Russia stretches across two continents, Europe and Asia. It is the largest country in the world. The climate is bitterly cold in the winter, and because of this cold climate there are not many people who live in this country. Russia is the largest republic of the Independent States, composed of 21 areas. The capital city is Moscow. St. Petersburg, in the west on the Gulf of Finland, is an important historic and cultural center. Russia is almost twice the size of the United States and covers most of eastern Europe and north Asia.
Russia is so large it spans 11 different time zones! In fact, if you take the railroad from the West to the East on the Pacific Coast, the 10,000 km trip would take six days. At its easternmost point, Russia is only about 50 miles away from Alaska across the Bering Strait! Russia's main waterway, the Volga River, is the longest river in Europe at 3,700 km. The landscape is mostly flat, with the moderate Ural mountains in the center, and some bigger mountains in the Far East. In the summer, these cities average a comfortable 24 degrees Celsius, but winters are pretty long. Moscow often has snow until April! Because of its location, Russia also experiences big swings in the length of daylight. In summer, St. Petersburg has hardly any darkness at all, but in winter, has just five hours of dim sunlight each day!
Wildlife
There are more than 1,4000 kinds of plant and animal life in parts of Russia. Siberian forests are rich in animals such as sable and ermine, mink, polar and silver foxes. In the south you will find brown and black bears, snow leopards and tigers.