republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
Independence date
24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
1 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
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
Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3%
Languages
Russian, many minority languages
Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%
Exports
petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
cotton, gold, energy products, mineral fertilizers, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, textiles, food products, machinery, automobiles
External Debt
$519,400,000,000 $
$8,570,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar - 24.3 (2008 est.), 25.659 (2007), 27.19 (2006), 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004)
Uzbekistani soum (UZS) per US dollar - 1,317 (2008 est.), 1,263.8 (2007), 1,219.8 (2006), 1,020 (2005), 971.265 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.900%
3.500%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
72
6
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
Central Asia, north of Afghanistan
Area
17,098,242 km sq
447,400 km sq
Coastline
37,653 km
0 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
mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east
