1987 Edition

Boundary disputes

China (Pamir, Argun, Amur, and Khabarovsk areas); US Government has not recognized incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into Soviet Union; Habomai Islands, Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan islands occupied by Soviet Union since 1945, claimed by Japan; Kuril Islands administered by Soviet Union; maritime disputes with Sweden, Norway; has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation; Bessarabia question with Romania

Climate

mostly temperate to arctic continental; winters vary from cool along Black Sea to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from hot in southern deserts to cool along Arctic coast

Coastline

108,346 km (60,085 km mainland; 48,261 islands)

Comparative area

almost two and onehalf times the size of US

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Environment

despite size and diversity, small percentage of land is arable and much is too far north; some of most fertile land is water deficient or has insufficient growing season; many better climates have poor soils; hot, dry, desiccating sukhovey wind affects south; desertification

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Land boundaries

20,217 km total

Land use

10% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures; 41% forest and woodland; 32% other; includes 1% irrigated

Leningrad

*, u Othoisk "kiay MOSCOW : & ° Svardiovsk The Unstad States Government has not recognized the incorporation of Eatoma Lata and Lithuania into tha Sowat Union Other boundary representation 19 NOt Naceasarily authoritative

Special notes

largest country in world, but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of world

Terrain

broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia, deserts in Central Asia, mountains in south

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

2000 km Arctic Ocean Barents Sea *i: | ne Murmansk Be. rs Baltic Saa y ‘

22,402,200 km?; land area: 22,272,000 km?

Ethnic divisions

52% Russian, 16% Ukrainian, 32% among over 100 other ethnic groups, according to 1979 census

Infant mortality rate

27.9/1,000 (1982)

Labor force

civilian 148 million (midyear 1984), 20% agriculture, 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields; unemployed not reported; shortage of skilled labor reported

Language

Russian (official); more than 200 languages and dialects (at least 18 with more than | million speakers); 75% Slavic group, 8% other Indo-European, 12% Altaic, 3% Uralian, 2% Caucasian

Life expectancy

men 64, women 74

Literacy

99%

Nationality

noun—Soviet(s); adjective— Soviet

Population

284,008,160 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.90%

Religion

18% Russian Orthodox; 9% Muslim; 3% Jewish, Protestant, Georgian Orthodox, or Roman Catholic; population is 70% atheist

Administrative divisions

15 union republics, consisting of 20 autonomous republics, 6 krays, 123 oblasts, 8 autonomous oblasts, and 10 autonomous okrugs

Branches

executive—USSR Council of Ministers, legislative—USSR Supreme Soviet, judicial—Supreme Court of USSR

Communists

over 18 million party members

Elections

to Supreme Soviet every five years; 1,500 seats in 1984; 71.5% held by party members

Government leaders

Mikhail Sergeyevich GORBACHEV, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (since 11 March 1985); Nikolay Ivanovich RYZHKOV, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers (since 28 September 1985); Andrey Andreyevich GROMYKO, Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet (since 2 July 1985)

Legal system

civil law system as modified by Communist legal theory; revised constitution adopted 1977; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member of

CEMA, ESCAP, Geneva Disarmament Conference, IAEA, IBEC, ICAC, ICAO, ICCAT, ICCO, ICES, ILO, IMO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, INRO, 1IPU, ISO, iTC, 1TU, JWC—International Whaling Commission, 1WC—international Wheat Council, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

October Revolution Day, 7 November

Official name

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Other political or pressure groups

Komsomol, trade unions, and other organizations that facilitate Communist control

Political party

Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) only party permitted

Suffrage

universal over age 18; direct, equal

Type

Communist state Capital; Moscow

Voting strength

(1984 election) 99.95% of the 197,292,000 persons over 18 voted for Communist-sponsored single slate

Agriculture

principal food crops—grain (especially wheat), potatoes; main industrial crops—sugar beets, cotton, sunflowers, and flax; degree of self-sufficiency depends on fluctuations in crop yields, particularly grain; large grain importer over past decade

Aid

total extended to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-85), $33 billion

Crude steel

174 million metric ton capacity; 155 million metric tons produced, 558 kg per capita (1985)

Electric power

327,000,000 kW capacity; 1,600,000 million kWh produced, 5,670 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$86,956 billion (f.0.b., 1985); petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (primarily capital goods and arms)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Fishing

catch 10.7 million metric tons; exports 501,598 metric tons, 418,912 metric tons; exports exclude canned fish, canned crab, and caviar (1985)

GNP

$2,062.6 billion (1985, in 1985 geometric mean prices), $7,396 per capita; in 1985 percentage shares were—50% consumption, 30% investment, 20% government and other, including elements of defense (based on 1982 rubles at adjusted factor cost); average annual growth rate of real GNP 2.4% (1971-85); average annual growth rate 2.1% (1976-85); 1.2% (1985)

Imports

$82,922 billion (f.o.b., 1985); grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large diameter pipe), consumer manufactures

Major industries

diversified, highly developed capital goods industries; consumer goods industries comparatively less developed

Major trade partners

$169.9 billion (1985 total turnover); 61% Communist countries, 27% industrialized West, 12% with less developed countries

Monetary conversion rate

official, 0.838 ruble=US$1 (1985 average); the exchange rate is administratively set and should not be used to convert domestic rubles to dollars

Natural resources

fossil fuels, hydroelectric power, timber, manganese, lead, zinc, nickel, mercury, potash, phosphates

Shortages

fertilizer, pesticides, feed, natural rubber, bauxite and alumina, tantalum, tin, tungsten, fluorspar, molybdenum, and finished steel products

Airfields

4,400 total; 470 with runways 2,500 m or longer

Civil air

4,500 major transport aircraft

Freight carried

rail—3,958 million metric tons, 3.72 trillion metric tons/km (1985); highways—25.5 billion metric tons, 477 billion metric tons/km (1985); waterway— 632 million metric tons, 261.6 billion metric tons/km, excluding Caspian Sea (1984)

Highways

1,516,700 km total; 439,000 km asphalt, concrete, stone block; 354,000 km asphalt treated, gravel, crushed stone; 723,700 km earth (1984)

Inland waterways

136,700 km navigable, exclusive of Caspian Sea (1984)

Pipelines

78,300 km crude oil and refined products; 165,000 km natural gas (1984)

Ports

53 major (most important—Leningrad, Riga, Tallinn, Kaliningrad, Liepaja, Ventspils, Murmansk, Arkhangel’sk, Odessa, Novorossiysk, !l’ichevsk, Nikolayev, Sevastopol’, Vladivostok, Nakhodka), 180 minor; 58 major inland ports (most important—Astrakhan’, Baku, Gor’kiy, Kazan’, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuybyshev, Moscow, Rostov, Volgograd, Kiev)

Railroads

144,800 km total; 142,967 km 1.524-meter broad gauge; 1,833 km mostly 0.750-meter narrow gauge; 113,315 km broad-gauge single track; 47,900 km electrified; does not include industrial lines (1984)

Telecommunications

extensive network of AM-FM stations broadcasting both Moscow and regional programs; main TV centers in Moscow and Leningrad plus 11 more in the Soviet republics; hundreds of TV stations; 85,000,000 TV sets; 162,000,000 receiver sets; many satellite ground stations and extensive satellite networks

Branches

Ground Forces, Navy, Air Defense Forces, Air Forces, Strategic Rocket Forces

Military manpower

males 15-49, 69,563,000; 55,293,000 fit for military service; 2,197,000 reach military age (17) annually