III. ЕЛТАНУ. МӘДЕНИЕТ LESSON 18 T e x t 1 Russia Russia is the largest country in the world. It covers half of Europe and
the third part of Asia and is located in Eastern Europe and Northern and
Central Asia. Russia borders on Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and other
countries. Russia is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the east and the Arctic
Ocean in the north. The main rivers are the Volga, the Yen- isey, the Ob and
the Lena. The Baikal Lake, the deepest fresh water lake in the world, is in
Siberia. It contains about twenty percent of the world’s fresh water supply.
There are several mountain chains in Russia: the Urals and the Altai. Large
part of Russia is covered with forests.
On the vast territory of Russia there are four climatic zones. They are the
arctic, the subarctic, the temperate, and the subtropical zones. The
subtropical climate is the warmest. The central part of Russia has the
moderate climate with four distinct seasons, which differ greatly in the
weather. The most part of the territory of the country has continental climate.
Russia is rich in natural resources, including vast areas of fertile lands
and forests, deep lakes and wide rives. It is rich in mineral deposits, such as
coal, oil, iron ore, gas, copper, lead, gold and others.
Russia has a developed industry. It has made a great progress in science
and engineering.
The population of Russia is about 150 million people. It is a multi-
national country.
The highest legislative body of the Russian Federation is the Russian
Parliament (Duma). The executive power is held by the President and the
Cabinet of Ministers. The President is Head of State.
The Russian Federation is a free union of a number of regions, territories
and autonomous republics, for example, Karelia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan,
Mordovia and others.