The Economy

Russia has moved from being a communist state to a federal republic. That means that Russia used to be ruled by a strong central government that owned everything. People worked for the government, lived in housing owned by the government, got health care from government doctors, went to government-owned and operated schools, and bought goods from government-owned stores.

Now, as a federal republic, the power is divided between the national and state governments. Russians must learn to follow new laws. They must learn to run their own businesses, hospitals, and schools.

Another challenge is the number of ethnic groups living in Russia.

Many of these groups want to form their own countries. The new federal republic must learn to meet the needs of all these people.

Russia's gigantic size is another challenge. Its northern border is past the Arctic Circle. It has a long coastline on the Arctic Ocean.

Click image for full view.

Here the climate is harsh. The Arctic Ocean has ice year-round, making shipping difficult. Even the coastlines along the Baltic Sea and Pacific Ocean are icebound for several months of the year. Railroads, rivers, and canals are major means of transportation. Railroads are another important way to travel and transport goods. Russia has over 100,000 miles of railroad tracks.

The Russian economy is not strong right now, but the people are learning to meet the challenges. Russia is beginning to find a market for its products not only in Russia, but in other parts of the world.

Russian is divided into four economic regions: the Moscow Region, Port Cities, the Volga and Urals Region, and Siberia. Click image for larger view.

The Moscow Region

Moscow is the capital city, the cultural center, and largest city of Russia. It is an old city with 800 years of history. Since most of Russia's people live in the western part of the country, Moscow is also a major transportation hub. Other cities in the Moscow Region also have heavy industry. Heavy industries include making machinery, mining equipment, and steel. More recently light industry has become a manufacturing focus. Light industry include the manufacturing of clothing, shoes, furniture, and household products. The rivers and canals in this region are used to transport these goods.

Farming is an economic activity, too. Farmers grow barley, oats, potatoes, corn, sugar beets, and flax (used in making textiles.) They also raise dairy cattle.

Port Cities

Russia has two important northwestern ports: Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg. Russia owns a small piece of land on the Baltic Sea. It is called Kaliningrad and it is very important. It is the only Russian port that is open year-round because it stay unfrozen.

Kaliningrad is surrounded by other countries and is completely separated from Russia. A trip from St. Petersburg to Kaliningrad is 500 miles. Russia has eliminated many taxes there in order to promote trade.

St. Petersburg is also a cultural center, as well as a port city. This city was built in the early 1700's by one of Russia's greatest leaders, Peter the Great. He located the city on about 100 islands all connected with bridges.

Czar Peter wanted to support the arts and even today, the Russian Ballet is world-famous. Composers like Peter Tchaikovsky (pronounced "chy KAWF skee) and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov worked in this city. Many tourists come to see the art and history museums,

the palaces,

churches,

and the ballet, in St. Petersburg. Other industries include manufacturing light machinery, textiles, and scientific and medical equipment. The Neva River runs through St. Petersburg, so shipbuilding is also a major industry there.

Vladivostok is in the east. It is another important port city.

In fact, it is Russia's largest port on the Pacific Ocean. In the far north is Murmansk. These two cities bring needed goods to the interior lands of Russia.

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