RUSSIA
My native country is situated in the middle part of Europe. It is called Russia and its vast territory stretches from the Baltic Sea in the West to the Kamchatsky Peninsula in the East. It is washed by the Baltic Sea in the West, by the Arctic Ocean in the North and by the Pacific Ocean in the East.Russia borders on a lot of countries. Its European part is separated from its Asian part by the Urals, which are one of the oldest mountain chains in the world.
In terms of its area Russia is the world’s biggest country. Its total area is about 20 000 km2. Here one can find all kinds of landscape: rocky
mountains with high peaks and deep valleys, plateaus, fertile plains and barren deserts, big seas, lakes and rivers.
The Volga River is one of the largest inland water transportation routes in Europe. It runs through the Great Russian Plain together with its tremendous tributaries and finally flows into the Caspian Sea, which is actually the largest lake in the world.
Russia is rich in natural resources, such as coal, oil, iron ore, natural gas and others. The most important deposits of coal and iron are situated in Siberia, as well as most of heavy industry. But there are also a lot of mines on the European territory of the country.
In different parts of Russia climate differs a great deal, but the so called “continental” type of climate prevails. In the European part of the country summers are quite warm, while winters are cold, with frequent temperature fluctuations.
The total population of Russia is about 150 mln people. The European part of the country is densely populated, while most of Siberia is sparsely populated. In spite of all the economic problems, Russia has well-developed industry. As a result of the modern development, some new branches of industry were recently established. We have chemical industry, hi-tech, air-craft, light industries and many others.
Though, Russia has always been an agricultural country and still remains one.
Russia is a multinational federation, but before the new political system was established, it was a part of the Soviet Union. Now all the former republics of the Soviet Union are independent states. The history of Russia dates back to 862. During these centuries the country survived a lot of wars, coup d’estats and now Russia is a Presidential Republic.
Our time is very difficult for the whole country; there are a lot of problems both with Russia’s home and foreign policy, such as wars and unemployment. Nobody is indifferent to politics; even those who are too young to take part in the elections and vote. But I hope that we shall finally find the way out of all these difficulties. Probably there will appear a talented public figure that will at last manage to put an end to the war.
Слова и выражения
to stretch — простираться
peninsula — полуостров
to be washed by — омываться
to border on — граничить с
mountain chain/range — горная цепь
total area — общая площадь
peak — пик, горная вершина
valley — долина
fertile plane — плодородная равнина
barren desert — бесплодная пустыня
tributary — приток
tremendous — многочисленный
to flow into — впадать
natural resources — полезные ископаемые
deposit — месторождение полезных ископаемых
mine — шахта
temperature fluctuations — перепады температур
density of population — плотность населения
coup d’estat — государственный переворот
key industry — ведущая отрасль промышленности
heavy industry — тяжелая промышленность
light industry — легкая промышленность
hi-tech — высокие технологии (электроника)
air-craft — самолетостроение
agriculture — сельское хозяйство
dairy-farm — молочная ферма
multinational — многонациональный
to date back to — вести начало от
unemployment — безработица
elections — выборы
to vote — голосовать
public figure — общественный (государственный) деятель
