Creating a democratic political system and a market economy to replace the bureaucracy and centralism of the past has proved an elusive goal.

Russia has a rich literary tradition stretching from Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevskiy in Tsarist times to Solzhenitsyn in the Soviet era. Composers from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov to Prokofiev and Shostakovich have left a lasting musical legacy.

The country impresses with its diversity and size. Spanning 10 time zones, this Eurasian land mass covers over 17m sq kms. Its climate ranges from the Arctic north to the generally temperate south.

After nearly 10 years of crisis, peaking in August 1998 with the devaluation of the rouble, the Russian economy bounced back more quickly than many expected. However, it is heavily dependent on world oil prices.

In the privatization years of the 1990s Russia provided entrepreneurs with the potential for rich pickings. A small group of people, often referred to as oligarchs, acquired vast interests in the energy and media sectors.

Some analysts believed that Yeltsin allowed their influence to extend too far into the political field but President Putin soon made it clear that there was no question of that with him in charge. Some oligarchs found themselves facing criminal investigation and one or two household names felt it necessary to leave the country.

While Russians make up over 80% of the population and Orthodox Christianity is the main religion, there are many other ethnic and religious groups. Muslims are concentrated among the Volga Tatars and the Bashkirs and in the North Caucasus.

Chechnya remains a major problem for Moscow. Many thousands have died since Russian troops were first sent in to put down a separatist rebellion in 1994 and guerrilla fighters continue to mount attacks. However, the Kremlin has faced less criticism from the West over its actions in Chechnya in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks on the USA.

Russia's supportive policy on the US-led campaign against international terrorism also had an impact on the country's relations with Nato. The two sides agreed in May 2002 to establish the Nato-Russia Council giving Russia an equal role with Nato countries in decision making on policy to counter terrorism and other security threats.

Nevertheless, Russia was firm in its opposition to the US-led military action against Iraq in the spring of 2003, insisting that UN weapons inspectors be given as much time as they needed to do their work. The country has consistently shown that its desire to build a new relationship with the USA will not deter it from going its own way on key issues.

RUSSIA FACTS

Population: 143.2 million (UN, 2003)

Capital: Moscow

Major language: Russian

Major religions: Christianity, Islam

Life expectancy: 61 years (men), 73 years (women) (UN)

Monetary unit: 1 rouble = 100 kopecks

Main exports: Oil and oil products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, weapons and military equipment

Average annual income: US $1,750 (World Bank, 2001)

Internet domain: .ru

International dialling code: +7

President: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Vladimir Putin started his career in the ranks of the KGB. From 1990 he worked in the St Petersburg administration, before moving to Moscow in 1996. By August 1999 he was prime minister.

President Vladimir Putin

Mr Putin was named acting president by his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, who resigned on the last day of 1999. Mr Yeltsin introduced him as the man who could "unite around himself those who will revive Great Russia".

Mr Putin subsequently won elections and took office as president in his own right in May 2000 having won widespread popularity for his pledge to take a tough line against Chechen rebels.

He has said he wants to modernise Russia and has been credited with introducing economic reforms which have balanced the budget and cut inflation.

Concerns about Mr Putin's attitude to freedom of speech were reinforced when independent TV broadcasters critical of the Kremlin were forced off the air in the first two years of his presidency. Not everyone was convinced by the president's insistence that this was business, not politics.

These concerns were renewed when the last nationwide independent TV station was suddenly taken off the air and replaced by a sports channel in June 2003. Political observers were quick to highlight the fact that the axing of the only national TV station to criticise the Kremlin came just six months before important elections.

United Russia, the party backed by Mr Putin, won a landslide victory in the December 2003 parliamentary elections in which the Communists came a very distant second and nationalist parties substantially increased their representation. More liberal parties lost virtually all their seats. Mr Putin has very substantial control over parliament.

He hailed the vote as a sign of strengthening democracy in Russia. OSCE observers differed, describing it as "overwhelmingly distorted". They highlighted media support for pro-Kremlin parties and the availability to United Russia of state resources.

The stage is set for presidential elections in March.