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Russian Federation
Erik Rodriguez CerdaPOL 2H
Gained independence from Soviet Union on August 24, 1991
Constitution was drafted on July 12, 1993 and adopted by referendum on December 12, 1993 (amended in 2008)
Universal suffrage at age 18 Civil law system and judicial review of legislation
Government Capital is Moscow Central
government is organized as a federation (46 provinces, 21 republics, 4 autonomous okrugs, 9 krays, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous oblast)
Government (Executive Branch)
Government divided into 3 branches
Executive branch currently headed by Vladimir Putin (chief of state, won May 2012 election with 63.6% of vote)
Served as president from 2000 – 2008, prime minster from 2008 – 2012, and is currently serving president
Under previous constitution, term was limited to 4 years. However, after 2008 amendment, term was expanded to 6 years
Executive Branch, cont.
Premier of government is Dmitriy Medvedev (appointed by Vladimir Putin)o Was previously President from 2008 – 2012, during
which Putin served as prime ministerCabinet is composed of premier, deputies, and ministers; all of which are appointed by president and confirmed by the Duma
Legislative Branch Legislative branch divided into bicameral
assembly consisting of an upper house (Federation council), and a lower house (State Duma)
Federation Councilo 166 seats, with two representatives from each district.
These are not elected by population, but instead chosen by top executive and legislative officials from that district. No set term lengths, terms determined by region represented.
State Dumao 450 seats, with members winning seats via proportional
representation from parties winning at least 7% of vote. Elected by popular vote to serve 5 year terms.
Judicial Branch The highest courts are the Supreme Court of the
Russian Federation (consists of 23 members), Constitutional Court (19 members), Superior Court of Arbitration (consists of a chairman and 4 deputy chairmen)
Political Parties 78 political parties are registered, but only four
have representation in the national legislature The leading party (represented in the Duma) is
United Russia, which controls 49.6% and 238 seats
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) holds around 19.2% and holds 92 seats
Just Russia has 13.2% and 64 seats The smallest of the major parties is the Liberal
Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), which owns 11.7% and 56 seats in the Duma.
Economics After the fall the Soviet Union, economy was
moved from centrally planned to more free market regulated economy, with movement to privatize industry (with the exception of energy and military)
This resulted in the creation of oligarchs who controlled much of the media, business, and some energy
Vladimir Putin moved to break up these oligarch’s influence and power, but ended up shifting much of it to his close group of associates
Economics, cont. Russia’s main exports include: Oil and oil
products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, weapons and military equipment o Top export partners: Netherlands 14.6%, China 6.8%,
Germany 6.8%, Italy 6.2%, Turkey 5.2%, Ukraine 5.2%, Belarus 4.7%
The state-run gas supplier, Gazprom, is the largest supplier in the world, and is directly responsible for much of Europe’s needs
Since so much emphasis is placed on oil and other raw exports, rises and drops in prices have a tremendous impact on the economy
Economics, cont. GDP: $2.553 trillion (compared to the U.S. $16.72
trillion (2013 est.) GDP - per capita: $18,100 (compared to U.S.
$52,800 2013 est.) GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
agriculture: 4.2%, industry: 37.5%, services: 58.3% (compared to U.S. agriculture: 1.1%, industry: 19.5%, services: 79.4% (2013 est.)
Labor Force: 75.29 million (compared to U.S. 155.4 million)
Oil production
Societal Makeup Life expectancy is 63 years for men, 75 years for
women Around 78% of the population is composed of
white Russianso The remaining percentage is made up of various ethnic
groups, including :Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir 1.1%, Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%, unspecified 3.9% (overall, more than 190 different groups were recorded in the 2010 census)
The largest religion is Orthodox Christianity, followed by Islamo Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other
Christian 2% (2006 est.) [These numbers represent practicing worshippers]
Societal Makeup, cont. Population: 142,470,272 (July 2014 est.)
(compared to U.S. 318.9 million) Health expenditures: 6.2% of GDP (2011) [country
comparison to the world: 103] Education expenditures: 4.1% of GDP (2008)
[country comparison to the world: 110] Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and
write o total population: 99.7% [male: 99.7%, female: 99.6%
(2010 est.)]
Environmental Concerns
Many environmental issues facing Russia, most of which date back to Soviet rule
75% of surface water and 50% of all water is contaminated, as only 8% of wastewater is treated before being returned to water sources
Much of Russia uses nuclear energy, but because of outdated technology and lack of funding, most plants are extremely unsafe and do not do a good job of eliminating waste properlyo Most waste was simply dumped into the Sea of Japan up
until 1993
Environmental Concerns
Most of Russia’s energy comes from fossil fuels (68% of total)
There are renewable sources, but they are vastly underdevelopedo The potential for solar power is around 2.3 trillion tce, or
20% of total power output, instead of current 1% Total carbon emissions are about 11.6 tonnes per
capita (US is 16.2 tonnes per capita) Municipal waste per capita is about 563 kilograms
per capita (US is 725 kilograms per capita)
Energy Production