Landscape and Climate 

 
Russia is the world’s largest country. It stretches across Europe and Asia and covers almost one-eighth of the world’s land area. It takes a week to cross Russia by train, and there are eleven time zones from east to west.

Russia’s European neighbours to the northwest are Finland and Norway, and its Asian neighbours are North Korea, China, Mongolia and Kazakstan to the south. Azerbaijan and Georgia border the southwest. To the west are Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Estonia. Kaliningrad, which is geographically separated from the rest of Russia, is on the Baltic Sea with Lithuania to the north and east and Poland to the south.

 
European Russia is a large plain, crossed by rivers such as the Volga and the Don. The Ural Mountains run from north to south and separate European and Asian Russia. Most Russians live in the European part of the country.

To the east of the Urals lies the region known as Siberia. Western Siberia near the Urals is low and swampy, rising to rolling hills farther east and to mountains and volcanoes near the Pacific coast. Along the southern border of Russia, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, are the Caucasus Mountains. Siberia is crossed by four great rivers: the Ob (the fourth largest river in the world), the Irtysh, the Yenisei and the Lena. All run north to the Arctic Ocean. Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world’s deepest lake; it contains 20% of all the fresh water in the world.

Northern Russia is like northern Canada, an arctic region of tundra and permafrost. South of the tundra are coniferous forests. The plains in European Russia and the western part of Siberia are known as the steppes. These grasslands are used for agriculture..


Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea coast to extremely cold in Siberia. The far north is snow-covered most of the year. Summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along the Arctic coast. In eastern Russia, the hottest months are July and August. The days are long and sunny, and people spend a lot of their time outdoors.
Summary Fact Sheet
 

Official Name:

Russian Federation (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) or Russia (Rossiya)

Capital:

Moscow

Type of Government:
 
Multiparty republic

Population:

149 million

Area:

17 million sq. km

Major Ethnic Groups:

Russian, Tatar, Ukrainian, Chuvash, Bashkir, Byelorussian, Moldavian

Language:

Russian

Religions:

Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Buddhism

Unit of Currency:

Ruble

National Flag:

Three equal horizontal bands of white, blue and red

Federation established:
 
August 24, 1991
 
Russia’s population of about 150 million comprises of people from diverse origins, cultures, languages and religions. The majority of the population is Russian and of a Caucasian descent. Russian is the official language besides 100 other spoken languages and dialects.
 
Economic growth in Russia has been steady over the past six years, but poverty remains widespread outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, especially among women and families with children.
Russia is experiencing a rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. As many as one in five children born to HIV-positive mothers are abandoned at birth. Domestic violence causes several thousand children to flee their homes and half a million children reside in orphanages; termination of parental rights being a leading reason. In the strife torn regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia, the rates of poverty and infant mortality are twice the national average and children are exposed to war, physical and sexual violence.
 
The Mission of TEARS adoption program grew out of its initial work with orphaned children in Russia. In 1993, the first Russian Child was adopted into Canada and was the first of many.
Russian adoptions are distinct in that they require two trips to the country to complete the process.
 
Once a family is approved by the ministry of Child and Family Services in Ontario, the process involves:
• Sending the file overseas for registration at the Ministry of Education
• Awaiting a child referral
• Receipt of invitation to travel to Russia to visit the child
• Travel to Russia to visit the child, sign court applications and initiate
   immigration process
• Return to Canada to await court dates
• Travel to Russia again to complete court and immigration procedures
   and escort the child back to Canada
 
Russian adoptions can take between 15 - 20 months months from start to finish.
Our overseas associates assist with accommodations, travel within the country and all overseas procedures.