Country profile
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Russia

Russian Federation · Eastern Europe

👥 Population
143,513,328
World Bank · 2025
🏛 Capital
Moscow
🗺 Area
17,098,242 km²
among the world’s largest
💹 GDP (nominal)
$2.56T
World Bank · 2025
📈 HDI
0.832
UNDP · 2023
📍 Pop. density
8 /km²
💱 Currency
RUB
Russian ruble
🗣 Languages
Russian

About Russia

Russia (officially Russian Federation) is a country in Eastern Europe, with Moscow as its capital. It is home to roughly 143.51 million people, giving a population density of about 8 people per square kilometre. The country covers 17,098,242 km² of land and shares land borders with 14 neighbouring countries. Its economy is valued at approximately $2.56T in nominal GDP (2025), and it records a Human Development Index of 0.832. The official currency is the Russian ruble (RUB), and the main language is Russian.

How Russia is governed

🏛 Federal semi-presidential republic (in practice highly centralised)
Head of State
President

Dominant executive; controls security, foreign & domestic policy.

Head of Government
Prime Minister

Manages the government and economy under the President.

Legislature
Federal Assembly

Bicameral — State Duma — lower house, 450 seats; Federation Council — upper house

Who holds the power?

On paper Russia is a federal semi-presidential republic, but in practice power is heavily concentrated in the presidency. The President controls the security services, the military and foreign policy, and dominates a Prime Minister who chiefly manages the economy. The State Duma and the courts exercise limited independent check on executive power. Constitutional changes in 2020 further strengthened and extended the presidency.

Development profile (each axis 0–100%, higher is stronger)
WealthHealthHuman dev.InternetUrbanSurvival

Key indicators

Latest available data · World Bank & UNDP.

💹 Economy

GDP (PPP)
$6.92T
GDP/capita (PPP)
$47,362
GDP growth
1.0%
Inflation
8.7%
Unemployment
2.1%

👥 People

Life expectancy
73.4 yrs
Fertility rate
1.42
Pop. growth
-0.1%
Urban population
75.3%
Infant mortality /1k
4.1

🌍 Quality of Life

Internet users
94.4%
Literacy rate
99.9%
Physicians /1k
5.11
Renewable energy
3.5%
Russia's GDP over time (nominal, US$)
$0$672.34B$1.34T$2.02T$2.69T198820072025 Russia

Travel & practical

Capital
Moscow
Currency
RUB
Dialing code
+73
Internet TLD
.ru

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Fun facts about Russia

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Neighbouring countries

More countries in Europe