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Russia
| Population |
143 Million |
| Location |
Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean |
| Size |
17,075,200 sq km (approximately 1.8 times the size of the US) |
| Terrain |
Broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions |
| Climate |
Ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast |
| Peoples |
Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% |
| Languages |
Russian, many minority languages |
| Religions |
Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (Note: estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule) |
 Russia Links
 CIA World Factbook Russia Information Page
State Department Russia Background Notes
Praying for Russia
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Russia is a proud but despairing nation. It has been systematically plundered and looted by the very ones who once deceived it with the morally destructive Communist ideology. The hopes of spiritual renewal of the early 1990s have been dashed by the failures of both political and Church leadership. Pray that Christian values of loving, sacrificial service and moral integrity might dispel the corrosive impact and legacy of Communism on both society and the Christian Church. |
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The combined effects of the collapse of funding for health services, the availability of free abortions for birth control and a general sense of communal despair is causing accelerated population decline through family disintegration, alcoholism, TB, AIDS, high infant mortality and emigration. Pray for improved funding, morale to be restored and Christians to play a greater role in health care. |
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The religious freedom of the 1991-1997 period was a time of euphoria, excitement and interest created by disillusionment with the old system and its leaders. The ideological vacuum was rapidly filled by eager foreign Evangelicals, Western and Eastern sects, the indigenous Vissarion movement and a rise in occultism, parapsychology and even Satanism. Roman Catholics multiplied because of their credible opposition to Communism. Evangelical congregations increased from 2,700 in 1990 to possibly 6,000 in 2000 but the Evangelical percentage increase was far less (0.6% to 0.7%). The expected harvest was not brought in to the churches. Pray for the redressing of these weaknesses. |
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Emigration of Christians has become an unspoken but crippling problem. The overall economic crisis, despair about the future, relentless Orthodox-instigated propaganda against ‘sects’ and the increase in crime, provoke any with the means or contacts to emigrate to the West. Many of the evangelical population under Communism were ethnically German-- most Mennonites and many Baptists and Lutherans have now emigrated to Germany. They have been followed by many Russian Evangelicals. Many pastors have left; theological students trained abroad rarely return. The loss of leadership and educators is now crippling growth, damaging morale and hindering vision for the future. A new generation of committed leaders of bold faith is needed. |
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Evangelicals learned to survive under persecution, but this needs to change. There is little indigenous initiative for nation-wide planning--those that exist are often of foreign origin. Pray for a new spirit of faith and expectancy and emergence of goals that enthuse local congregations across the Federation. |
More World Information Links
CIA World Factbook (Home Page)
State Department Background Notes (Main Page)
Operation World
Global Prayer Digest
People Groups
Joshua Project
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Operation World
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Language: English
ISBN: 1850783578
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