• Literacy rate: 99%
• Numbers in tertiary education: 5.43m students

The education system

Schooling is free, and is compulsory for nine years up to age 15.

Attempts to change the Soviet-based curriculum, still widely in use, are hampered by lack of funds. Hundreds of private lycées, such as those run by the Orthodox Church, offer courses in west European languages. German in particular has made a comeback as a key language for international commerce. The state-subsidized higher education system is seriously underfunded, and some institutions have begun charging students. Prestigious institutions such as the Academy of Sciences have been forced to cut staff and research. Most academics have to rely on extramural earnings.

• Protected land as percentage of total land area: 8% (0.8% partially protected)
• CO2 emissions trend: 9.9 tonnes per capita

Environmental treaties

• Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Washington DC, 1973: yes
• Convention on Biological Diversity Earth Summit in Rio, 1992: yes
• 1992 Amendment to protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (amendment to Montreal Protocol) Copenhagen, 1992: no
• Kyoto Convention on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions Earth Summit in Kyoto, 1997: yes
• Basel convention on the dumping of hazardous wastes (Basel) Basel, 1989: yes
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar) Ramsar, Iran 1971: yes

Though awareness of environmental problems has risen sharply, resources, political will, and know-how to tackle them are still lacking. In 2004 the government agreed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, but an active green movement has yet to win significant electoral support.

Each region has its own particular problems. The northwest risks contamination from the neglected Soviet-era nuclear submarine fleet and from nuclear waste containers dumped in the Barents Sea. Thousands of tonnes of chemical weapons have been dumped in the Baltic, though their exact location has not been revealed. In the Urals and the cities of European Russia, many chemical and heavy industrial plants do not treat their effluents at all. Several fish species are now extinct in the Volga River in central Russia. In 2001 parliament approved a bill to allow the atomic energy ministry Minatom to earn $2 billion a year from storing and reprocessing foreign nuclear waste.

• Doctors: 1 per 238 people
• Major causes of death: Cerebrovascular and heart diseases, accidents, cancers

The health care system is in crisis and medicines are often in short supply. Nearly two-thirds of children are deemed "unhealthy."

Until 1991, state enterprises provided considerable health care for employees. Employers should now make payments through the Medical Insurance Fund, but many privatized concerns seek to cut costs. Bribing medical staff to obtain treatment is commonplace, and there is a lack of pharmaceutical products and drugs. Alcoholism is increasing as a cause of death.