The Russian Federation is the largest of the 21 republics that make up the Commonwealth of Independent States. It occupies most of Eastern Europe and North Asia, stretching from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south. Within this vast expanse lie the largest freshwater lake in the world, rivers and forests teeming with fish and wildlife, awe-inspiring volcanoes, and towering mountains. Russia is the largest country of the Earth, with enormous tracts of land, its natural and cultural heritage waiting to be discovered. It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the northwest; Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania in the west; Georgia and Azerbaijan in the southwest; and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and North Korea along the southern border. In June 2021 Russia exported $43B and imported $24.8B resulting in a positive trade balance of $18.2B