We have put together this article to provide you with resources pertaining to Russia. The unique thing about my articles is that I include a lot of facts. Because I prefer to distribute factual articles, I will typically put in several hours of research to find important facts that will educate the reader. Our articles are pretty noticeable because we tend to display a list of key factual statements in lieu of the traditional paragraph approach. Our format will allow you to find the information you are looking to find.

We have done a lot of research to discover the facts that we have presented to you in this article. These facts are being displayed below. These are important facts so don't ignore them. Most of these facts will be a great starting point as you continue your research:

1. Russian is the official language of Russia and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

2. While its population is aging, the high number of deaths of working-age males due to cardiovascular disease is a major cause of Russia's demographic woes.

3. Russia is now the world's third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminum.

4. Petersburg was established by Peter the Great in 1703 to be the capital of the Russian Empire as part of his Western-looking reforms.

5. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachec (1985-91) introduced glasnost (open) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics.

6. Russia ended its involvement in World War I by signing the humiliating Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

7. The large annual excess of deaths over births, if unabated, could cut Russia's population by 30% over the next 50 years, though inward migration could change this picture.

8. Russia inherited most of the defense industrial base of the Soviet Union, so armaments remain an important export category for Russia.

BACK IN A MOMENT -- Is this article useful so far? I hope so because that's the reason for this article - to get you better educated on Russia and other related subjects. Immediately under this paragraph are additional facts you may find useful:

1. Efforts have been made with varying success over the past few years to convert defense industries to civilian use, and the Russian Government is engaged in an ongoing process to privatize many of the state-owned enterprises.

2. Boris Yeltsin was elected the first president of the Russian Federation in 1991.