The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation emerged as a sovereign state from the collapsing Soviet Union in 1991.

A major nuclear power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a member of the G8 grouping of wealthy industrialized countries, Russia remains an influential player on the international stage.

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world in terms of area. It is divided into 89 federal administrative units, including 21 republics.

There are around 144 million people in the country from some 100 distinct ethnic or national backgrounds. These include ethnic Russians (84 per cent of the population), Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvashians, Bashkirians, Belarusians, Moldovans and Kalmykians.

The majority religion is Russian Orthodox Christian. An estimated 19 per cent of the population are Muslims, while smaller numbers are Jews, Buddhists and members of other religious groups.

A new Constitution was adopted in 1993 and the Russian Federation became a federal presidential republic with a bicameral legislature. The current President, Vladimir Putin, was elected by popular vote in March 2000 and is serving a four-year term.

The Russian Federation has ratified numerous international human rights treaties including: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

In 1991 the Chechen Republic (Chechnya) declared independence. Three years later, Russian forces were sent to Chechnya. The ensuing conflict lasted two years and cost thousands of lives. The Chechen capital, Grozny, suffered massive destruction. The Russian military crack-down failed to subdue Chechen forces and a compromise agreement was signed in 1996 to end a conflict that had increasingly lacked popular support in Russia.

In September 1999 the Russian authorities again sent troops to Chechnya. This followed attacks, reportedly by up to 1,000 Chechen fighters, in neighbouring Dagestan and a series of bombings of apartment buildings in Moscow and two other cities which were blamed by the Russian authorities on “Chechens”. This second armed conflict in Chechnya is continuing to this day.

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