Russia
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Geography
People
Government
Economy
Communications
Transportation
Military
Transnational Issues

Russia
Geography
Location: Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes included with
Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific
Ocean
Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area:
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km
water: 79,400 sq km
Areacomparative: slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 19,917 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China
(south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan
6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast)
227 km, Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 167 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206
km, Ukraine 1,576 km
Coastline: 37,653 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
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
Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and
tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Mount El'brus 5,633 m
Natural resources: wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural
gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber
note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation
of natural resources
Land use:
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 46%
other: 42% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 40,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development;
volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka
Peninsula
Environmentcurrent issues: air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric
plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial and agricultural pollution
of inland waterways and sea coasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination
from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes
intense radioactive contamination
Environmentinternational agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur
85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94
Geographynote: largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located
in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the
country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture
People
Population: 146,861,022 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 20% (male 14,756,787; female 14,189,564)
15-64 years: 68% (male 48,138,173; female 51,366,412)
65 years and over: 12% (male 5,699,334; female 12,710,752) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: -0.31% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 9.57 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 14.89 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.44 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 23.26 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.97 years
male: 58.61 years
female: 71.64 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.34 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Russian(s)
adjective: Russian
Ethnic groups: Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%,
Byelorussian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1%
Religions: Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other
Languages: Russian, other
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 100%
female: 97% (1989 est.)
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Russian Federation
conventional short form: Russia
local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
local short form: Rossiya
former: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Data code: RS
Government type: federation
National capital: Moscow
Administrative divisions: oblasts (oblastey, singularoblast'), 21 autonomous republics* (avtonomnyk
respublik, singularavtonomnaya respublika), 10 autonomous okrugs**(avtonomnykh
okrugov, singularavtonomnyy okrug), 6 krays*** (krayev, singularkray),
2 federal cities (singulargorod)****, and 1 autonomous oblast*****(avtonomnaya
oblast'); Adygeya (Maykop)*, Aginskiy Buryatskiy (Aginskoye)**, Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)*,
Altayskiy (Barnaul)***, Amurskaya (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'skaya, Astrakhanskaya,
Bashkortostan (Ufa)*, Belgorodskaya, Bryanskaya, Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)*, Chechnya
(Groznyy)*, Chelyabinskaya, Chitinskaya, Chukotskiy (Anadyr')**, Chuvashiya
(Cheboksary)*, Dagestan (Makhachkala)*, Evenkiyskiy (Tura)**, Ingushetiya
(Nazran')*, Irkutskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)*, Kaliningradskaya,
Kalmykiya (Elista)*, Kaluzkskaya, Kamchatskaya (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy),
Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)*, Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)*, Kemerovskaya,
Khabarovskiy***, Khakasiya (Abakan)*, Khanty-Mansiyskiy (Khanty-Mansiysk)**,
Kirovskaya, Komi (Syktyvkar)*, Koryakskiy (Palana)**, Kostromskaya, Krasnodarskiy***,
Krasnoyarskiy***, Kurganskaya, Kurskaya, Leningradskaya, Lipetskaya, Magadanskaya,
Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)*, Mordoviya (Saransk)*, Moskovskaya, Moskva****, Murmanskaya,
Nenetskiy (Nar'yan-Mar)**, Nizhegorodskaya, Novgorodskaya, Novosibirskaya,
Omskaya, Orenburgskaya, Orlovskaya (Orel), Penzenskaya, Permskaya, Komi-Permyatskiy
(Kudymkar)**, Primorskiy (Vladivostok)***, Pskovskaya, Rostovskaya, Ryazanskaya,
Sakha (Yakutsk)*, Sakhalinskaya (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samarskaya, Sankt-Peterburg****,
Saratovskaya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya (Vladikavkaz)*, Smolenskaya, Stavropol'skiy***,
Sverdlovskaya (Yekaterinburg), Tambovskaya, Tatarstan (Kazan')*, Taymyrskiy
(Dudinka)**, Tomskaya, Tul'skaya, Tverskaya, Tyumenskaya, Tyva (Kyzyl)*, Udmurtiya
(Izhevsk)*, Ul'yanovskaya, Ust'-Ordynskiy Buryatskiy (Ust'-Ordynskiy)**, Vladimirskaya,
Volgogradskaya, Vologodskaya, Voronezhskaya, Yamalo-Nenetskiy (Salekhard)**,
Yaroslavskaya, Yevreyskaya*****; notewhen using a place name with an adjectival
ending 'skaya' or 'skiy,' the word Oblast' or Avonomnyy Okrug or Kray should
be added to the place name
note: the autonomous republics of Chechnya and Ingushetiya were formerly the
autonomous republic of Checheno-Ingushetia (the boundary between Chechnya
and Ingushetia has yet to be determined); the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg
are federal cities; administrative divisions have the same names as their
administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following
in parentheses)
Independence: 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday: Independence Day, June 12 (1990)
Constitution: adopted 12 December 1993
Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN (since 12 June 1991)
head of government: Premier and Chairman of the Russian Federation Government Sergey Vladilenovich
KIRIYENKO (since 23 March 1998), Deputy Premiers and Deputy Chairmen of the
Government Viktor Borisovich KHRISTENKO (since 28 April 1998), Boris Yefimovich
NEMTSOV (since 28 April 1998), Oleg Nikolayevich SYSUYEV (since 17 March 1997)
cabinet: Ministries of the Government or Government appointed by the president
note: there is also a Presidential Administration that drafts presidential
edicts and provides staff and policy support to the entire executive branch;
a Security Council that was originally established as a presidential advisory
body in June 1991 with responsibility for managing individual and state security;
a Defense Council and a Foreign Policy Council formed in July 1996 and October
1996 respectively
elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last
held 16 June 1996 with runoff election on 3 July 1996 (next to be held NA
June 2000); noteno vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot
exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier
succeeds him; the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential
election is held, which must be within three months; premier and deputy premiers
appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma
election results: Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN elected president; percent of vote in runoff
- YEL'TSIN 54%, Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV 40%
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federal'noye Sobraniye consists of the
Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats, filled ex-officio by the
top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative
unitsoblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the
cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the
State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats, half elected in single-member
districts and half elected from national party lists; members are elected
by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: State Dumalast held 17 December 1995 (next to be held NA December
1999)
election results: State Dumapercent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold
entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party list seatsCommunist
Party of the Russian Federation 22.3%, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
11.2%, Our Home Is Russia 10.1%, Yabloko Bloc 6.9%; seats by partyCommunist
Party of the Russian Federation 157, independents 78, Our Home Is Russia 55,
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 51, Yabloko Bloc 45, Agrarian Party of
Russia 20, Russia's Democratic Choice 9, Power To the People 9, Congress of
Russian Communities 5, Forward, Russia! 3, Women of Russia 3, other parties
15
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, judges are appointed for life by the Federation
Council on recommendation of the president; Supreme Court, judges are appointed
for life by the Federation Council on recommendation of the president; Superior
Court of Arbitration, judges are appointed for life by the Federation Council
on recommendation of the president
Political parties and leaders:
pro-market democrats: Yabloko Bloc Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY; Russia's Democratic
Choice Party Yegor Timurovich GAYDAR; Forward, Russia! Boris Grigor'yevich
FEDOROV
centrists/special interest parties: Our Home Is Russia Viktor Stepanovich CHERNOMYRDIN; Russian People's
Republican Party Aleksandr Ivanovich LEBED; Congress of Russian Communities
Dmitriy Olegovich ROGOZIN; Women of Russia Alevtina Vasil'yevna FEDULOVA
and Yekaterina Filippovna LAKHOVA
anti-market and/or ultranationalist: Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV;
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Vol'fovich ZHIRINOVSKIY; Agrarian
Party Mikhail Ivanovich LAPSHIN; Power To the People Nikolay Ivanovich
RYZHKOV and Sergey Nikolayevich BABURIN; Russian Communist Workers' Party
Viktor Ivanovich ANPILOV and Viktor Arkad'yevich TYUL'KIN
note: some 269 political parties, blocs, and associations tried to gather
enough signatures to run slates of candidates in the 17 December 1995 Duma
elections; 43 succeeded
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: BIS (pending member), BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC,
EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF,
IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer),
MINUGUA, MINURSO, MTCR, NSG, OAS (observer), OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security
Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNOMIG,
UNPREDEP, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Yuliy Mikhaylovich VORONTSOV
chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: 1 (202) 298-5700 through 5704
FAX: 1 (202) 298-5735
consulate(s) general: New York, San Francisco, and Seattle
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador James F. COLLINS
embassy: Novinskiy Bul'var 19/23, Moscow
mailing address: APO AE 09721
telephone: 7 (095) 252-24-51 through 59
FAX: 7 (095) 956-42-61
consulate(s) general: St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red
Economy
Economyoverview: Russia, a vast country with a wealth of natural resources, a well-educated
population, and a diverse, but declining, industrial base, continues to experience
formidable difficulties in moving from its old centrally planned economy to
a modern market economy. After seven consecutive years of contraction 1990-96
in which GDP fell by one-third, GDP grew by 0.4% in 1997, according to official
statistics. Moscow continued to make strides in its battle against inflation,
which fell to 11%, half the 1996 rate. The central government made good on
most back wages owed public-sector employeesincluding the militaryalthough
the stock of wage arrears to employees of private enterprises remained large.
Privatization revenues increased significantly, largely on the strength of
a few high-profile tenders, such as that of telecommunications giant Svyazinvest.
On the downside, Moscow continued to struggle with a severe fiscal imbalance.
Lagging tax collections led the government to adopt a revised budget in spring
1997 that cut spending by about 20% despite protests from the legislature.
Russia's traditional trade surplus continued to contractlargely because
of soft international commodity pricesand Moscow's WTrO accession made
only halting progress. Although President YEL'TSIN brought in a new economic
team early in 1997, key structural reform initiatives continue to move slowly.
A revised tax code remains stuck in the Duma, while little progress is being
made on agricultural land reform. Small business development has lagged. Prospects
for a return to robust growth have been set back by the spillover from Asia's
financial turmoil, which hit Russia hard during the last quarter of 1997.
Moscow at first tried to both support the ruble and keep interest rates down,
but this policy proved unsustainable, and in early December 1997 the Central
Bank let interest rates rise sharply. As the year ended, Russian authorities
were attempting to put the best face on the financial situation, while at
the same time scaling back their previous optimistic growth projections for
1998 to 1%-2%. Because of Russia's severe macroeconomic constraints, resources
allocated to the military sector have declined sharply since the implosion
of the USSR in December 1991.
GDP: purchasing power parity$692 billion (1997 est.)
GDPreal growth rate: 0.4% (1997 est.)
GDPper capita: purchasing power parity$4,700 (1997 est.)
GDPcomposition by sector:
agriculture: 7%
industry: 39%
services: 54% (1996)
Inflation rateconsumer price index: 11% (1997 est.)
Labor force:
total: 66 million (1997)
by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 9% (1997 est.) with considerable additional underemployment
Budget:
revenues: $59 billion
expenditures: $70 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
Industries: complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil,
gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills
to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; shipbuilding; road and rail
transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery,
tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting
equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles,
foodstuffs, handicrafts
Industrial production growth rate: 1.9% (1997 est.)
Electricitycapacity: 214.687 million kW (1995)
Electricityproduction: 834 billion kWh (1997)
Electricityconsumption per capita: 5,508 kWh (1995)
Agricultureproducts: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits (because of its
northern location does not grow citrus, cotton, tea, and other warm climate
products); meat, milk
Exports:
total value: $86.7 billion (1997)
commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products,
metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures
partners: Europe, North America, Japan, Third World countries
Imports:
total value: $66.9 billion (1997)
commodities: machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar,
semifinished metal products
partners: Europe, North America, Japan, Third World countries
Debtexternal: $135 billion (yearend 1996)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $15 billion drawn (1990-97)
note: US commitments, including Ex-Im, $15 billion (1990-96); other countries,
ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1990-96), $125 billion
Currency: 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks
Exchange rates: rubles per US$15,941 (December 1997), 5,785 (1997), 5,121 (1996),
4,559 (1995), 2,191 (1994), 992 (1993)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 25.4 million (1993 est.)
Telephone system: total pay phones for long distant calls 34,100; enlisting foreign help,
by means of joint ventures, to speed up the modernization of its telecommunications
system; in 1992, only 661,000 new telephones were installed compared with
855,000 in 1991, and in 1992 the number of unsatisfied applications for telephones
reached 11,000,000; expanded access to international electronic mail service
available via Sprint network; the inadequacy of Russian telecommunications
is a severe handicap to the economy, especially with respect to international
connections
domestic: NMT-450 analog cellular telephone networks are operational and growing
in Moscow and St. Petersburg; intercity fiber-optic cable installation remains
limited
international: international traffic is inadequately handled by a system of satellites,
landlines, microwave radio relay, and outdated submarine cables; much of this
traffic passes through the international gateway switch in Moscow which carries
most of the international traffic for the other countries of the Commonwealth
of Independent States; a new Russian Intersputnik satellite will link Moscow
and St. Petersburg with Rome from whence calls will be relayed to destinations
in Europe and overseas; satellite earth stationsNA Intelsat, 4 Intersputnik
(2 Atlantic Ocean region and 2 Indian Ocean region), NA Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat
(Pacific Ocean region), and NA Orbita
Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA; notethere are about 1,050 (including
AM, FM, and shortwave) radio broadcast stations throughout the country
Radios: 50 million (1993 est.)(radio receivers with multiple speaker systems
for program diffusion 74,300,000)
Television broadcast stations: 7,183
Televisions: 54.85 million (1992 est.)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 154,000 km; note87,000 km in common carrier service (38,000 km electrified);
67,000 km serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier
use
broad gauge: 154,000 km 1.520-m gauge (1 January 1994)
Highways:
total: 948,000 km (including 416,000 km which serve specific industries or
farms and are not maintained by governmental highway maintenance departments)
paved: 336,000 km
unpaved: 612,000 km (including 411,000 km of graveled or other forms of macadam
surface and 201,000 km of unstabilized earth) (1995 est.)
Waterways: total navigable routes in general use 101,000 km; routes with navigation
guides serving the Russian River Fleet 95,900 km; routes with night navigational
aids 60,400 km; man-made navigable routes 16,900 km (1 January 1994)
Pipelines: crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000
km (30 June 1993)
Ports and harbors: Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Kaliningrad, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Kholmsk,
Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Nevel'sk, Novorossiysk, Petropavlovsk,
St. Petersburg, Rostov, Sochi, Tuapse, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vostochnyy,
Vyborg
Merchant marine:
total: 540 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,531,937 GRT/6,253,940 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 18, cargo 291, combination bulk 21, combination
ore/oil 12, container 24, multifunction large-load carrier 2, oil tanker 107,
passenger 2, passenger-cargo 4, refrigerated cargo 20, roll-on/roll-off cargo
28, short-sea passenger 9, specialized tanker 1
note: Russia owns an additional 176 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,240,776
DWT operating under the registries of The Bahamas, Cambodia, Cyprus, Honduras,
Liberia, Malta, Panama, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Singapore (1997
est.)
Airports: 2,517 (1994 est.)
Airportswith paved runways:
total: 630
over 3,047 m: 54
2,438 to 3,047 m: 202
1,524 to 2,437 m: 108
914 to 1,523 m: 115
under 914 m: 151 (1994 est.)
Airportswith unpaved runways:
total: 1,887
over 3,047 m: 25
2,438 to 3,047 m: 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 134
914 to 1,523 m: 291
under 914 m: 1,392 (1994 est.)
Military
Military branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces, Strategic Rocket
Forces
note: the air force and air defense force are to merge in mid-1998
Military manpowermilitary age: 18 years of age
Military manpoweravailability:
males age 15-49: 38,585,841 (1998 est.)
Military manpowerfit for military service:
males: 30,098,346 (1998 est.)
Military manpowerreaching military age annually:
males: 1,128,416 (1998 est.)
Military expendituresdollar figure: $NA
note: the Intelligence Community estimates that defense spending in Russia
fell by about 10% in real terms in 1996, reducing Russian defense outlays
to about one-sixth of peak Soviet levels in the late 1980s (1997 est.)
Military expenditurespercent of GDP: NA%
Transnational Issues
Disputesinternational: two disputed sections of the boundary with China remain to be settled;
islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan and the Habomai group occupied
by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan;
Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan,
Russia, and Turkmenistan; Estonian and Russian negotiators reached a technical
border agreement in December 1996 which has not been ratified; Estonia claimed
over 2,000 sq km of territory in the Narva and Pechora regions of Russia -
based on boundary established under the 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu; based
on the 1920 Treaty of Riga, Latvia had claimed the Abrene/Pytalovo section
of border ceded by the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic to Russia in 1944;
draft treaty delimiting the boundary with Latvia has not been signed; has
made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do
so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation; 1997 border agreement
with Lithuania not yet ratified; Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary
dispute in the Barents Sea between Norway and Russia
Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for domestic
consumption; government has active eradication program; increasingly used
as transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian opiates and cannabis
and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe, the US, and growing domestic
market
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