal casting and stamping from the Caucasus.
Sports. In addition to conventional sports, traditional ones are also
popular, such as gorodki (a game in which the objective is to knock down
various configurations of wooden pins by throwing a wooden stick) and dumbbell
lifting, among the Russians, and races of reindeer and dog teams, lassoing,
axe-throwing, contests involving jumps across sleds, and archery, among the
Northern peoples.
[See Table 8.: Growth Rates of Income and Productivity]
[See Table 9.: PERCENTAGE OF URBAN AND RURAL POPULATION]
[See Table 10.: Industrial Output]