Area:  total: 17,075,200 sq km  land: 16,995,800 sq km Coastline: 37,653 km Population: 146,393,569 (July 1999 est.) Source: CIA Worldfact Book (2000)

Russian Federation   Basic Data Contacts CSD Data Other Links Other Data Country Contacts Government of the Russian Federation (links in Russian)   (Source:  CIA World Factbook 1999)     OCEANS AND COASTAL AREAS Many thanks to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, the source of the following information. The information was taken from the Russia's submission to the 5th and 7th Sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development (last update: January 1999). For further information on the Russia's social and economic factors, natural resources, and institutional structures see the United Nations System-Wide Web Site on National Implementation of the Rio Commitments National Information for the Russian Federation at:  http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/russia/index.htm The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was signed in 1982. In July 1996 the Government of the Russian Federation approved the Convention and submitted it to the President for transmission to the State Duma for ratification.  The following are responsible for decision-making for oceans and coastal areas:   Ministry of Natural Resources of Russian Federation,  Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring  Ministry of Science and Technology of Russian Federation ,  State Committee on the Environment of Russian Federation.  A Federal special-purpose programme called World Ocean was approved in 1998 and is aimed at the comprehensive approach and co-ordination of the national ministries and agencies activities in respect to seas and oceans. It is supposed to be implemented in three stages: 1.The settlement of disputes on marine state boundaries:    national security provision;  experimental use of marine technology;  adequate and proved fish and marine products catch for national requirements;  2. Extraction of mineral resources on industrial scale:   energy supply of coastal regions;  integrated management of coastal zone;  3. Improvement of trade relations and equal opportunities at the international market:   new technology large-scale use;  national integrated informational system on use of seas and oceans;  the expansion of the economic potential of the country through the use of ocean    territories;  stabilisation of economic, ecological and social processes as a result of integrated ocean development.  The Integrated Programme on Coastal Zone Management and effective use of natural resources in the region of the Black and Azov Seas for the 1998-2010 was adopted in 1998. There is also an Integrated Programme on Coastal Zone Management in the Region of the Caspian Sea.  It is assumed that the resources of the World Ocean supersede that of the continents and represent the main source of the future and the main prerequisite of the sustainable development of coastal regions. The off-shore development also helms to avoid the destruction of landscapes and loss of agricultural lands as a result of mining.  The Federal Programme "World Ocean" 1998-2020 includes a Subprogram on Mineral Resources of the Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources of  the Russian Federation. The subprogram is aimed at the exploration and the subsequent exploitation of the natural resources base of the continental shelf and the Ocean. It promotes development of the legislative, informational and technological base of the Ocean exploration. By the end of the Programme term a large scale exploitation of oceanic mineral resources will be put into practice. It also stimulates the development of the state policy in respect of the oceanic mineral resources, including:  political and judicial problems settlement;  economic development of coastal areas;  social and unemployment problems settlement;  provision of coordinative and integrated management of coastal zones and the natural environment.  The total costs of the programme - 190 bln. rub.  The management, conservation and optimal use of basic resources has also become a new strategic principle of Russia's fisheries policy in order to ensure the sustainable development of its fishing industry and equal opportunities for use of these resources under all forms of ownership.  To this end, the Federal Programme for the Development of the Fishing Industry of the Russian Federation up to 2000 ("Ryba") sets out what are basically stabilization measures. This approach is essentially based on genuine State support (budget allocations, grants to meet additional expenditures connected with higher prices of energy, fishing equipment and feedstuffs; organization of preferential tax and credit terms; reduction of customs duties) and on expanded foreign investment to secure an increase in marine catches of 4-4.5 million tons by 2000.  Relevant legislation for oceans and coastal areas include the following:   The Continental Shelf Law of the Russian Federation, 1995;  The Law on Internal Seas, The Territorial Seas and Adjacent Zone of the Russian Federation, 1998.  The Water Code of the Russian Federation, 1995.  The Subsurface Law of the Russian Federation, 1992 with Amendments of 1995.  Status Russia has always been known as a leading maritime nation. The marine boundary is equal to 38,8 thousand km, the shelf zone occupies 4,2 million km², 3,9 million km² are rich in hydrocarbons (that means that 80% of potential oil and gas is accumulated in shelf zone).  Major current uses of the coastal areas in the Russian Federation are mining and oil exploitation. Russia's fishing industry has been facing a period of acute crisis, with a decline in catches and output of food products and, most of important of all, a decrease in the availability of fish products in Russia, something which is unjustified given the shortage of foodstuffs in general and of animal protein in particular. Together with the domestic economic difficulties of Russia's fishing industry, serious new problems have arisen in the international situation. This is primarily a matter of water- resource and fisheries relations with the former republics of the Soviet Union which are now sovereign States - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Khazakstan and Turkmenistan. Russia has to solve these extremely complicated and entirely new problems of an international legal and economic nature for the regions of the Caspian, Black and Baltic Seas.  Some of the difficulties which Russia's fishing industry is experiencing are specific to itself, but there are many global reasons for the worsening of the situation:    Decline of basic stocks for valuable traditional products of the industry, together with a drop in catches per unit;  Overall decline in the economic indicators of the activities of the fleet and shore enterprises;  Intensification of uncontrolled international fishing on the high seas and, in particular, in the northern Pacific Ocean and Barents Sea;  Use of unselective equipment and fishing techniques, etc. Accordingly, Russia has a serious interest in broad international cooperation in the rational exploitation of the bioresources of the world's oceans as a means of checking these negative trends.  Capacity-building, education, training and awareness-raising The year 1998 was proclaimed as the International Ocean Year and was marked by a number of events in Russia. Some of these were as follows:  1. Participation in the Meeting of the NGO Advisory Committee of Protection of Seas in Stockholm. 2. Distribution and signing of individual "My Ocean Charter (Khartya)" (initiated by UNESCO) by a large number of people. On behalf of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation this Khartya has been send to regional sea committees for signing.  3. Russia has been participated in EXPO-98 devoted to seas and oceans with exposition on scientific research of the oceans and the history of their exploration in Russia.  4. The International Conference "The International Law Problems of the World Ocean" devoted to the International Ocean Year took place in 2-6 November 1998 in Moscow.  The Russian Federation has concluded the latest cycle of research under the federal programme Comprehensive research in oceans and seas and in the Arctic and Antarctic, which included the following components:    The physical fields of Russia's seas and the oceans, their interaction with the atmosphere, and the forecasting of short-range changes in the ocean climate;  The chemical regime of Russia's seas and the oceans, mineral and raw material resources, hydrochemical bases of bioproductivity, and anthropogenic changes in the state of the waters;  Ecosystem dynamics, and biological structure and resources of Russia's seas and the oceans;  The geosphere of oceans and seas; composition, structure, development, forecasting and evaluation of mineral resources;  Arctic. Natural environment and its sustainability, mineral and biological resources, hydrometeorological forecasting, and climate;  Antarctic. Natural environment and global change trends;  Technical ways and means of measurement, collection and processing of environmental data; computer technology;  Russia's seas. Natural resources and environmental situation; drafting of recommendations on rational use of natural resources;  Economic, political and legal problems of scientific research on and use of the space and resources of the world's oceans (especially Russia's sea space), the Arctic and Antarctic, and measures to maintain their environmental security.  Constraints Priority constraints include the following:    changing geopolitical situation and newly established state marine boundaries;  aggravating economic situation;  increasing international competition for property rights of the Ocean zones and resources;  the absence of the mechanism of the interregional and interbranch co-ordination in oceanic projects.  Information   At present the information is dispersed between agencies and ministries. (Rosgydromet of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Communication of the Russian Federation, State Committee on Fishery of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, State Committee on the Environment, etc) Within the framework of the Programme World Ocean, a unified informational system is to be arranged . The system will facilitate access to the specialised information of different ministries and submission of the generalised information for the problems of comprehensive character. It will include the establishment of the bank data on the regulative information Under its marine research programme, new methods of marine forecasting have been devised and are being brought into operational use; the foundations have been laid for a modern national system for processing marine data, including the use of super-computers; and marine information systems are being developed in the Arctic and Antarctic. Regular Antarctic research activities are continuing, together with work at an extensive network of Antarctic stations located on the ice continent.  A water quality-monitoring programme has been in operation for some time now in the territorial waters of the former USSR. In spite of the difficulties, this programme will be continued (at a level determined by available resources). A decision has been taken to establish a national reporting centre under the MARPOLMON programme.  Russia has a standing programme of data collection, analysis, evaluation and application with a view to rational resource use, including evaluation of the environmental impact of activities affecting coastal and marine regions. Data bases are being created for evaluation and rational use of coastal regions and all seas and their resources, and measures are being carried out to support the regular monitoring of the state of the environment of coastal and marine regions.  In developing the system of forecasting and other services considerable attention is given to improving the components on the forecasting and detection of dangerous natural phenomena, such as high water levels, storm waves and tidal waves, and to an early-warning and response system for such phenomena.  Efforts are being made to combat the effects of the rise in the level of the Caspian Sea. A system is being developed for forecasting the level of the Caspian over various time spans, and it will be capable of predicting erratic changes. For example, the latest forecast of a change in the average level of the Caspian Sea for one year ahead, produced at Russia's hydrometeorological centre in 1996, predicts a slight drop.    Cooperation In connection with its marine activities and use of marine resources Russia is extensively engaged in international work under the auspices of the United Nations and other international governmental and non-governmental organizations, and in bilateral and multilateral cooperation. In this connection the Russian Federation:    Participates in scientific research on and observation of the marine environment;  Conducts an active exchange of data and information resulting from scientific research and systematic observation through a network of world, regional and national centres.  At present the Russian Federation has several data banks of direct relevance to the international programmes of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), including the World Weather Watch (WWW), and of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), as well as to other global observation systems, and takes an active part in international cooperation in the exchange of data and information and their storage and in the creation of archives through world and regional data centres.  In cooperation with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and other international organizations, the Russian Federation is taking an active part in planning and preparing to implement the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).  Together with countries bordering on the Sea of Japan (China, Republic of Korea, Japan) Russia is participating in the NEARGOOS project under the GOOS programme. Similar activities are being developed with the Black Sea countries. Russia has in operation an extensive system for the training of experts in marine hydrometeorology and  oceanography and it is working under the programme of training, education and mutual assistance (TEMA).  The Russian Federation is helping to strengthen international cooperation for the protection and rational use of seas and oceans. It is active in the following programmes:    The marine aspects of World Weather Watch (World Meteorological Organization WMO);  The marine programmes of IOC, WMO, UNEP, ICSU, International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and other international organizations;  The marine components of global systems for monitoring climate and droughts and of the Global Ocean Observing System;  Marine pollution monitoring programmes.  Great importance is attached to expanding regional cooperation in the Black and Azov Seas and in the Caspian, Baltic, Japan and Bering Seas. Other matters of fundamental importance for the Russian Federation are the forthcoming use of the northern sea route by international shipping and international cooperation in the Russian sector of the Arctic.  Fisheries cooperation with neighbouring countries with which Russia is linked by long-term common interests, primarily the optimal use and conservation of common or interlinked fish stocks (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, China, Japan, United States and the countries of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea basins), must be conducted under strict State control regardless of the form of ownership of the vessels authorized to fish or conduct research operations. This approach is consistent with the responsibility of a State for conservation of natural resources in the interests of present and future generations and its responsibility for the activities of vessels flying its flag.  Another State responsibility is the very important aspect of international activity represented by Russia's active participation in the work of existing and international fisheries organizations and others which are coming into being. Russia welcomes in particular the adoption of two new complementary instruments - the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, and the International Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing, in the drafting of which it took an active part. This represents a contribution by the world's fishing community to the implementation of Agenda 21.  The Russian Federation is a Party to the following related Conventions:  1. Convention on the Protection of the Baltic Sea area, Helsinki,1992 In 1992 Convention was ratified by Russian Government  2. Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, Bucharest, 1992 (ratified in1993)  3. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Montego Bay,1982 (ratified in 1982)  4. International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), London1973, as amended by Protocol, London 1978 (ratified in 1983)  5. Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in North-East Atlantic Fisheries, London,1980 ( Ratified in 1982)  6. Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Canberra, 1980  7. Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean, Reykjavik, 1982.        Other Links Black Sea Environmental Program Caspian Environment Programme       Other Data The following are links to Russia's Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) information compiled by the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) for the following areas:  Baltic Sea  Black Sea  Caspian Sea    (top)