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{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = Российская Федерация
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya|conventional_long_name = Russian Federation|common_name = Russia|national_anthem = National Anthem of Russia|image_flag = Flag of Russia.svg|image_coat = Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation.svg|image_map = Location Russia.svg|capital = Moscow official throughout nation; [List of official languages in Russia in various regions|demonym = Russian|government_type = Semi-presidential system
federal republic|leader_name1 = [Vladimir Putin|leader_name2 = [Viktor Zubkov|established_event1 = Founded|established_date1 = 862 [Anno Domini|established_event2 = Declared|established_date2 = June 12 1990 ], 1991|currency_code = RUB|time_zone =|utc_offset = +2 to +12|time_zone_DST =|utc_offset_DST = +3 to +13|cctld = [.ru (.su reserved)]|footnote1 = Rank based on IMF April 2007 data.-->

Russia () (, Rossiya; International Phonetic Alphabet ), alsoFrom Article 1 of Constitution of Russia: "The names "Russian Federation" and "Russia" shall be equivalent." the Russian Federation (Росси́йская Федера́ция, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; , (Russian language) ), is a transcontinental country country extending over much of northern Eurasia (Europe and Asia). With an area of 17,075,400 km², Russia is by far the List of countries and outlying territories by total area, covering almost twice the total area of the next-largest country, Canada, and has enormous mineral and energy resources. Russia has the world's List of countries by population. Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia (country), Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, People's Republic of 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 SFSR (RSFSR), a republic of the Soviet Union (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 powerDanilovic, op. cit., p38 and is also considered to be an energy superpower. Russia is internationally recognised as continuing the legal personality of the Soviet Union and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also one of the five recognised List of states with nuclear weapons and Russia and 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.

History Ancient Russia, Early East Slavs and Kievan Rus' Prior to the first century, the vast lands of southern Russia were home to scattered tribes, such as Proto-Indo-Europeans and Scythians.Andrej Belinskij and Heinrich Härke, " The 'Princess' of Ipatovo," in Archeology, Volume 52 Number 2, March/April 1999. Between the third and sixth centuries, the steppes were overwhelmed by successive waves of nomadic invasions,Peter Turchin, Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall, Princeton University Press, 2003, pp. 185–186. ISBN 0691116695. led by warrior tribes which would often move on to Europe, as was the case with Huns and Eurasian Avars.

During the period from fifth century BC to seventh century human settlements are represented by Dyakovskaya culture of Iron Age which occupies the significant part of the Upper Volga River, Valday and Oka River area. Dyakovo culture was formed by Finno-Ugric peoples, ancestors of Merya, Muromian, Meshchera, Veps tribes. All regional Funno-Ugric toponymy and hydronym names go back to those languages, for example Yauza River which is a confluent of the Moskva River, and probably the Moskva River itself too.

A Turkic people, the Khazars, reigned the lower Volga River basin steppes between the Caspian Sea and Black Seas through the 8th century.David Christian, A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Blackwell Publishing, 1998, pp. 286–288. ISBN 0631208143. Noted for their laws, tolerance, and cosmopolitanism,Frank Northen Magill, Magill's Literary Annual, 1977 Salem Press, 1977, p. 818. ISBN 0893560774. the Khazars were the main commercial link between the Baltic and the Islam Abbasid empire centered in Baghdad.André Wink, Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Brill, 2004, p. 35. ISBN 9004092498. They were important allies of the Byzantine Empire,András Róna-Tas, Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early Hungarian History, Central European University Press, 1999, p. 257. ISBN 9639116483. and waged a series of successful wars against the Arab Caliphates.Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman, History of Jewish Philosophy, Routledge, 1997, p. 196. ISBN 0415080649.

in the 11th century.In this era, the term "Rhos" or "Etymology of Rus and derivatives" first came to be applied to the Varangians and later also to the Slavs who peopled the region.Russia from the Varangians to the Bolsheviks—Page 4 by George Arthur. Birkett, Charles Raymond Beazley, Nevill Forbes In the tenth to eleventh centuries this state of Kievan Rus became the largest in Europe and one of the most prosperous because of diversified trade with both Europe and Asia. The opening of new trade routes with the Orient at the time of the Crusades contributed to the decline and fragmentation of Kievan Rus by the end of the twelfth century.

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the constant incursions of nomadic Turkic tribes, such as the Kipchaks and the Pechenegs, led to the massive Human migration of Slavic populations from the fertile south to the heavily forested regions of the northeast with the colder climate and poor soil, known as ZalesyeVasily Klyuchevsky. The course of the Russian history, v.1, ISBN 5-244-00072-1 . The medieval states of Novgorod Republic and Vladimir-Suzdal emerged as successors to Kievan Rus on those territories, while the middle course of the Volga River came to be dominated by the Islam in Europe state of Volga Bulgaria. Like many other parts of Eurasia, these territories were Mongol invasion of Rus, who formed the state of Golden Horde which would pillage the Russian principalities for over three centuries. About half of the Russians population died during the Mongol invasion. Later known as the Tatars, they ruled the southern and central expanses of present-day Russia, while the territories of present-day Ukraine and Belarus were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland, thus dividing the Russians in the north from the Belarusians and Ukrainians in the west.

Similarly to the Balkans, long-lasting nomadic rule retarded the country's economic and social developmentРыбаков Б. А., «Ремесло Древней Руси», 1948, с.525–533,780–781. However, the Novgorod Republic together with Pskov retained some degree of autonomy during the time of the Mongol yoke and was largely spared the atrocities that affected the rest of the country. Led by Alexander Nevsky, the Novgorodians repelled the Northern Crusades who attempted to colonise the region.

Grand Duchy of Moscow , 1300—1796Unlike its spiritual leader, the Byzantine Empire, Russia under the leadership of Moscow was able to revive and organise its own war of reconquest, finally subjugating its enemies and annexing their territories. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Russia remained the only more or less functional Christian state on the Eastern European frontier, allowing it Third Rome of the Eastern Roman Empire. While still under the domain of the Timeline of the Tataro-Mongol Yoke in Russia and with their connivance, the duchy of Moscow began to assert its influence in Western Russia in the early fourteenth century. Assisted by the Russian Orthodox Church and Saint Sergius of Radonezh's spiritual revival, Russia inflicted a defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). Ivan the Great eventually tossed off the control of the invasion, consolidated surrounding areas under Moscow's dominion and first took the title "grand duke of all the Russias". Khanate of the Golden Horde

In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Russian state set the national goal to return all Russian territories lost as a result of the Tatar invasion and to protect the southern borderland against attacks of Crimean Khanate (Russo-Crimean Wars) and other Turkic peoplesVasily Klyuchevsky. The course of the Russian history, v.2, p.195–198, ISBN 5-244-00072-1 . The noblemen, receiving a manor from the sovereign, were obliged to serve in the military. The manor system became a basis for the nobiliary horse armySergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times, v.5, pp.205–206.

Tsardom of Russia appeals to the people of Nizhny Novgorod to raise a volunteer army against the Poles during the Time of TroublesIn 1547, Ivan the Terrible was officially crowned the first Tsar of Russia. During his long reign, Ivan IV annexed the Siege of Kazan (Kazan Khanate, Astrakhan Khanate) along the Volga River and transformed Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state. Ivan IV promulgated a new code of laws (Sudebnik of 1550), established the first Russian feudal representative body (Zemsky Sobor) and introduced the local self-management in rural regions. Sergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times, ISBN 5-17-002142-9, v.6, pp.562–604; Skrynnikov R., "Ivan Grosny", p.58, M., AST, 2001 By the end of the century, Russian Cossacks established the first Russian settlements in Western Siberia. But his rule was also marked by the long and unsuccessful Livonian War against the coalition of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden for the access to the Baltic coast and sea trade.Sergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times, v.6, pp.751–908 Ivan carried out a series of purges of the feudal aristocracy (which he suspected of treachery after the betrayal of prince Kurbsky). The military losses, epidemics, poor harvestsBorisenkov E, Pasetski V. The thousand-year annals of the extreme meteorological phenomena. ISBN 5-244-00212-0, p.190 weakened the state and the Crimean Khanate were able to Russo-Crimean War (1571).Sergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times, v.6, pp.751–809 Moscow - Historical background The death of sons of Ivan combined with the famine (1601–1603)Nighttime temperatures in all summer months, often below freezing, wrecked crops. Borisenkov E, Pasetski V. The thousand-year annals of the extreme meteorological phenomena. ISBN 5-244-00212-0, p.190 led to the civil war and foreign intervention of the Time of Troubles in early 1600s.Sergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times, v.7, pp.461–568 In the middle of the seventeenth century there were Russian settlements in Eastern Siberia, on Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur, on the Pacific coast, and the strait between North America and Asia was first sighted by a Russian explorer in 1648. The colonisation of the Asian territories was largely peaceful, in sharp contrast to the build-up of other colonial empires of the time.

Imperial Russia officially proclaimed the existence of the Russian Empire in 1721.Russian control of the nascent nation continued after the Time of Troubles under the subsequent Romanov dynasty, beginning with Tsar Michael I of Russia in 1613. Peter I of Russia (ruled in) defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War, forcing it to cede West Karelia and Ingria (two regions lost by Russia in the Time of TroublesSergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times, v.9, ch.1 ), Estland, and Livland (the two latter now being Estonia and northern Latvia). This secured the access of Russia to the sea and sea trade.Sergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times, v.15, ch.1 It was in Ingria that he founded a new capital, Saint Petersburg. Peter was largely responsible through his reforms for bringing Western European culture to Russia. After his reforms, Russia emerged as a major European power. Catherine the Great, ruling from 1762 to 1796, continued the Petrine efforts at establishing Russia as one of the great powers of Europe. Examples of its eighteenth-century European involvement include the War of Polish Succession and the Seven Years' War. In the wake of the Partitions of Poland, Russia had acquired significant territories in the west, populated mainly by Orthodox people.According to Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: 1891 Grodno province (West Belarus)—catholics 384,696, Orthodox 827,724, total population 1,509,728 ; Volyhnia Province (West Ukraine)—catholics 193,142, Orthodox 1,722,148 total population 2,059,870 As a result of the victorious Russo-Turkish Wars, Russia's borders expanded to the Black Sea and Russia set its goal on the protection of Balkan Christians against a Ottoman wars in Europe. In 1783, Russia and the Georgia (country) (which was almost totally devastated by Persian and Turkish invasions) signed the treaty of Georgievsk according to which Georgia received the protection of Russia.

in 1866 and its spheres of influenceIn 1812, having gathered La Grande Armée from France as well as from all of its conquered states in Europe, Napoleon's Invasion of Russia but, after taking Moscow, was forced to retreat back to France. Almost 90% The Russian Campaign napoleonguide.com of the invading forces died as a result of on-going battles with the Russian army, guerrillas and winter weather. The Russian armies ended their pursuit of the enemy by taking his capital, Paris. The officers of the Napoleonic wars brought back to Russia the ideas of liberalism and even attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive Decembrist revolt (1825), which was followed by several decades of political repression. Another result of the Napoleonic wars was the incorporation of Bessarabia, and Finland into the Russian Empire, and creation of the Congress Poland. The perseverance of Russian serfdom and the conservative policies of Nicholas I of Russia impeded the development of Imperial Russia in the mid-nineteenth century. As a result, the country was defeated in the Crimean War, 1853–1856, by an alliance of major European powers, including United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, France, Ottoman Empire, and Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. Nicholas's successor Alexander II of Russia (1855–1881) was forced to undertake a series of comprehensive reforms and issued a Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia in 1861. The Great Reforms of Alexander's reign spurred increasingly rapid capitalist development and Sergei Witte's attempts at industrialisation. The Slavophile mood was on the rise, spearheaded by Russia's victory in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878, which forced the Ottoman Empire to recognise the independence of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and autonomy of Bulgaria.

The failure of agrarian reforms and suppression of the growing liberal intelligentsia were Russian Revolution of 1905 however, and on the eve of World War I, the position of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his dynasty appeared precarious. The Russian government did not want war in 1914 but felt that the only alternative was acceptance of German domination of Europe."Russia." MSN Encarta. . Upper- and middle-class Russians rallied around the regime’s war effort. Peasants and workers were much less enthusiastic. Germany was Europe’s leading military and industrial power, and Austria and the Ottoman Empire were its allies in the war. Consequently, Russia was forced to fight on three fronts and was isolated from its French and British war partners. Under these circumstances the Russian war effort was impressive. Having won a number of major battles in 1916, the army was far from defeated when the Russian Revolution of 1917 broke out in February. The home front collapsed under the strains of war, partly for economic reasons but primarily because the already existing public distrust of the regime was deepened by tales of inefficiency, corruption, and even treason in high places. Many of these tales were nonsense or grossly exaggerated, such as the belief that a semiliterate mystic, Grigory Rasputin, had great political influence within the government. What mattered, however, was that the rumors were believed. After a failed Bolshevik rising in July 1917, their leader, Vladimir Lenin, fled to Finland for safety. Here he wrote "State and Revolution",{{cite web| last = Lenin | first = Vladimir | title = The State and Revolution | work = | publisher = | date = 1917 | url = http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/index.htm--> which called for a new form of government based on workers' councils, or soviets elected and revocable at all moments by the workers. He returned to Petrograd in October, inspiring the October Revolution with the slogan "All Power to the Soviet (council)!". Lenin directed the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government from the Smolny from the 6th to November 8 1917. At the close of the Russian Revolution of 1917, a Marxist political faction called the Bolsheviks seized power in Saint Petersburg and Moscow under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. The Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The storming and capitulation of the Winter Palace on the night of the 7th to 8th of November marked the beginning of Soviet rule.

Soviet Russia

On November 8, 1917, Lenin was elected as the Premier of the Soviet Union by the Russian Congress of Soviets. Lenin emphasised the importance of bringing electricity to all corners of Russia and modernising industry and agriculture. He was very concerned about creating a free universal health care system for all, the rights of women, and teaching all Russian people to read and write. Archive of Lenin's works. marxists.org A bloody Russian Civil War ensued, pitting the Bolsheviks' Red Army against a loose confederation of anti-socialist monarchist and bourgeois forces known as the White Army. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a peace treaty signed by the Central Powers with Soviet Russia, concluded hostilities between those countries in World War I. Russia lost the Ukraine, its Polish and Baltic territories, and Finland by signing the treaty. Following the defeat of the Central Powers and the Armistice with Germany (Compiègne), these states became independent. Civil wars and wars against Russia ensued in Finnish Civil War, Estonian War of Independence and Polish-Soviet War. The White Army was joined by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Japan, France, Canada and the United States, along with other World War I Allied countries, in a military intervention into the Russian Civil War during the period of 1918 through 1920. The Red Army triumphed in the Russian Civil War, and the Russian SFSR together with three other Soviet republics Treaty on the Creation of the USSR the Soviet Union on December 301922. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics MSN Encarta The results of the civil war were momentous. Russia had been at war for seven years, during which time some 20,000,000 of its people had lost their lives, with the Civil War taking an estimated 15,000,000 of them. At the end of the Civil War, Russia was exhausted and near ruin. The economy was devastated; the industrial production value descended to one seventh of the value of 1913, and agriculture to one third.

The history of Russia between 1922 and 1991 is essentially the history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or Soviet Union. This ideologically-based union, established in December 1922 by the leaders of the Russian Communist Party," Tsar Killed, USSR Formed," in 20th century Russia. Retrieved 21 July 2007. was roughly coterminous with Russia before the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. People and leaders around the world often referred to the Soviet Union as "Russia" and its people as "Russians". The Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic dominated the Soviet Union for its entire 74-year history."Russia." Britannica Student Encyclopedia. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2 July 2007 The Russian Federation was by far the largest of the republics; Moscow, its capital, was also the capital of the Soviet Union. Russians made up over half the population of the Soviet Union. Although Russian institutions and cities certainly remained dominant, non-Russians participated in the new government at all levels. After Lenin's death in 1924, a brief power struggle ensued, during which a top communist official, a Georgians named Joseph Stalin, gradually eroded the various checks and balances which had been designed into the Soviet political system and assumed dictatorial power by the end of the decade.

, 1942, Most lethal battles in world history#Sieges and urban combat and the turning point in World War II

in 1932 1927–1953 Stalin forced rapid industrialisation of the largely rural country and Collective farming of its agriculture. In 1928, Stalin introduced his First Five Year Plan for modernising the Soviet economy.According to the Constitution of Russia, the politics of Russia (the Russian Federation) take place in a framework of a federation presidential system republic, whereby the President of Russia is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Russia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government of Russia and the two chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 14 March 2004 (next to be held in March 2008). Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president.Parliament, termed the Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye, consists of two chambers; the 450-member State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma and the 176-member Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii. Constitutional justice in the court is based on the equality of all citizens. "Russia." Britannica Student Encyclopedia. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2 July 2007 Judges are independent and subject only to the law. Trials are to be open, and the accused is guaranteed a defense. Despite Freedom House's listing of Russia being "not free",freedomhouse.org Country Report:Russia Alvaro Gil-Robles (former head of the Council of Europe human rights division) states "The fledgling Russian democracy is still, of course, far from perfect, but its existence and its successes cannot be denied."Gil-Robles, Alvaro (Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe), https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=846655&BackColorInternet=99B5AD&BackColorIntranet=FABF45&BackColorLogged=FFC679. Council of Europe The Economist rates Russia as a "hybrid regime", which they consider "some form of democratic government".Kekic, Laza, Index of democracy by Economist Intelligence Unit. economist.com

Foreign relations and George W. Bush signing SORT

The Russian Federation (Russia) is recognised in international law as continuing the legal personality of the former Soviet Union. Country Profile: Russia Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom The Russian Federation continues to implement the international commitments of the USSR, and has assumed the USSR's permanent seat on the UN Security Council, membership in other international organisations, the rights and obligations under international treaties and property and debts. Russia is one of the key players in international relations. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia has a special responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. Russia is a member of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations and is a member of a large number of other international organisations, including the Council of Europe and OSCE. Russia takes a special role in the organisations created on the territory of the former USSR, largely under the leadership of Russia : CIS, EurAsEC, CSTO, SCO. The collapse of the Soviet Union has also resulted in Russia becoming a somewhat more NATO-friendly country and the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council, which brings together the NATO members and the Russian Federation; however, Russia has not formally joined the NATO as an ally, nor has Russia expressed any desire to join NATO. Russia has a multifaceted foreign policy. It maintains diplomatic relations with 178 countries and has 140 embassies. "NEWS FROM RUSSIA", Issue No. 4, Dated 24 January 2003 The Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of India—"Today the Russian Federation has diplomatic relations with 178 countries and 140 Embassies" Russia's foreign policy is determined by the President of Russia and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.Kosachev, Konstantin Russian Foreign Policy Vertical. Russia In Global Affairs, http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/

Subdivisions Federal subjects of the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation comprises 85 federal subjects of Russia,, Конституция Российской Федерации, Статья 65 (Constitution of Russia, Article 65). In 1993, when the constitution was adopted, there were 89 subjects listed. Some of them were later merged. namely:
 

Russia



 
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