Republic of Karelia

Founded: 1478/1923

Head of the Republic: Andrei Vitalyevich Nelidov (nominated June 30, 2010)

Federation Council Representatives: Sergei Katanandov (2010 to 2015), Vladimir Fyodorov (2003 to 2011)

Population: 684,212 (2010 census)

Area: 180,520 square km (69,673 sq. miles)

Capital: Petrozavodsk (population 270,601), 921 km from Moscow

Federal district: Northwestern

Economic region: Northwest

Time zone: Moscow, GMT +3, EST +8

Geography: The Republic of Karelia is located in the northwestern part of Russia, bordered to the west by Finland and to the east by the White Sea. Approximately 50 percent of the territory of the republic is covered by forests. Karelia has over 60,000 lakes, including Lake Ladoga - at 17,700 square km (6,832 sq. miles) the largest lake in Europe, and Lake Onega (9,894 square km; 3,819 sq. miles), the second largest lake in Europe. Karelia also has over 27,000 rivers, the largest of which are: Vodla (400 km; 250 miles), Vyg, Kovda, Kem, Suna, and Shuya.

Urban population: 75%, Rural population: 25%

Ethnic make-up: Russians (73.6%), Karelians (10%), Belorusians (7%), Ukrainians (3.6%), Finns (2.3%) and Veps (0.8%)

Economy: Because the republic is covered with forests, much of its industry centers around the timber industry and paper production.  The republic also processes iron ore.

Mineral Extraction: Karelsky Okatysh, part of Severstal produces and processes iron ore at the Korpangskoye deposit, where commercial reserves are estimated at 320 mln metric tons. Capex in the plant, where total production capacity will be 10 mln metric tons per annum, exceeds Rbs2.6 bln ($100.3 mln). The Korpangskoye deposit is in the mid west of the province.

Official website: www.gov.karelia.ru