Russia

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Russia is part of:
Caucasus · Europe & CIS ·
Water Basins of Russia:
Amur · Black Sea · Caspian · Daugava-Zapadnaya Dvina · Dnieper · Don · Elancik · Har Us Nur · Jacobs · Kemi · Kura-Araks · Lake Peipsi · Lake Ubsa-Nur · Lava-Pregel · Mius · Narva · Neman · Ob · Olanga · Oral-Ural · Oulanka · Oulu · Paatsjoki · Pasvik · Prohladnaja · Psou · Pu Lun To · Samur · Sujfun · Sulak · Terek · Tuloma · Tumen · Volga · Vuoksa ·

Facts & Figures

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Capital

Moscow

Neighbouring Countries

Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, North Korea

Total Area

17,075,200 km²

- Water

79,400 km² (0.47%) / 47 m²/ha

- Land

16,995,800 km²

Coastline

37,653 km

Population

143,201,600 (8.4 inhab./km²)

HDI^A

0.806 (2007)

Gini Coefficient^A

39.9 (1995)

Nominal GDP^B

$1,757,000 million

GDP (PPP) Per Capita^B

$15,800

National UN Presence

UNDP, UNHCR, WHO, UNICEF, WB, UNESCO, UN-Habitat, UNIDO, UNEP

Land Use^C

- Cultivated Land

1,237,294 km² (7.28%)

- Arable

1,218,599 km² (7.17%)

- Permanent Crops

18,695 km² (0.11%)

- Irrigated

46,000 km²

- Non cultivated

24,195 km² (92.72%)

Average Annual Rainfall^D

460 mm

Renewable Water Resources^E

4,498 km³

Water Withdrawals^F	76.68 km³/yr
- For Agricultural Use	57%
- For Domestic Use	19%
- For Industrial Use	63%
- Per Capita	523 m³

Population with safe access to
- Improved Water Source	97%
- Urban population	100%
- Rural population	88%
- Improved Sanitation	87%
- Urban population	93%
- Rural population	70%

References & Remarks

^A UNDP Human Development Report

^B CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia

^C CIA World Factbook Country Profiles

^D Aquastat - FAO's Information System on Water and Agriculture

^E CIA World Factbook

^F Earthtrends

Latest 4 maps for / including Russia (more..):

Ural ENVSEC.jpg

Caspian CC Natural Hazards ENVSEC.jpg

Central Asia Region Map.jpg

1 News
2 Country Profile: Climate, Geography, Socio-Economic Context
3 Country Profile: Water Bodies and Resources
4 Country Profile: Legal and Institutional Environment
5 Country Profile: Water Sector Coordination
6 Country Profile: Trends in Water Use, Management and Sanitation
7 Country Profile: Challenges and Opportunities
8 Articles
9 Projects and Case Studies
10 Publications
11 Who is Who
12 References
13 See also
14 External Resources

News

Country Profile: Climate, Geography, Socio-Economic Context

Country Profile: Water Bodies and Resources

Groundwater Resources

The renewable groundwater resources are estimated at 788 km³/year. This figure, however, does not include resources in the form of inland ice, glaciers and pergelisol (permafrost). For the regions of western and eastern Siberia alone, the quantity of ice of the arctic islands is estimated at 5 000 km³ and that of the mountain glaciers at 170 km³. The resources in the form of pergelisol are even larger. The overlap between surface water and groundwater resources has been estimated at 512 km³/year.

Water resources distribution

Water resources in the Russian Federation are very unevenly distributed in relation to the population. The European part, where 80% of the total population lives, has 360 km³ of surface water resources, which is about 8% of the total river runoff, and 23 km³ of groundwater resources, which is 10% of the total renewable annual groundwater resources. In the Terek basin draining into the Caspian Sea in the southwest (northern Caucasus region) and in the Western Dvina basin in the west (central region), the annual river discharge is about 2 000-3 000 m³ per inhabitant, while in the Siberian and far east basins it reaches 120 000-190 000 m³ per inhabitant. The water resources in the densely populated Povolze (Volga region) with its rich soils and in the black soils region (central Tchernozem) in the European part are estimated at around 2 000 m³/inhabitant per year. The huge distances between the Siberian and European basins make it practically impossible to transfer water from Siberia to Europe. Transfer projects were considered in the past but encountered several problems, including environmental ones.

Lakes and Dams

There are about two million fresh- and saltwater lakes in the Russian Federation. The largest saltwater lake is the Caspian Sea, surrounded by the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan. The largest freshwater lake is Lake Baikal, located entirely within the Russian Federation in the southeast of eastern Siberia.

Dams have been constructed on most large rivers in the Russian Federation, mainly for electrical energy production, but also for irrigation. There are 330 large reservoirs in use at present, with a capacity of more than 200 million m³ each. Their total capacity is 360 km³. There are about 3 000 medium-sized reservoirs. The gross theoretical hydropower potential is estimated at 2 900 000 GWh/year and the economically feasible potential is estimated at 852 000 Gwh/yea. The hydropower installed capacity is estimated at 40 GW.

Water withdrawal and wastewater

In 1982, the water withdrawal was 97.8 km³, while in 1994 it had dropped to 77.1 km³. This reduction in water consumption, which concerns industrial and irrigation water withdrawal, has been related to the difficult economic situation in the Russian Federation, which worsened in 1990. Of the total water withdrawal of 77.1 km³ in 1994 for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes, almost 20% was used for irrigation

Country Profile: Legal and Institutional Environment

During the Soviet period, an agreement concerning the use of water of the Amur River was concluded with China. Renegotiated and modified since 1991, the latest agreement was signed in 1996. There are also agreements with other neighbours (Poland, Finland). These are general agreements, fixing the borders, including texts on crime issues, fishery, the prevention of pollution in river courses, etc. There have been no new international agreements on water sharing with the other countries of the FSU, and the inter-republic arrangements from the Soviet period are still in force.

In the Russian Federation, the 2006 Water Code sets the framework for all water-related legislation.