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Russia vs. U.S.
Geography
Military
Government
Communications
Transnational Issues
Economy
Area: total: 9,826,675 sq km country comparison to the world: 9 land: 9,161,966 sq km water: 664,709 sq km note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia oster yourself Area - comparative: about half the size of Russia
total: 17,098,242 sq km country comparison to the world: 5 land: 16,377,742 sq km water: 720,500 sq km lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m
Telephones - main lines in use: 163.2 million Telephones - mobile cellular: 255 million Telephone system: general assessment: a large, technologically advanced, multipurpose communications system domestic: a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic international: country code - 1 Radio broadcast stations: AM 4,789, FM 8,961, shortwave 19 Television broadcast stations: 2,218 Internet country code: .us Internet hosts: 316 million (2008); domain host addresses: .us, .com, .edu, .gov, .mil, .net, and .org Internet users: 223 million
Radio broadcast stations: AM 323, FM 1,500 est., shortwave 62 (2004) Television broadcast stations: 7,306 (1998) Internet country code: ru Internet hosts: 4.822 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 15 Internet users: 30 million (2007) country comparison to the world: 12 Telephones - main lines in use: 43.9 million (2006) country comparison to the world: 6 Telephones - mobile cellular: 170 million (2007) country comparison to the world: 5 Telephone system: general assessment: the telephone system is experiencing significant changes; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services
Government type: Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition Executive branch: chief of state: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph R. BIDEN (since 20 January 2009); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph BIDEN (since 20 January 2009) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with Senate approval elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by a college of representatives who are elected directly from each state; president and vice president serve four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 4 November 2008 (next to be held on 6 November 2012) election results: Barack H. OBAMA elected president; percent of popular vote - Barack H. OBAMA 52.4%, John MCCAIN 46.3%, other 1.3%; Legislative branch: bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (100 seats, 2 members are elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third are elected every two years) and the House of Representatives (435 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 4 November 2008 (next to be held November 2010); House of Representatives - last held 4 November 2008 (next to be held in November 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 57, Republican Party 41, independent 2; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 257, Republican Party 178 Judicial branch: Supreme Court (nine justices; nominated by the president and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate; appointed to serve for life); United States Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts
Government type: federation Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction Executive branch: chief of state: President Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 7 May 2008) head of government: Premier Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 8 May 2008); First Deputy Premiers Igor Ivanovich SHUVALOV and Viktor Alekseyevich ZUBKOV (since 12 May 2008); Deputy Premiers Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 12 May 2008), Dmitriy Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008), Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 24 September 2007), Igor Ivanovich SECHIN (since 12 May 2008), Sergey Semenovich SOBYANIN (since 12 May 2008), Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March 2004), and Dmitry Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008) no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of an upper house, the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (168 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 84 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; serve four-year terms) and a lower house, the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; as of 2007, all members elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 7% of the vote; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: State Duma - last held 2 December 2007 (next to be held in December 2011) election results: State Duma - United Russia 64.3%, CPRF 11.5%, LDPR 8.1%, Just Russia 7.7%, other 8.4%; total seats by party - United Russia 315, CPRF 57, LDPR 40, Just Russia 38 Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Supreme Arbitration Court; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president
Debt - external: $483.5 billion (31 December 2008) country comparison to the world: 22 $471 billion (31 December 2007) GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.266 trillion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 7 $2.146 trillion (2007 est.) $1.985 trillion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars GDP (official exchange rate): $1.677 trillion (2008 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 5.6% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 69 8.1% (2007 est.) 7.7% (2006 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP): $16,100 (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 73 $15,200 (2007 est.) $14,000 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4.7% industry: 37.6% services: 57.7% (2008 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity): $14.26 trillion (2008 est.) GDP (official exchange rate): $14.26 trillion (2008 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 1.1% (2008 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP): $46,900 (2008 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1.2% industry: 19.2% services: 79.6% (2008 est.) oster yourself
Military branches: Ground Forces (SV), Navy (VMF), Air Forces (VVS); Airborne Troops (VDV), Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN), and Space Troops (KV) are independent combat arms, not subordinate to any of the three branches; Russian Ground Forces include the following combat arms: motorized-rifle troops, tank troops, missile and artillery troops, air defense of ground troops Military expenditures: 3.9% of GDP (2005)
Military branches: US Army,US Navy (includes Marine Corps), US Air Force, US Coast Guard(2009) Military expenditures: 4.06% of GDP (2005 est.)
Trafficking in persons: current situation: Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for various purposes; it remains a significant source of women trafficked to over 50 countries for commercial sexual exploitation Tier 2 Watch List - Russia is on the Tier 2 Watch List for a fifth consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking over the previous year Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; major consumer of opiates
Disputes - international: intensified domestic security measures and is collaborating closely with iCanada and Mexico, to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across the international borders. Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea still awaits Russian Duma ratification; Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): the US admitted 62,643 refugees during FY04/05 including; 10,586 (Somalia); 8,549 (Laos); 6,666 (Russia); 6,479 (Cuba); 3,100 (Haiti); 2,136 (Iran) (2006) Illicit drugs: world's largest consumer of cocaine (shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean), Colombian heroin, and Mexican heroin and marijuana; major consumer of ecstasy and Mexican methamphetamine; minor consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering center
