The introduction examines the Russian Federation as a whole, and consists of an essay written by an acknowledged expert focusing on the evolution of the relationship between the central state and the regions, followed by a chronology, demographic and economic statistics, and a review of the Federal Government. The second section comprises territorial surveys, with a chapter on each of Russia's federal subjects, each of which includes a current map. The third and fourth parts comprise a select bibliography of books and indexes, listing the territories alphabetically, with a gazetteer of alternative names, and by both Federal Okrug and Economic Area.

Key features include:

• comprehensive overview of the Russian Federation
• offers an analysis and understanding of the country's regional dimension
• invaluable directories of important territorial contacts
• detailed and accurate political, economic and statistical information
• some eighty-five current maps
• extensive information from a wide variety of sources, many of which are otherwise unavailable in English.