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3
RUSSIA
Exercise 1. Translate from English into Russian paying attention to the geographical
names.
Russia, officially the Russian Federation, Rus, Rossiya, 6,591,100 sq mi
(17,070,949 sq km). The country is bounded by Norway and Finland in the north-
west; by Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine in the west; by Georgia and
Azerbaijan in the southwest; and by Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China along the
southern land border. The Kaliningrad Region is an exclave on the Baltic Sea
bordered by Lithuania and Poland. Moscow is the capital and largest city.
In its political meaning, the term Russia applies to the Russian Empire until
1917, to the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) from 1917 to
1991, and to the Russian Federation since 1991. The name also is often used
informally to mean the whole of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic
(USSR); the Russian Federation was established in 1991 when the USSR disin-
tegrated and the former RSFSR became an independent nation.
Major Geographic Features
The world's largest country by land area, Russia ranks sixth in terms of
population. It occupies much of E Europe and all of N Asia, extending for c.5,000
mi (8,000 km) from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east and
for 1,500 to 2,500 mi (2,400-4,000 km) from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the
Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Altai and Sayan mts., and the Amur and Ussuri
rivers in the south. The Urals form the conventional geographic boundary be-
tween the European and Siberian parts of Russia. Russia's dominant relief fea-
tures are (from west to east) the East European plain, the Urals, the West Sibe-
rian lowland, and the central Siberian plateau.
Mt. Elbrus (18,481 ft/5,633 m), in the Caucasus, is the highest peak in the
country. The chief rivers draining the European Russia are the Don (into the
Black Sea), the Volga (into the Caspian Sea), the Northern Dvina (into the White
Sea), the Western Dvina (into the Baltic Sea), and the Pechora (into the Barents
Sea). The climate of Russia, generally continental, varies from extreme cold in N
Russia and Siberia (where Verkhoyansk, the coldest settled place on earth, is
situated), to subtropical along the Black Sea shore. The soil and vegetation
zones include the tundra and taiga belts, the entire wooded steppe and northern
black-earth steppes, and isolated sections of semidesert, desert, and subtropical
zones.
Population and Ethnic Groups
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia has experienced a steady de-
cline in population. This is due in part to the difficult economic conditions the na-
tion has endured, which has led to a very low birth rate, and to a reduced male
life expectancy. The population drop has been slowed somewhat by immigration
consisting mainly of ethnic Russians from other areas of the former Soviet Union.
There are at least 60 different recognized ethnic groups in Russia. The ma-
jority of the population are Russians (83%). There are also Ukrainians (3%) and
such non-Slavic linguistic and ethnic groups as Tatars (3%), Bashkirs, Chuvash,
Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Udmurts, Mari, Mordovians, Jews, Germans, Armenians,
and numerous groups in the Far North and in the Caucasus. Administratively, the
Federation has relied on regional divisions inherited from the Stalin and
Brezhnev constitutions of 1936 and 1977. Each area with a predominantly Rus-
3
RUSSIA
Exercise 1. Translate from English into Russian paying attention to the geographical
names.
Russia, officially the Russian Federation, Rus, Rossiya, 6,591,100 sq mi
(17,070,949 sq km). The country is bounded by Norway and Finland in the north-
west; by Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine in the west; by Georgia and
Azerbaijan in the southwest; and by Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China along the
southern land border. The Kaliningrad Region is an exclave on the Baltic Sea
bordered by Lithuania and Poland. Moscow is the capital and largest city.
In its political meaning, the term Russia applies to the Russian Empire until
1917, to the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) from 1917 to
1991, and to the Russian Federation since 1991. The name also is often used
informally to mean the whole of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic
(USSR); the Russian Federation was established in 1991 when the USSR disin-
tegrated and the former RSFSR became an independent nation.
Major Geographic Features
The world's largest country by land area, Russia ranks sixth in terms of
population. It occupies much of E Europe and all of N Asia, extending for c.5,000
mi (8,000 km) from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east and
for 1,500 to 2,500 mi (2,400-4,000 km) from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the
Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Altai and Sayan mts., and the Amur and Ussuri
rivers in the south. The Urals form the conventional geographic boundary be-
tween the European and Siberian parts of Russia. Russia's dominant relief fea-
tures are (from west to east) the East European plain, the Urals, the West Sibe-
rian lowland, and the central Siberian plateau.
Mt. Elbrus (18,481 ft/5,633 m), in the Caucasus, is the highest peak in the
country. The chief rivers draining the European Russia are the Don (into the
Black Sea), the Volga (into the Caspian Sea), the Northern Dvina (into the White
Sea), the Western Dvina (into the Baltic Sea), and the Pechora (into the Barents
Sea). The climate of Russia, generally continental, varies from extreme cold in N
Russia and Siberia (where Verkhoyansk, the coldest settled place on earth, is
situated), to subtropical along the Black Sea shore. The soil and vegetation
zones include the tundra and taiga belts, the entire wooded steppe and northern
black-earth steppes, and isolated sections of semidesert, desert, and subtropical
zones.
Population and Ethnic Groups
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia has experienced a steady de-
cline in population. This is due in part to the difficult economic conditions the na-
tion has endured, which has led to a very low birth rate, and to a reduced male
life expectancy. The population drop has been slowed somewhat by immigration
consisting mainly of ethnic Russians from other areas of the former Soviet Union.
There are at least 60 different recognized ethnic groups in Russia. The ma-
jority of the population are Russians (83%). There are also Ukrainians (3%) and
such non-Slavic linguistic and ethnic groups as Tatars (3%), Bashkirs, Chuvash,
Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Udmurts, Mari, Mordovians, Jews, Germans, Armenians,
and numerous groups in the Far North and in the Caucasus. Administratively, the
Federation has relied on regional divisions inherited from the Stalin and
Brezhnev constitutions of 1936 and 1977. Each area with a predominantly Rus-
