Russia, also the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia.

It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the northwest; Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania in the west; Georgia and Azerbaijan in the southwest; and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and North Korea along the southern border. It is also close to the U.S. state of Alaska, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey and Japan across relatively small stretches of water.

At 17,075,400 square kilometers, Russia is by far the largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s land area; with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population.

It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones and incorporating a great range of environments and landforms.

Moscow is the capital of Russia.

Agricultural products include: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef and milk

Major trading partners: Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, China, U.S., Switzerland, Turkey, Japan, Kazakhstan and France.

The Flag

The flag of Russia is a tricolor of three equal horizontal fields, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The meaning of the flag:

Did you know Russian composer Tchaikovsky composed the world's most famous works of ballet—Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping?