BACKGROUND:

Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific.

Under PETER I (1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms.

Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR.  The brutal rule of Josif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened Communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives.

The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernise Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has shifted its post-Soviet democratic ambitions in favour of a centralised semi-authoritarian state in which the leadership seeks to legitimise its rule through managed national elections, populist appeals by former President PUTIN, and continued economic growth. Russia has severely disabled a Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.

GEOGRAPHY

Location: North Asia bordering the Arctic Ocean, extending from Europe (the portion west of the Urals) to the North Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E

Area:Total:

17,098,242 sq kms

Country comparison to the world: 1

Land: 16,377,742 sq kms

Water: 720,500 sq kms

Area - comparative:

Approximately 1.8 times the size of the USA

Land boundaries:

Total: 20,241.5 kms

Border countries: Azerbaijan 284 kms: Belarus 959 kms; China (southeast) 3,605 kms; China (south) 40 kms; Estonia 290 kms; Finland 1,313 kms; Georgia 723 kms; Kazakhstan 6,846 kms; North Korea 17.5 kms; Latvia 292 kms; Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 kms; Mongolia 3,441 kms; Norway 196 kms; Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 432 kms; Ukraine 1,576 kms.

Coastline:

37,653 kms

Maritime claims:

Territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (nm)

Contiguous zone: 24 nm

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Continental shelf: 200 miles depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate:

Ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast

Terrain:

Broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions

Elevation extremes:

Lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 metres

Highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 metres

Natural resources:

Wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, reserves of rare earth elements, timber

NB: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources

Land use:

Arable land: 7.17 percent

Permanent crops: 0.11 percent

Other: 92.72 percent (2005)

Irrigated land:

43,460 sq kms (2008)

Total renewable water resources:

4,498 cu kms (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

Total: 76.68 cu kms/yr (19%/63%/18%)

Per capita: 535 cu metres/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

Permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia

Volcanism: Russia experiences significant volcanic activity on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands; the peninsula alone is home to some 29 historically active volcanoes, with dozens more in the Kuril Islands; Kliuchevskoi (elev. 4,835 m, 15,863 ft), which erupted in 2007 and 2010, is Kamchatka's most active volcano; Avachinsky and Koryaksky volcanoes, which pose a threat to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, have been deemed "Decade Volcanoes" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to

Human populations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Bezymianny, Chikurachki, Ebeko, Gorely, Grozny, Karymsky, Ketoi, Kronotsky, Ksudach, Medvezhia, Mutnovsky, Sarychev Peak, Shiveluch, Tiatia, Tolbachik, and Zheltovsky

Environment - current issues:

Air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides

Environment - international agreements:

Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling

Geography - note:

Largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavourably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture; Mount El'brus is Europe's tallest peak

PEOPLE:

Nationality:

noun: Russian(s)

adjective: Russian

Ethnic Groups:

Russian 79.8 percent; Tatar 3.8 percent; Ukrainian 2 percent;  Chucahs 1.1 percent; other or unspecified 12.1 percent (2002 census)

Languages:

Russian (official),many minority languages

Religions:

Russian Orthodox 15 to 20 percent; Muslim 10 to 15 percent; other Christian 2 percent (2006 est)

note: estimates are of practicing worshippers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule.

Population:

138,082,178 (July 2012 est.)

country comparison to the world: 9

Age structure:

0-14 years: 15.2 percent (male 10,818,203/female 10,256,611)

15-64 years: 71.8 percent (male 47,480,851/female 52,113,279)

65 years and over: 13 percent (male 5,456,639/female 12,614,309) (2011 est.)

Median age:

total: 38.7 years

male: 35.5 years

female: 41.9 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.48% (2012 est.)

country comparison to the world: 219

Birth rate:

10.94 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

country comparison to the world: 172

Death rate:

16.03 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

country comparison to the world: 2

Net migration rate:

0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

country comparison to the world: 68

Urbanization:

urban population: 73 percent of total population (2010)

rate of urbanisation: -0.2 percent annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population:

MOSCOW (capital) 10.523 million; Saint Petersburg 4.575 million; Novosibirsk 1.397 million; Yekaterinburg 1.344 million; Nizhniy Novgorod 1.267 million (2009)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.44 male(s)/female

total population: 0.85 male(s)/female (2012 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 9.88 deaths/1,000 live births

country comparison to the world: 146

male: 11.36 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 8.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 66.46 years

country comparison to the world: 163

male: 60.11 years

female: 73.18 years (2012 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.43 children born/woman (2012 est.)

country comparison to the world: 196

Health expenditures:

5.4 percent of GDP (2009)

country comparison to the world:132

 Physicians density:

4.3089 physicians/1,000 population (2006)

country comparison to the world: 8

Hospital bed density:

9.66 beds/1,000 population (2006)

country comparison to the world: 5

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhoea

vector borne disease: tick borne encephalitis

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

Education expenditures:

3.9 percent of GDP (2006)

country comparison to the world: 107

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population:  99.4 percent

male: 9 9.7 percent

female: 99.2 percent (2002 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 14 years

male: 14 years

female: 1 5 years (2008)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:

total: 18.3 percent

country comparison to the world: 64

male: 17.7 percent

female: 19.1 percent (2009)

GOVERNMENT:

Country name:

conventional long form: Russian Federation

conventional short form: Russia

local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya

local short form: Rossiya

former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Government type:

federation

Capital:

name: Moscow

geographic coordinates: 55 45 N, 37 35 E

time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October (Russia announced it will remain on daylight savings time permanently from 27 March 2011)

NB : Russia is divided into nine time zones

Administrative divisions:

46 provinces (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics (respublik, singular - respublika), 4 autonomous okrugs (avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 9 krays (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (goroda, singular - gorod), and 1 autonomous oblast (avtonomnaya oblast')

oblasts: Amur (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Belgorod, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Magadan, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan', Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samara, Saratov, Smolensk, Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Tambov, Tomsk, Tula, Tver', Tyumen', Ul'yanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh, Yaroslavl'

republics: Adygeya (Maykop), Altay (Gorno-Altaysk), Bashkortostan (Ufa), Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude), Chechnya (Groznyy), Chuvashiya (Cheboksary), Dagestan (Makhachkala), Ingushetiya (Magas), Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik), Kalmykiya (Elista), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk), Kareliya (Petrozavodsk), Khakasiya (Abakan), Komi (Syktyvkar), Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola), Mordoviya (Saransk), North Ossetia (Vladikavkaz), Sakha [Yakutiya] (Yakutsk), Tatarstan (Kazan'), Tyva (Kyzyl), Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)

autonomous okrugs: Chukotka (Anadyr'), Khanty-Mansi (Khanty-Mansiysk), Nenets (Nar'yan-Mar), Yamalo-Nenets (Salekhard)

krays: Altay (Barnaul), Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm', Primorskiy [Maritime] (Vladivostok), Stavropol', Zabaykal'sk (Chita)

federal cities: Moscow [Moskva], Saint Petersburg [Sankt-Peterburg]

autonomous oblast: Yevrey [Jewish] (Birobidzhan)

note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centres (exceptions have the administrative centre name following in parentheses)

Independence:

24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: 1157 (Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal created); 16 January 1547 (Tsardom of Muscovy established); 22 October 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed); 30 December 1922 (Soviet Union established)

National holiday:

Russia Day, 12 June (1990)

Constitution:

adopted 12 December 1993

Legal system:

based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

Chief of state: President Dmitriy Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV (since 7 May 2008)

Head of government: Premier Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (since 8 May 2008); First Deputy Premiers Igor Ivanovich SHUVALOV and Viktor Alekseyevich ZUBKOV (since 12 May 2008); Deputy Premiers Sergey Borisovich IVANOV (since 12 May 2008), Aleksandr Gennadiyevich KHLOPONIN (since 19 January 2010), Dmitriy Nikolayevich KOZAK (since 14 October 2008), Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 24 September 2007), Igor Ivanovich SECHIN (since 12 May 2008), Vyacheslav Viktorovich VOLODIN (since 21 October 2010), Aleksandr Dmitriyevich ZHUKOV (since 9 March 2004)

Cabinet: the "Government" is composed of the premier, his deputies, and ministers; all are appointed by the president, and the premier is also confirmed by the Duma

Note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president

Elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 4 March 2012 (next to be held in March 2018)

NB ; the term length was extended from four to six years in late 2008 and went into effect after the 2012 election; there is no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma

Election results:

Vladimir PUTIN elected president; percent of vote - Vladimir PUTIN 63.6 percent, Gennady ZYUGANOV 17.2 percent, Mikhail PROKHOROV 8 percent, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKY 6.2 percent, Sergey MIRONOV 3.9 percent, other 1.1 percent; note - PUTIN is scheduled to assume the presidency on 7 May 2012.

Legislative branch:

bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of an upper house, the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (166 seats; members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 83 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members to serve four-year terms) and a lower house, the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; as of 2007, all members elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least seven percent of the vote; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

elections: State Duma - last held on 4 December 2011 (next to be held in December 2015)

election results: State Duma - United Russia 49.6 percent; CPRF 19.2 percent; Just Russia 13.2 percent; LDPR 11.7 percent; other 6.3 percent; total seats by party - United Russia 238, CPRF 92, Just Russia 64, LDPR 56

Judicial branch:

Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Supreme Arbitration Court; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president

Political parties and leaders:

A Just Russia [Sergey MIRONOV]; Communist Party of the Russian Federation or CPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Patriots of Russia [Gennadiy SEMIGIN]; Right Cause [Leonid Yakovlevich GOZMAN, Boris Yuriyevich TITOV, and Georgiy Georgiyevich BOVT] (formed from merger of Civic Force, Democratic Party of Russia, and Union of Right Forces); United Russia [Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN]; Yabloko Party [Sergey Sergeyevich MITROKHIN]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Association of Citizens with Initiative of Russia (TIGR); Confederation of Labour of Russia (KTR); Federation of Independent Labour Unions of Russia; Freedom of Choice Interregional Organization of Automobilists; Glasnost Defence Foundation; Golos Association in Defense of Voters' Rights; Greenpeace Russia; Human Rights Watch (Russian chapter); Institute for Collective Action; Memorial (human rights group); Movement Against Illegal Migration; Pamjat (preservation of historical monuments and recording of history); Russian Orthodox Church; Russian Federation of Car Owners; Russian-Chechen Friendship Society; SOVA Analytical-Information Centre; Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers; World Wildlife Fund (Russian chapter)

International organization participation:

APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE, CERN (observer), CICA, CIS, CSTO, EAEC, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-8, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD (accession state), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer), ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Sergey Ivanovich KISLYAK

chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708

FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735

consulate(s) general: Houston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Michael A. MCFAUL

embassy: Bolshoy Deviatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow

mailing address: PSC-77, APO AE 09721

telephone: [7] (495) 728-5000

FAX: [7] (495) 728-5090

consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg

Flag description:

three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red

note: the colours may have been based on those of the Dutch flag; despite many popular interpretations, there is no official meaning assigned to the colours of the Russian flag; this flag inspired other Slav countries to adopt horizontal tricolours of the same colours but in different arrangements, and so red, blue, and white became the Pan-Slav colours

National anthem:

name: "Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii" (National Anthem of the Russian Federation)

lyrics/music: Sergei Vladimirovich MIKHALKOV/Alexandr Vasilievich ALEXANDROV

note: in 2000, Russia adopted the tune of the anthem of the former Soviet Union (composed in 1939); the lyrics, also adopted in 2000, were written by the same person who authored the Soviet lyrics in 1943.

ECONOMY:

Overview:

Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatised most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defence-related sectors.

The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. Russian industry is primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers. In 2011, Russia became the world's leading oil producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia; Russia is the second-largest producer of natural gas; Russia holds the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second-largest coal reserves, and the eighth-largest crude oil reserves. Russia is the third-largest exporter of steel and primary aluminium - and other less competitive heavy industries that remain dependent on the Russian domestic market.

This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices. The government since 2007 has embarked on an ambitious program to reduce this dependency and build up the country's high technology sectors, but with few results so far. The economy had averaged 7% growth in the decade following the 1998 Russian financial crisis, resulting in a doubling of real disposable incomes and the emergence of a middle class.  The Russian economy, however, was one of the hardest hit by the 2008-09 global economic crisis as oil prices plummeted and the foreign credits that Russian banks and firms relied on dried up.

According to the World Bank the government's anti-crisis package in 2008-09 amounted to roughly 6.7% of GDP. The Central Bank of Russia spent one-third of its $600 billion international reserves, the world's third largest, in late 2008 to slow the devaluation of the ruble. The government also devoted USD200 billion in a rescue plan to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts coming due. The economic decline bottomed out in mid-2009 and the economy began to grow in the third quarter of 2009. However, a severe drought and fires in central Russia reduced agricultural output, prompting a ban on grain exports for part of the year, and slowed growth in other sectors such as manufacturing and retail trade.

High oil prices buoyed Russian growth in 2011 and helped Russia reduce the budget deficit inherited from the lean years of 2008-09. Russia has reduced unemployment since 2009 and has made progress on reducing inflation since 2010. Russia's long-term challenges include a shrinking workforce, a high level of corruption, difficulty in accessing capital for smaller, non-energy companies, and poor infrastructure in need of large investments.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

USD 2.373 trillion (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 7

USD 2.276 trillion (2010 est.)

USD 2.188 trillion (2009 est.)

NB: data are in 2011 USD

GDP (official exchange rate):

USD1.855 trillion (2011 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

4.3 percent (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 92

4.0% (2010 est)

-7.8% (2009 est)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

USD 16,700 (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 70

USD 15,900 (2010 est.)

USD 15,300 (2009 est.)

note: data are in 2011 USD

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 4.2 percent

industry: 37.0 percent

services: 58.9 percent (2011 est.)

Labour force:

75.41 million (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 8

Labour force - by occupation:

agriculture: 9.8 percent

industry: 27.5 percent

services: 62.7 percent (2010)

Unemployment rate:

6.8 percent (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 71

7.5 percent (2010 est)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10 percent: 2.6 percent

highest 10 percent: 33.5 percent (2008)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

42 (2010)

country comparison to the world: 53

39.9 (2001)

Investment (gross fixed):

21.1 percent of GDP (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 156

Budget:

revenues: USD 382.8 billion

expenditures: USD 376.2 billion (2011 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: >

20.3 percent of GDP (2011 est)

country comparison to the world: 156

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):

0.4 percent of GDP (2011 est)

country comparison to the world: 38

Public debt:

8.7 percent of GDP (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 125

7.9 percent of GDP (2010 est.)

NB: data cover general Government Debt, and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by Government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by sub national entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment. Debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions.

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

8.9 percent (2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 184

6.9 percent (2010 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

5.5  percent (31 December 2010 est.)

country comparison to the world: 37

10.817 percent (31 December 2010 est.)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

9.2 percent (31 December 2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 84

10.817 percent (31 December 2010 est.)

Stock of narrow money:

USD 350.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 16

USD 268.7 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

Stock of broad money:

USD 870.2 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 19

USD 780.6 billion (31 December 2010)

Stock of domestic credit:

USD 759.6 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

country comparison to the world: 21

USD 573.2 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

USD 1.005 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

country comparison to the world: 16

USD 861.4 billion  (31 December 2009)

USD 397.2 billion  (31 December 2008 est.

Extract from CIA World Factbook: March 2012/Expatica