1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Subdivisions of Russia
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Russia is divided into several types and levels of subdivisions. Since March 18,2014, the Russian Federation consisted of eighty-five federal subjects that are constituent members of the Federation, however, two of these federal subjects—the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol—are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. All federal subjects are of equal rights in the sense that they have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council. They do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy, there are 6 types of federal subjects—22 republics,9 krais,46 oblasts,3 federal cities,1 autonomous oblast, and 4 autonomous okrugs. According to the Treaty, the Republic of Crimea is accepted as a subject with the status of a republic while the City of Sevastopol has received federal city status. Neither the Republic of Crimea nor the city of Sevastopol are politically recognized as parts of Russia by most countries and this was interpreted by the governments of the federal subjects as a sign that the matters of the administrative-territorial divisions became solely the responsibility of the federal subjects. As a result, the modern structures of the federal subjects vary significantly from one federal subject to another. Autonomous okrugs, while being under the jurisdiction of federal subject, are still constitutionally recognized as federal subjects on their own right. Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is an exception in that it is not administratively subordinated to any federal subject of Russia. Okrugs are usually former autonomous okrugs that lost their federal subject status due to a merger with another federal subject. According to the law, the units of the division are as follows, Municipal district. In practice, municipal districts are formed within the boundaries of existing administrative districts. In practice, urban okrugs are usually formed within the boundaries of existing cities of federal subject significance, intra-urban territory of a federal city, a part of a federal citys territory. In Moscow, these are called municipal formations, in St. Petersburg—municipal okrugs, towns, in Sevastopol, they are known as municipal okrugs and a town. Territories not included as a part of municipal formations are known as inter-settlement territories and this municipal formation type would typically be established within the borders of existing city districts. In June 2014, Chelyabinsky Urban Okrug became the first urban okrug to implement intra-urban divisions, all of the federal subjects are grouped into nine federal districts, each administered by an envoy appointed by the President of Russia. For economic and statistical purposes the federal subjects are grouped into twelve economic regions, economic regions and their parts sharing common economic trends are in turn grouped into economic zones and macrozones. In order for the Armed Forces to provide an efficient management of units, their training, and other operational activities
3.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
4.
Federal subjects of Russia
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Since March 18,2014, the Russian Federation constitutionally consists of 85 federal subjects, although the two most recently added subjects are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Three Russian cities of importance have a status of both city and separate federal subject which comprises other cities and towns within federal city keeping old structure of postal address. In 1993, there were 89 federal subjects listed, by 2008, the number of federal subjects had been decreased to 83 because of several mergers. In 2014, Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea became the 84th and 85th federal subjects of Russia, every federal subject has its own head, a parliament, and a constitutional court. Federal subjects have their own constitution and legislation, subjects have equal rights in relations with federal government bodies. The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council and they do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy. Composition of post-Soviet Russia was formed during the history of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic within the USSR, the Federation Treaty was included in the text of the 1978 Constitution of the Russian SFSR. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the system became de jure closer to other modern federal states with a republican form of government in the world. There are several groupings of Russian regions, Federal subjects should not be confused with the eight Federal districts which are not subdivisions of Russia, are much larger and each encompass many federal subjects. Federal districts were created by Executive Order of the President of Russia specially for presidential envoys, an official government translation of the Constitution of Russia in Article 5 states,1. Another translation of the Constitution of Russia gives for article 65, each federal subject belongs to one of the following types, b. ^ According to Article 13 of the Charter of Leningrad Oblast, however, St. Petersburg is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ According to Article 24 of the Charter of Moscow Oblast, however, Moscow is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ Not recognized internationally as a part of Russia, the merging process was finished on March 1,2008. No new mergers have been planned since March 2008, Федерального конституционного закона №7-ФКЗ от30 декабря2008 г. Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Российская газета, №237,25 декабря1993 г
5.
Irkutsk Oblast
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Irkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk, the unique and world-famous Lake Baikal is located in the southeast of the region. It is drained by the Angara, which flows north across the province, the two other major dams on the Irkutsk Oblasts section of the Angara are at Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk, both forming large reservoirs. The Lena has its source in Irkutsk Oblast as well, Irkutsk Oblast consists mostly of the hills and broad valleys of the Central Siberian Plateau and of its eastern extension, the Patom Plateau. The climate varies from warm summer continental in the south to continental-subarctic in the northern part, for almost half the year, from mid-October until the beginning of April, the average temperature is below 0 °C. Winters are very cold, with high temperatures in Irkutsk of −14.9 °C. Summers are warm but short, the high in July is +24.5 °C. However, by September, the weather cools down significantly to a daily high of +15.3 °C. More than half of all falls in the summer months, with the wettest month being July. January is the driest month, with only 11 millimeters of precipitation, mongolic-related Slab Grave cultural monuments are found in Baikal territory. The territory of Buryatia has been governed by the Xiongnu Empire and Mongolian Xianbei state, Rouran Khaganate, Mongol Empire, medieval Mongol tribes like Merkit, Bayads, Barga Mongols and Tümeds inhabited in Buryatia. Today Buryat-Mongols remained in the territory of the oblast, Russian presence in the area dates to the 17th century, as the Russian Tsardom expanded eastward following the conquest of the Khanate of Sibir in 1582. By the end of the 17th century, Irkutsk was a town, monasteries were being built. Since the 18th century, trades and crafts began to develop, gradually, Irkutsk gained more importance as the main transportation and trade center of Eastern Siberia, it became a center of trade routes from Kamchatka, Chukotka, Yakutia to Mongolia, and China. The administrative importance of the city increased, and it became a center of a fifth of the provinces of Siberia. For Irkutsk the 18th century was a time of research expeditions, vitus Berings first and second expeditions to the shores of Kamchatka were organized in Irkutsk. A merchant class was formed in the city of Irkutsk. ”Grigorii Ivanovich Shelikhov and he founded the first colonies of Russian America through the Shelikhov-Golikov Company. In 1727, the Irkutsk Eparchy was founded, during the 18th century, schools, professional-technical education colleges, science museums, libraries, theaters, and book-printers were developed in Irkutsk
6.
Bratsky District
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Bratsky District is an administrative district, one of the thirty-three in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Bratsky Municipal District and it is located in the northwest of the oblast. The area of the district is 33,660 square kilometers and its administrative center is the city of Bratsk. Within the framework of administrative divisions, Bratsky District is one of the thirty-three in the oblast, the city of Bratsk serves as its administrative center, despite being incorporated separately as an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as Bratsky Municipal District, the City of Bratsk is incorporated separately from the district as Bratsk Urban Okrug. Постановление №9/5-ЗС от15 апреля2009 г, Закона №2-У от7 июля2015 г. «О поправках к Уставу Иркутской области», Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Областная, №45,24 апреля2009 г, Закон №49-ОЗ от21 июня2010 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Иркутской области», в ред, Закона №183-ОЗ от31 декабря2014 г. «Об отдельных вопросах административно-территориального устройства Иркутской области и о внесении изменений в Закон Иркутской области Об административно-территориальном устройстве Иркутской области», Вступил в силу после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Областная, №71,25 июня2010 г, Закон №76-оз от2 декабря2004 г. «О статусе и границах муниципальных образований Братского района Иркутской области», в ред, Закона №24-ОЗ от6 марта2014 г. «О распространении действия отдельных Законов Иркутской области на всю территорию нового субъекта Российской Федерации — Иркутской области и внесении в них изменений», Вступил в силу с31 декабря2004 г. но не ранее чем через10 дней со дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Восточно-Сибирская правда, №248–249,14 декабря2004 г. Закон №66-оз от2 декабря2004 г, «О статусе и границах муниципального образования город Братск Иркутской области», в ред. Закона №24-ОЗ от6 марта2014 г, «О распространении действия отдельных Законов Иркутской области на всю территорию нового субъекта Российской Федерации — Иркутской области и внесении в них изменений». Вступил в силу с31 декабря2004 г, но не ранее чем через10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован, Восточно-Сибирская правда, №244–245,9 декабря2004 г, registry of the Administrative-Territorial Formations of Irkutsk Oblast
7.
Russian Census (2010)
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The Russian Census of 2010 is the first census of the Russian Federation population since 2002 and the second after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Preparations for the census began in 2007 and it took place between October 14 and October 25, the census was originally scheduled for October 2010, but was moved to 2013 allegedly for financial reasons, although it was also speculated that political motives were influential in the decision. However, in late 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the Government of Russia allocated 10.5 billion rubles in order to conduct the census as originally scheduled, Results showed the population to stand at 142.9 million. Since the previous 2002 census, population has decreased by 2.3 million, according to the 2010 census, urban population is 105.3 million, rural population is 37.5 million. The urbanisation rate is currently 73. 7%, the median age is 38 years. The ethnic composition is dominated by Russians, demographics of Russia Russian Census 2010 final results Results of 2010 All-Russia population census Official website of the 2010 Census
8.
Time in Russia
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There are eleven time zones in Russia, which currently observe times ranging from UTC+02,00 to UTC+12,00. Daylight saving time is not used in Russia, since 4 December 2016, the time zones are as follows, Daylight saving time in Russia was originally introduced on 30 June 1917 by a decree of the Russian Provisional Government. However, it was abandoned by a Decree of the Soviet government five months later, Daylight saving time was re-introduced in the USSR on 1 April 1981, by a decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The usage of daylight saving time continued after the Soviet collapse but ended in 2011, on 27 March 2011, clocks were advanced as usual, but they did not go back on 30 October 2011, effectively making Moscow Time UTC+4 permanently. In the Russian Empire, most of the observed solar time. During the late 19th century, Moscow Mean Time was introduced on 1 January 1880,2,30,17 corresponds to 37. 6166667°, the longitude of Moscow. Other parts of Russia kept solar time for several years. At this time, Russia had the Julian calendar with 12 or 13 days less date compared to Western Europe, so it is possible to say the Moscow actually had GMT-285,29,43, GMT-309,29,43 and GMT-309,28,41. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar on Thursday,14 February 1918, after the Soviet Union was created, Moscow Time became UTC+2 and the various other time zones were introduced throughout Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union, for example Irkutsk Time GMT+7. Between 1917-1922 the time was ordered, with daylight savings time some of those years. On 21 June 1930, the Soviet Union advanced all clocks by one hour, Moscow Time was now GMT+3 and Irkutsk Time GMT+8. On 1 April 1981, daylight saving time was re-introduced, clocks were moved one hour forward on 1 April, on 1 April 1981,00,00,00, Oymyakonsky District changed its time zone from MSK+6 to MSK+8. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+9 to UTC+12, on 1 April 1982,00,00,00, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug changed its time zone from MSK+10 to MSK+9, thus eliminating Anadyr Time. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+14 to UTC+13, on 27 March 1988,02,00,00, Saratov and Volgograd oblasts changed its time zone from MSK+1 to MSK. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+5 to UTC+4, on 23 May 1993,00,00,00, Novosibirsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+8 to UTC+7, on 28 May 1995,00,00,00, Altai Krai and Altai Republic changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 30 March 1997,02,00,00, Sakhalin Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+8 to MSK+7, on 1 May 2002,03,00,00, Tomsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 1 January 2004,00,00,00, New Siberian Islands, Tomponsky District, the following time zone changes occurred on 28 March 2010, which, in particular, led to abolition of two of the eleven time zones
9.
Wikimedia Commons
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Wikimedia Commons is an online repository of free-use images, sound, and other media files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, the repository contains over 38 million media files. In July 2013, the number of edits on Commons reached 100,000,000, the project was proposed by Erik Möller in March 2004 and launched on September 7,2004. The expression educational is to be according to its broad meaning of providing knowledge. Wikimedia Commons itself does not allow fair use or uploads under non-free licenses, for this reason, Wikimedia Commons always hosts freely licensed media and deletes copyright violations. The default language for Commons is English, but registered users can customize their interface to use any other user interface translations. Many content pages, in particular policy pages and portals, have also translated into various languages. Files on Wikimedia Commons are categorized using MediaWikis category system, in addition, they are often collected on individual topical gallery pages. While the project was proposed to also contain free text files. In 2012, BuzzFeed described Wikimedia Commons as littered with dicks, in 2010, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI for hosting sexualized images of children known as lolicon. Wales responded to the backlash from the Commons community by voluntarily relinquishing some site privileges, over time, additional functionality has been developed to interface Wikimedia Commons with the other Wikimedia projects. Specialized uploading tools and scripts such as Commonist have been created to simplify the process of uploading large numbers of files. In order to free content photos uploaded to Flickr, users can participate in a defunct collaborative external review process. The site has three mechanisms for recognizing quality works, one is known as Featured pictures, where works are nominated and other community members vote to accept or reject the nomination. This process began in November 2004, another process known as Quality images began in June 2006, and has a simpler nomination process comparable to Featured pictures. Quality images only accepts works created by Wikimedia users, whereas Featured pictures additionally accepts nominations of works by third parties such as NASA, the three mentioned processes select a slight part from the total number of files. However, Commons collects files of all quality levels, from the most professional level across simple documental, files with specific defects can be tagged for improvement and warning or even proposed for deletion but there exists no process of systematic rating of all files. The site held its inaugural Picture of the Year competition, for 2006, all images that were made a Featured picture during 2006 were eligible, and voted on by eligible Wikimedia users during two rounds of voting
10.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
11.
Angara River
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The Angara River is a 1, 779-kilometer-long river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russias Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It is the river that drains Lake Baikal and is the tributary of the Yenisei River. It was formerly known as the Lower or Nizhnyaya Angara, below its junction with the Ilim, it was formerly known as the Upper Tunguska and, with the names reversed, as the Lower Tunguska. Leaving Lake Baikal near the settlement of Listvyanka, the Angara flows north past the Irkutsk Oblast cities of Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk and it then turns west, enters the Krasnoyarsk Krai, and falls into the Yenisei near Strelka. The Angara is dammed by four dams of hydroelectric plants that have been constructed since the 1950s. Irkutsk Dam, forming the Irkutsk Reservoir, which floods the valley of the river from its source to Irkutsk, Bratsk Dam, forming the Bratsk Reservoir. Ust-Ilimsk Dam, at Ust-Ilimsk, forming the Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir, Boguchany Dam, at Kodinsk A number of villages along the Angara and its tributaries, as well as numerous agricultural areas in the river valley, were flooded by these reservoirs. The section between the Ust-Ilimsk Dam and the Boguchany Dam has not been due to rapids. However, with the completion of the Boguchany Dam, and filling of its reservoir, despite the absence of a continuous navigable waterway, the Angara and its tributary the Ilim were of considerable importance for Russian colonization of Siberia since ca. 1630, when they formed important water routes connecting the Yenisey with Lake Baikal, the river lost its transportation significance after the construction of an overland route between Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk and, later, the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Angara has the following tributaries, Taseyeva, Irkut, Oka, Iya, Ilim, Kova, Chadobets, Upper and Lower Angara, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed. Vol. II, New York, Charles Scribners Sons,1878, p.26. Angara River, southeast-central Russia Angara River Angara River photo Map of region showing mouth of Angara River Map book of region showing mouth of Angara River Photo of river and dam
12.
Bratsk Reservoir
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Bratsk Reservoir is a reservoir on the Angara River, located in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. It is named after the city of Bratsk, the largest city adjacent to the reservoir and it has a surface area of 5,470 square kilometres and a maximum volume of 169.27 ×1012 litres. The concrete dam of the Bratsk hydroelectric plant was completed in 1967 and it is 125 metres high and 4,417 metres long. The Baikal Amur Mainline railroad runs along the top of the dam, at the time of its inauguration, the reservoir was the largest artificial lake in the world. Its electrical power capacity is 4,500 MW, the epic construction of the Bratsk Dam is the subject of a large eponymous poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko
13.
Russian Census (2002)
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Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, carried out on October 9 through October 16,2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics, the census data were collected as of midnight October 9,2002. The census was intended to collect statistical information about the resident population of Russian Federation. All detailed census tables are for the resident population, a sample of the participants were also asked more detailed questions about their economic and housing situation. Also, the census also counted two more groups of people, Russian citizens currently living abroad for more one year in connection with the employment with the federal government. Persons permanently residing abroad, but temporarily present in Russia, Foreign citizens present in Russia as employees of foreign diplomatic missions or international organizations, and members of their household, were excluded from the census altogether. The Census recorded the resident population of 145,166,731 persons and that included urban population of 106,429,000 and rural population of 38,738,000. The non-resident populations included, Russian citizens living abroad in connection with the government service,107,288. Census participants were asked what country they were citizens of,142,442,000 respondents reported being Russian citizens, among them,44,000 also had citizenship of another country. Among Russias resident population,1,025,413 foreign citizens and 429,881 stateless persons were counted,1,269,023 persons did not report their citizenship. Among the questions asked were Are you competent in the Russian language, and What other languages are you competent in. As the census manual explained, competence meant either the ability to speak, read and write a language, the questions did not distinguish native and non-native speakers, nor did they try to measure the degree of language competence. For small children, presumably, the answer was based on the language spoken by the parents. 142.6 million of the responders claimed competence in Russian, other widely reported languages are listed in the table below. 1.42 million responders did not provide language information, for a more detailed list, see List of languages of Russia. Demographics of Russia Russian Empire Census Soviet Census Official census home page Population of Chechnya, was the Census correct
14.
Soviet Census (1989)
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The census found the total population to be 286,730,819 inhabitants. In 1989, the Soviet Union ranked as the third most populous in the world, above the United States, although it was well behind China and India. In 1989, about half of the Soviet Unions total population lived in the Russian SFSR, almost two-thirds of the population was urban, leaving the rural population with some 34. 3%. In this way, its gradual increase continued, as shown by the represented by 47. 9%,56. 3% and 62. 3% of 1959,1970 and 1979 respectively. The previous postwar censuses, conducted in 1959,1970 and 1979, had enumerated 208,826,650,241,720,134, and 262,436,227 inhabitants respectively. In 1990, the Soviet Union was more populated than both the United States and Canada together, having some 40 million more inhabitants than the U. S. alone. However, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the next census was possibly planned for 1999. Research Guide to Russian and Soviet Censuses, Ithaca, Cornell University Press,1986, dewdney, Population change in the Soviet Union, 1979-1989, Geography, Vol.75, Pt.3, No. Subjects of Russia, on the www. statoids. com website
15.
Buryats
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The Buryats, numbering approximately 500,000, are the largest indigenous group in Siberia, mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia. They are the northern subgroup of the Mongols. Buryats share many customs with other Mongols, including nomadic herding, today, the majority of Buryats live in and around Ulan-Ude, the capital of the republic, although many live more traditionally in the countryside. They speak a central Mongolic language called Buryat, according to UNESCOs 2010 edition of the Atlas of the Worlds Languages in Danger, the Buryat language is classified as severely endangered. The Buryat people are descended from various Siberian and Mongol peoples that inhabited the Lake Baikal Region, then in the 13th century the Mongolians came up and subjugated the various Buryat tribes around Lake Baikal. The name Buriyad is mentioned as one of the forest people for the first time in The Secret History of the Mongols and it says Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan, marched north to subjugate the Buryats in 1207. The Buryats lived along the Angara River and its tributaries at this time, meanwhile, their component, Barga, appeared both west of Baikal and in northern Buryatias Barguzin valley. Linked also to the Bargas were the Khori-Tumed along the Arig River in eastern Khövsgöl Province, a Tumad rebellion broke out in 1217, when Genghis Khan allowed his viceroy to seize 30 Tumad maidens. Genghis Khans commander Dorbei the Fierce of the Dörbeds smashed them in response, the Buryats joined the Oirats challenging the imperial rule of the Eastern Mongols during the Northern Yuan period in the late 14th century. Historically, the territories around Lake Baikal belonged to Mongolia, Buryats were subject to Tusheet Khan, when the Russians expanded into Transbaikalia in 1609, the Cossacks found only a small core of tribal groups speaking a Mongol dialect called Buryat and paying tribute to the Khalkha. However, they were enough to compel the Ket and Samoyed peoples on the Kan. The ancestors of most modern Buryats were speaking a variety of Turkic-Tungusic dialects at that time, in addition to genuine Buryat-Mongol tribes that merged with the Buryats, the Buryats also assimilated other groups, including some Oirats, the Khalkha, Tungus and others. The Khori-Barga had migrated out of the Barguzin eastward to the lands between the Greater Khingan and the Argun, around 1594 most of them fled back to the Aga and Nerchinsk in order to escape subjection by the Daurs. The territory and people were annexed to the Russian state by treaties in 1689 and 1727. Consolidation of modern Buryat tribes and groups took place under the conditions of the Russian state, from the middle of the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the Buryat population increased from 77,000 to 300,000. Another estimate of the growth in people referring to themselves as Buryat is based on the clan list names paying tribute in the form of a sable-skin tax. This indicates a population of about 77,000 in 1640 rising to 157,000 in 1823, the historical roots of the Buryat culture are related to the Mongolic peoples. After Buryatia was incorporated into Russia, it was exposed to two traditions – Buddhist and Christian, in 1741, the Tibetan branch of Buddhism was recognized as one of the official religions in Russia, and the first Buryat datsan was built
16.
Ostrog (fortress)
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Ostrog is a Russian term for a small fort, typically wooden and often non-permanently manned. Ostrogs were encircled by 4–6 metres high walls made from sharpened trunks. The name derives from the Russian word строгать, to shave the wood, ostrogs were smaller and exclusively military forts, compared to larger kremlins that were the cores of Russian cities. Ostrogs were often built in areas or within the fortification lines. From the 17th century, after the start of the Russian conquest of Siberia, many of these forts later transformed into large Siberian cities. Kremlin Blockhouse Ostrog at the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
17.
Kolomenskoye
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Kolomenskoye is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the southeast of the city center of Moscow, Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town of Kolomna. The 390 hectare scenic area overlooks the banks of the Moskva River. It became a part of Moscow in the 1960s, Kolomenskoye village was first mentioned in the testament of Ivan Kalita. As time went by, the village was developed as a country estate of grand princes of Muscovy. The earliest existing structure is the exceptional Ascension church, built in stone to commemorate the long-awaited birth of an heir to the throne. Being the first stone church of tent-like variety, the uncanonical White Column marked a break from the Byzantine tradition. Photo German page on Kolomenskoye Kolomenskoye Museum Reserve Many rare photos
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Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
19.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
20.
Siberia
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Siberia is an extensive geographical region, and by the broadest definition is also known as North Asia. Siberia has historically been a part of Russia since the 17th century, the territory of Siberia extends eastwards from the Ural Mountains to the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic drainage basins. It stretches southwards from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and to the borders of Mongolia. With an area of 13.1 million square kilometres, Siberia accounts for 77% of Russias land area and this is equivalent to an average population density of about 3 inhabitants per square kilometre, making Siberia one of the most sparsely populated regions on Earth. If it were a country by itself, it would still be the largest country in area, the origin of the name is unknown. Some sources say that Siberia originates from the Siberian Tatar word for sleeping land, another account sees the name as the ancient tribal ethnonym of the Sirtya, a folk, which spoke a language that later evolved into the Ugric languages. This ethnic group was assimilated to the Siberian Tatar people. The modern usage of the name was recorded in the Russian language after the Empires conquest of the Siberian Khanate, a further variant claims that the region was named after the Xibe people. The Polish historian Chycliczkowski has proposed that the name derives from the word for north. He said that the neighbouring Chinese, Arabs and Mongolians would not have known Russian and he suggests that the name is a combination of two words, su and bir. The region is of significance, as it contains bodies of prehistoric animals from the Pleistocene Epoch. Specimens of Goldfuss cave lion cubs, Yuka and another woolly mammoth from Oymyakon, a rhinoceros from the Kolyma River. The Siberian Traps were formed by one of the largest known volcanic events of the last 500 million years of Earths geological history. They continued for a million years and are considered a cause of the Great Dying about 250 million years ago. At least three species of human lived in Southern Siberia around 40,000 years ago, H. sapiens, H. neanderthalensis, the last was determined in 2010, by DNA evidence, to be a new species. Siberia was inhabited by different groups of such as the Enets, the Nenets, the Huns, the Scythians. The Khan of Sibir in the vicinity of modern Tobolsk was known as a prominent figure who endorsed Kubrat as Khagan of Old Great Bulgaria in 630, the Mongols conquered a large part of this area early in the 13th century. With the breakup of the Golden Horde, the autonomous Khanate of Sibir was established in the late 15th century, turkic-speaking Yakut migrated north from the Lake Baikal region under pressure from the Mongol tribes during the 13th to 15th century
21.
Ural Mountains
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The mountain range forms part of the conventional boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia. Vaygach Island and the islands of Novaya Zemlya form a continuation of the chain to the north into the Arctic Ocean. The mountains lie within the Ural geographical region and significantly overlap with the Ural Federal District and they have rich resources, including metal ores, coal, precious and semi-precious stones. Since the 18th century the mountains have contributed significantly to the sector of the Russian economy. As attested by Sigismund von Herberstein, in the 16th century Russians called the range by a variety of names derived from the Russian words for rock and it might have been a borrowing from either Turkic stone belt, or Ob-Ugric. From the 13th century, in Bashkortostan there has been a legend about a hero named Ural and he sacrificed his life for the sake of his people and they poured a stone pile over his grave, which later turned into the Ural Mountains. Possibilities include Bashkir үр elevation, upland or Mansi ур ала mountain peak, top of the mountain, tatischev believes that this oronym is set to belt and associates it with the Turkic verb oralu- gird. Dobrodomov suggests a transition from Aral to Ural explained on the basis of ancient Bulgar-Chuvash dialects, hawks believes that the name goes back to the Bashkir folklore Ural-Batyr. Shumilov suggested a Mongolian origin, Khural Uul, that is, the Evenk geographical term era mountain has also been theorized. Finno-Ugrist scholars consider Ural deriving from the Mansi word urr meaning a mountain, turkologists, on the other hand, have achieved majority support for their assertion that ural in Tatar means a belt, and recall that an earlier name for the range was stone belt. During the next few centuries Novgorodians engaged in fur trading with the population and collected tribute from Yugra and Great Perm. The rivers Chusovaya and Belaya were first mentioned in the chronicles of 1396 and 1468, in 1430 the town of Solikamsk was founded on the Kama at the foothills of the Ural, where salt was produced in open pans. Ivan III of Moscow captured Perm, Pechora and Yugra from the declining Novgorod Republic in 1472, with the excursions of 1483 and 1499–1500 across the Ural Moscow managed to subjugate Yugra completely. The Middle and Southern Ural were still largely unavailable and unknown to the Russian or Western European geographers, the Stroganovs land provided the staging ground for Yermaks incursion into Siberia. Yermak crossed the Ural from the Chusovaya to the Tagil around 1581, in 1597 Babinovs road was built across the Ural from Solikamsk to the valley of the Tura, where the town of Verkhoturye was founded in 1598. Customs was established in Verkhoturye shortly thereafter and the road was made the legal connection between European Russia and Siberia for a long time. In 1648 the town of Kungur was founded at the foothills of the Middle Ural. During the 17th century the first deposits of iron and copper ores, mica, gemstones, iron and copper smelting works emerged
22.
European Russia
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Russia is not proportionately populated between the smaller western portion of the country that is considered part of Europe, and the larger eastern portion that is part of Asia. European Russia contains about 77% of the population in an area comprising almost 4 million km2. This territory makes up 38% of Europe and its eastern border is defined by the Ural Mountains and in the south, it is defined by the border with Kazakhstan. This area includes Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the two largest cities in Russia, the eastern portion of Russia, mostly Siberia, is part of Asia and makes up more than 75% of the territory with 22% of the countrys population at 2.5 persons per km2. The term “European Russia” was used in the Russian Empire to refer to traditional East Slavic territories under Russian control, including what is now Belarus, administrative districts do not exactly line up with European Russia, but they are decent approximations, depending on exactly how Europe is defined. There are two trends, one to use administrative divisions north of the terminus of the Ural River. Similarly, the imaginary line if straight, could include parts of very sparsely populated Northwestern Federal District
23.
Gulag
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The Gulag was the government agency that administered and controlled the Soviet forced-labor camp system during Joseph Stalins rule from the 1930s up until the 1950s. The term is commonly used to reference any forced-labor camp in the Soviet Union. The camps housed a range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners. Large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas, the Gulag is recognized as a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet Union. The agencys full name was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and it was administered first by the State Political Administration, later by the NKVD and in the final years by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The internment system grew rapidly, reaching a population of 100,000 in the 1920s, the author likened the scattered camps to a chain of islands and as an eyewitness he described the Gulag as a system where people were worked to death. Natalya Reshetovskaya, the wife of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, said in her memoirs that The Gulag Archipelago was based on folklore as opposed to objective facts. In March 1940, there were 53 Gulag camp directorates and 423 labor colonies in the USSR, todays major industrial cities of the Russian Arctic, such as Norilsk, Vorkuta, and Magadan, were originally camps built by prisoners and run by ex-prisoners. About 14 million people were imprisoned in the Gulag labor camps from 1929 to 1953, according to some estimates, the total population of the camps varied from 510,307 in 1934 to 1,727,970 in 1953. According with other estimates, at the beginning of 1953 the total number of prisoners in prison camps was more than 2.4 million of more than 465,000 were political prisoners. The institutional analysis of the Soviet concentration system is complicated by the distinction between GULAG and GUPVI. In many ways the GUPVI system was similar to GULAG and its major function was the organization of foreign forced labor in the Soviet Union. The top management of GUPVI came from the GULAG system, the major noted distinction from GULAG was the absence of convicted criminals in the GUPVI camps. Otherwise the conditions in both systems were similar, hard labor, poor nutrition and living conditions, and high mortality rate. According with the estimates, in total, during the period of the existence of GUPVI there were over 500 POW camps. According to a 1993 study of archival Soviet data, a total of 1,053,829 people died in the Gulag from 1934–53. Some independent estimates are as low as 1.6 million deaths during the period from 1929 to 1953. Most Gulag inmates were not political prisoners, although significant numbers of prisoners could be found in the camps at any one time
24.
Tayshet
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Tayshet is a town and the administrative center of Tayshetsky District in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located 669 kilometers from Irkutsk, the administrative center of the oblast. It was founded in 1897 as a point and station on the Trans-Siberian Railway and was granted town status in 1938. During the 1930s–1950s, Tayshet was the center of administration for gulag labor camps Ozerlag, construction of the first section of the Baikal–Amur Mainline started in 1937 and was managed from here. According to some accounts, between Tayshet and Bratsk there is a dead man under every sleeper. Along with Japanese prisoners from the Kwantung Army, German prisoners of war formed a large proportion of the forced labor contingent, surviving German POWs were repatriated in autumn of 1955, after West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauers visit to Moscow. Within the framework of administrative divisions, Tayshet serves as the center of Tayshetsky District. As a municipal division, the town of Tayshet is incorporated within Tayshetsky Municipal District as Tayshetskoye Urban Settlement, Tayshet has a subarctic climate bordering on a humid continental climate with warm, humid summers and severely cold, drier winters. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −18.9 °C in January to 18.4 °C, sunshine is generous and the area receives 2,150 hours of bright sunshine annually. Tayshet is a railway junction. Here the Baikal–Amur Mainline begins, branching northeast from the Trans-Siberian Railway, here also the Abakan-Taishet Railway ends. The town is also on the M53 Highway, Постановление №9/5-ЗС от15 апреля2009 г. Закона №2-У от7 июля2015 г, «О поправках к Уставу Иркутской области». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Областная, №45,24 апреля2009 г. Закон №49-ОЗ от21 июня2010 г, «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Иркутской области», в ред. Закона №183-ОЗ от31 декабря2014 г, «Об отдельных вопросах административно-территориального устройства Иркутской области и о внесении изменений в Закон Иркутской области Об административно-территориальном устройстве Иркутской области». Вступил в силу после дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Областная, №71,25 июня2010 г. Закон №100-оз от16 декабря2004 г, «О статусе и границах муниципальных образований Тайшетского района Иркутской области», в ред. Закона №83-ОЗ от31 октября2013 г, Вступил в силу с31 декабря2004 г
25.
Ust-Kut
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Ust-Kut is a town and the administrative center of Ust-Kutsky District in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located 961 kilometers from Irkutsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Located on a loop of the Lena River, the town spreads out for over 20 kilometers along the left bank. The towns name means the mouth of the Kuta River in Russian and it was founded in 1631 by Siberian Cossack ataman Ivan Galkin, who built an ostrog there. Mineral springs to the west of the town were discovered as early as the 17th century by Yerofey Khabarov. In the early 20th century Ust-Kut served as a destination for political exiles, in 1951, the railway from Tayshet reached Ust-Kut. Ust-Kut was granted town status in 1954, with the merger of the settlement of Ust-Kut. Ust-Kut remained the end of the line until 1974, when work started to extend the railway, now known as the Baikal–Amur Mainline, east toward Lake Baikal. The town became the headquarters of the construction of the section of the BAM. Within the framework of administrative divisions, Ust-Kut serves as the center of Ust-Kutsky District. As a municipal division, the town of Ust-Kut, together with the selo of Turuka in Ust-Kutsky District, is incorporated within Ust-Kutsky Municipal District as Ust-Kutskoye Urban Settlement. Ust-Kuts economy relies mainly on its position as a hub, with the connection of road. During the summer months, passenger ferries depart downriver from Ust-Kut to Yakutsk, there is a road bridge over the river in Ust-Kut. There are also shipyards and food production in the town, Ust-Kut is spread along the Baikal–Amur Mainline with multiple stations, including the smaller Ust-Kut station and the actual main station Lena near the river port in Osetrovo. At the small settlement of Yakurim a few kilometers further, the crosses the Lena via a 500-meter bridge. The town is served by the Ust-Kut Airport, located 9 kilometers northwest of the town center, Постановление №9/5-ЗС от15 апреля2009 г. Закона №2-У от7 июля2015 г, «О поправках к Уставу Иркутской области». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Областная, №45,24 апреля2009 г. Закон №49-ОЗ от21 июня2010 г, «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Иркутской области», в ред
26.
Dam
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A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity, a dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The word dam can be traced back to Middle English, and before that, from Middle Dutch, the first known appearance of dam occurs in 1165. However, there is one village, Obdam, that is mentioned in 1120. The word seems to be related to the Greek word taphos, so the word should be understood as dike from dug out earth. The names of more than 40 places from the Middle Dutch era such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam, early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the level, for Mesopotamias weather affected the Tigris. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan,100 kilometres northeast of the capital Amman and this gravity dam featured an originally 9-metre-high and 1 m-wide stone wall, supported by a 50 m-wide earth rampart. The structure is dated to 3000 BC, the Ancient Egyptian Sadd-el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, located about 25 km south of Cairo, was 102 m long at its base and 87 m wide. The structure was built around 2800 or 2600 BC as a dam for flood control. During the Twelfth Dynasty in the 19th century BC, the Pharaohs Senosert III, Amenemhat III, two dams called Ha-Uar running east-west were built to retain water during the annual flood and then release it to surrounding lands. The lake called Mer-wer or Lake Moeris covered 1,700 km2 and is today as Berkat Qaroun. One of the wonders of the ancient world was the Great Dam of Marib in Yemen. Repairs were carried out during various periods, most important around 750 BC and these extensive works were not actually finalized until 325 AD and allowed the irrigation of 25,000 acres. By the mid-late 3rd century BC, an intricate water-management system within Dholavira in modern-day India was built, the system included 16 reservoirs, dams and various channels for collecting water and storing it. Eflatun Pınar is a Hittite dam and spring temple near Konya and it is thought to be from the time of the Hittite empire between the 15th and 13th century BC
27.
Hydroelectricity
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Hydroelectricity is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015 hydropower generated 16. 6% of the total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 33 percent of global hydropower in 2013, China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 920 TWh of production in 2013, representing 16.9 percent of domestic electricity use. The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a source of renewable electricity. The hydro station consumes no water, unlike coal or gas plants, the average cost of electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U. S. cents per kilowatt-hour. With a dam and reservoir it is also a source of electricity since the amount produced by the station can be changed up or down very quickly to adapt to changing energy demands. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and perform other tasks. In the mid-1770s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique which described vertical-, by the late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with hydraulics. The growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well, in 1878 the worlds first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland, England by William George Armstrong. It was used to power an arc lamp in his art gallery. The old Schoelkopf Power Station No.1 near Niagara Falls in the U. S. side began to produce electricity in 1881. The first Edison hydroelectric power station, the Vulcan Street Plant, began operating September 30,1882, in Appleton, Wisconsin, by 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the U. S. and Canada. By 1889 there were 200 in the U. S. alone, at the beginning of the 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in mountains near metropolitan areas. Grenoble, France held the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism with over one million visitors, by 1920 as 40% of the power produced in the United States was hydroelectric, the Federal Power Act was enacted into law. The Act created the Federal Power Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land, as the power stations became larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes to include flood control, irrigation and navigation. Federal funding became necessary for development and federally owned corporations, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. Hydroelectric power stations continued to become larger throughout the 20th century, Hydropower was referred to as white coal for its power and plenty. Hoover Dams initial 1,345 MW power station was the worlds largest hydroelectric station in 1936
28.
Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station
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The Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station is a concrete gravity dam on the Angara River and adjacent hydroelectric power station. It is the level of the Angara River hydroelectric station cascade in Irkutsk Oblast. From its full commissioning in 1967, the station was the single biggest power producer until Canadas Churchill Falls was opened in 1971. Annually the station produces 22.6 TWh, currently, the Bratsk Power Station operates 18 hydro-turbines, each with capacity of 250 MW, produced by the Leningrad Metal Works in the 1960s. Components, concrete wall 924 m long and 124.5 m high at its maximum, by-wall house 516 m long riverbank concrete walls all 506 m long right bank ground wall 2987 m long, left -723 m long. On the top of the dam are the track of the Taishet-Lena railway line, there are no navigational channels, because the Angara has no through ship routes. Nevertheless, the project includes the possibility to build a ship elevator. The Turbine Hall contains 18 Francis hydroturbine units,250 MW each, a 5140 m-long penstock forms the Bratsk Reservoir. With the 4500 MW of output and 22.6 TWh of annual output, output is distributed into five 500 kV power lines and twenty 220 kV lines. A reconstruction project includes increasing the output towards 5000 MW, at present, Irkutskenergo together with JSC Silovii Mashini is modernizing the aging turbines. The plant powers hundreds of factories and it became a part of the Bratsk territorial-production complex About 75% of the output is consumed by the Bratsk Aluminium Plant. The plan to build the plant was approved in September 1954 and later that year the first workers. On December 21,1954 preparation works were initiated by the Nizhneangargasstroy departament, concurrently, the city of Bratsk was founded. On December 12,1955 Bratsk was officially converted from a settlement into a city by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. Construction was declared as the Komsomols high-tempo priority goal and was in the center of public attention, eventually, a lot of the workers were awarded state prizes and the plant became a symbol of the industrial development of Siberia. From July 1955 to October 1957 the 220 kV power line to Irkutsk was constructed, in 1961 the second 500 kV power line was added. On July 18,1961 the Bratsk Reservoir started filling, first stationary 225 MW generator became operational on November 28,1961 at 10,15 local time. After 7 days on December 5 the second unit No.17 started to operate and on December 12,1963, units No.16, on May 9,1964, operators began to control the plant as the central control post was put into service
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Aluminium
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Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic, ductile metal, Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite, Aluminium is remarkable for the metals low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the industry and important in transportation and structures, such as building facades. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium, despite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of these salts abundance, the potential for a role for them is of continuing interest. Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight, ductile. It is nonmagnetic and does not easily ignite, a fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector of visible light and an excellent reflector of medium and far infrared radiation. The yield strength of aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel and it is easily machined, cast, drawn and extruded. Aluminium atoms are arranged in a cubic structure. Aluminium has an energy of approximately 200 mJ/m2. Aluminium is a thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin. Aluminium is the most common material for the fabrication of superconducting qubits, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. In highly acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, primarily because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium
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Pulp mill
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A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical or fully chemical methods, the finished product may be either bleached or non-bleached, depending on the customer requirements. Wood and other plant materials used to make pulp contain three components, cellulose fibres, lignin and hemicelluloses. The aim of pulping is to break down the structure of the fibre source, be it chips, stems or other plant parts. The various mechanical pulping methods, such as groundwood and refiner mechanical pulping, much of the lignin remains adhering to the fibres. Strength is impaired because the fibres may be cut and these hybrid methods include thermomechanical pulping and chemithermomechanical pulping. The chemical and thermal treatments reduce the amount of energy required by the mechanical treatment. Much of the information about the technology in following subsections is from the book by C. J. Biermann, the chemistry of the various pulping processes can be found in Sjöströms book. The most common source for pulp mills is pulpwood. Other common sources are bagasse and fibre crops, the first step in all mills using wood as the fibre source is to remove the bark. Bark contains relatively few usable fibres and darkens the pulp, the removed bark is burned, along with other unusable plant material, to generate steam to run the mill. Almost all wood is then chipped before being processed further in order to free the fibres, removal of the bark is done in a barker. The bark adhesion is about 3–5 kg/cm2 in the growing season, the bark of frozen logs is even more difficult to remove. In chemical pulp mills, the bark introduces unwanted contaminants such as calcium, silica and aluminium that cause scaling, birch bark contains betulin, a terpenoid that easily creates deposits in a pulp mill. The pulp made by this process is known as stone groundwood pulp, if the wood is ground in a pressurized, sealed grinder the pulp is classified as pressure groundwood pulp. Most modern mills use chips rather than logs and ridged metal discs called refiner plates instead of grindstones. If the chips are just ground up with the plates, the pulp is called refiner mechanical pulp, steam treatment significantly reduces the total energy needed to make the pulp and decreases the damage to fibers. Mechanical pulp mills use large amounts of energy, mostly electricity to power motors which turn the grinders, the kraft process does less damage to the cellulose fibres than the sulfite process, thereby producing stronger fibres, but the sulfite process makes pulp that is easier to bleach
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Subarctic climate
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The subarctic climate is a climate characterised by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the effects of an ocean. These climates represent Köppen climate classification Dfc, Dwc, Dsc, Dfd, Dwd and Dsd. This type of climate offers some of the most extreme seasonal temperature variations found on the planet, in winter, temperatures can drop to −40 °C and in summer, record low temperatures can be as cold as −60 °C. With 5–7 consecutive months where the temperature is below freezing. Summer warmth is insufficient to thaw more than a few surface feet, seasonal thaw penetrates from 2 to 14 ft, depending on latitude, aspect, and type of ground. Some northern areas with subarctic climates located near oceans, have milder winters and no permafrost, the frost-free season is very short, varying from about 45 to 100 days at most, and a freeze can occur during any month in many areas. Most subarctic climates have very little precipitation, typically no more than 380 mm over an entire year, a notable exception to this pattern is that subarctic climates occurring at high altitudes in otherwise temperate regions have extremely high precipitation due to orographic lift. Mount Washington, with temperatures typical of a climate, receives an average rain-equivalent of 101.91 inches of precipitation per year.5 metres that does not melt until June. Vegetation in regions with subarctic climates is generally of low diversity, as only hardy species can survive the long winters, trees are mostly limited to conifers, as few broadleaved trees are able to survive the very low temperatures in winter. This type of forest is known as taiga, a term which is sometimes applied to the climate found therein as well. Even though the diversity may be low, numbers are high, the process by which plants become acclimated to cold temperatures is called hardening. In some areas, ice has scoured rock surfaces bare, entirely stripping off the overburden, elsewhere rock basins have been formed and stream courses dammed, creating countless lakes. The Tatra Mountains in Poland, above 800m, the Eastern Anatolia, between 1,600 and 2,100 meters – Turkey. The Pyrenees, between 1,600 and 2,100 meters – Andorra, France and Spain, further north in Siberia, continentality increases so much that winters can be exceptionally severe, averaging below −38 °C, even though the hottest month still averages more than 10 °C. This creates Dfd, Dwd and Dsd climates, one example is parts of the Snowy Mountains in Australia, although theyre more alpine than true subarctic. In China and Mongolia, as one moves southwestwards or towards lower altitudes, temperatures increase, Boreal ecology Boreal forest Plants of continental subarctic climate Köppen climate classification Subantarctic
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Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
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Relative humidity
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Relative humidity is the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor to the equilibrium vapor pressure of water at a given temperature. Relative humidity depends on temperature and the pressure of the system of interest and it requires less water vapor to attain high relative humidity at low temperatures, more water vapour is required to attain high relative humidity in warm or hot air. Humans are sensitive to high humidity because the body uses evaporative cooling, enabled by perspiration. Perspiration evaporates from the more slowly under humid conditions than under arid. For example, if the air temperature is 24 °C and the humidity is zero percent. If the relative humidity is 100 percent at the air temperature. In other words, if the air is 24 °C and contains saturated water vapor, then the human body cools itself at the rate as it would if it were 27 °C. The heat index and the humidex are indices that reflect the effect of temperature. In cold climates, the temperature causes lower capacity for water vapour to flow about. Dry cracked skin can result from dry air, low humidity causes tissue lining nasal passages to dry, crack and become more susceptible to penetration of Rhinovirus cold viruses. Low humidity is a cause of nosebleeds. The use of a humidifier in homes, especially bedrooms, can help with these symptoms, indoor relative humidities should be kept above 30% to reduce the likelihood of the occupants nasal passages drying out. Humans can be comfortable within a range of humidities depending on the temperature—from thirty to seventy percent—but ideally between 50% and 60%. Very low humidity can create discomfort, respiratory problems, and aggravate allergies in some individuals, in the winter, it is advisable to maintain relative humidity at 30 percent or above. Extremely low relative humidities may also cause eye irritation, wooden furniture can shrink, causing the paint that covers these surfaces to fracture. When the temperature is low and the humidity is high. When relative humidity approaches 100 percent, condensation can occur on surfaces, leading to problems with mold, corrosion, decay, condensation can pose a safety risk as it can promote the growth of mold and wood rot as well as possibly freezing emergency exits shut. The basic principles for buildings, above, also apply to vehicles, in addition, there may be safety considerations
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Sunshine duration
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It is a general indicator of cloudiness of a location, and thus differs from insolation, which measures the total energy delivered by sunlight over a given period. Sunshine duration is usually expressed in hours per year, or in hours per day, the first measure indicates the general sunniness of a location compared with other places, while the latter allows for comparison of sunshine in various seasons in the same location. Another often-used measure is percentage ratio of recorded bright sunshine duration, an important use of sunshine duration data is to characterize the climate of sites, especially of health resorts. This also takes account the psychological effect of strong solar light on human well-being. It is often used to promote tourist destinations, if the Sun were to be above the horizon 50% of the time for a standard year consisting of 8,760 hours, apparent maximal daytime duration would be 4,380 hours for any point on Earth. However, there are physical and astronomical effects that change that picture, namely, atmospheric refraction allows the Sun to be still visible even when it physically sets below the horizon. For that reason, average daytime is longest in polar areas, places on the Arctic Circle have the longest total annual daytime,4,647 hours, while the North Pole receives 4,575. Because of elliptic nature of the Earths orbit, the Southern Hemisphere is not symmetrical, the Equator has a total daytime of 4,422 hours per year. Given the theoretical maximum of daytime duration for a given location, bright sunshine hours represent the total hours when the sunlight is stronger than a specified threshold, as opposed to just visible hours. Visible sunshine, for example, occurs around sunrise and sunset, measurement is performed by instruments called sunshine recorders. For the specific purpose of sunshine duration recording, Campbell–Stokes recorders are used, when the intensity exceeds a pre-determined threshold, the tape burns. The total length of the trace is proportional to the number of bright hours. Another type of recorder is the Jordan sunshine recorder, newer, electronic recorders have more stable sensitivity than that of the paper tape. In 2003, the duration was finally defined as the period during which direct solar irradiance exceeds a threshold value of 120 W/m². The sky is clear in these regions, and fair weather is virtually perpetual, the descending branch of the Hadley cell and the long-term lack of atmospheric disturbances helps to explain the seemingly endless supply of sunny, cloud-free days in the deserts. Low clouding conditions are associated with rainfall shortage, as seen in these dry regions. In the belt encompassing northern Chad and the Tibesti Mountains, northern Sudan, southern Libya, some places in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula receive 3, 600–3,800 hours of bright sunshine annually. The largest sun-baked region in the world is North Africa, the sunniest month in the world is December in Eastern Antarctica, with almost 23 hours of bright sun daily
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Microdistrict
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Microdistrict, or microraion, is a residential complex—a primary structural element of the residential area construction in the Soviet Union and in some post-Soviet and former Communist states. Residential districts in most of the cities and towns in Russia, major motor roads or through streets were not to cross microdistricts territories. The entrances to a microdistricts territory were to be located no further than 300 meters apart, standards also regulated the accessibility of the public service buildings by imposing a 500-meter limit as the farthest distance from any residential dwelling. One of the tasks was to ensure that the fewest number of public buildings was built to cover the microdistricts territory in accordance with the norms. The exact number of buildings of each type depended on the distance requirement, the history of microdistricts as an urban planning concept dates back to the 1920s when the Soviet Union experienced a very fast rate of urbanization. These complexes were seen as an opportunity to build a collective society, in the 1930s, residential complexes grew in size, covering territories of up to five to six hectares. A system of building residential complexes was gradually replaced with a concept of a city block, such blocks generally comprised residential buildings along the perimeter, and residential buildings intermingled with public service buildings in the inner area. The system of the city also required a developed network of roads, thus increasing the maintenance and construction costs. 1940s and 1950s saw further enlargement and grouping of the city blocks, however, new construction was based on the same principles as in the previous decades and could not keep up with the increasing housing demand. Labor-intensive industrialization of the country demanded more workers, which was hard to achieve with housing accommodations lacking, Soviet authorities revisited issues of urban planning in the mid-1950s. The new urban planning concept built on the concept of residential districts, consisting of several microdistricts, in larger cities, residential districts were grouped into urban zones, the population of which could reach one million. Each microdistrict provided the population with facilities needed on a daily basis, such drastic reduction of building costs was necessary because flats in the new blocks were given to the citizens free of charge at the time. Humorous insights into the consequences of living in such a bland. The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to a decline in the volume of residential construction. During the 1990s, urban planning was ignored as there was virtually no new construction. 2000s brought slow growth to the volume of housing construction, as well as heightened criticisms of the microdistrict model, since the mid-2000s, many apartment blocks have either been modernised or replaced with modern skyscrapers. In China, this type of unit is known as Xiaoqu. First built in the 1980s, preceding the Chinese economic reform, Xiaoqu similarly promoted a sense of community among the inhabitants
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Mercury (element)
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Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum, Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar. The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide, likewise, mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers. Mercury remains in use in research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales. It is used in fluorescent lighting, electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short-wave ultraviolet light which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce, making visible light. Mercury poisoning can result from exposure to water-soluble forms of mercury, Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white liquid metal. Compared to other metals, it is a conductor of heat. It has a point of −38.83 °C and a boiling point of 356.73 °C. Upon freezing, the volume of mercury decreases by 3. 59%, the coefficient of volume expansion is 181.59 × 10−6 at 0 °C,181.71 × 10−6 at 20 °C and 182.50 × 10−6 at 100 °C. Solid mercury is malleable and ductile and can be cut with a knife, because this configuration strongly resists removal of an electron, mercury behaves similarly to noble gases, which form weak bonds and hence melt at low temperatures. The stability of the 6s shell is due to the presence of a filled 4f shell, an f shell poorly screens the nuclear charge that increases the attractive Coulomb interaction of the 6s shell and the nucleus. Like silver, mercury reacts with hydrogen sulfide. Mercury reacts with solid sulfur flakes, which are used in mercury spill kits to absorb mercury, Mercury dissolves many other metals such as gold and silver to form amalgams. Iron is an exception, and iron flasks have traditionally used to trade mercury. Several other first row transition metals with the exception of manganese, copper, other elements that do not readily form amalgams with mercury include platinum. Sodium amalgam is a reducing agent in organic synthesis, and is also used in high-pressure sodium lamps. Mercury readily combines with aluminium to form a mercury-aluminium amalgam when the two pure metals come into contact, since the amalgam destroys the aluminium oxide layer which protects metallic aluminium from oxidizing in-depth, even small amounts of mercury can seriously corrode aluminium. For this reason, mercury is not allowed aboard an aircraft under most circumstances because of the risk of it forming an amalgam with exposed aluminium parts in the aircraft, Mercury embrittlement is the most common type of liquid metal embrittlement
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Economy of Russia
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Russia has an upper-middle income mixed economy with state ownership in strategic areas of the economy. Market reforms in the 1990s privatized much of Russian industry and agriculture, with exceptions to this privatization occurring in the energy. Russias vast geography is an important determinant of its economic activity, the World Bank estimates the total value of Russias natural resources at $75 trillion US dollars. Russia relies on energy revenues to drive most of its growth, Russia has an abundance of oil, natural gas and precious metals, which make up a major share of Russias exports. As of 2012 the oil-and-gas sector accounted for 16% of GDP, 52% of federal budget revenues, the value of Russian arms exports totalled $15.7 billion in 2013—second only to the US. Top military exports from Russia include combat aircraft, air systems, ships. In 2015, the Russian economy was the sixth largest in the world by PPP, between 2000 and 2012 Russias energy exports fueled a rapid growth in living standards, with real disposable income rising by 160%. In dollar-denominated terms this amounted to a more than increase in disposable incomes since 2000. In the same period, unemployment and poverty more than halved and this growth was a combined result of the 2000s commodities boom, high oil prices, as well as prudent economic and fiscal policies. However, these gains have been distributed unevenly, as the 110 wealthiest individuals were found in a report by Credit Suisse to own 35% of all assets held by Russian households. Poor governance means that Russia also has the second-largest volume of illicit money outflows, since 2008 Forbes has repeatedly named Moscow the billionaire capital of the world. The Russian economy risked going into recession from early 2014, mainly due to falling oil prices, the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, and the subsequent capital flight. While in 2014 GDP growth remained positive at 0. 6%, however, the World Bank and the IMF estimated that Russias economy will begin to recover by 2017. In January 2016, the US company Bloomberg rated Russias economy as the 12th most innovative in the world, up from 14th in January 2015, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin has said that Russia needs to reduce geopolitical tensions to improve its economic conditions. By the 1970s the Soviet Union entered the Era of Stagnation, the complex demands of the modern economy and inflexible administration overwhelmed and constrained the central planners. The volume of decisions facing planners in Moscow became overwhelming, from 1975 to 1985, corruption and data fiddling became common practice among bureaucracy to report satisfied targets and quotas thus entrenching the crisis. Since 1986 Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to address economic problems by moving towards a market-oriented socialist economy, gorbachevs policies had failed to rejuvenate the Soviet economy, though. Instead, Perestroika set off a process of political and economic disintegration, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia had undergone a radical transformation, moving from a centrally planned economy to a globally integrated market economy
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