Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General Prime minister: Stephen Harper
Population
142,517,670
34,300,083
Life Expectancy
66.460 years
81.480 years
Capital City
Moscow
Ottawa
Largest city
Moscow (population: 10,381,200)
Toronto (population: 4,612,190)
Human Development Index
NA
0.967
GDP per capita
$17,000 US
$41,100 US
Literacy Rate
99.4%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
2.1
8.7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
NA
24.9%
Wealthiest Citizens
Mikhail Prokhorov ($9.5bn US)
David Thomson & family ($13.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
6.600%
7.500%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Abolished
Political System
federation
constitutional monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation
Independence date
24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
1 July 1867 (union of British North American colonies); 11 December 1931 (recognized by UK)
Religions
Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.) note: estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule
Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)
Languages
Russian, many minority languages
English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
Exports
petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar - 24.3 (2008 est.), 25.659 (2007), 27.19 (2006), 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004)
Canadian dollars (CAD) per US dollar - 1.0364 (2008 est.), 1.0724 (2007), 1.1334 (2006), 1.2118 (2005), 1.301 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.900%
1.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
72
18
Location
Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north, north of the conterminous US
Area
17,098,242 km sq
9,984,670 km sq
Coastline
37,653 km
202,080 km
Climate
ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast
varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north
