Russia: an Introduction

Russia: an IntroductionGeographic FeatureDemographic Features

Back in the USSR

Russian FederationMeasurements

• Capital: Moscow• Population: roughly 143.5 million• Annual Population Growth: -.6• Urban Population: 73%• Ethnic Composition (to name a few):

• Russian: 81.5%• Tatar: 3.8%• Ukrainian: 3.0%

• Major Languages: Russian• Religious Affiliation:

• Russian Orthodox: 16.3%• Muslim: 10.0%

• Labor Structure:• Agriculture: 4.9%• Industry: 33.9%• Services: 61.2%

• Life Expectancy: 65.7%• Adult Illiteracy: 0%• Access to Information (per 1,000 people):

• Telephone Lines: 243• Mobile Phones: 38• Radios: 418• Televisions: 538• Personal Computers: 49.7

Why Study Russia?• The Soviet Union was established in 1917

• World’s first communist state• Became a beacon for Communists everywhere• Provoked strong reactions from its critics

• Rapid growth of the USSR deepened the tensions between Russia and the US• Cold War enveloped the globe for upwards to 50 years

• Observers feared Cold War would lead to a final, violent conflict between the two systems• Soviet demise did not end in violence, but with a collapse• New generation of Soviet leaders in the 1980s tried to inject change in the old Communist system

• Reforms failed and Revolutionary changes took root• The Soviet Union dissolved (devolution) into 15 independent countries• Known today as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

• Success of revolutionary changes and whether Russia is a true democracy is still in question• It’s uneven, at best• Democratic institutions remain weak• Public cynicism pervades society• Civil freedoms have declined• Russians have grown poorer over past 15 years• Power is concentrated in the hands of the elite• Optimists counter that the country is moving forward despite having no real history of democracy or capitalism• The system does conduct open elections• Growing number of businesses and a growing middle class point to economic progress

• Reconstruction is not complete, country remains in transition but path it takes will help shape its global role

Annual income per capita in Russia (USD)

Russia’s Geography• Russia is 4x the size of the US• Covers 11 time zones• Most of population is concentrated in the western region• East (Siberia) is relatively flat and sparsely populated

• As Americans moved west in 19th century, Russians moved east• Harsh climate and soil didn’t lend to individualism• State could function more effectively where it developed infrastructure

• Russia is not isolated; shares a border with at least 14 other countries• Centuries of invasions from Asia and Europe w/out physical isolation

• Rich in wood, oil, natural gas, gold, nickel, diamonds• Many are concentrated in Siberia and hard to extract• Environmental concerns from extraction of resources, but exploitation

will continue

Russian Diversity & Tensions• Former USSR countries have Russian

minorities• Heightened nationalism; still seek relations w/

Russia• Near Abroad

• Many Soviet Republics experienced ethnic fighting• Tatars, Chechens, Kazakhs were not willing

partners in Soviet expansion• Most regions retained own language and

culture, but political control came from Moscow

• Ethnic frustrations were loud and abundant by late 1980s

• Tensions have grown worse in Azerbaijan since devolution• Nagorno-Karabakh is Armenian enclave in

Azerbaijan• Baltic states passed legislation making it

difficult for Russians living in those countries to gain citizenship

Key Questions for this Topic• How and why did the Soviet Union collapse?• How did its legacy affect the way Russia has evolved?• Will Putin’s policies strengthen and stabilize the Russian state

or weaken it?• Is the Russian state a viable, legitimate democracy?• Why is Russia having a hard time establishing effective

institutions?