Economics, Politics, Military, and Problems with the Post-Soviet Transition Period White Russia. It is a land full of history and culture. We have the Russians to thank for that most favorite potent potable, vodka and many other things. Russia is a very difficult country to understand. The people are incredibly warm and friendly. They believe that hospitality is one of the most important social graces and most Russians would do anything for anyone. Knowing this, it is difficult to understand why the Russians have had so many problems in their history. However, I have undertaken the arduous task of giving my reader a contemporary view of the country, and so I will attempt to do that. Any country study should begin with some basic information. I want to get this out of the way now so that I can concentrate later on the more important things. Russia is the largest country in the world. It spans most of the Asian continent and borders thirteen countries. Russia spans from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and also borders the Arctic Ocean on most of its northern territory. The climate in Russia depends on where one is located. There are temperate places in the south and severely cold areas in the north. In Moscow, the capital, the average temperature in January is 15f. Russia contains mountains, steppes, plains, deserts and nearly every climate imaginable. The country is for the most part known as a European one and most of the inhabitants are Caucasian. However, the multi-ethnic population is constituted of 82% Russians, 4% Tatars, 3% Ukrainians, 1% Chuvash, 0.9% Bashkir, 0.8% Belarussian, and 0.7% Moldovan. There are also hundreds of other recognized and more obscure nationalities within the realm that is Russia. The official language is Russian but many others are in daily use including Belarussian, Ukrainian, Chinese, and a multitude of others. The predominant religion is Christianity with the Russian Orthodox Chu...
