Introduction of russia

By:Tasneem Albaik
Russia also officially known as the Russian Federation is a country in northern Eurasia.It is a federal semi-presidential republic. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world,The world's largest country by land area, Russia ranks sixth in terms of population. It has a total population of 143,500,000.
There are at least 60 different recognized ethnic groups in Russia, but the vast majority of the population are Russians (80%). There are also Ukrainians (2%) and such non-Slavic linguistic and ethnic groups as Tatars (4%), Bashkirs, Chuvash, Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Udmurts, Mari, Mordovians, Jews, Germans, Armenians, and numerous groups in the Far North and in the Caucasus. Russian is the official language.

The majority of Russia's population has no religious affiliation due to the antireligious ideology of the Soviet Union. The Russian Orthodox Church, headquartered in Moscow, has about 60 million adherents; the numbers have grown rapidly since the end of Soviet rule. There are also communities of Old Believers, a group that broke with the Orthodox Church in the 17th cent., as well as a large Muslim minority. Other religions include various Christian churches, Lamaist Buddhism, Judaism, and tribal religions.
The Russian economy ranks as the ninth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2014.Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources, the largest reserves in the world,have made it one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas globally. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
The Russian Constitution guarantees free, universal health care for all its citizens.In practice, however, free health care is partially restricted because of mandatory registration.While Russia has more physicians, hospitals, and health care workers than almost any other country in the world on a per capita basis,since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the health of the Russian population has declined considerably as a result of social, economic, and lifestyle changes; the trend has been reversed only in the recent years.
Basic medical care, including emergency services, is provided free to every person in the country. The quality of public healthcare is lower than in most advanced countries and English-speaking doctors are not often available, but in the largest cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg, there are plenty of private options.
For the state healthcare fund employees and employers pay around 2 to 3 percent of wages to a social tax and then a small percentage of that money goes into the healthcare fund. Dependant family members are covered by the contributions paid by employed family members. The unemployed, old age pensioners and people on long-term sickness benefit are also entitled to free health, with the state covering their contribution. Vulnerable groups are not exempt from fees payable directly to doctors, which again makes healthcare virtually impossible, for them. The self employed must pay their own contributions in full. Foreigners immigrating to Russia without jobs must produce proof of private health insurance in order to obtain their residence permit.
The state fund covers a basic healthcare package; however citizens who can afford private insurance can ensure that they receive the best medical care available. Private medical services include treatment by specialists, hospitalisation, prescriptions, pregnancy and childbirth and rehabilitation.
There are two primary types of health insurance in Russia: the compulsory insurance known as OMC, and privately purchased medical insurance, or DMC. OMC is provided by the state and is provided free to Russians, but many vital treatments and procedures are not covered by the compulsory plan. In addition, OMC applies only to treatments at a specific hospital; if a person covered only by OMC become ill while travelling, even within Russia, he or she will not be covered by OMC, and will have to pay in full for medical services, except in emergency cases that require calling an ambulance.
Few can afford this option and those in dire need of good medical care may be forced to take out private insurance; for example a retired pensioner, is entitled to free health care in at least one institution. If the treatment given in that institution is not satisfactory, he must decide whether to spend five years of pension allowance on a single year of healthcare.
Russian citizens are all untitled to free healthcare from the state but most doctors will ask for extra payment or take a bribe for their services because medical professionals are often very poorly paid.
The price of private health insurance in Russia varies from 10,000 to 45,000 rubles per year, depending on the number of medical establishments and services included in the plan. In the event of a medical emergency or accident, a patient covered by health insurance in Russia should call his or her insurance provider, and an operator will advise him or her on the necessary medical procedures. Even private medical insurance in Russia has exceptions, however; for example, no insurance policy available in Russia will cover pre-existing conditions or terminal illnesses.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia
http://www.europe-cities.com/en/633/russia/health/