Russia Country & Tourist Information

Location
Eastern Europe/Asia.

Area
17,075,400 sq km (6,592,850 sq miles).

Population
141.5 million (UN, 2005).

Population Density
8.28 per sq km.

Capital
Moscow.
Population: 8.3 million (2005).

Government
Republic since 1991.  
Recent history: Vladimir Putin was elected to a second term as Russian President in March 2004. His nearest opponent, the Communist candidate, only obtained 14 per cent of the votes. United Russia, the party backed by the President, won a landslide victory in Parliamentary elections in December 2003. Mr Putin has promised to continue to reform the economy. He has taken a very tough line against Chechen rebels

Language
Russian. English, French or German are spoken by some people.

Religion
Mainly Christian with the Russian Orthodox Church being the largest Christian community. Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish minorities also exist.

Time
The Russian Federation is divided into 11 time zones. Summer time is + 1 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October.
Kaliningrad: GMT + 2 (GMT +3 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Moscow, St Petersburg, Astrakhan: GMT + 3 (GMT +3 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Izhevsk and Samara: GMT + 4 (GMT +5 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Perm’, Ekaterinburg, Surgut: GMT + 5 (GMT +6 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Omsk and Novosibirsk: GMT + 6 (GMT + 7 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October.
Abakan, Norilsk, Tura: GMT + 7 (GMT +8 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Bratsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude: GMT + 8 (GMT +9 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Mirnyy, Tynda, Yakutsk: GMT + 9 (GMT +10 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno- Sakhalinsk: GMT + 10 (GMT +11 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Magadan, Chirskiy: GMT + 11 (GMT + 12 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Anadyr, Kamchatskiy, Petropavlosk: GMT + 12 (GMT +13 from the last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).

Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz.

Head of Government
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

Head of State
President Vladimir Putin since 2000.

*Until 1992, the territories of the Republic of Chechnya and the Ingush Republic were combined in the Chechen-Ingush autonomous republic (area 19,300 sq km).

Telephone
IDD is available. Country code: 7. When dialing the Russian Federation from abroad, the 0 of the area code must not be omitted. Some Moscow hotels have telephone booths with IDD. For long-distance calls within the CIS, dial 8 then wait for the dial tone before proceeding with the call. Collect calls, calls placed using credit cards and calls from direct dial telephones in hotels can be extremely expensive. International calls can be made from phones in the street and phonecards are available from many shops and kiosks in the street. The emergency services can be reached as follows: fire – 01; police – 02; ambulance – 03. For enquiries regarding Moscow private telephone numbers, dial 09; for businesses, 927 0009. For national directory enquiries regarding the Russian Federation and the CIS, dial 927 0009.

Mobile Telephone
Roaming agreements exist with international mobile phone companies. All major cities are covered by at least one operator. Handsets can be hired from some companies.

Internet
Public access is available in hotels in larger cities and in Internet cafes.

Media
Over recent years, the Kremlin has secured greater control over Russia’s media.


Post
Airmail to Western Europe takes over 10 days. There are postboxes and post offices in every hotel. Inland surface mail is often slow. Post office hours: 0900-1900.

Press
The main dailies in the Russian Federation are Izvestiya (website: www.izvestia.ru) and Komsomolskaya Pravda (website: www.kp.ru), both published in Moscow. Newspapers and magazines are published in some 25 languages. Multilingual editions of the Moscow News (website: www.english.mn.ru) are available weekly. The Moscow Times (website: www.themoscowtimes.com) and St Petersburg Times are published in English. There is also a daily Internet newspaper, Russia Today (website: www.russiatoday.com).

Radio
Radio Russia and Radio Mayak are state-run networks. Russkoye Radio and Moscow Echo are privately run. Voice of Russia operates programs in English and other languages.

Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2007-December 2008 period.

2007
1-2 Jan New Year.
7 Jan Russian Orthodox Christmas Day.
23 Feb Day of the Defenders of the Motherland.
8 Mar International Women’s Day.
1-2 May Spring and Labor Day.
9 May Victory in Europe Day.
12 Jun Independence Day.
4 Nov National Unity Day.

2008
1-2 Jan New Year.
7 Jan Russian Orthodox Christmas Day.
23 Feb Day of the Defenders of the Motherland.
8 Mar International Women’s Day. 
1-2 May Spring and Labor Day.
9 May Victory in Europe Day.
12 Jun Independence Day.
4 Nov National Unity Day.


Contact Information:

Embassy of the Russian Federation in the UK
13 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QX, UK
Tel: (020) 7229 3628.
Website: www.great-britain.mid.ru
Consular section: 5 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QS, UK
Tel: (020) 7499 1029.
Website: www.rusemblon.org
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1200 (visa section: applications not accepted on Wednesdays).

Russian National Tourist Office in the UK
70 Piccadilly, London W1J 8HP, UK
Tel: (020) 7495 7570.
Website: www.visitrussia.org.uk

Embassy of the Russian Federation in the USA
2650 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
Tel: (202) 298 5700.
Website: www.russianembassy.org
Consular section: 2641 Tunlaw Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA
Tel: (202) 939 8907.

Russian National Group in the USA
224 West 30th Street, Suite 701, New York, NY 10001, USA
Tel: (646) 473 2233 or 1 877 221 7120.
Website: www.russia-travel.com


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