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Mother Russia, the "Land of the Firebird," is a country steeped in mystery, mysticism and folk-lore. Sprawling across the entire northern extent of Asia from Europe to the Bering Sea  , Russia's vast expanse makes it the largest country on earth. The sun can literally be rising in Moscow while setting on the eastern tip of Siberia. Spanning eleven time zones and two continents, ending less than 50 miles from North America, the landscape is a blend of brooding forests including the great Siberian taiga, the world's largest forest system (more than two million square miles) containing about half of the world's evergreen forest. Russia is a landscape of seemingly endless steppes and thousands of rivers great and small teeming with fish and wildlife. There are swamps, marshes, and lakes, awe inspiring volcanos, towering mountains, and arid deserts.
Encompassing 16,995,800 sq km (6,562,078 sq mi) of the Asian landscape, Russia covers about 1.8 times more territory than either Canada (9,220,970 sq km / 3,851,809 sq mi) or the United States (9,363,175 sq km / 3,615,122 sq mi).
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HIGHEST ELEVATION |
LOWEST ELEVATION |
| Russia |
MT EL'BRUS
5,642 meters (18,510 feet) |
CASIAN DEPRESSION
-28 m (-92 ft) |
Russia shares a 19,913 km 12,373 mi) international boundary with neighboring countries. Beginning in the northwest, a walk along Russia's land border would take you 167 km (104 mi) from the shore of the Barents Sea past Norway, 1,313 km (816 mi) past Finland, 290 km (180 mi) past Estonia, and 217 km (135 mi) along the border with Latvia.
The small enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic Sea has a 227 km (141 mi) border with Lithuania and a 206 km (128 mi) border with northern Poland.
Continuing your hike south 959 km (596 mi) past Belarus and 1,576 km (979 mi) past Ukraine brings you to the shore of the Black Sea. You next hike 723 km (449 mi) along the Georgia border and another 284 km (176 mi) around Azerbaijan.
Turning north, you walk the beaches of the Caspian Sea until you reach the border with Kazakstan. A long trek of 6,846 km (4,254 mi) takes you to Russia's short, 40 km (25 mi) border with northwest China. Traveling east for 3,441 km (2,138 mi) along the Mongolian border marks the start of a 3,605 km (2,240 mi) journey along the border with northeast China.
Finally, a short hike of 19 km (12 mi) along the border with North Korea brings you to the East Sea.
The Russian coastline stretches for 35,653 km (22,154 mi). Beginning in the far northwest, Russia's north shore disappears beneath the icy waters of the Gulf of Finland, the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea, and the East Siberian Sea. The Arctic Sea lies beyond to the far north.
In the southwest, Russian beaches touch the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The eastern and southeastern shorelines are washed by the waters of the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the East Sea.
Russia claims maritime rights over the continental shelf to a depth of 200 meters (656 feet), or to the depth of exploitation. It also claims an exclusive economic zone that extends 367 km (200 nm) and a territorial limit of 22 km (12 nm).
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