The Russian Federation is a huge state, and it has many neighbors. The number of countries with which Russia borders has recently increased - to the 16 states that became neighbors of the Russian Federation immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, two more, partially recognized, were added - Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The length of the border according to unspecified data (in connection with the emergence of new republics) is 62.3 thousand kilometers. This number includes 38 thousand borders passing along the sea and 7 thousand - along 475 lakes and rivers.
European and Asian neighbors
The countries with which Russia borders are located on the entire Eurasian continent. The border between Europe and Asia runs along the Caucasus Range. Therefore, Norway and Finland belong to our country's European neighbors, followed by the three Baltic states that used to be the Soviet republics - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The list is closed by Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. Asian neighbors include immigrants from the Soviet Union - Abkhazia, Georgia, and 70 km belong to South Ossetia, which shares the common border of Georgia with the Russian Federation. Next comes Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, then, as it moves away from Europe, the Russian Federation borders with China, Mongolia, North Korea, Japan and the United States.
The uniqueness of the border of the Russian Federation
The countries that Russia borders with, for the most part (namely 10 out of 18), are former republics of the Soviet Union, which at one time bordered 14 countries - Japan and the USA by sea, and 12 (6 in Europe and 6 in Asia ) by land. The Russian Federation directly with Lithuania and Poland are not adjacent states; the semi-exclave Kaliningrad region has a common border with them.
A semi-exclave is called an sovereign region surrounded by another state, but having access to the sea. On the western border of the Russian Federation there are two small enclaves - on the border with Estonia it is Dubki, on the border with Belarus - Sankovo-Medvezhye, belonging to the Bryansk region.
Good neighborly relations
Thus, the number of countries with which Russia borders, or rather, its vast territory, is equal to 14 states, members of the UN and two partially recognized republics, and Russia borders two other European states through the Kaliningrad region. It should be noted that the common border with Belarus can be crossed anywhere - there is no border control on it. With Kazakhstan, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the border can be crossed only at established checkpoints, but with a Russian passport.
European capitals
The capitals of countries that border Russia, if you move from the extreme northern point of the western border to the same northern point on the eastern, are arranged in this order. The most north-western capital is the city of Oslo (Norway). Then in order follow Helsinki (Finland), Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia). Vilnius (Lithuania) and Warsaw (Poland) border the Kaliningrad region. Next come Minsk (Belarus) and Kiev (Ukraine), and you can put an end to this list of European capitals adjacent to the Russian Federation.
The main cities of Asian neighbors
Asian capitals begin with the Abkhaz city of Sukhumi, followed by Tbilisi - the main city of Georgia. Tskhinval is the capital of South Ossetia, located approximately in the center of the Georgian border. Then follows Baku (Azerbaijan), Astana - the capital of Kazakhstan, Beijing (China) and Ulan Bator (Mongolia). These are all Asian capitals of states with which Russia has land borders.
The maritime border with Japan, the capital of which is the city of Tokyo, runs along the four straits that separate the island of Hokkaido from Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands - Laperuza and Kunashirsky, Treason and Soviet. The last capital - Washington (USA) is located far from Alaska, which is separated from Russia by the Bering Strait. This border stretches from Romanov Island to Kruzenshtern Island.
The above states without partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are 16 countries with which Russia borders.
Neighbors do not choose
The countries with which Russia borders are in certain, not always simple relations with it. NATO, 7 of the 28 members of which have common borders with Russia (five land and two sea), is an unfriendly bloc for us. Also, the "young Europeans" - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland and Ukraine, are in ambiguous relations with the federation.
Countries with
maritime borders with
Russia, Japan and the United States are also not very friendly neighbors. Difficult relations have developed with Norway and Finland, but with the rest half, the common border with which is much longer than with the states listed above, Russia's neighborly relations are quite correct, if not good.
Southern Neighboring Countries
The list of countries with which Russia borders, apparently, will continue to change - for example, Cape Sarych, the southernmost point of Crimea, separates 142 miles from Turkey. And this is the bottleneck of the Black Sea.
The countries with which Russia borders in the south are China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and two partially recognized republics - Abkhazia and South Ossetia. China borders on Russia and the southeast. And it is in the south that the border with neighbors is the longest. So, only with Kazakhstan does it stretch for 7512.8 km, with China its length is 4209.3 km, with Mongolia - 3485 km. And besides, the border with Azerbaijan is 390 km, with Georgia - 365, with Abkhazia - 255.4 plus a 70-kilometer border with South Ossetia. Total, the entire southern border of Russia is 16287.5 km.
Eastern and western neighbors
The countries with which Russia borders in the east are Japan and the USA, with which the Russian Federation has only a maritime border. The northern border is also only maritime, and the western and southern ones are mostly land borders.
However, part of the border with Norway runs along the Barents Sea. With Finland and Estonia, it passes partially along the Gulf of Finland, with Lithuania and Poland - along the Baltic Sea. Russia borders with Ukraine along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, along which part of the border with Abkhazia passes. In the Caspian Sea, Russia is adjacent to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, and in the Sea of Japan to North Korea. The sea border of our country coincides with the external border of the territorial waters of the state. What countries does the Russian Federation border in the west? These are the same European borders - with Norway and Finland, Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Belarus and Ukraine.
Territorial claims
Of course, like many other countries, Russia has territorial disputes with its neighbors. Claims to our country are made by Japan, South Korea, China, Norway and Estonia. And Taiwan, and not only against Russia, is making completely unfounded claims. He, not being a neighboring state (Taiwan does not recognize China), makes claims on the entire republic of Tuva and the city of Blagoveshchensk. Russia has other territorial disputes, sometimes due to very small islands or patches of land. All these claims, and not only against Russia, historians are divided into three categories - disputes are mainly due to areas of military or strategic importance, economic or political. Regions of political importance, as a rule, have no other values or values. In our case, this simply helps some figures gain points, especially during the election campaign period.
Borders are changing from the beginning of the centuries.
You need to live in friendship with your neighbors, and this is true. An example of excellent good neighborly relations is the Customs Union, which includes Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Since 2015, it should be transformed into the Eurasian Economic Union, whose goal will be to build a single economic space. Good, good-neighborly relations have developed between Russia and China. It can be assumed that the border of the Russian Federation, which separates the country from 18 other states (and this is the largest list of neighbors in the world), will change over time.