Russian Federation Travel Guide - Key Facts

Eastern Europe/Asia.

The Russian Federation is divided into 11 time zones.
Kaliningrad: GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Moscow, St Petersburg, Astrakhan: GMT + 3 (GMT + 3 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Izhevsk and Samara: GMT + 4 (GMT + 5 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Perm, Ekaterinburg, Surgut: GMT + 5 (GMT + 6 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Omsk and Novosibirsk: GMT + 6 (GMT + 7 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Abakan, Norilsk, Tura: GMT + 7 (GMT + 8 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Bratsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude: GMT + 8 (GMT + 9 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Mirnyy, Tynda, Yakutsk: GMT + 9 (GMT + 10 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno- Sakhalinsk: GMT + 10 (GMT + 11 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Magadan, Chirskiy: GMT + 11 (GMT + 12 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Anadyr, Petropavlosk-Kamchatskiy: GMT + 12 (GMT + 13 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).

17,075,400 sq km (6,592,850 sq miles).

141.4 million (UN 2007).

8.4 per sq km.

Moscow. Population: 12.6 million (2007 estimate).

The Russian Federation covers almost twice the area of the USA, and reaches from the enclave of Kaliningrad in the west over the Urals and the vast Siberian plains to the Sea of Okhotsk in the east. The border between European Russia and Siberia (Asia) is formed by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River and the Manych Depression. European Russia extends from the North Polar Sea across the Central Russian Uplands to the Black Sea, the Northern Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. Siberia stretches from the West Siberian Plain across the Central Siberian Plateau to the Lena River and takes in the Sayan and Yablonovy ranges in the south. East of Siberia stretches the Russian Far East, a region almost as big as Siberia itself, running to the Pacific coast and including the vast Chukotka and Kamchatka peninsulas.

Republic since 1991.

President Dmitry Medvedev since 2008.

Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov since 2007.

Dmitry Medvedev, President Vladimir Putin's chosen successor, won a landslide victory in March 2008. 

President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in December 2007, which Western critics described as neither free nor democratic.

Vladimir Putin was elected to a second term as Russian president in March 2004. His tenure in power has been marked by a clear step back towards Soviet authoritarianism and government control of the press after the liberal years of Boris Yeltsin.

Putin will also be remembered for tackling any oligarchs who have failed to stay out of politics: many now live abroad for their own safety after Yukos billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to nine years' hard labour in what many saw as a politically motivated prosecution for tax fraud, after Khodorkovsky financed opposition political parties. Putin has also overseen the resurgence of Russia on the world stage as an energy superpower, although the profits from the country's vast mineral wealth remain in the hands of the privileged few.

Russian is the official language, although there are over 100 other languages. English is widely spoken by younger people as well as some educated older people.

Mainly Christian with the Russian Orthodox Church being the largest Christian community. Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish minorities also exist.

220 volts AC, 50Hz; Russia uses a standard two-pin European plug.

It is customary to shake hands when greeting someone. Company or business gifts are well received. Conservative wear is suitable for most places and the seasonal weather should always be borne in mind. Smoking is acceptable unless stated otherwise.

Photography: It is prohibited to take photographs of any military installation and/or establishments or sites of strategic importance. Failure to abide by this could result in police arrest.