The Weekly Journal

Currency
Freq. Used Coins Freq. Used Bank Notes
Rouble (руб) 1, 2, 5,10 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000
Kopek (коп): 100 kopek = 1 ruble 10, 50
There is no official symbol for the ruble, although руб is used often

Political Climate
- Europe’s Organization for Security and Cooperation was not able to oversee the 2008 Legislative election due to some visa issues, and many believe that the election was not fair

Economy
GDP (2009): $1.231 trillion. (Russian Government statistics--RosStat)
Growth rate (2009): -7.9%.
Current Unemployment Rate: >8%
Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, timber, furs, fish, precious and nonferrous metals.
Agriculture: Products--Grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, meat, dairy products.
Industry: Types--Complete range of manufactures: automobiles, trucks, trains, agricultural equipment, advanced aircraft, aerospace, machine and equipment products; mining and extractive industry; medical and scientific instruments; construction equipment.
Trade (2009): Exports--$301.6 billion: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, woods and wood products, metals, chemicals. Major markets--EU, CIS, China, Japan. Imports--$167.4 billion: machinery and equipment, chemicals, consumer goods, medicines, meat, sugar, semi-finished metal products. Major partners--EU, CIS, Japan, China, U.S. U.S. exports--$5.4 billion. Principal U.S. exports (2009)--oil/gas equipment, autos/parts, meat, aircraft, electrical machinery, medical equipment, plastics, cosmetics, and chemicals. U.S. imports--$18.2 billion. Principal U.S. imports (2009)--oil, chemicals, aluminum, iron/steel, precious stones, nickel, fish and crustaceans, copper, base metals, and wood.

Legal System
Type: Federation.
Independence: August 24, 1991.
Constitution: December 12, 1993.
Branches: Executive--president, prime minister (chairman of the government). Legislative--Federal Assembly (Federation Council, State Duma). Judicial--Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Arbitration, Office of Procurator General.
Political parties: After a shakeup in late 2008 dissolved and combined several parties, seven registered parties remain: United Russia, the Communist Party (KPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), Just Russia, Yabloko, Patriots of Russia, and the new Right Cause party. Yabloko, which favors liberal reforms, and Patriots of Russia failed to clear the 7% threshold in 2007 to enter the Duma.
Subdivisions: 83 federal subjects (members of the Federation), including 21 republics, 9 krays, 46 oblasts, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous oblast, and 4 autonomous okrugs.
Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.

Ethnicities
According to the Russian Census of 2002...
Russians: 79.8 %
Tatars: 3.8 % A broad range of origins, mostly from Turkish and Mongol tribes
Ukranians: 2.0 % From Ukraine, the 6th largest country in Europe, west of Russia
Bashkirs: 1.2 % Turkish origin, concentrated in the southern Ural Mountains
Chuvash: 1.1 % Turkish origin, central and northwestern Russia
Chechen: 0.9 % Iranian origin, North Caucasus
Armenians: 0.8 % From Armenia, small country southwest of Russia

Educational System
Russia has an eleven year free secondary educational system. Classes run from September through May, and the year is divided into four quarters. The pupil to teacher ratio is 11:1 and teachers make 6,200 - 21,000 rubles ($260 - $900) a month, depending on whether they teach in a rural or urban area.
There are many universities in Russia, and the constitution guarantees everyone the right to get a free higher education on the basis of competition. The government provides each university funding to cover tuition costs for a certain quota of students. In 2006, over 50% of the students did not need to pay tuition. There is an strong emphasis on medical, mathematical, scientific, and space and aviation research. Ironically, there is a higher proportion of doctors to people in Russia compared to the US, but the quality of care is lower.