The Russian Federation, covering an area of 17 million square km, is the largest country in the world in terms of surface area. It has a coastline of 37 653 km, and land boundaries of 19 961 km, bordering the following countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland and Ukraine. Its climates include those of steppes in the south; humid continental in European Russia; sub-arctic in Siberia; and tundra in the polar north. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to frigid in Siberia, and summers from warm in the steppes to cool in the arctic north. Forests and woodland cover 46% of the land, and only 8% is arable, as the larger parts are either too cold or too dry for agriculture. The country is rich in natural resources, having major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, timber and many strategic minerals. However, the climate, terrain and distances pose obstacles to full exploitation of these resources.

Environmentally, the Russian Federation suffers from air pollution caused by heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants and transportation in major urban areas; industrial and agricultural pollution of inland water ways and seacoasts; deforestation and soil erosion; radioactive contamination; soil contamination from agricultural chemicals; and ground water contamination from toxic waste.