- published: 17 Dec 2013
- views: 1852157
Russia i/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating 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 and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
In a far of land there lived a beautiful butterfly
In a kingdom full of blossom covered trees
And winding through this paradise, a river danced along
And played with the constant summer breeze
The butterfly found a tiny branch at the riverside
And watched the water rushing who-knows-where
Carefully he sheltered from the power of the breeze
For surely it could toss him through the air
“I’m a butterfly,” he said, “trivial and small
And in the greater scheme of things I don’t mean much at all
So I’ll flap my wings to stretch myself and just enjoy the view
I’m a butterfly, what more can I do?”
One afternoon, the butterfly asked the river
“Madam, what makes you hurry so?
What splendid destination are you rippling toward?
Where, oh, where do you go?”
The river said, “I’m headed for the ocean
And summer breeze inspires me to race
My friend, you’d love the ocean, it’s remarkable to see
Won’t you join our friendly chase?”
“I’m a butterfly,” he said, “trivial and small
And in the greater scheme of things I don’t mean much at all
So I’ll flap my wings to stretch myself and just enjoy the view
I’m a butterfly, what more can I do?”
So the butterfly, he dreamed of the ocean
He longed to flutter high above the seas
But there are dangers in the sky for a tiny butterfly
So from his branch he asked a question of the breeze
“What makes you chase the river towards the ocean?”
And the breeze told him a most amazing thing
“I’m simply made up of the currents in the air
That start from the movement of your wing, your tiny wing
“You’re a butterfly my friend, powerful and strong
And I’m grateful for the way you’ve always hurried me along
When you flap your wings to stretch yourself, it might seem small to you
But you change the world with everything you do”
So he stretched his wings and took off from the safety of his tree