Chapter 11: Educating the Russian Young Adolescent: Adopting the “Best from the West” While Maintaining the “Strengths of the Past”

Russia is the largest transcontinental country in the world, with about 40% of its territory in Europe to the west, the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and the rest of its lands to the south in the northern part of Asia. Russia spans a total of 11 time zones which incorporate many very diverse landforms with a wealth of natural resources including oil and natural gas. The population of Russia has been in a continual decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to information from the Federal Service on State Statistics (Federal State Statistics Service, n.d.-a), in 1996 the population was 148.3 million people and it has dropped down to 142 million people at the beginning of 2008.