Julia

RUSSIA

Geography
====The Russian Federation is the largest of the 21 republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent States. Occupies most of eastern Europe and north Asia, and stretching from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. The Caucasus in the south, It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the northwest. Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania in the west.====

Economy
The **economy of [|Russia]** is the [|ninth largest economy in the world by nominal value] and the [|sixth largest] by [|purchasing power parity] (PPP). Russia has an abundance of natural gas, oil, coal, and precious metals. Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the [|Soviet Union], moving from a [|centrally planned economy] to a more [|market-based] and [|globally integrated economy].Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defense-related sectors. Nonetheless, the rapid privatization process, including a much criticized "loans-for-shares" scheme that turned over major state-owned firms to politically connected "oligarchs", has left equity ownership highly concentrated. As of 2011, Russia's capital, Moscow, now has the highest billionaire population of any city in the world. In late 2008 and early 2009, Russia experienced the first recession after 10 years of rising economy, until the stable growth resumed in late 2009 and 2010. Despite the deep but brief recession, the economy has not been as seriously affected by the [|global financial crisis] compared to much of Europe, largely because of the integration of short-term macroeconomic policies that helped the economy survive.

History
====In the late 15th century, Duke Ivan III acquired Novgorod and Tver and threw off the Mongol yoke. Ivan IV—the Terrible (1533–1584), first Muscovite czar—is considered to have founded the Russian state. He crushed the power of rival princes and boyars (great landowners), but Russia remained largely medieval until the reign of Peter the Great (1689–1725), grandson of the first Romanov czar, Michael (1613–1645). Peter made extensive reforms aimed at westernization and, through his defeat of Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, he extended Russia's boundaries to the west. Catherine the Great (1762–1796) continued Peter's westernization program and also expanded Russian territory, acquiring the Crimea, Ukraine, and part of Poland. During the reign of Alexander I (1801–1825), Napoléon's attempt to subdue Russia was defeated (1812–1813), and new territory was gained, including Finland (1809) and Bessarabia (1812). Alexander originated the Holy Alliance, which for a time crushed Europe's rising liberal movement. Alexander II (1855–1881) pushed Russia's borders to the Pacific and into central Asia. Serfdom was abolished in 1861, but heavy restrictions were imposed on the emancipated class. Revolutionary strikes, following Russia's defeat in the war with Japan, forced Nicholas II (1894–1917) to grant a representative national body (Duma), elected by narrowly limited suffrage. It met for the first time in 1906 but had little influence on Nicholas.==== =Government= After a shakeup in late 2008 dissolved and combined several parties, seven registered parties remained: United Russia, the Communist Party (KPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), Just Russia, Yabloko, Patriots of Russia, and the new Right Cause party. Yabloko, which favors liberal reforms, and Patriots of Russia failed to clear the 7% threshold in 2007 to enter the Duma. The next round of Duma elections will be held on December 4, 2011. Subdivisions: 83 federal subjects (members of the Federation), including 21 republics, 9 krays, 46 oblasts, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous oblast, and 4 autonomous okrugs.

And next I went to the Kremlin
====

Did you know the Kremlin is different from Red Square but it is close to Kremlin?
==It is the most touristic destination in the heart of Moscow, but its separate objects. Kremlin is a historical fortress and Red Square is the most famous square in Russia, using for all official military parades, demonstrations and public events.==

==Tretyakow gallery was built in 1902–04, the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. The Tretyakov gives you the chance to discover the rich tradition from which these great artists sprang onto the world stage.== = = And Russian music is =media type="youtube" key="nwMeVPV3_tU" height="315" width="420"=

=Ukraine=

Economy
The **economy of Ukraine** is an [|emerging] [|free market], with a [|gross domestic product] that fell sharply for the first 10 years of its independence from the [|Soviet Union] and then experienced rapid growth from 2000 until 2008. Formerly a major component of the [|economy of the Soviet Union], the country's economy experienced a deep recession during the 1990s, including [|hyperinflation] and a drastic fall in economic output. In 1999, at the lowest point of the economic crisis, [|Ukraine]'s per capita GDP was about half of the per capita GDP it achieved before independence. GDP growth was first registered in 2000, and continued for eight years. In 2007 the economy continued to grow and posted real GDP growth of 7%.[|[][|8][|]] In 2008, Ukraine's economy was ranked [|45th in the world] according to 2008 GDP (nominal) with the total nominal GDP of 188 billion USD, and nominal per capita GDP of 3,900 USD. However [|Ukraine was greatly affected] by the [|economic crisis of 2008] and as a result a 15.1% decrease in Ukraine's GDP took place over 2008 and 2009.[|[][|9][|]] Inflation slowed in July 2009 and stayed at about 8% since.[|[][|10][|]] The [|Ukrainian currency], which had been pegged at a rate of 5:1 to the U.S. dollar, was devalued to 8:1, and was stabilized at that ratio. There was 3% unemployment at the end of 2008; over the first 9 months of 2009, unemployment averaged 9.4%.[|[][|11][|]] The final official unemployment rates over 2009 and 2010 where 8.8% and 8,4%.[|[][|9][|]] Although according to the [|CIA World Factbook] in Ukraine there are "large number of unregistered or underemployed workers".[|[][|9][|]] The Ukrainian economy recovered in the first quarter of 2010.[|[][|12][|]] Ukraine's real GDP growth in 2010 was 4.3%, leading to per capita PPP GDP of 6,700 USD.[|[][|9][|]] The resumed growth has been helped by growth in neighbouring [|Russia], which is by far the country's largest trading partner and export market. [|Ukrainian politicians] have estimated that 40% of its economy is in fact [|shadow economy].[|[][|13][|]][|[][|14][|]]

Geography
Located in southeast Europe, the country consists largely of fertile black soil steppes. Mountainous areas include the Carpathians in the southwest and the Crimean chain in the south. Ukraine is bordered by Belarus on the north, by Russia on the north and east, by the Black Sea on the south, by Moldova and Romania on the southwest, and by Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland on the west.

History
Ukraine was known as “Kievan Rus” (from which //Russia// is a derivative) up until the 16th century. In the 9th century, Kiev was the major political and cultural center in eastern Europe. Kievan Rus reached the height of its power in the 10th century and adopted Byzantine Christianity. The Mongol conquest in 1240 ended Kievan power. From the 13th to the 16th century, Kiev was under the influence of Poland and western Europe. The negotiation of the Union of Brest-Litovsk in 1596 divided the Ukrainians into Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic faithful. In 1654, Ukraine asked the czar of Moscovy for protection against Poland, and the Treaty of Pereyasav signed that year recognized the suzerainty of Moscow. The agreement was interpreted by Moscow as an invitation to take over Kiev, and the Ukrainian state was eventually absorbed into the Russian Empire. After the Russian Revolution, Ukraine declared its independence from Russia on Jan. 28, 1918, and several years of warfare ensued with several groups. The Red Army finally was victorious over Kiev, and in 1920 Ukraine became a Soviet republic. In 1922, Ukraine became one of the founders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the 1930s, the Soviet government's enforcement of collectivization met with peasant resistance, which in turn prompted the confiscation of grain from Ukrainian farmers by Soviet authorities; the resulting famine took an estimated 5 million lives. Ukraine was one of the most devastated Soviet republics after World War II. (For details on World War II, //see// Headline History, World War II.) On April 26, 1986, the nation's nuclear power plant at Chernobyl was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident. On Oct. 29, 1991, the Ukrainian parliament voted to shut down the reactor within two years' time and asked for international assistance in dismantling it.

Government
//Executive//--president, prime minister, cabinet. //Legislative//--450-member unicameral parliament, the Verkhovna Rada (members elected to 5-year terms from party lists by proportional vote). //Judicial//--Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, local courts, and Constitutional Court. Wide range of active political parties and blocs, from leftist to center and center-right to ultra-nationalist.

=Poland= =Geography= Poland, a country the size of New Mexico, is in north-central Europe. Most of the country is a plain with no natural boundaries except the Carpathian Mountains in the south and the Oder and Neisse rivers in the west. Other major rivers, which are important to commerce, are the Vistula, Warta, and Bug.

Government
The constitution now in effect was approved by a national referendum on May 25, 1997. The constitution codifies Poland's democratic norms and establishes checks and balances among the president, prime minister, and parliament. It also enhances several key elements of democracy, including judicial review and the legislative process, while continuing to guarantee the wide range of civil rights, such as the right to free speech, press, and assembly, which Poles have enjoyed since 1989. =History= Poland's written history begins with the reign of Mieszko I, who accepted Christianity for himself and his kingdom in AD 966. The Polish state reached its zenith under the Jagiellonian dynasty in the years following the union with Lithuania in 1386 and the subsequent defeat of the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald in 1410. The monarchy survived many upheavals but eventually went into decline, which ended with the third and final partition of Poland by Prussia, Russia, and Austria in 1795. However, the Poles were largely responsible for achieving their own independence in 1918. Authoritarian rule predominated for most of the period before World War II. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact, which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of this agreement. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely occupied by German troops. The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government in exile, first in Paris and later in London, which was recognized by the Soviet Union. During World War II, 400,000 Poles fought under Soviet command, and 200,000 went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the Polish government in exile. In April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish government in exile after the German military announced that they had discovered mass graves of murdered Polish army officers at Katyn, in the U.S.S.R. (The Soviets claimed that the Poles had insulted them by requesting that the Red Cross investigate these reports.) In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of National Liberation" at Lublin. 

**ECONOMY**
As the communists handed power to the Mazowiecki government in 1989, the economy was in crisis. Many basic goods were not available on store shelves. Inflation raged over 500%, and the government could not afford to make payments to its international creditors. While the official unemployment rate was low, many workers were employed in state-supported, loss-making industries that the state could no longer afford to support. The democratically elected Mazowiecki government responded with the Balcerowicz Plan, which freed most prices, dramatically reduced state control over the Polish economy, and clamped down on runaway inflation. The international community supported the Balcerowicz Plan with debt restructuring and fresh loans. With stability restored, Poland was able to offer its well-educated, low-wage workforce, its position in Europe’s center, and its tariff-free access to European Union (EU) markets to attract foreign investment--all with the goal of bringing Polish incomes up to the levels of those in the U.S. and Western Europe. One generation later, the reforms since 1989 have brought success and new challenges. Poland joined the EU in 2004. The rate of its per capita economic growth has outpaced those of the U.S. and of its EU partners. Poland also has made progress in closing gaps in personal income and GDP per capita when compared to the EU-27 average, but those gaps remain wide. The country's 2009 per capita GDP by purchasing power standards was 61% of the EU-27 average. Poland's unemployment and inflation rates are close to the EU-27 average. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has played a significant role in supporting Poland’s labor-intensive and medium-technology sectors. FDI has also driven the growth of Poland’s motor vehicle, electrical machinery, and service centers sectors. Still, it will take some time for Poland to reach full parity in terms of income with the historically wealthy countries of Western Europe. =Germany=