Cultural Demography
Russia's area is about 17 million sq. km. (6.5 million sq. mi.). It remains the largest country in the world by more than 2.5 million sq. mi. Its population density is about 23 persons per square mile (9 per sq. km.), making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Its population is predominantly urban.
Most Russians derive from the Eastern Slavic family of peoples, whose original homeland was probably present-day Poland. As such, Russians are a Slavic people who have occupied the land between the Baltic and Black Seas for at least 1,500 years. Russia is also home to many other ethnic groups including Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvash, Bashkir, Belarusians, Moldavians and others. Many of the minority ethnic groups reside in their own autonomous regions.
Russian is the official language of Russia, and an official language in the United Nations. As the language of writers such as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, and Solzhenitsyn, it has great importance in world literature. While Russian is the official language, other languages, such as Tatar and Ukrainian, reflect the country's diversity.
In terms of religious affiliation, although there are a number of Jews and Muslims in Russia, Christianity is by far the major religion. The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches, and dates back to 988 C.E. Once discouraged under communist rule, religion is now experiencing a revival.
Cultural Tradition and Social Life
Moscow is Russia's largest city and the capital of the country. Moscow continues to be the center of Russian Government and is increasingly important as an economic and business center. Its cultural tradition is rich, and there are many museums devoted to art, literature, music, dance, history, and science. It has hundreds of churches and dozens of notable cathedrals; it has become Russia's principal magnet for foreign investment and business presence.
St. Petersburg, established in 1703 by Peter the Great as the capital of the Russian Empire, was called Petrograd during World War I, and Leningrad after 1924. In 1991, as the result of a city referendum, it was renamed St. Petersburg. Under the Tsars, the city was Russia's cultural, intellectual, commercial, financial and industrial center. After the capital was moved back to Moscow in 1918, the city's political significance declined, but it remained a cultural, scientific and military-industrial center. The Hermitage is one of the world's great fine arts museums. Finally, Vladivostok, located in the Russian Far East, is becoming an important center for trade with the Pacific Rim countries.
Health and Welfare
Today, Russia has an estimated total population of around 142 million. Russians have a life expectancy of 67.5 years of age on average, with 62 years of age for males, and 73 years for females, according to recent estimates. The United Nations Development Programme determined that the infant mortality rate is 21 deaths per 1,000 live births. The CIA estimates a slightly lower infant mortality rate at around 20 deaths per 1,000 live births. About 3.9 percent of GDP is spent in the country on educational expenditures. About 5.4 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Access to sanitation, water, and health care is considered to be generally good.
An estimated 99.5 percent of the total population, age 15 and older, can read and write (99.7 percent of males, 99.3 percent of females). Russia's educational system has produced nearly total literacy (over 99 percent literacy rate as noted above). About 3 million students attend Russia's 519 institutions of higher education and 48 universities. As a result of great emphasis on science and technology in education, Russian medical, mathematical, scientific, and space and aviation research is generally of a high order. The number of doctors in relation to the population is high by American standards, although medical care in Russia, even in major cities, is far below Western standards.
The Russian labor force is undergoing tremendous changes. Although well-educated and skilled, it is largely mismatched to the rapidly changing needs of the Russian economy. Millions of Russian workers are underemployed. Unemployment is highest among women and young people. Many Russian workers compensate by working other part-time jobs. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic dislocation it engendered, the standard of living fell dramatically, and one third of the population lives on just over $1 a day.
Human Development
One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries, Russia was ranked in 65th place, within the high human development category.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.