Economy

Russia has mineral resources (coal, iron, nickel, diamonds, etc..) and energy (oil, natural gas, hydro) is abundant. It is one of the worldwide leading producers and exporters. Russia inherited the Soviet Union a powerful heavy industry (steel mills, refineries, chemical industry, etc..). Sectors related to armaments, nuclear and aerospace are also highly developed, which enabled the country to play a pioneering role in the conquest of space.

The Soviet Federative Socialist Republic  was the largest of the fifteen republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics : it was the historic core.

At the end of 1991, the USSR broke into fifteen sovereign independent states, including Russia, which inherited the former superpower three quarters of its territory, more than half of its population, two thirds of its industry and half of its agricultural production.

Russia also occupies a place in the continuity in international institutions, whose permanent seat on the Security Council of the United Nations. Russia is also founder of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) which brings together eleven of the fifteen former Soviet republics.

After the end of the Soviet system in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the country has gradually adopted a market economy and pluralist parliamentary system. Aspiring to follow the globalization, Russia is also considered the bridge between Europe and Asia. 

Today Russia is one of the major emerging powers alongside China, India and Brazil. Russia is currently the tenth worldwide largest GDP.