ABSTRACT
Russia, officially known as the Russian Federation (briefly RF), is located in Eastem Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world in terms of area (17,075,400 square kilometers, 11.46 percent of the Earth's land surface, or 12.65 percent of the inhabited land surface, and double the size of the next largest country, Canada). It also includes the Kaliningrad region, which is separated from the rest of Russia by the Baltic countries. The total population amounts to 142,914,136 people (according to the 2011 census) and it is the world's ninth most populated country. Russia is a federative state consisting of 83 constituent entities of the Federation. Russia is a very cosmopolitan country. Among the 83 constituent entities of the Federation, there are 23 with official languages other than Russian, which is spoken all over the country. Russia has common borders with 18 independent countries (the highest number in the world).
