The table above shows the population, the GDP in millions of € and the land in squared kilometers each of the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States has. It also shows the total figures for the CIS and the percentage each of those aspects represents in relation to the world total, which can also be found in the table. We’ll now do a more accurate analysis of what the table states. We’ll see that Russia has a key role.
- Population: Considering the fact that Russia is part of the CIS, it could seem surprising that this variable is so low (just 3.11% of the world total), but we have to take into consideration that this country, despite being the one with the most inhabitants, has a very low population density (a lot of land per inhabitant). Some of the countries with the highest population density are found in Europe and Southern Asia. The following map shows the population density of each country of the world in a graphical way, with the CIS being highlighted in orange:
- GDP: As seen with the population, this figure is also very low; 2.21% of the world total. When talking about economic capacity, there are two main powers; the European Union and the United States of America. It’s important to note that most of the CIS’s GDP is brought by Russia. The following pie chart shows this aspect in a much more clear way:
- Land: This aspect is the most relevant out of the three; the CIS gathers almost ⅙ of the world land. And again, this is because of Russia; about 80% of the CIS’s land belongs to this country, as shown in the table:
So, basically, the CIS gathers an important portion of the world land, but it has low population density and its economic power is overshadowed by that of the European Union and the United States.
COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES 