Aspects of the Transition Period in Russia and Cyprus (1991-2004)

Abstract

The Russian Federation covers 17.045.000 square kilometres, has a population of 147.000.000 individuals and a national composition of 81,5% Russians, Ukrainians, Tatarians, etc. It shares borders with Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, and Mongolia and it has shores in the Northern Arctic Ocean, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. The regime of the Russian Federation is presidential democracy and the president is elected every six years by the citizens1. The Federal Assembly is constituted by two bodies, Duma with 450 members, who are elected for a five-year tenure, half of whom in uninominal regions and the rest with proportional representation of parties. The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow and other important cities are Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar, Vladivostok, and Nizhny Novgorod. Administratively, Russia is divided into 85 administrative units.