May 19, 2013
The week's top five must-sees,
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The week's top five must-sees,
delivered to your inbox.
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Description
Russia or, also officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, 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, Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the world's ninth most populous nation with 143 million people as of 2012. Extending across the whole of northern Asia, Russia spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves. Its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's liquid fresh water, 20% in Lake Baikal alone.
(via Freebase)
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![Lavrov accuses West of blackmailing Russia over Syria [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-7216000/7216880/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=d729ee0bd45e08c22e5e943b51674e2f)
![UN begins talks on arms trade treaty as Syria casts shadow [Al Jazeera, Qatar]](/images/image_cache/base-6567000/6567785/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=b131841dda759b2df01ebb5004df4dca)
