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About Russia

     Russia (IPA: /ˈrʌʃə/) (Russian: Росси́я, Rossiya; pronounced [rʌˈsʲi.jə]), also the Russian Federation (Росси́йская Федера́ция, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; [rʌˈsʲi.skə.jə fʲɪ.dʲɪˈra.ʦɨ.jə], (Russian language) listen (help·info)), is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia (Europe and Asia). With an area of 17,075,400 km², Russia is by far the largest country in the world, covering almost twice the total area of the next-largest country, Canada, and has enormous mineral and energy resources. Russia has the world's ninth-largest population. Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It is also close to the United States (the state of Alaska), Sweden, and Japan across relatively small stretches of water (the Bering Strait, the Baltic Sea, and La Pérouse Strait, respectively).

     Formerly the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia became the Russian Federation following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. After the Soviet era, the area, population, and industrial production of the Soviet Union (then one of the world's two Cold War superpowers, the other one being the United States) that were located in Russia passed on to the Russian Federation.

    After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly-independent Russian Federation emerged as a great power and is also considered to be an energy superpower. Russia is considered the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic matters and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also one of the five recognised nuclear weapons states and possesses the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is the leading nation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a member of the G8 as well as other international organisations.

About Zoetermeer

     Zoetermeer (pronunciation (help·info)) is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 37.06 km² (of which 2.15 km² is water). With a population of 118,483 on March 1, 2007, Zoetermeer is the third largest city in the province of South Holland, after Rotterdam and The Hague.

     The name "Zoetermeer" (which literally translates into English as "Sweet Lake") refers to the former lake at the site of the town.

     Zoetermeer is a so called ICT-city which means Zoetermeer has a modern infrastructure and a lot of schools that offer ICT-related education. Also 20% of the population of Zoetermeer already has an ICT-related job. Siemens and Toshiba also have factories in Zoetermeer. The municipality of Zoetermeer designates a comparatively large part of the budget to computers for schools.

     To stress the ICT-tradition of Zoetermeer, the city is the first in the world to have a city hall in Second Life. Zoetermeer is sometimes referred to as Geek town or the Dutch Silicon Valley.

     There's a light rail under reconstruction now. The former city railway called Zoetermeer Stadslijn is being rebuild for that purpose. The stadslijn was the only city railway in The Netherlands and comparable to the S-Bahn in Berlin or RER in Paris. It had 12 stations in Zoetermeer and run to and from The Hague Central Station.

     The new light rail is part of the RandstadRail project between The Hague, Rotterdam and Zoetermeer. Besides the rebuild stadslijn, which now has 13 stations, a new line has been constructed called the Oosterheemlijn. This new line leads to a new part of town called Oosterheem, with 30.000 inhabitants when finished the largest quarter of Zoetermeer. The Oosterheemlijn now has three stations, but will be extended to Rotterdam in the future. The RandstadRail has been postponed due to several derailment incidents.

     There are two stations in use on the main railway between The Hague and Utrecht. Zoetermeer was one of the first cities in the Netherlands to be connected by a railway in 1868. The old station Zoetermeer-Zegwaard burnt down in 1906 and is now called Zoetermeer-Oost. The newer station called "Zoetermeer" is the main train station nowadays.

     The HSL-Zuid, as the Dutch Thalys TGV highspeed railway line from Amsterdam to Paris is called, also runs through Zoetermeer, but does not stop there yet. In the future a new station might be built where RandstadRail, the main railway between The Hague and Utrecht and the HSL-Zuid meet.

     Zoetermeer is built next to the A12 highway between The Hague and Utrecht.