World Factbook
Russia
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Flag
description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red meaning: colors may have been based on the Dutch flag, but no official meaning is assigned history: created when Russia built its first naval vessels, and was used mostly as a naval flag until the 19th century
note: inspired several other Slavic countries to adopt horizontal tricolors of the same colors in different arrangements
Capital
name
Moscow
etymology
named after the Moskva River; the origin of the river's name is unclear
time zone note
Russia has 11 time zones, the largest number of contiguous time zones of any country in the world; in 2014, two time zones were added and DST dropped
time difference
UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time
does not observe daylight savings time (DST)
geographic coordinates
55 45 N, 37 36 E
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Citizenship
citizenship by birth
no
citizenship by descent only
at least one parent must be a citizen of Russia
dual citizenship recognized
yes
residency requirement for naturalization
3-5 years
Constitution
history
several previous (during Russian Empire and Soviet era); latest drafted 12 July 1993, adopted by referendum 12 December 1993, effective 25 December 1993
amendment process
proposed by the president of the Russian Federation, by either house of the Federal Assembly, by the government of the Russian Federation, or by legislative (representative) bodies of the Federation's constituent entities; proposals to amend the government’s constitutional system, human and civil rights and freedoms, and procedures for amending or drafting a new constitution require formation of a Constitutional Assembly; passage of such amendments requires two-thirds majority vote of its total membership; passage in a referendum requires participation of an absolute majority of eligible voters and an absolute majority of valid votes; approval of proposed amendments to the government structure, authorities, and procedures requires approval by the legislative bodies of at least two thirds of the Russian Federation's constituent entities
Country name
former
Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
etymology
Russian lands were referred to as Muscovy until PETER I declared the Empire of All Russias in 1721; the new name aimed at identifying the new Russia with European political tradition; "Rus" was the Old Finnish name given to Varangians (eastern Vikings) who entered the area in the 9th century
local long form
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
local short form
Rossiya
conventional long form
Russian Federation
conventional short form
Russia
Independence
25 December 1991 (from the Soviet Union; Russian SFSR renamed Russian Federation); notable earlier dates: 1157 (Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal created); 16 January 1547 (Tsardom of Muscovy established); 22 October 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed); 30 December 1922 (Soviet Union established)
Legal system
civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Government type
semi-presidential federation
Judicial branch
highest court(s)
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (consists of 170 members organized into the Judicial Panel for Civil Affairs, the Judicial Panel for Criminal Affairs, and the Military Panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 11 members, including the chairperson and deputy)
subordinate courts
regional (kray) and provincial (oblast) courts; Moscow and St. Petersburg city courts; autonomous province and district courts (the 21 Russian republics have court systems specified by their own constitutions)
judge selection and term of office
all members of Russia's 3 highest courts nominated by the president and appointed by the Federation Council (the upper house of the legislature); members of all 3 courts appointed for life
Executive branch
note
note: a Presidential Administration provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president
cabinet
the government is composed of the premier, his deputies, and ministers, all appointed by the president; the premier is also confirmed by the Duma
chief of state
President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 7 May 2012)
election results
2024 : Vladimir PUTIN reelected president; percent of vote - Vladimir PUTIN (independent) 88.5%, Nikolay KHARITONOV (Communist Party) 4.4%, Vladislav DAVANKOV (New People party) 3.9%, Leonid SLUTSKY (Liberal Democrats) 3.2% 2018: V ladimir PUTIN reelected president; percent of vote - Vladimir PUTIN (independent) 77.5%, Pavel GRUDININ (CPRF) 11.9%, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY (LDPR) 5.7%, other 4.9%; Mikhail MISHUSTIN (independent) approved as premier by Duma; vote - 383 to 0
head of government
Premier Mikhail Vladimirovich MISHUSTIN (since 16 January 2020)
most recent election date
15-17 March 2024
election/appointment process
president directly elected by absolute-majority popular vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a 6-year term (eligible for a second consecutive term)
expected date of next election
2030
National holiday
Russia Day, 12 June (1990)
note: commemorates the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR)
National color(s)
white, blue, red
National heritage
total World Heritage Sites
33 (22 cultural, 11 natural)
selected World Heritage Site locales
Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments (c); Kizhi Pogost (c); Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow (c); Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings (c); White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal (c); Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad (c); Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye (c); Lake Baikal (n); Volcanoes of Kamchatka (n); Ensemble of the Ferapontov Monastery (c); Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan Kremlin (c); Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent (c); Uvs Nuur Basin (n); Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent (c); Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve (n); Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl (c); Lena Pillars Nature Park (n); Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex (c); Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the town-island of Sviyazhsk (c); Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture (c); Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea (c); Rock Paintings of Shulgan-Tash Cave (c)
Political parties
A Just Russia for Truth or SRZP Civic Platform or CP Communists of Russia or CPCR Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF Cossack Party of the Russian Federation or CosPRF Democratic Party of Russia or DPR Green Alternative or GA Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR New People or NP Party for Fairness! or PARZAS! Party of Direct Democracy or PDD Party of Progress or PP Party of Pensioners or RPPSJ Party of Russia's Rebirth or PRR Party of Social Protection or PSP Rodina Russian Ecological Party or The Greens Russian Party of Freedom and Justice or RPFJ Russia United Democratic Party or Yabloko United Russia or UR
Legislative branch
note
note 1: the State Duma now includes 3 representatives from the "Republic of Crimea," while the Federation Council includes 2 each from the "Republic of Crimea" and the "Federal City of Sevastopol," both regions that Russia occupied and attempted to annex from Ukraine and that the US does not recognize as part of Russia
legislature name
Federal Assembly (Federalnoye Sobraniye)
legislative structure
bicameral
National anthem(s)
title
“Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii” (National Anthem of the Russian Federation)
history
adopted 2000; Russia adopted the tune of the Soviet Union's anthem (composed in 1939), as well as new lyrics; MIKHALKOV, who wrote the new lyrics, also authored the Soviet lyrics in 1943
lyrics/music
Sergey Vladimirovich MIKHALKOV/Aleksandr Vasilyevich ALEKSANDROV
National symbol(s)
bear, double-headed eagle
National coat of arms
the current coat of arms of Russia was adopted by presidential decree on 30 November 1993; the double-headed eagle was adopted as a Russian symbol in 1472 when Ivan III married Sophia Palaiologina, niece of the last Byzantine emperor in Constantinople -- the eagle was her family's emblem
Administrative divisions
46 provinces ( oblasti , singular - oblast ), 21 republics ( respubliki , singular - respublika ), 4 autonomous districts ( avtonomnyye okrugi , singular - avtonomnyy okrug ), 9 federal subjects ( kraya , singular - kray ), 2 federal cities ( goroda , singular - gorod ), and 1 autonomous province ( avtonomnaya oblast' ) oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad (Gatchina), Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan, Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk) autonomous districts: Chukotka (Anadyr'), Khanty-Mansi-Yugra (Khanty-Mansiysk), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard) federal subjects: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok), Stavropol, Zabaykalsk [Transbaikal] (Chita) federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg] autonomous province: Yevreyskaya [Jewish] (Birobidzhan)
note 1: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers; exceptions show the administrative center name in parentheses
note 2: the United States does not recognize Russia's annexation or renaming of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol; it similarly does not recognize the annexation of the Ukrainian oblasts Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson
Legislative branch - lower chamber
chamber name
State Duma (Gossoudarstvennaya Duma)
term in office
5 years
number of seats
450 (all directly elected)
electoral system
mixed system
scope of elections
full renewal
most recent election date
9/19/2021
expected date of next election
September 2026
percentage of women in chamber
16.4%
parties elected and seats per party
United Russia (326); Communist Party (KPRF) (57); A Just Russia (28); Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) (23); Other (16)
Legislative branch - upper chamber
chamber name
Council of the Federation (Soviet Federatsii)
number of seats
170 (all appointed)
percentage of women in chamber
18.5%
Diplomatic representation in the US
FAX
[1] (202) 298-5735
chancery
2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone
[1] (202) 298-5700
chief of mission
Ambassador Alexander Nikitich DARCHIEV (since 11 June 2025)
consulate(s) general
Houston, New York
email address and website
rusembusa@mid.ru https://washington.mid.ru/en/
Diplomatic representation from the US
FAX
[7] (495) 728-5090
embassy
55,75566° N, 37,58028° E
telephone
[7] (495) 728-5000
mailing address
5430 Moscow Place, Washington DC 20521-5430
chief of mission
Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires J. Douglas DYKHOUSE (since June 2025)
consulate(s) general
Vladivostok (suspended status), Yekaterinburg (suspended status)
email address and website
MoscowACS@state.gov https://ru.usembassy.gov/
International organization participation
APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BRICS, BSEC, CBSS, CD, CE, CERN (observer), CICA, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAEU, EAPC, EAS, EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-20, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UN Security Council (permanent), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
International law organization participation
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt