Unit V Russia – my Motherland

Conversational topic: Our Country – Russia

The Russian Federation is one of the largest countries in the world. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17mln square kilometers. The country is washed by the Arctic and Pacific oceans and by several seas - the Black Sea, the Azov Sea, the Barents Sea, the Okhotsk Sea and others. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Byelorussia and the Ukraine. Russia also has maritime borders with the USA and Japan. The population of the Russian Federation is nearly 150 million. There are more than 100 ethnic groups in Russia: Russian, Tatar, Ukrainian, Bashkir, Belarussian, Buryat, Evenk and many others.

The state symbols of Russia are the national emblem, flag, hymn and the capital. The capital of Russia is Moscow. Its flag is three-coloured: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. The National Emblem of the Russian Federation features a gold double-headed eagle against a red heraldic shield. There are 3 historical crowns of Peter the Great above; in its claws the eagle holds a scepter and an orb. The hymn of Russia is “The Patriotic Song” by M. Glinka.

There is no other country in the world, whose nature is more varied than that of Russia. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east. The land of Russia varies a lot. The country is located on two plains- the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Plain. There are several mountain chains on the territory of Russia: the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. The Urals, the longest mountain chain, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two million rivers in Russia. Some of them are among the world’s greatest – the Volga, the biggest river in the Europe, the Ob, the Yenissei, the Lena, and others. They possess colossal hydro- power resources. Russia is extremely rich in lakes. The Caspian Sea, which is in reality, the largest lake in the world is situated here. The largest and most prominent of Russia's bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world's deepest, purest, oldest and most capacious fresh water lake. Baikal alone contains over one fifth of the world's fresh surface water. Other major lakes include Ladoga and Onega, two of the largest lakes in Europe.

The climate contrasts are quite striking in Russia. On the vast territory there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. But for most of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

The Russian Federation has enormous resources of different minerals. It is hard to name a mineral not found in Russia. There are reserves of coal, oil, gold, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other minerals. Non-ferrous metals are available in great variety from many districts, but the main center of non-ferrous metallurgy is the Ural region. Russia has a complete range of mining and extractive industries and is a major producer of cobalt, chrome, copper, lead, nickel, vanadium, and zinc.

The forests are also an important part of natural resources. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East. Russia possesses one-sixth of the world’s timber reserves.

Traditionally, the Russian Federation is considered to be one of the great maritime powers that play an important role in the exploration and use of the World Ocean.Russia is one of the leading countries in commercial fishery.

Our country is a great industrial and agricultural power. The leading industries of its economy are machine-building, shipbuilding, space, mining, chemical, motor car and aircraft, light and food industries. Among promising areas for development of an innovation-based economy supported by the state are nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, nuclear energy, information technologies. Great attention is paid to the creation and development of military- industrial potential of the country. The military-industrial complex plays an important role in the innovations.

We are an energy super-power, and energy remains a priority in the economy.

About three-fourths of electricity in our country is generated in thermal stations. The remaining power output is produced by hydroelectric and nuclear plants. Most of the hydroelectric stations are situated on the Volga, Kama, Yenisei, Ob, Angara, and Zeya rivers. Much of Siberian electricity output is transmitted to the European region.

Russia made great progress in science and engineering, culture and education. It gave the world such outstanding people as Pushkin, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Tchaikovsky, Mendeleev, Korolev and so on.