History of Russia
...ctors and to the migration of most of the population into cities. The men and women in Russia are expected to be hard working, strong, and assertive. A very high percentage of women actually work a majority outside not much different from men. Government and Political Systems In the political system established in the 1993 constitution, Russia is a democratic state, which the president has all the power. There is no vice president, and the legislative branch is far weaker than the executive. The legislature consists of a lower house (State Duma) and an upper house (the federation Council). The president hires the highest state officials, including the prime minister. The president can pass decrees without consent, and is head of the National Security Council. Government spending/taxation are about equal. Combined it comes to be 38% of GDP. Fiscal policy has been much disciplined since the 1998 debt crisis. The budget surpluses during 2002 were 2.3% of GDP and 1% during 2003. (state.gov.com) High rates of economic growth will continue should oil prices go down. However, high oil prices also will have a negative economic effect over time, as a very large trade surplus tend to push everything higher, making exports of manufactured goods lag. Social Organizations In time Russia had developed a large and growing network of social organizations, including trade unions, professional societies, veterans’ groups, youth and sport organizations, even women associations. This was an important aspect of growth of civil society. Russia’s largest race is Russian at 81.5%, Tatar at 3.8% Ukraninian at 3%, 1.2% Chuvash, 1.2% Bashkir, and 10.3% other. There are three distinct classes of people in Russia, very poor, middle-class, and rich. Business Practices The business philosophy in Russia is a growing one. In recent years as international trade is becoming more and more common the management philosophies are changing also. The leading management style in Russia is very strong and people are expected to carry out what they have started to make sure it gets done right. The Business Support Centers (BSC) provides direct assistance to enterprises, and design and implemented an integrated program of support to build business infrastructure and improve the environment for small business in Russia’s regions. Coordination among business support organizations, training institutions, etc. The BSC generated proposals for specific regional activities based on the local situation, and short-term technical assistance needed to implement activities. Population Russia’s population of 144.8 million (2004 census) is falling. Lower birth rates and higher death rates reduced Russia’s numbers at nearly .5% annual rate since the early 1990s. Russia is one of few countries with declining population (although birth rates in many developed countries have dropped below the3 long-term population replacement). (state.gov.com) Declining numbers are particularly drastic in Russia having high death rates, especially among working age males due to poverty, abuse of alcohol and other substances, disease, stress, and other afflictions. Russia generally looks down upon temporary immigration of workers from countries other than the Russian – speaking former Soviet states that might help solve economic problems brought on by the down fall of the population. Fertility rates have declined since the break up the Soviet Union. At the end of the 19th century, the total fertility rate or the average number of children a women would bear in her lifetime given the age exceeded seven children per women (Zakharov and Ivcanova, 1999). At the end of the 20th century the fertility rate had fallen to about 1.2 children per women. This down fall had a lot to do with the amount of women working just as hard and just as much as men. Distribution of Population Population aging occurs not only within the total population, but within subpopulations, such as young kids and school ages, working and voting ages, and even the oldest segment of the population. It was projected that the people moving toward the draft age, entry of kindergarten, school, employment, retirement and the oldest ages will change completely through the 1990’s to 2015. The changes will have an up and down pattern, the general size of any youth subpopulation is toward decrease, for older subpopulations it is toward the increase. The 1990’s have been unfavorable toward population age structure from the point of view of slow natural growth, natural population attrition, and greater numbers of pension age people (above age 55 for female and 60 for male) than children (0-14 years). The aging process is occurring in all regions of the country, and it’s projected that the pace will grow rapidly in 2010-2015. The geographic variation in Russia’s large territory needs more attention to interregional issues. Variation exists in growth rates, age distribution, and population density among the sub regions of Russia, and across all the subpopulations. Ethnic or other social or political conflicts and poor economics will undermine the capacity of Russia’s nation. Economic statistics and activity In 2003 Russia’s GDP amounted in the current prices to 13,201,100 million roubles ($1 = 27.75 rubles), and its real growth rate on 2002 was 107.3%. The GDP deflator index (the ration of GDP calculated in current prices and GDP calculated in comparable prices of the previous year) for 2003 113.7% in relation to 2002 prices. (www.russiannewsroom.com). According to the Russian Journal average wages for 2004 went up by 17.9 percent in December 2004, compared a year ago by 22.9 percent. In real terms the average wage basically moved up 5.5 percent in December 2004 compared with 2003 and 10.8 percent throughout the year against 2003’s numbers. Minerals Russia produces a great share of the worlds mineral resources 9-10% of the worlds oil, about 25% of natural gas, 5-7% of iron ores, 12-20% of nickel and cobalt, over 10% of wolfram, 6% of phosphorus concentrate, and 12% of potassium salts. The mining in Russia accounts for about 14% of the world total- the highest per capital mineral production in the world. Most of Russi...