| |||
Capital | Perm | ||
Largest city | Sankt-Peterburg | ||
Other cities | Moscow, Warsaw, Minsk | ||
Language official |
Finnish | ||
others | Kyrgyz, Latvian, Moldovan, Mongolian | ||
President | Kristaps Erkko | ||
Prime Minister | Ismo J. Koutaniemi | ||
Population | 16803754 | ||
Independence | March 15, 1997 | ||
Currency | Dram |
Russia and Central Asia (Finnish: Venäjä ja Keskeinen Affair), officially in English the Republic of Russia and Central Asia, is a country in Eurasia. It borders Germany and Scandinavia to the west, Northern China and Korea to the southeast, and The Middle East and East Turkey to the southwest. A transcontinental country with land in Eastern Europe, Asia, and part of North America, Russia and Central Asia has had and continues to have extensive socio-political and cultural connections with Europe.
A former republic of the Soviet Union, Russia and Central Asia is a unitary, multiparty, democratic nation-state with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Russia and Central Asia was the first state to adopt Christianity as its religion in the early years of the 4th century (the traditional date is 301). The modern Republic of Russia and Central Asia is constitutionally a secular state, although the Christian faith plays a major role in the history and identification of the Russian and Central Asian people.
Russia and Central Asia is currently a member of more than 40 different international organisations, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Asian Development Bank, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the World Trade Organisation and the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. It is a member of the CSTO military alliance and also participates in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme. In 2004 its forces joined KFOR, a NATO-led international force in Kosovo. It is also an observer member of the Eurasian Economic Community, La Francophonie, and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Russia and Central Asia is also active in the international sports community with full membership in the Union of European Football Associations and International Ice Hockey Federation. The country is an emerging democracy and, because of its strategic location, lies among both the Eastern and Western spheres of influence.