The Village of Russell is part of the Township of Russell which in turn is located in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell which covers part of Eastern Ontario located immediately East of Ottawa.

The village has a population of about 4,000 (2004 estimate) and has a significant number of schools - English Catholic Elementary and Secondary, English Public Elementary, Middle, Secondary and French Elementary school. This is a true bedroom community in the sense that there are no industries in and immediately around the village.

Russell also has a summer swimming pool, a hockey arena, a library and a curling rink located right in the center of the village. The village also has its firehall in the center of the village and is policed by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

The village has practicing lawyers, doctors, dentists and other professionals. It also has grocery store, pharmacy, garage, restaurants and many little shops to browse.

The little Castor river (which means beaver in French) meanders through the settlement in summer and offers a flat trail for snowmobiles during the winter.

The village is mainly English with about 25% French.

The vast majority of the residents work in the city of Ottawa whose core areas are located about 25 miles northwest of Russell. With the fusion of many outlying municipalities in 2001 the official Ottawa limits moved so close to Russell that in theory one could walk from Russell to Ottawa in a few minutes. In practice, this would mean ending up in a beautiful field with charming woods nearby, since the amalgamated municipalities are mostly rural in this zone.

The travel time to the nearest built-up areas of Ottawa is typically 20-25 minutes. In the rush hour it can take up to one hour to reach downtown Ottawa, and much more to reach Ottawa boroughs West of the core zone.