The Basics
Area: 6,520,800 square miles (Largest Country)
Population: 143.5 million
Religion Break-Down:
Natural Resources: minerals, oil, forestland, natural gas
Arable Land: 8%
Industry: Oil/Mining
Gross Domestic Production: $2.097 million for entire country, $14,611.7 per capita GDP
Ethnic Groups: Russian 77.7%, Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir 1.1%, Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%, unspecified 3.9%
Area: 6,520,800 square miles (Largest Country)
Population: 143.5 million
Religion Break-Down:
Natural Resources: minerals, oil, forestland, natural gas
Arable Land: 8%
Industry: Oil/Mining
Gross Domestic Production: $2.097 million for entire country, $14,611.7 per capita GDP
Ethnic Groups: Russian 77.7%, Tatar 3.7%, Ukrainian 1.4%, Bashkir 1.1%, Chuvash 1%, Chechen 1%, other 10.2%, unspecified 3.9%
Political History
1613
Michael Romanov elected Tsar by National Council. Russia continued to be ruled by Tsars until 1917
1917
Bolsheviks overthrow government of Alexander Kerensky. Revolution headed by Vladimir Lenin
1918 - 1922
Civil war between Red Army and anti-communist White Russians
1922
Russia becomes part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics after civil war between communists and anti-communists
1991
Soviet Union collapses and Commonwealth of Independent States is formed (Communist Regime), joined by all except Baltic region
1992
Russia takes up the seat of the former Soviet Union on the United Nations Security Council with Boris Yeltsin as its leader
1993
New constitution that gives president more power than before is approved
1998
Rouble collapses, Russian economy is in peril
1999
Yeltsin resigns and makes Vladimir Putin acting President
2000
Putin formally elected President...
2004
Putin re-elected President
2008
Dmitry Medvedev elected President (because Putin could not serve another term consecutively with out violating the law)
Also, Medvedev appoints Putin as Prime-Minister (isn't that convenient?)
2012
Putin re-elected (he also changed the term length to 6 years to help combat the possibility of losing power in the future)
2013
More laws are passed that strain media freedom in Russia
1613
Michael Romanov elected Tsar by National Council. Russia continued to be ruled by Tsars until 1917
1917
Bolsheviks overthrow government of Alexander Kerensky. Revolution headed by Vladimir Lenin
1918 - 1922
Civil war between Red Army and anti-communist White Russians
1922
Russia becomes part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics after civil war between communists and anti-communists
1991
Soviet Union collapses and Commonwealth of Independent States is formed (Communist Regime), joined by all except Baltic region
1992
Russia takes up the seat of the former Soviet Union on the United Nations Security Council with Boris Yeltsin as its leader
1993
New constitution that gives president more power than before is approved
1998
Rouble collapses, Russian economy is in peril
1999
Yeltsin resigns and makes Vladimir Putin acting President
2000
Putin formally elected President...
2004
Putin re-elected President
2008
Dmitry Medvedev elected President (because Putin could not serve another term consecutively with out violating the law)
Also, Medvedev appoints Putin as Prime-Minister (isn't that convenient?)
2012
Putin re-elected (he also changed the term length to 6 years to help combat the possibility of losing power in the future)
2013
More laws are passed that strain media freedom in Russia
Current Political SystemExecutive Branch
President - Currently Vladimir Putin. President is head of state and is elected through popular vote every 6 years. The President may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms (unless you're Putin in which case you can find yourself a puppet to use as the President for a term *cough-Menvedev-cough*) The President needs at least a 50% vote to win the election, if no candidate receives 50%, a 2 candidate runoff election ensues. President is also the Commander-in-Chief of armed forced and has legislative veto power and is in charge of basic domestic and foreign policy. With Putin as president, he basically controls everything and has centralized most of Russia's executive and legislative power to his position.
Prime-Minister - Currently Dmitri Medvedev. Appointed by the President, approved by the Duma. Doesn't have much power and is responsible to the President. However, when Putin was Prime-Minister he gave himself a lot of power.
Legislative Branch
The State Duma - Lower House of the Federal Assembly (Russia's parliament). It has 450 seats and seats are awarded to parties proportionally based on direct democracy. However, a party must have at least 7% of the vote in order to qualify for any seats. The Duma approved the President's choice of Prime-Minister and makes and passes laws and bills. They cannot easily impeach the President, but the President can dismantle them.
The Council of Federation - Upper House of the Federal Assembly (Russia's parliament). Approved members of the constitutional court
Judicial Branch
The Constitutional Court - Currently has 19 members, nominated by President and approved by the Federation Council. Functions as the supervisor of all lower courts and acts as the final court of appeal. Reviews Russian laws and treaties and determine the constitutionality of them. Formed in 1991.
President - Currently Vladimir Putin. President is head of state and is elected through popular vote every 6 years. The President may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms (unless you're Putin in which case you can find yourself a puppet to use as the President for a term *cough-Menvedev-cough*) The President needs at least a 50% vote to win the election, if no candidate receives 50%, a 2 candidate runoff election ensues. President is also the Commander-in-Chief of armed forced and has legislative veto power and is in charge of basic domestic and foreign policy. With Putin as president, he basically controls everything and has centralized most of Russia's executive and legislative power to his position.
Prime-Minister - Currently Dmitri Medvedev. Appointed by the President, approved by the Duma. Doesn't have much power and is responsible to the President. However, when Putin was Prime-Minister he gave himself a lot of power.
Legislative Branch
The State Duma - Lower House of the Federal Assembly (Russia's parliament). It has 450 seats and seats are awarded to parties proportionally based on direct democracy. However, a party must have at least 7% of the vote in order to qualify for any seats. The Duma approved the President's choice of Prime-Minister and makes and passes laws and bills. They cannot easily impeach the President, but the President can dismantle them.
The Council of Federation - Upper House of the Federal Assembly (Russia's parliament). Approved members of the constitutional court
Judicial Branch
The Constitutional Court - Currently has 19 members, nominated by President and approved by the Federation Council. Functions as the supervisor of all lower courts and acts as the final court of appeal. Reviews Russian laws and treaties and determine the constitutionality of them. Formed in 1991.
Current Primary Problems
Russia's biggest problems currently all sprout from the same source: Putin. He has been able to centralize so much of Russia's power and has given himself a full access pass to the inter workings of the Russian regime. He has changed the constitutional laws to allow himself ample time in power and he has brainwashed the Russian people through control of media. Because most branches of the government and the people in control must be approved by Putin or the Duma or the Council of Federation, Putin has "his" people in all the major power positions of the government.
Putin controls what the Russian people view on T.V. and the internet which not only limits their ability to view accurate and well rounded information but also prevents political opposition from gaining traction or advertisement. The people who oppose Putin have no way of organizing and gaining backing because the usual channels of doing so (media and social media) are out of their reach. This makes Putin the only option for most citizens and further centralizes power in Russia.
Russia's biggest problems currently all sprout from the same source: Putin. He has been able to centralize so much of Russia's power and has given himself a full access pass to the inter workings of the Russian regime. He has changed the constitutional laws to allow himself ample time in power and he has brainwashed the Russian people through control of media. Because most branches of the government and the people in control must be approved by Putin or the Duma or the Council of Federation, Putin has "his" people in all the major power positions of the government.
Putin controls what the Russian people view on T.V. and the internet which not only limits their ability to view accurate and well rounded information but also prevents political opposition from gaining traction or advertisement. The people who oppose Putin have no way of organizing and gaining backing because the usual channels of doing so (media and social media) are out of their reach. This makes Putin the only option for most citizens and further centralizes power in Russia.