Novgorod, and later founded a state centred on Kiev.[22] Another Medieval Latin name for Rus' was Ruthenia.[23]
In Russian, the current name of the country, Россияcode: rus promoted to code: ru (Rossiyacode: rus promoted to code: ru ), comes from the
Byzantine Greek name for Rus', Ρωσία (Rosía).[24] A new form of the name Rus', Росияcode: rus promoted to code: ru (Rosiyacode: rus promoted to code: ru ), was borrowed from the Greek term and first attested in 1387,[25] before coming into official use by the 15th century, though the country was still often referred to by its inhabitants as Rus' or the Russian land until the end of the 17th century.[26][27] There are two words in Russian which translate to "Russians" in English – русскиеcode: rus promoted to code: ru (russkiyecode: rus promoted to code: ru ), which refers to ethnic Russians, and россиянеcode: rus promoted to code: ru (rossiyanecode: rus promoted to code: ru ), which refers to Russian citizens, regardless of ethnicity.[27][28]
The first human settlement on Russia dates back to the
archaic human hybrid that was half Neanderthal and half Denisovan, and lived some 90,000 years ago, was also found within the latter cave.[32] Russia was home to some of the last surviving Neanderthals, from about 45,000 years ago, found in Mezmaiskaya cave.[33]
In the 3rd to 4th centuries CE, the Gothic kingdom of Oium existed in southern Russia, which was later overrun by Huns.[50][failed verification] Between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE, the Bosporan Kingdom, which was a Hellenistic polity that succeeded the Greek colonies,[51] was also overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes such as the Huns and Eurasian Avars.[52] The Khazars, who were of Turkic origin, ruled the steppes between the Caucasus in the south, to the east past the Volga river basin, and west as far as Kyiv on the Dnieper river until the 10th century.[53] After them came the Pechenegs who created a large confederacy, which was subsequently taken over by the Cumans and the Kipchaks.[54]
The ancestors of
Novgorod and Rostov. From the 7th century onwards, the East Slavs constituted the bulk of the population in western Russia,[56] and slowly but peacefully assimilated the native Finnic peoples.[50]
In the 10th to 11th centuries, Kievan Rus' became one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The reigns of
Galicia-Volhynia in the south-west.[50] By the 12th century, Kiev lost its pre-eminence and Kievan Rus' had fragmented into different principalities.[61] Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky sacked Kiev in 1169 and made Vladimir his base,[61] leading to political power being shifted to the north-east.[50]
Poland, while the Novgorod Republic continued to prosper in the north. In the northeast, the Byzantine-Slavic traditions of Kievan Rus' were adapted to form the Russian autocratic state.[50]
The destruction of Kievan Rus' saw the eventual rise of the
Mongol-Tatars and with their connivance, Moscow began to assert its influence in the region in the early 14th century,[66] gradually becoming the leading force in the "gathering of the Russian lands".[67] When the seat of the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church moved to Moscow in 1325, its influence increased.[68] Moscow's last rival, the Novgorod Republic, prospered as the chief fur trade centre and the easternmost port of the Hanseatic League.[69]
Led by Prince
a milestone defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.[50] Moscow gradually absorbed its parent duchy and surrounding principalities, including formerly strong rivals such as Tver and Novgorod.[67]
Constantine XI, and made the Byzantine double-headed eagle his own, and eventually Russia's, coat-of-arms.[67]Vasili III completed the task of uniting all of Russia by annexing the last few independent Russian states in the early 16th century.[70]
of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire between the 14th and 20th centuries
Under Peter the Great, Russia was proclaimed an empire in 1721, and established itself as one of the European great powers. Ruling from 1682 to 1725, Peter defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700–1721), securing Russia's access to the sea and sea trade. In 1703, on the Baltic Sea, Peter founded Saint Petersburg as Russia's new capital. Throughout his rule, sweeping reforms were made, which brought significant Western European cultural influences to Russia.[82] The reign of Peter I's daughter Elizabeth in 1741–1762 saw Russia's participation in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). During the conflict, Russian troops overran East Prussia, reaching Berlin.[83] However, upon Elizabeth's death, all these conquests were returned to the Kingdom of Prussia by pro-Prussian Peter III of Russia.[84]
The officers who pursued Napoleon into Western Europe brought ideas of liberalism back to Russia, and attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive Decembrist revolt of 1825.[96] At the end of the conservative reign of Nicholas I (1825–1855), a zenith period of Russia's power and influence in Europe, was disrupted by defeat in the Crimean War.[97]
Great liberal reforms and capitalism
Nicholas's successor Alexander II (1855–1881) enacted significant changes throughout the country, including the emancipation reform of 1861.[98] These reforms spurred industrialisation, and modernised the Imperial Russian Army, which liberated much of the Balkans from Ottoman rule in the aftermath of the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War.[99] During most of the 19th and early 20th century, Russia and Britain colluded over Afghanistan and its neighbouring territories in Central and South Asia; the rivalry between the two major European empires came to be known as the Great Game.[100]
The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist movements in Russia. Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 by revolutionary terrorists.[101] The reign of his son Alexander III (1881–1894) was less liberal but more peaceful.[102]
An alternative socialist establishment co-existed, the
anti-communist White movement and the Bolsheviks with its Red Army.[111] In the aftermath of signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that concluded hostilities with the Central Powers of World War I; Bolshevist Russia surrendered most of its western territories, which hosted 34% of its population, 54% of its industries, 32% of its agricultural land, and roughly 90% of its coal mines.[112]
The Allied powers launched an unsuccessful military intervention in support of anti-communist forces.[113] In the meantime, both the Bolsheviks and White movement carried out campaigns of deportations and executions against each other, known respectively as the Red Terror and White Terror.[114] By the end of the violent civil war, Russia's economy and infrastructure were heavily damaged, and as many as 10 million perished during the war, mostly civilians.[115] Millions became White émigrés,[116] and the Russian famine of 1921–1922 claimed up to five million victims.[117]
formed the Soviet Union, by joining the Russian SFSR into a single state with the Byelorussian, Transcaucasian, and Ukrainian republics.[118] Eventually internal border changes and annexations during World War II created a union of 15 republics; the largest in size and population being the Russian SFSR, which dominated the union for its entire history politically, culturally, and economically.[119][failed verification
]
Following
Socialism in One Country became the official line.[122] The continued internal struggle in the Bolshevik party culminated in the Great Purge.[123]
Stalinism and violent modernization
Under Stalin's leadership, the government launched a
Soviet famine of 1932–1933; which killed up to 8.7 million, 3.3 million of them in the Russian SFSR.[127] The Soviet Union, ultimately, made the costly transformation from a largely agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse within a short span of time.[128]
The Battle of Stalingrad, the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, ended in 1943 with a decisive Soviet victory against the German army
starved to death or otherwise killed 3.3 million Soviet POWs, and a vast number of civilians, as the "Hunger Plan" sought to fulfil Generalplan Ost.[137]: 175–186 Although the Wehrmacht had considerable early success, their attack was halted in the Battle of Moscow.[138] Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major defeats first at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943,[139] and then in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943.[140] Another German failure was the Siege of Leningrad, in which the city was fully blockaded on land between 1941 and 1944 by German and Finnish forces, and suffered starvation and more than a million deaths, but never surrendered.[141] Soviet forces steamrolled through Eastern and Central Europe in 1944–1945 and captured Berlin in May 1945.[142] In August 1945, the Red Army invaded Manchuria and ousted the Japanese from Northeast Asia, contributing to the Allied victory over Japan.[143]
After World War II, parts of Eastern and Central Europe, including East Germany and eastern parts of Austria were occupied by Red Army according to the Potsdam Conference.[150] Dependent communist governments were installed in the Eastern Bloc satellite states.[151] After becoming the world's second nuclear power,[152] the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact alliance,[153] and entered into a struggle for global dominance, known as the Cold War, with the rivalling United States and NATO.[154]
Perestroika, democratization and Russian sovereignty
From 1985 onwards, the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who sought to enact liberal reforms in the Soviet system, introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to end the period of economic stagnation and to democratise the government.[163] This, however, led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements across the country.[164] Prior to 1991, the Soviet economy was the world's second-largest, but during its final years, it went into a crisis.[165]
By 1991, economic and political turmoil began to boil over as the
renewed federation.[167] In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first directly elected president in Russian history when he was elected president of the Russian SFSR.[168] In August 1991, a coup d'état attempt by members of Gorbachev's government, directed against Gorbachev and aimed at preserving the Soviet Union, instead led to the end of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.[169] On 25 December 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, along with contemporary Russia, fourteen other post-Soviet states emerged.[170]
Transition to a market economy and political crises
The economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union led Russia into a deep and prolonged depression. During and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, wide-ranging reforms including
death rate skyrocketed,[174][175] and millions plunged into poverty;[176] while extreme corruption,[177] as well as criminal gangs and organised crime rose significantly.[178]
In late 1993, tensions between Yeltsin and the Russian parliament culminated in a constitutional crisis which ended violently through military force. During the crisis, Yeltsin was backed by Western governments, and over 100 people were killed.[179]
Modern liberal Constitution, international cooperation and economic stabilization
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia assumed responsibility for settling the latter's external debts.[184] In 1992, most consumer price controls were eliminated, causing extreme inflation and significantly devaluing the rouble.[185] High budget deficits coupled with increasing capital flight and inability to pay back debts, caused the 1998 Russian financial crisis, which resulted in a further GDP decline.[186]
Movement towards a modernized economy, political centralization and democratic backsliding
state sponsor of terrorism.[209] In addition, Russia was declared a terrorist state by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.[210] Tens of thousands are estimated to have been killed as a result of the invasion.[211][212]
Russia's vast landmass stretches over the easternmost part of Europe and the northernmost part of Asia.[213] It spans the northernmost edge of Eurasia; and has the world's fourth-longest coastline, of over 37,653 km (23,396 mi).[f][215] Russia lies between latitudes 41° and 82° N, and longitudes 19° E and 169° W, extending some 9,000 km (5,600 mi) east to west, and 2,500 to 4,000 km (1,600 to 2,500 mi) north to south.[216] Russia, by landmass, is larger than three continents,[g] and has the same surface area as Pluto.[217]
Russia has nine major mountain ranges, and they are found along the
The size of Russia and the remoteness of many of its areas from the sea result in the dominance of the humid continental climate throughout most of the country, except for the tundra and the extreme southwest. Mountain ranges in the south and east obstruct the flow of warm air masses from the Indian and Pacific oceans, while the European Plain spanning its west and north opens it to influence from the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.[230] Most of northwest Russia and Siberia have a subarctic climate, with extremely severe winters in the inner regions of northeast Siberia (mostly Sakha, where the Northern Pole of Cold is located with the record low temperature of −71.2 °C or −96.2 °F),[223] and more moderate winters elsewhere. Russia's vast coastline along the Arctic Ocean and the Russian Arctic islands have a polar climate.[230]
The coastal part of Krasnodar Krai on the Black Sea, most notably Sochi, and some coastal and interior strips of the North Caucasus possess a humid subtropical climate with mild and wet winters.[230] In many regions of East Siberia and the Russian Far East, winter is dry compared to summer; while other parts of the country experience more even precipitation across seasons. Winter precipitation in most parts of the country usually falls as snow. The westernmost parts of Kaliningrad Oblast and some parts in the south of Krasnodar Krai and the North Caucasus have an oceanic climate.[230] The region along the Lower Volga and Caspian Sea coast, as well as some southernmost slivers of Siberia, possess a semi-arid climate.[231]
Throughout much of the territory, there are only two distinct seasons, winter and summer; as spring and autumn are usually brief periods of change between extremely low and extremely high temperatures.
cyclostomata, and approximately 100–150,000 invertebrates (high endemism).[235][238] Approximately 1,100 rare and endangered plant and animal species are included in the Russian Red Data Book.[235]
Russia's entirely natural ecosystems are conserved in nearly 15,000 specially protected natural territories of various statuses, occupying more than 10% of the country's total area.
biosphere reserves,[239] 64 national parks, and 101 nature reserves.[240] Although in decline, the country still has many ecosystems which are still considered intact forest; mainly in the northern taiga areas, and the subarctic tundra of Siberia.[241] Russia had a Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.02 in 2019, ranking 10th out of 172 countries; and the first ranked major nation globally.[242]
commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, and appoints the Government of Russia (Cabinet) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.[243] The president may issue decrees of unlimited scope, so long as they do not contradict the constitution or federal law.[246]
Russia, by 1993 constitution, is a symmetric (with the possibility of an asymmetric configuration) federation. Unlike the Soviet asymmetric model of the RSFSR, where only republics were "subjects of the federation", the current constitution raised the status of other regions to the level of republics and made all regions equal with the title "subject of the federation". In 2000, it was further confirmed by the decision of the constitutional court that all regions have only one identical status, which is called "subject of the federation", and the naming of some regions as "republic (state)" does not mean recognition as a state in the modern international law meaning of this term and does not mean recognition of the sovereignty of the region. Only the multiethnic people of Russia and the Russian Federation have sovereignty. The regions of Russia have reerved areas of competence, but no regions have sovereignty, do not have the status of a sovereign state, do not have the right to indicate any sovereignty in their constitutions and do not have the right to secede from the country. The laws of the regions cannot contradict federal laws.[256]
The 1993 Russian constitution recognized the possibility of an asymmetric configuration of intergovernmental relations between the regions and
the federal government.[257] Article 11(3) of the Constitution allows the delimitation of jurisdictions and powers between the federal authorities and the region through the conclusion of an agreement. By 1998, such agreements had been concluded with 46 subjects of the federation, including the federal city of Moscow. The most notable asymetric relations and debates were with Tatarstan.[258]
According to the constitution, the Russian Federation is composed of 89 federal subjects.[j] In 1993, when the new constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed, but some were later merged. The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Federal Assembly.[259] They do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy.[260] The federal districts of Russia were established by Putin in 2000 to facilitate central government control of the federal subjects.[261] Originally seven, currently there are eight federal districts, each headed by an envoy appointed by the president.[262]
Each is nominally autonomous—home to a specific ethnic minority, and has its own constitution, language, and legislature, but is represented by the federal government in international affairs.[264]
For all intents and purposes, krais are legally identical to oblasts. The title "krai" ("frontier" or "territory") is historic, related to geographic (frontier) position in a certain period of history. The current krais are not related to frontiers.[265]
Occasionally referred to as "autonomous district", "autonomous area", and "autonomous region", each with a substantial or predominant ethnic minority.[266]
In the 21st century Russia has pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at securing regional dominance and international influence, as well as increasing domestic support for the government. Military intervention in the
Airborne Troops.[9] As of 2021[update], the military have around a million active-duty personnel, which is the world's fifth-largest, and about 2–20 million reserve personnel.[293][294] It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be drafted for a year of service in the Armed Forces.[9]
Russia is among the five
second-largest arms exporter, and had a large and entirely indigenous defence industry, producing most of its own military equipment.[299]
Russian prisons reportedly take more abuse than other ethnic groups.[334] During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has set up filtration camps where many Ukrainians are subjected to abuses and forcibly sent to Russia; the camps have been compared to those used in the Chechen Wars.[335][336]
The primary and fundamental statement of laws in Russia is the
Russian Criminal Code, are the predominant legal sources of Russian law.[337][338][339]
Russia has the world's second largest illegal arms trade market, after the United States, is ranked first in Europe and 32nd globally in the Global Organized Crime Index, and is among the countries with the highest number of people in prison.[340][341][342]
After over a decade of post-Soviet rapid economic growth, backed by high oil-prices and a surge in foreign exchange reserves and investment,
impact, the Russian government has stopped publishing a raft of economic data since April 2022.[359] Economists suggest the sanctions will have a long-term effect over the Russian economy.[360]
Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.[378]
It is not trivial to estimate the influence of oil and gas in the Russian economy. In the mid-2000s, the share of the oil and gas sector in GDP was around 20%, and in 2013 it was 20–21% of GDP.[379] The share of oil and gas in Russia's exports (about 50%) and federal budget revenues (about 50%) is large, and the dynamics of Russia's GDP are highly dependent on oil and gas prices,[380] but the share in GDP is much less than 50%. According to the first such comprehensive assessment published by the Russian statistics agency Rosstat in 2021, the maximum total share of the oil and gas sector in Russia's GDP, including extraction, refining, transport, sale of oil and gas, all goods and services used, and all supporting activities, amounts to 19.2% in 2019 and 15.2% in 2020. This is comparable to the share of GDP in Norway and Kazakhstan. It is much lower than the share of GDP in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.[381][382][383][384][385]
Russia's agriculture sector contributes about 5% of the country's total GDP, although the sector employs about one-eighth of the total labour force.[392] It has the world's third-largest cultivated area, at 1,265,267 square kilometres (488,522 sq mi). However, due to the harshness of its environment, about 13.1% of its land is agricultural,[9] and only 7.4% of its land is arable.[393] The country's agricultural land is considered part of the "breadbasket" of Europe.[394] More than one-third of the sown area is devoted to fodder crops, and the remaining farmland is devoted to industrial crops, vegetables, and fruits.[392] The main product of Russian farming has always been grain, which occupies considerably more than half of the cropland.[392] Russia is the world's largest exporter of wheat,[395][396] the largest producer of barley and buckwheat, among the largest exporters of maize and sunflower oil, and the leading producer of fertilizer.[397]
Various analysts of climate change adaptation foresee large opportunities for Russian agriculture during the rest of the 21st century as arability increases in Siberia, which would lead to both internal and external migration to the region.[398] Owing to its large coastline along three oceans and twelve marginal seas, Russia maintains the world's sixth-largest fishing industry; capturing nearly 5 million tons of fish in 2018.[399] It is home to the world's finest caviar, the beluga; and produces about one-third of all canned fish, and some one-fourth of the world's total fresh and frozen fish.[392]
space exploration rover,[434] while Salyut 1 became the world's first space station.[435] Russia had 172 active satellites in space in April 2022, the world's third-highest.[436]
According to the World Tourism Organization, Russia was the sixteenth-most visited country in the world, and the tenth-most visited country in Europe, in 2018, with over 24.6 million visits.[437] According to Federal Agency for Tourism, the number of inbound trips of foreign citizens to Russia amounted to 24.4 million in 2019.[438] Russia's international tourism receipts in 2018 amounted to $11.6 billion.[437] In 2019, travel and tourism accounted for about 4.8% of country's total GDP.[439]
Major tourist routes in Russia include a journey around the
establish their own state languages in addition to Russian, as well as guarantee its citizens the right to preserve their native language and to create conditions for its study and development.[470] However, various experts have claimed Russia's linguistic diversity is rapidly declining due to many languages becoming endangered.[471][472]
in Moscow is the most iconic religious architecture of Russia.
Russia is a
revived), are recognised by Russian law as the traditional religions of the country, part of its "historical heritage".[473][474] The amendments of 2020 to the constitution added, in the Article 67, the continuity of the Russian state in history based on preserving "the memory of the ancestors" and general "ideals and belief in God" which the ancestors conveyed.[475]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a renewal of religions in Russia, with the revival of the traditional faiths and the emergence of new forms within the traditional faiths as well as many
Siberian shamanism[482] and Tengrism, various Neo-Theosophical movements such as Roerichism, and other faiths.[483][484] Some religious minorities have faced oppression and some have been banned in the country;[485] notably, in 2017 the Jehovah's Witnesses were outlawed in Russia, facing persecution ever since, after having been declared an "extremist" and "nontraditional" faith.[486]
In 2012, the research organisation Sreda, in cooperation with the
literacy rate of 100%,[488] and has compulsory education for a duration of 11 years, exclusively for children aged 7 to 17–18.[489] It grants free education to its citizens by constitution.[490] The Ministry of Education of Russia is responsible for primary and secondary education, as well as vocational education; while the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia is responsible for science and higher education.[489] Regional authorities regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of federal laws. Russia is among the world's most educated countries, and has the sixth-highest proportion of tertiary-level graduates in terms of percentage of population, at 62.1%.[491] It spent roughly 4.7% of its GDP on education in 2018.[492]
Russia's
pre-school education system is highly developed and optional,[493] some four-fifths of children aged 3 to 6 attend day nurseries or kindergartens. Primary school is compulsory for eleven years, starting from age 6 to 7, and leads to a basic general education certificate.[489] An additional two or three years of schooling are required for the secondary-level certificate, and some seven-eighths of Russians continue their education past this level.[494]
Russia, by constitution, guarantees free, universal health care for all Russian citizens, through a compulsory state health insurance program.[498] The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation oversees the Russian public healthcare system, and the sector employs more than two million people. Federal regions also have their own departments of health that oversee local administration. A separate private health insurance plan is needed to access private healthcare in Russia.[499]
Russia spent 5.65% of its GDP on healthcare in 2019.[500] Its healthcare expenditure is notably lower than other developed nations.[501] Russia has one of the world's most female-biased sex ratios, with 0.859 males to every female,[9] due to its high male mortality rate.[502] In 2019, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth was 73.2 years (68.2 years for males and 78.0 years for females),[503] and it had a very low infant mortality rate (5 per 1,000 live births).[504]
Russia has eight—public, patriotic, and religious—official holidays.[526] The year starts with New Year's Day on 1 January, soon followed by Russian Orthodox Christmas on 7 January; the two are the country's most popular holidays.[527]Defender of the Fatherland Day, dedicated to men, is celebrated on 23 February.[528]International Women's Day on 8 March, gained momentum in Russia during the Soviet era. The annual celebration of women has become so popular, especially among Russian men, that Moscow's flower vendors often see profits of "15 times" more than other holidays.[529]Spring and Labour Day, originally a Soviet era holiday dedicated to workers, is celebrated on 1 May.[530]
There are many popular non-public holidays. Old New Year is celebrated on 14 January.[535]Maslenitsa is an ancient and popular East Slavic folk holiday.[536]Cosmonautics Day on 12 April, in tribute to the first human trip into space.[537] Two major Christian holidays are Easter and Trinity Sunday.[538]
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Russian literature split into Soviet and
Nikolay Ostrovsky's novel How the Steel Was Tempered has been among the most successful works of Russian literature. Influential émigré writers include Vladimir Nabokov,[598] and Isaac Asimov; who was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers.[599] Some writers dared to oppose Soviet ideology, such as Nobel Prize-winning novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote about life in the Gulag camps.[600]
fascist views, has been regarded as the "guru of geopolitics".[609]
Russian cuisine has been formed by climate, cultural and religious traditions, and the vast geography of the nation; and it shares similarities with the cuisines of its neighbouring countries. Crops of
The 1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in Soviet cinema.
cosmonauts before any trip into space.[642] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian cinema industry suffered large losses—however, since the late 2000s, it has seen growth once again, and continues to expand.[643]
^Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, remains internationally recognised as a part of Ukraine.[1] Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, which were annexed—though are only partially occupied—in 2022, also remain internationally recognised as a part of Ukraine. The southernmost Kuril Islands have been the subject of a territorial dispute with Japan since their occupation by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.[2]
^ abThe Sreda Arena Atlas 2012 did not count the populations of two federal subjects of Russia where the majority of the population is Muslim, namely Chechnya and Ingushetia, which together had a population of nearly 2 million, thus the proportion of Muslims was possibly slightly underestimated.[6]
^Russia has an additional 850 km (530 mi) of coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is the world's largest inland body of water, and has been variously classified as a sea or a lake.[214]
^Russia, by land area, is larger than the continents of Australia, Antarctica, and Europe; although it covers a large part of the latter itself. Its land area could be roughly compared to that of South America.
^In 2020, constitutional amendments were signed into law that limit the president to two terms overall rather than two consecutive terms, with this limit reset for current and previous presidents.[249]
^Including the Republic of Crimea, and the federal city of Sevastopol, which are disputed between Russia and Ukraine, since the internationally unrecognised annexation of Crimea in 2014[1]
^Kuchkin, V. A. (2014). Русская земля [Russian land]. In Melnikova, E. A.; Petrukhina, V. Ya. (eds.). Древняя Русь в средневековом мире [Old Rus' in the medieval world] (in Russian). Moscow: Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ladomir. pp. 700–701.
^ abBelinskij, Andrej; Härke, Heinrich (1999). "The 'Princess' of Ipatovo". Archeology. 52 (2). Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
^Koryakova, L. "Sintashta-Arkaim Culture". The Center for the Study of the Eurasian Nomads (CSEN). Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
^ abCurtis, Glenn E. (1998). "Russia – Early Imperial Russia". Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
^"Europe – Land". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 4 April 2022. The lowest terrain in Europe, virtually lacking relief, stands at the head of the Caspian Sea; there the Caspian Depression reaches some 95 feet (29 metres) below sea level.
. The Central Asian states have been dependent on Russia since they gained independence in 1991, not just in economic and energy terms, but also militarily and politically.
^Davydova, Angelina (24 November 2021). "Will Russia ever leave fossil fuels behind?". BBC. Retrieved 3 March 2022. Overall in Russia, oil and gas provided 39% of the federal budget revenue and made up 60% of Russian exports in 2019.
^Wadhams, Nick (8 March 2022). "Russia Is Now the World's Most-Sanctioned Nation". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2 October 2022. Russia has vaulted past Iran and North Korea to become the world's most-sanctioned nation in the span of just 10 days following President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
^Lustgarten, Abrahm (16 December 2020). "How Russia Wins the Climate Crisis". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 June 2021. Across Eastern Russia, wild forests, swamps and grasslands are slowly being transformed into orderly grids of soybeans, corn and wheat. It's a process that is likely to accelerate: Russia hopes to seize on the warming temperatures and longer growing seasons brought by climate change to refashion itself as one of the planet's largest producers of food
^"Tourism Highlights 2014"(PDF). UNWTO (World Tourism Organization). 2014. Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^Foltynova, Kristyna (19 June 2020). "Migrants Welcome: Is Russia Trying To Solve Its Demographic Crisis By Attracting Foreigners?". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 9 July 2021. Russia has been trying to boost fertility rates and reduce death rates for several years now. Special programs for families have been implemented, anti-tobacco campaigns have been organized, and raising the legal age to buy alcohol was considered. However, perhaps the most successful strategy so far has been attracting migrants, whose arrival helps Russia to compensate population losses.
^"Russia – The Indo-European Group". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 July 2021. East Slavs—mainly Russians but including some Ukrainians and Belarusians—constitute more than four-fifths of the total population and are prevalent throughout the country.
^Lazarev, Vladimir; Pravikova, Ludmila. "The North Caucasus Bilingualism and Language Identity"(PDF). Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University: 1325. The North Caucasus, inhabited by more than 100 of autochthonous and allochthonous peoples, including Russians, is a unique locus for conducting a large-scale research in the area of bilingualism and multilingualism.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ab"Russian". University of Toronto. Retrieved 9 July 2021. Russian is the most widespread of the Slavic languages and the largest native language in Europe. Of great political importance, it is one of the official languages of the United Nations – making it a natural area of study for those interested in geopolitics.
. Russia is unique in its size and ethnic composition. There is a further linguistic complexity of more than 150 co-existing languages.
^"Russia – Ethnic groups and languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 November 2020. Although ethnic Russians comprise more than four-fifths of the country's total population, Russia is a diverse, multiethnic society. More than 120 ethnic groups, many with their own national territories, speaking some 100 languages live within Russia's borders.
^"Chapter 3. The Federal Structure". Constitution of Russia. Retrieved 27 December 2007. 2. The Republics shall have the right to establish their own state languages. In the bodies of state authority and local self-government, state institutions of the Republics they shall be used together with the state language of the Russian Federation. 3. The Russian Federation shall guarantee to all of its peoples the right to preserve their native language and to create conditions for its study and development.
^Andreeva, Julia Olegovna (2012). "Представления о народных традициях в движении 'Звенящие кедры России'" [Representations of national traditions in the movement 'Ringing Cedars of Russia'] (PDF). In T. B. Shchepanskaya (ed.). Аспекты будущего по этнографическим и фольклорным материалам: сборник научных статей [Prospects of the future in ethnographic and folklore materials: Collection of scientific articles] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Kunstkamera. pp. 231–245. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 August 2020.
. Russians are officially drinking less and, as a consequence, are living longer than ever before...Russians are still far from being teetotal: a pure ethanol per capita consumption of 11·7 L, reported in 2016, means consumption is still one of the highest worldwide, and efforts to reduce it further are required.
^Letopisi: Literature of Old Rus'. Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary. ed. by Oleg Tvorogov. Moscow: Prosvescheniye ("Enlightenment"), 1996. (Russian: Летописи // Литература Древней Руси. Биобиблиографический словарь / под ред. О.В. Творогова. – М.: Просвещение, 1996.)
147,182,123 (
in 1097
of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire between the 14th and 20th centuries
(1851)
during a 1920 speech in Moscow
in 1936
This article incorporates text from a 
.png){kind=link}
.svg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
