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Russia

My homeland is the Russian Federation, or Russia as it is usually called. Russia is the largest country in the world, and stretches for thousands of kilometers from north to south and west to east. The territory of Russia is 17 million square kilometers. Its population is over 150 million people. People of many nationalities live in Russia. Ethnic Russians make up the majority of the population. There are also minority nationalities numbering only some hundreds of people.

3/4 (three quarters) of Russia lies in Asia and 1/4 (one quarter) in Europe. The state border is very long. Our neighbours are such countries as China, Mongolia, and Republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States to the south, Ukraine, and the Baltic States to the west.

To the north and east, Russia is bordered by 12 seas which flow from two oceans, the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

The capital of Russia is Moscow, with a population of over 9 million people. The history of Russia is connected with the history of Moscow. Moscow was founded in 1147 by Russian prince Yuri Dolgorukiy. It was built as a fortress against numerous enemies. The Kremlin is the real heart of Moscow. Its walls and towers are very ancient and beautiful.

The topography of my Motherland varies greatly. It has high mountains (the Urals, the Altai), lowlands (the Russian Lowland, the West-Siberian Lowland) and highlands, grasslands, steppelands, deserts, volcanoes, and tundra.

The longest rivers are the Volga, the Amur, the Ob, the Lena, the Yenisei, all of which flow into seas and oceans and they are used for producing electricity.

The country is full of large and beautiful lakes. The Baikal Lake, the deepest fresh-water lake in the world, is the real pearl of Siberia, and of the whole country.

Russia is rich in coal, gas, oil, iron and other natural resources.

Great Russian forests have always been a national treasure of the country but nowadays they are in danger because the modern world requires more and more wood.