Quick Fact: Wild Russia

Russia is vast, the vastest country on Earth, twice the size of the USA, or China, five times the size of India, twenty-five times the size of the UK. However, it has a relatively small population of 146 million, fewer people than Pakistan.

The recent invasion of Afghanistan gave hope to the great Russian dream of it’s army being able ‘to wash their boots in the warm waters of the Indian ocean’, from the words of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the founder and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. The ports on the Arctic, such as Murmansk, would freeze and become ice-locked for several months each year. This does not just halt trade in the region, but also prevents the Russian navy from operating in its true potential. In addition, water-bourne aircrafts are much cheaper than on land. Thus one of Russia’s ultimate plans to achieve the status of being a global power with an unmatched military is to claim a warm-water port where the water does not freeze in winter, with free access to the world’s major trading routes. The lack of warm-water ports has always been and may always be Russia’s Achilles’ Heel. However, Russia’s geography makes up for this loss by having a plentiful supply of oil and gas.

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