At different times, Russia's neighbors were different. The largest country in the world has the largest number of states bordering it: 18 countries - poor and rich, weak and powerful, friendly and not so.
Unlike each other
The total length of the border with them is approaching 70 thousand kilometers. History has changed, some states have become part of Russia, others withdrew from its composition. This is a mandatory process when changing the political system.
Russian neighbors such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia are unrecognized republics; The USA and Japan have only water borders with a great power. 38 out of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation located along its borders are adjacent to one, two, or three states. Such regions rich in foreign neighbors include the Altai Territory (Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia) and the Pskov region (neighbors Estonia, Latvia, Belarus).
Neighbors with a common border
All states located in close proximity are divided into neighbors of the first and second order. Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Abkhazia, Georgia, South Ossetia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, North Korea and 2 countries with maritime borders - the United States and Japan - all of them belong to the concept of “first-order Russian neighbors ". There are very few synonyms for a word denoting a state bordering a country." And these names are subjective - mezhak, pripolshchik, scraper. At the time of the Warsaw Pact, the countries included in it could be called twin cities. The same was true for China and North Korea. It is not easy to explain which countries are Russia's neighbors of the second order. Without fear of tautology, we can say that these are neighbors of the first, above-mentioned states. The land borders in this case are 22, and 2 are maritime.
The world's longest maritime borders
The largest country has the longest maritime borders in the world. A distance of almost 20, 000 kilometers is the northern outskirts of Russia, stretching along the shores of the seas of the Arctic Ocean. The second longest maritime border runs in the east, washed by the Pacific Ocean.
Neighbors in the south
Russia's southern neighbors are Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, as well as Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The longest land border with Kazakhstan also passes in the south, the importance of which for our country is difficult to overestimate. The republic occupies the 9th place in the world over the territory, and the first among large countries that do not have access to the World Ocean. The capital is the newly rebuilt city of Astana. The border between Europe and Asia passes through the territory of the republic. Located at the junction of two worlds, rich in fertile lands and minerals, the country absorbs all the best and is rapidly developing. Kazakhstan is a member of the Customs Union, and in the full sense of the word justifies the concept of "close neighbors of Russia."
Partner states
Of course, China is a special neighbor for Russia, and not only because the economy of this country is predicted to be the first in the world by the end of 2014. The country ranks first in the list of Russia's Neighbors in Asia and is a strategic partner of our country. The good-neighborly relations between Beijing and Moscow, without exaggeration, play a crucial role on the world stage and contribute to the establishment of a new world order. These two powers have many internal contradictions and problems, and it is also better to overcome them, using mutual experience.
Good relations with neighbors - state policy
It is very important for the Russian Federation to have good relations with all border countries. Their establishment and strengthening is a state policy. Unfortunately, Russia's southern neighbors, such as Azerbaijan and Georgia, do not take a completely peaceful position. For a thousand years, Mongolia and Russia have lived side by side in friendship and harmony. A wonderful film by N. Mikhalkov “Urga - Territory of Love” can serve as a picture of these relations. China and Russia are not just close neighbors of this country, they are its only neighbors. Therefore, peace and understanding are so important in this triune alliance. It is no less important in relations with the self-proclaimed South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in which the whole future is connected only with Russia.
Northern neighbors
As noted above, the longest border of our state runs along the shores of the northern seas - the Laptev, Kara, East Siberian, White and Barents. The outskirts of the Arctic Ocean is located between Russia and Alaska, a semi-enclave of the United States. Thus, Russia's northern neighbors are countries located along the shores of the Arctic. These include Iceland, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), the United States of America and Canada.
The Arctic Ocean had a lot of names. At different times it was called Northern, Scythian, Tatar. On Russian maps of the XVII-XVIII centuries, he also had several designations - the Sea-Ocean, the Arctic, the Arctic Sea and others. He was named Hyperborean in 1650 by the geographer Varenius. The Far North has long been considered the birthplace of the god of cold winds Borea, and therefore the name of the ocean received the corresponding. The prefix "hyper" refers to its size. It was on its shores that all the northern neighbors of Russia were located. even at the North Pole, which is located in the center of the Arctic Ocean (this name was adopted in 1935), the flag of Russia is set. And Norway is both a northern and a western border state.
Neighbors in the west
Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus are the western neighbors of Russia. Two of them, namely Lithuania and Poland, are bordered by a half-enclave (a territory that does not have a common border with the country, but overlooks the sea) - the Kaliningrad region. With all countries of this list, except Belarus, which is a member of the Customs Union and is a good close neighbor, Russia was at war for different periods of time. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, its former Baltic republics, despite their more than modest opportunities in absolutely all areas, were unfriendly. But only income from tourists from Russia can significantly replenish their budget.
Russia is a good profitable neighbor
It is regrettable to note that not all territorially close neighbors of Russia are her friends. History does not teach anything … No matter how people fill their foreheads, stepping on the same rake, they still forget that “a bad world is better than a good war”; that the clear benefits of peaceful coexistence are being lost; that the post-war complexes are terrible, and then entire nations will be cured of them for a very long time; it's worth listening to the advice of your own seers.
Russia is a great, distinctive, rich country, and good relations with it can bring invaluable dividends to reasonable neighbors.
