Destination Russia, a Nations Online Project Profile of the world’s largest country. The country, officially the Russian Federation, which is commonly referred to as Russia, is located partly in Eastern Europe and partly in North Asia; it borders the Arctic Ocean to the north.
Russia is bordered by 14 countries, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, and Ukraine. It also shares maritime borders with Japan, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States.
With an area of 17,098,242 km², the country is more than twice the size of the contiguous United States. It is the largest country in the world (by area) and covers more than 11% of the Earth’s landmass. However, vast regions of the country were uninhabited or uninhabitable.
Russia is a country with a low population density (8.5 people/km², compared with Germany 226 people/km², and the USA about 33 people/km²). But still, Russia has a population of 146.8 million people (in 2020), it is the number 9 in the Top 10 of the most populous countries. Most Russians live in the westernmost fifth of the country in the European part of Russia.
The capital and largest city is Moscow, the core of political power and the center of culture and trade. St. Petersburg, the former imperial capital, is Russia’s second-largest city and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea.