Riddles

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What is in seasons, seconds, centuries and minutes but not in decades, years or days?

The letter 'n'.

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Where does June come before May? (in the dictionary)

RUSSIA

(Russian Federation)

The Russian Federation, or Russia, is the largest country in the world. The total area of Russia is over 17 million square kilometers.

It occupies a vast territory of Eastern Europe and part of Northern Asia.

The mountain range named the Urals divides Europe and Asia.

Russia is washed by many seas (the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea,

the Caspian Sea among them) and three oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. Russia borders on Norway and Finland in the north-west, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine in the west, Georgia and Azerbaidjan in the south-west, Kazakhstan in the south, Mongolia, China and North Korea in the south-east. Russia has also a sea-border with the USA.

There are many forests in the main plains, Great Russian Plain and West Siberian Lowland. The main trees are oak, birch, pine and fir.

There are also a lot of mountains in the south (the North Caucasus and the Altai). Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus is the highest mountain in Europe.

The longest river in Europe is the Volga. The Siberian rivers Ob, Yenisey, Lena and Amur are among the longest rivers in the world.

Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world`s purest and deepest fresh water lake.

There are several types of climate in the country. In the north it’s arctic, in the central part it’s temperate and continental and in the south it’s subtropical.

The population of Russia is about 143 million people (2010 census). Ethnic Russians comprise 81% of the country's population. Tatars make up about 4% of the population and Bashkirs make up 1%.

Russia’s industry is very well developed because the country is rich in such mineral resources as oil, natural gas, coal, iron, gold and other metals. Russia’s agriculture produces grain, potatoes, meat, milk and other products.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow with the population of about 10 million people. Russia has 21 autonomous republics, 9 territories and 46 provinces.

Russia is a federal republic where President is the Head of State.

The Russian Parliament (the Federal Assembly) consists of the Federation Council which is the upper house and the State Duma which is the lower house.