If you're Russia, you simply give it away.

At least that's the plan for the Far Eastern Federal District, a far-flung territory that juts out to the Pacific Ocean and borders China — and which is home to around two people per square mile.

President Vladimir Putin signed a law this month granting 2.5 acres of land to any Russian citizen who wants it. If they can prove they've done something with it after five years, primarily by agricultural means, it's all theirs.

Officials hope the program will rejuvenate a region that researchers estimate has lost nearly 2 million people since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

"It will allow Russians, especially the youth, to discover in the Far East a real chance for self-realization," said Aleksandr Galushka, the minister for Far East development.