Unit 5.

composed of 178 delegates serving a four-year term (two are appointed from each of the 89 federal subjects), and the lower house (known as the State Duma), comprising 450 deputies also serving a four-year term, of which 225 are elected by direct vote from single member constituencies and 225 are elected by proportional representation from nation-wide party lists.

The Russian Federation consists of a great number of different Federal subjects of Russia, making a total of 89 components. There are 21 republics within the federation that have a high degree of autonomy on most issues and these correspond to some of Russia's ethnic minorities. The remaining territory consists of 49 oblasts (provinces) and 6 krais (territories), in which are found 10 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts) and one autonomous oblast. Beyond these there are two federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg). Recently, severf extensive federal districts of Russia (four in Europe, three in Asia) have been added as a new layer between the above subdivisions and the national level.

Russia is sparsely populated and has extremely low average population density due to its enormous size; population is the densest in the European part of Russia, in. the Ural mountains area, and in the SouthEastern part of Siberia. The Russian Federation is home to as many as 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples. As of the 2002 census, 79.8% of the population are ethnically Russian, 3.8% Tatar, 2% Ukrainian, 1.2% Bashkir, 1.1% Chuvash, 0.8% Armenian.

The Russian language is the only official state language, but some Republics of Russia have often made their native language co-official next to Russian.

Religions on the territory of the Russian Federation include Russian Orthodox church, Islam, various Protestant faiths, Roman Catholic church, Buddism and Judaism.

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Questions to the Text

1.What parts of the world does Russia stretch into?

2.How does it rank in the world in population?

3.Who is the Head of State in Russia?

4.What term is the Russian President elected for?

5.Does Parliament have to approve the nominations by the

President?

6.What are the two chambers of the Russian Parliament?

7.How many delegates and deputies are there in the Russian

Parliament?

8.How many federal districts are there in Russia?

9.How densely is Russia populated?

10.How many different ethnic groups live in Russia?

Exercise 40. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world, but ranks seventh in the world population. 2. China and India have the largest population in the world. 3. The President of Russia is directly elected for a four-year term. 4. The President can pass decree without consent from Parliament. 5. The President of Russia is the Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces and Head of the National Security Council. 6. The Russian Federation has a bicameral Parliament, like the United Kingdom and the United States. 7. The upper house is called the Federal Council of Russia and the lower house is called the State Duma. 8. The State Duma comprises 450 deputies who serve a four-year term. 9. Twenty-one republics within the Russian Federation correspond to some of Russia's ethnic minorities.

Exercise 41. Translate the sentences into English.

1. Русский язык является единственным государственным языком Российской Федерации, но некоторые республики в составе Федерации используют родной язык для официальных целей. 2. Самыми распространенными конфессиями на территории Российской Федерации являются православие, ислам, католицизм, буддизм и иудаизм.

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