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_ Russia _

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Introduction

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Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country in Eastern Europe

and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world, spanning

eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries.

With a population of over 140 million, Russia is the most populous

country in Europe and the ninth-most populous in the world. It is a

highly urbanised country, with sixteen of its urban areas having

more than 1 million inhabitants. Moscow, the most populous

metropolitan area in Europe, is the capital and largest city of

Russia, while Saint Petersburg is its second-largest city and a

major cultural centre.

Human settlement on modern Russian territory dates back to the

Lower Paleolithic. The emergence of the East Slavs as a prominent

group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD led to the

establishment of Kievan Rus' in the 9th century, which adopted

Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988. Following

the disintegration of Kievan Rus' in the 12th century, the Grand

Principality of Moscow became the dominant Russian principality and

led the unification of Russian lands during the late medieval

period, culminating in the formation of the Tsardom of Russia in

1547. By the early 18th century, Russia had expanded vastly through

conquest, annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers. It was

proclaimed as the Russian Empire in 1721, which became the

third-largest empire in history. The Russian Revolution of 1917 led

to the abolition of the Russian monarchy and the creation of the

Russian SFSR, the first socialist state. Following the Russian

Civil War, Russia became the largest and principal constituent of

the newly established Soviet Union in 1922. Amidst rapid

industrialisation in the 1930s, millions died under Joseph Stalin.

The Soviet Union played a decisive role for the Allies in World War

II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. During the

Cold War, it emerged as a superpower and competed with the United

States for geopolitical dominance. The Soviet era saw some of the

most significant Russian technological achievements, including the

first human-made satellite and the first human expedition into

outer space.

In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the

Soviet Union as the Russian Federation. Following a constitutional

crisis in 1993, a new constitution was adopted, establishing a

semi-presidential republic. Since the turn of the century, Russia's

political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whose

leadership it has experienced democratic backsliding, transforming

into an authoritarian regime. Russia has been militarily involved

in numerous conflicts, including its war with Georgia in 2008 and

its war with Ukraine since 2014, which in the latter has involved

the internationally unrecognised annexation of Crimea in 2014 and

four additional regions following the 2022 Russian invasion of

Ukraine, resulting in a full-scale war.

Russia is generally considered a great power and wields significant

regional influence, possessing the largest stockpile of nuclear

weapons and having the third-highest military expenditure in the

world. Its economy ranks among the largest in the world by both

nominal GDP and PPP-adjusted GDP, relying on its vast mineral and

energy resources, mainly oil and natural gas. Russia continues to

rank very low in measurements of democracy, human rights and media

freedom, while having high levels of corruption. As the successor

state of the Soviet Union, it retains its seat as a permanent

member of the United Nations Security Council and is a member state

of several international organisations. Russia is also home to 32

UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Etymology

______________________________

According to the 'Oxford English Dictionary', the English name

'Russia' first appeared in the 14th century, borrowed from , used

in the 11th century and frequently in 12th-century British sources,

in turn derived from and the suffix .

There are several words in Russian which translate to "Russians" in

English. The noun and adjective refers to ethnic Russians. The

adjective denotes Russian citizens regardless of ethnicity. The

same applies to the more recently coined noun , in the sense of

citizen of the Russian state.

The oldest endonyms used were 'Rus () and the "Russian land" ().

According to the 'Primary Chronicle', the word 'Rus is derived from

the Rus' people, who were a Swedish tribe, and from where the three

original members of the Rurikid dynasty came from. The Finnish word

for Swedes, , has the same origin. In modern historiography, the

early medieval East Slavic state is usually referred to as 'Kievan

Rus'', named after its capital city. Another Medieval Latin name

for 'Rus was 'Ruthenia'.

In Russian, the current name of the country, (), comes from the

Byzantine Greek name (). The name () was first attested in 1387.

The name appeared in Russian sources in the 15th century and began

to replace the vernacular 'Rus during the rise of Moscow as the

centre of a unified Russian state. However, until the end of the

17th century, the country was more often referred to by its

inhabitants as 'Rus, the "Russian land" (), or the "Muscovite

state" (), among other variations.

In 1721, Peter the Great proclaimed the Russian Empire (). The name

'Rossiya' was used as the common designation for the multinational

Russian Empire and then for the modern Russian state. 'Rossiya' is

distinguished from the ethnonym 'russkiy', as it refers to a

supranational identity, including ethnic Russians. After the

Russian Revolution and the proclamation of the Russian SFSR in

1918, the "Russian" in the title of the state was 'Rossiyskaya',

rather than 'Russkaya', as the former denoted a multinational

state, while the latter had ethnic dimensions. In modern Russian,

the name 'Rus is still used in poetry or prose to refer to either

the older Russia or an imagined essence of Russia.

Early history

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The first human settlement on Russia dates back to the Oldowan

period in the early Lower Paleolithic. About 2 million years ago,

representatives of 'Homo erectus' migrated to the Taman Peninsula

in southern Russia. Flint tools, some 1.5 million years old, have

been discovered in the North Caucasus. Radiocarbon dated specimens

from Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains estimate the oldest

Denisovan specimen lived 195-122,700 years ago. Fossils of 'Denny',

an archaic human hybrid that was half Neanderthal and half

Denisovan, and lived some 90,000 years ago, was also found within

the latter cave. Russia was home to some of the last surviving

Neanderthals, from about 45,000 years ago, found in Mezmaiskaya

cave.

The first trace of an early modern human in Russia dates back to

45,000 years, in Western Siberia. The discovery of high

concentration cultural remains of anatomically modern humans, from

at least 40,000 years ago, was found at Kostyonki-Borshchyovo, and

at Sungir, dating back to 34,600 years ago--both in western Russia.

Humans reached Arctic Russia at least 40,000 years ago, in

Mamontovaya Kurya. Ancient North Eurasian populations from Siberia

genetically similar to Mal'ta-Buret' culture and Afontova Gora were

an important genetic contributor to Ancient Native Americans and

Eastern Hunter-Gatherers.

The Kurgan hypothesis places the Volga-Dnieper region of southern

Russia and Ukraine as the urheimat of the Proto-Indo-Europeans.

Early Indo-European migrations from the Pontic-Caspian steppe of

Ukraine and Russia spread Yamnaya ancestry and Indo-European

languages across large parts of Eurasia. Nomadic pastoralism

developed in the Pontic-Caspian steppe beginning in the

Chalcolithic. Remnants of these steppe civilisations were

discovered in places such as Ipatovo, Sintashta, Arkaim, and

Pazyryk, which bear the earliest known traces of horses in warfare.

The genetic makeup of speakers of the Uralic language family in

northern Europe was shaped by migration from Siberia that began at

least 3,500 years ago.

In the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, the Gothic kingdom of Oium existed

in southern Russia, which was later overrun by Huns. Between the

3rd and 6th centuries AD, the Bosporan Kingdom, which was a

Hellenistic polity that succeeded the Greek colonies, was also

overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes such as the

Huns and Eurasian Avars. 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 Kiev on the Dnieper

river until the 10th century. After them came the Pechenegs who

created a large confederacy, which was subsequently taken over by

the Cumans and the Kipchaks.

The ancestors of Russians are among the Slavic tribes that

separated from the Proto-Indo-Europeans, who appeared in the

northeastern part of Europe  years ago. The East Slavs gradually

settled western Russia (approximately between modern Moscow and

Saint-Petersburg) in two waves: one moving from Kiev towards

present-day Suzdal and Murom and another from Polotsk towards

Novgorod and Rostov. Prior to Slavic migration, that territory was

populated by Finno-Ugrian peoples. From the 7th century onwards,

the incoming East Slavs slowly assimilated the native

Finno-Ugrians.

Kievan Rus'

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The establishment of the first East Slavic states in the 9th

century coincided with the arrival of the Varangians, Vikings who

ventured along the waterways extending from the eastern Baltic to

the Black and Caspian Seas. According to the 'Primary Chronicle', a

Varangian from the Rus', named Rurik, was elected ruler of Novgorod

in 862. In 882, his successor Oleg ventured south and conquered

Kiev, which had been previously paying tribute to the Khazars.

Rurik's son Igor and Igor's son Sviatoslav subsequently subdued all

local East Slavic tribes to Kievan rule, destroyed the Khazar

state, and launched several military expeditions to Bulgaria,

Byzantium and Persia.

During the 10th and 11th centuries, Kievan Rus' became one of the

largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The reigns of

Vladimir the Great (980-1015) and his son Yaroslav the Wise

(1019-1054) constitute Kiev's Golden Age. Through his political and

religious reforms, Vladimir laid the foundations for the

transformation of Kievan Rus' from a fragmented conglomeration of

tributary groups into a more unified realm, connected by dynastic

authority and shared religious and cultural ties. He adopted

Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of

Byzantine and Slavic cultures that would define Russian culture for

the next millennium. The reign of Yaroslav also saw the creation of

the state's first written legal code, the 'Russkaya Pravda'.

Kievan Rus' was politically unstable due to weak centralisation and

the absence of a stable succession principle. The rota system

introduced by Yaroslav led to princely authority being distributed

among members of the ruling Rurikid dynasty according to seniority.

Intended to preserve dynastic unity, this system increasingly

fostered rivalry among princes, leading to frequent infighting. As

a result, political power fragmented among competing regional

centres, marking a gradual shift toward decentralisation. Kiev's

dominance waned, to the benefit of Vladimir-Suzdal in the

north-east, the Novgorod Republic in the north, and

Galicia-Volhynia in the south-west. By the 12th century, Kiev lost

its pre-eminence and Kievan Rus' had fragmented into different

principalities. Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky sacked Kiev in 1169 and

made Vladimir his base, leading to political power being shifted to

the north-east.

Vladimir-Suzdal continued the tradition of strong princely rule,

while the Novgorod Republic, which formally won its independence in

1136, was an exception. From the mid-13th century, the throne of

Novgorod was held by the grand princes of Vladimir, although the

prince's authority gradually diminished in favour of more

republican-style governance, with political power increasingly held

by the 'veche' (popular assembly) and elected officials. Novgorod

became a major commercial centre through the fur trade and an

important centre of Russian culture. Led by Prince Alexander

Nevsky, the Novgorodians repelled the invading Swedes in the Battle

of the Neva in 1240, as well as the Germanic crusaders in the

Battle on the Ice in 1242.

As it was undergoing fragmentation, Kievan Rus' finally fell to the

Mongol invasions of 1237-1238, which overran much of the region and

later resulted in the sacking of Kiev in 1240 and other cities, as

well as the death of a significant portion of the population. The

invaders, later known as Tatars, formed the state of the Golden

Horde, which ruled over Russia for the next two centuries. Only the

Novgorod Republic escaped foreign occupation after it agreed to pay

tribute to the Mongols. Galicia-Volhynia would later be absorbed by

Lithuania and 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.

Grand Principality of Moscow

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The destruction of Kievan Rus' saw the eventual rise of the Grand

Principality of Moscow, initially a part of Vladimir-Suzdal. While

still under the domain of the Mongol-Tatars and with their

connivance, Moscow began to assert its influence in the region in

the early 14th century, gradually becoming the leading force in the

"gathering of the Russian lands". When the seat of the metropolitan

of the Russian Orthodox Church moved to Moscow in 1325, its

influence increased. Moscow's last rival, the Novgorod Republic,

prospered as the chief fur trade centre and the easternmost port of

the Hanseatic League.

Led by Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow, the united army of Russian

principalities inflicted a milestone defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in

the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Moscow gradually absorbed its

parent duchy and surrounding principalities, including formerly

strong rivals such as Tver and Novgorod.

Ivan III ("the Great") threw off the control of the Golden Horde

and gained sovereignty over the ethnically Russian lands; he later

adopted the title of sovereign of all Russia. After the fall of

Constantinople in 1453, Moscow claimed succession to the legacy of

the Eastern Roman Empire. Ivan III married Sophia Palaiologina, the

niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, and made the

Byzantine double-headed eagle his own, and eventually Russia's,

coat-of-arms. Vasili III united all of Russia by annexing the last

few independent Russian states in the early 16th century.

Tsardom of Russia

___________________

In development of the Third Rome ideas, the grand prince Ivan IV

("the Terrible") was officially crowned as the first tsar of all

Russia in 1547. The tsar promulgated a new code of laws (Sudebnik

of 1550), established the first Russian feudal representative body

(the Zemsky Sobor), revamped the military, curbed the influence of

the clergy, and reorganised local government. During his long

reign, Ivan nearly doubled the already large Russian territory by

annexing the three Tatar khanates: Kazan and Astrakhan along the

Volga, and the Khanate of Sibir in southwestern Siberia.

Ultimately, by the end of the 16th century, Russia expanded east of

the Ural Mountains. However, the Tsardom was weakened by the long

and unsuccessful Livonian War against the coalition of the Kingdom

of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (later the united

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), the Kingdom of Sweden, and

Denmark-Norway for access to the Baltic coast and sea trade. In

1571, the Crimean Tatars, supported by the Ottomans, burned down

Moscow, destroying everything except the Kremlin. The following

year, the Crimeans attempted another raid on Moscow, but this time

they were defeated in the crucial Battle of Molodi.

The death of Ivan's sons marked the end of the ancient Rurik

dynasty in 1598, and in combination with the famine of 1601-1603,

led to a civil war, the rule of pretenders, and foreign

intervention during the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, taking advantage, occupied

parts of Russia, extending into the capital Moscow. In 1612, the

Poles were forced to retreat by the Russian volunteer corps, led by

merchant Kuzma Minin and prince Dmitry Pozharsky. The Romanov

dynasty acceded to the throne in 1613 by the decision of the Zemsky

Sobor, and the country started its gradual recovery from the

crisis.

Russia continued its territorial growth through the 17th century,

which was the age of the Cossacks. In 1654, the Ukrainian leader,

Bohdan Khmelnytsky, offered to place Ukraine under the protection

of the Russian tsar, Alexis, whose acceptance of this offer led to

another Russo-Polish War. Ultimately, Ukraine was split along the

Dnieper, placing left-bank Ukraine and Kiev under Russian rule. In

the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonisation of vast

Siberia continued, hunting for valuable furs and ivory. Russian

explorers pushed eastward primarily along the Siberian River

Routes, and by the mid-17th century, there were Russian settlements

in eastern Siberia, on the Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River,

and on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. In 1648, Semyon Dezhnyov

became the first European to navigate through the Bering Strait.

Imperial Russia

_________________

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, Peter founded Saint Petersburg on the Baltic Sea by

establishing the Peter and Paul Fortress as a strategic outpost;

the city later replaced Moscow as Russia's capital in 1712.

Throughout his rule, sweeping reforms were made, which brought

significant Western European cultural influences to Russia. He was

succeeded by Catherine I (1725-1727), followed by Peter II

(1727-1730), and Anna. The reign of Peter I's daughter Elizabeth

from 1741 to 1762 saw Russia's participation in the Seven Years'

War (1756-1763). During the conflict, Russian troops overran East

Prussia, reaching Berlin. However, upon Elizabeth's death, all

these conquests were returned to the Kingdom of Prussia by

pro-Prussian Peter III of Russia.

Catherine II ("the Great"), who ruled from 1762 to 1796, presided

over the Russian Age of Enlightenment. She extended Russian

political control over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and

annexed most of its territories into Russia, making it the most

populous country in Europe. In the south, after the successful

Russo-Turkish Wars against the Ottoman Empire, Catherine advanced

Russia's boundary to the Black Sea, by dissolving the Crimean

Khanate, and annexing Crimea. As a result of victories over Qajar

Iran through the Russo-Persian Wars, by the first half of the 19th

century, Russia also conquered the Caucasus. Catherine's successor,

her son Paul, was unstable and focused predominantly on domestic

issues. Following his short reign, Catherine's strategy was

continued with Alexander I's (1801-1825) wresting of Finland from

the weakened Sweden in 1809, and of Bessarabia from the Ottomans in

1812. In North America, the Russians became the first Europeans to

reach and colonise Alaska. In 1803-1806, the first Russian

circumnavigation was made. In 1820, a Russian expedition discovered

the continent of Antarctica.

Great power and development of society, sciences, and arts

____________________________________________________________

During the Napoleonic Wars, Russia joined alliances with various

European powers, and fought against France. The French invasion of

Russia at the height of Napoleon's power in 1812 reached Moscow,

but eventually failed as the obstinate resistance in combination

with the bitterly cold Russian winter led to a disastrous defeat of

invaders, in which the pan-European Grande Armée faced utter

destruction. Led by Mikhail Kutuzov and Michael Andreas Barclay de

Tolly, the Imperial Russian Army ousted Napoleon and drove

throughout Europe in the War of the Sixth Coalition, ultimately

entering Paris. Alexander I controlled Russia's delegation at the

Congress of Vienna, which defined the map of post-Napoleonic

Europe.

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. 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.

Great liberal reforms and capitalism

______________________________________

Nicholas's successor Alexander II (1855-1881) enacted significant

changes throughout the country, including the emancipation reform

of 1861. 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.

During most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, 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.

The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist movements

in Russia. Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 by revolutionary

terrorists. The reign of his son Alexander III (1881-1894) was less

liberal but more peaceful.

Constitutional monarchy and World War

_______________________________________

During the reign of the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II

(1894-1917), the Revolution of 1905 was precipitated by the

disastrous and humiliating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. The

uprising was put down, but the government was forced to concede

major reforms (Russian Constitution of 1906), including granting

freedoms of speech and assembly, the legalisation of political

parties, and the creation of an elected legislative body, the State

Duma.

Revolution and civil war

__________________________

In 1914, Russia entered World War I in response to

Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Russia's ally Serbia, and

fought across multiple fronts while isolated from its Triple

Entente allies. In 1916, the Brusilov Offensive of the Imperial

Russian Army almost completely destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Army.

However, the already-existing public distrust of the regime was

deepened by the rising costs of war, high casualties, and rumours

of corruption and treason. All this formed the climate for the

Russian Revolution of 1917, carried out in two major acts. In early

1917, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate; he and his family were

imprisoned and later executed during the Russian Civil War. The

monarchy was replaced by a shaky coalition of political parties

that declared itself the Provisional Government, and proclaimed the

Russian Republic. On , 1918, the Russian Constituent Assembly

declared Russia a democratic federal republic (thus ratifying the

Provisional Government's decision). The next day the Constituent

Assembly was dissolved by the All-Russian Central Executive

Committee.

An alternative socialist establishment co-existed, the Petrograd

Soviet, wielding power through the democratically elected councils

of workers and peasants, called 'soviets'. The rule of the new

authorities only aggravated the crisis in the country instead of

resolving it, and eventually, the October Revolution, led by

Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Provisional

Government and gave full governing power to the soviets, leading to

the creation of the world's first socialist state. The Russian

Civil War broke out between the anti-communist White movement and

the Bolsheviks with its Red Army. 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.

The Allied powers launched an unsuccessful military intervention in

support of anti-communist forces. 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. 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.

Millions became White émigrés, and the Russian famine of 1921-1922

claimed up to five million victims.

Command economy and Soviet society

____________________________________

On 30 December 1922, Lenin and his aides formed the Soviet Union,

by joining the Russian SFSR into a single state with the

Byelorussian, Transcaucasian, and Ukrainian republics. Eventually,

internal border changes and annexations during World War II

resulted in a union of 15 republics, the largest and most populous

being the Russian SFSR, which dominated the union politically,

culturally, and economically.

Following Lenin's death in 1924, a troika was designated to take

charge. Eventually Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the

Communist Party, managed to suppress all opposition factions and

consolidate power in his hands to become the country's dictator by

the 1930s. Leon Trotsky, the main proponent of world revolution,

was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, and Stalin's idea of

Socialism in One Country became the official line. The continued

internal struggle in the Bolshevik party culminated in the Great

Purge.

Stalinism and modernisation

_____________________________

Under Stalin's leadership, the government launched a command

economy, industrialisation of the largely rural country, and

collectivisation of its agriculture. During this period of rapid

economic and social change, millions of people were sent to penal

labour camps, including many political convicts for their suspected

or real opposition to Stalin's rule, and millions were deported and

exiled to remote areas of the Soviet Union. The transitional

disorganisation of the country's agriculture, combined with the

harsh state policies and a drought, led to the Soviet famine of

1932-1933, which killed 5.7 to 8.7 million, 3.3 million of them in

the Russian SFSR. The Soviet Union, ultimately, made the costly

transformation from a largely agrarian economy to a major

industrial powerhouse within a short span of time.

World War II and United Nations

_________________________________

The Soviet Union entered World War II on 17 September 1939 with its

invasion of Poland, in accordance with a secret protocol within the

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union later

invaded Finland, and occupied and annexed the Baltic states, as

well as parts of Romania. On 22 June 1941, Germany invaded the

Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front, the largest theatre of

World War II.

Eventually, some 5 million Red Army troops were captured by the

Nazis; the latter deliberately 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. Although the

Wehrmacht had considerable early success, their attack was halted

in the Battle of Moscow. Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major

defeats first at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of

1942-1943, and then in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943.

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. Soviet forces steamrolled through

Eastern and Central Europe in 1944-1945 and captured Berlin in May

1945. In August 1945, the Red Army invaded Manchuria and ousted the

Japanese from Northeast Asia, contributing to the Allied victory

over Japan.

The 1941-1945 period of World War II is known in Russia as the

Great Patriotic War. The Soviet Union, along with the United

States, the United Kingdom and China were considered the Big Four

of Allied powers in World War II, and later became the Four

Policemen, which was the foundation of the United Nations Security

Council. During the war, Soviet civilian and military death were

about 26-27 million, accounting for about half of all World War II

casualties. The Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered massive

devastation, which caused the Soviet famine of 1946-1947. However,

at the expense of a large sacrifice, the Soviet Union emerged as a

superpower.

Superpower and Cold War

_________________________

After World War II, according to the Potsdam Conference, the Red

Army occupied parts of Eastern and Central Europe, including East

Germany and the eastern regions of Austria. Dependent communist

governments were installed in the Eastern Bloc satellite states.

After becoming the world's second nuclear power, the Soviet Union

established the Warsaw Pact alliance, and entered into a struggle

for global dominance, known as the Cold War, with the rivalling

United States and NATO.

Khrushchev Thaw reforms and economic development

__________________________________________________

After Stalin's death in 1953 and a short period of collective

leadership, the new leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin and

launched the policy of de-Stalinization, releasing many political

prisoners from the Gulag labour camps. The general easement of

repressive policies became known later as the Khrushchev Thaw. At

the same time, Cold War tensions reached its peak when the two

rivals clashed over the deployment of the United States Jupiter

missiles in Turkey and Soviet missiles in Cuba.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial

satellite, 'Sputnik 1', thus starting the Space Age. Russian

cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth,

aboard the 'Vostok 1' crewed spacecraft on 12 April 1961.

Period of developed socialism or Era of Stagnation

____________________________________________________

Following the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964, another period of

collective leadership ensued, until Leonid Brezhnev became the

leader. The era of the 1970s and the early 1980s was later

designated as the Era of Stagnation. The 1965 Kosygin reform aimed

for partial decentralisation of the Soviet economy. In 1979, after

a communist-led revolution in Afghanistan, Soviet forces invaded

the country, ultimately starting the Soviet-Afghan War. In May

1988, the Soviets started to withdraw from Afghanistan, due to

international opposition, persistent anti-Soviet guerrilla warfare,

and a lack of support by Soviet citizens.

Perestroika, democratisation 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. This, however, led to

the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements across the

country. Prior to 1991, the Soviet economy was the world's

second-largest, but during its final years, it went into a crisis.

By 1991, economic and political turmoil began to boil over as the

Baltic states chose to secede from the Soviet Union. On 17 March, a

referendum was held, in which the vast majority of participating

citizens voted in favour of changing the Soviet Union into a

renewed federation. In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first

directly elected President in Russian history when he was elected

President of the Russian SFSR. 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. On 25 December

1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, along with

contemporary Russia, fourteen other post-Soviet states emerged.

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

privatisation and market and trade liberalisation were undertaken,

including radical changes along the lines of "shock therapy". The

privatisation largely shifted control of enterprises from state

agencies to individuals with inside connections in the government,

which led to the rise of Russian oligarchs. Many of the newly rich

moved billions in cash and assets outside of the country in an

enormous capital flight. The depression of the economy led to the

collapse of social services--the birth rate plummeted while the

death rate skyrocketed, and millions plunged into poverty, while

extreme corruption, as well as criminal gangs and organised crime

rose significantly.

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.

Modern liberal constitution, international cooperation and economic stabilisation

___________________________________________________________________________________

In December, a referendum was held and approved, which introduced a

new constitution, giving the president enormous powers. The 1990s

were plagued by armed conflicts in the North Caucasus, both local

ethnic skirmishes and separatist Islamist insurrections. From the

time Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s,

an intermittent guerrilla war was fought between the rebel groups

and Russian forces. Terrorist attacks against civilians were

carried out by Chechen separatists, claiming the lives of thousands

of Russian civilians.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia assumed

responsibility for settling the latter's external debts. In 1992,

most consumer price controls were eliminated, causing extreme

inflation and significantly devaluing the rouble. 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.

Movement towards a modernised economy, political centralisation and democratic backsliding

____________________________________________________________________________________________

On 31 December 1999, President Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned,

handing the post to the recently appointed prime minister and his

chosen successor, Vladimir Putin. Putin then won the 2000

presidential election, and defeated the Chechen insurgency in the

Second Chechen War.

Putin won a second presidential term in 2004. High oil prices and a

rise in foreign investment saw the Russian economy and living

standards improve significantly. Putin's rule increased stability,

while transforming Russia into an authoritarian state. In 2008,

Putin took the post of prime minister, while Dmitry Medvedev was

elected President for one term, to hold onto power despite legal

term limits; this period has been described as a "tandemocracy".

Following a diplomatic standoff with neighbouring Georgia in 2008,

Russian forces invaded the country from 1-16 August 2008 and

occupied territories that it has since considered as independent

states, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The conflict marked the first

war in Europe in the 21st century. The 2008 constitutional

amendments saw the terms of the president extend to six years and

the lower house (State Duma) to five years. Putin then went on to

win the 2012 presidential election, which fuelled the "Snow

Revolution" protests.

Russo-Ukrainian war and 2022 invasion

_______________________________________

In 2014, following a pro-Western revolution in Ukraine, Russia

invaded and annexed Crimea. It also supported an insurgency in the

Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, and aided pro-Russian separatists

waging a war against the Ukrainian government. The frozen conflict

escalated into a full-scale Russian invasion of the remainder of

Ukraine on 24 February 2022, initiating the largest conventional

war in Europe since World War II. The invasion met with

international condemnation, and expanded sanctions against Russia.

Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March 2022, and

subsequently suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council

the following month.

Russia initially made rapid advances in the northern and eastern

fronts, yet failed to capture Kyiv and overthrow the Ukrainian

government, leading to a subsequent withdrawal from the north. In

September 2022, Russia proclaimed the annexation of four

partially-occupied Ukrainian regions, which was internationally

denounced as illegal. Following the annexations, the conflict has

settled into a war of attrition in the southern and eastern fronts,

with Russian forces making slow, limited advances and suffering

heavy casualties. Russian forces have been accused of committing

war crimes during the invasion, and occupied about a fifth of

Ukraine's territory at the end of 2025.

Geography

______________________________

Russia's vast landmass stretches over the easternmost part of

Europe and the northernmost part of Asia. It spans the northernmost

edge of Eurasia and has the world's fourth-longest coastline, of

over comma=5 37653. Russia lies between latitudes 41° and 82° N,

and longitudes 19° E and 169° W, extending some 9000 km east to

west, and 2500 to 4000 km north to south. Russia, by landmass, is

larger than three continents, and has the same surface area as

Pluto.

Russia has nine major mountain ranges, and they are found along the

southernmost regions, which share a significant portion of the

Caucasus Mountains (containing Mount Elbrus, which at 5642 m is the

highest peak in Russia and Europe); the Altai and Sayan Mountains

in Siberia; and in the East Siberian Mountains and the Kamchatka

Peninsula in the Russian Far East (containing Klyuchevskaya Sopka,

which at 4750 m is the highest active volcano in Eurasia). The Ural

Mountains, running north to south through the country's west, are

rich in mineral resources, and form the traditional boundary

between Europe and Asia. The lowest point in Russia and Europe, is

situated at the head of the Caspian Sea, where the Caspian

Depression reaches some 29 m below sea level.

Russia, as one of the world's only three countries bordering three

oceans, has links with a great number of seas. Its major islands

and archipelagos include Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya

Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, the Kuril Islands

(four of which are disputed with Japan), and Sakhalin. The Diomede

Islands, administered by Russia and the United States, are just 3.8

km apart; and Kunashir Island of the Kuril Islands is merely 20 km

from Hokkaido, Japan.

Russia has one of the world's largest surface water resources and

is second only to Brazil by total renewable water resources. Its

lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's liquid fresh

water. Lake Baikal, the largest and most prominent among Russia's

fresh water bodies, is the world's deepest, purest, oldest and most

capacious fresh water lake, containing over one-fifth of the

world's fresh surface water. Ladoga and Onega in northwestern

Russia are two of the largest lakes in Europe. Russia has over

100,000 rivers; the Volga in western Russia, which is widely

regarded as the national river, is the longest river in Europe and

forms the Volga Delta, the largest river delta in the continent.

The Siberian rivers of Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and Amur are among the

world's longest rivers.

Climate

_________

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. 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), and more moderate winters elsewhere.

Russia's vast coastline along the Arctic Ocean and the Russian

Arctic islands have a polar climate.

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. 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. The

region along the Lower Volga and Caspian Sea coast, as well as some

southernmost slivers of Siberia, possess a semi-arid climate.

Throughout much of the territory, there are only two distinct

seasons, winter and summer, as spring and autumn are usually brief.

The coldest month is January (February on the coastline); the

warmest is usually July. Great ranges of temperature are typical.

In winter, temperatures get colder both from south to north and

from west to east. Summers can be quite hot, even in Siberia.

Climate change in Russia is causing more frequent wildfires, and

thawing the country's large expanse of permafrost.

Biodiversity

______________

Russia, owing to its gigantic size, has diverse ecosystems,

including polar deserts, tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, mixed and

broadleaf forest, forest steppe, steppe, semi-desert, and

subtropics. About half of Russia's territory is forested, and it

has the world's largest area of forest.

Russian biodiversity includes 12,500 species of vascular plants,

2,200 species of bryophytes, about 3,000 species of lichens,

7,000-9,000 species of algae, and 20,000-25,000 species of fungi.

Russian fauna is composed of 320 species of mammals, over 732

species of birds, 75 species of reptiles, about 30 species of

amphibians, 343 species of freshwater fish (high endemism),

approximately 1,500 species of saltwater fishes, 9 species of

cyclostomata, and approximately 100-150,000 invertebrates (high

endemism). Approximately 1,100 rare and endangered plant and animal

species are included in the Russian Red Data Book.

Russia's 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. They include

45 biosphere reserves, 64 national parks, and 101 nature reserves.

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. 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.

Government and politics

______________________________

Russia, by constitution, is a symmetric federal republic with a

semi-presidential system, wherein the president is the head of

state, and the prime minister is the head of government. It is

officially structured as a multi-party representative democracy,

with the federal government composed of three branches:

* Legislative: The bicameral Federal Assembly of Russia, made up of

the 450-member State Duma and the 170-member Federation Council,

adopts federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power

of the purse and the power of impeachment of the president.

* Executive: The president is the 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. The

president may issue decrees of unlimited scope, so long as they do

not contradict the constitution or federal law.

* Judiciary: The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and lower

federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Federation

Council on the recommendation of the president, interpret laws and

can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.

The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term and

may be elected no more than twice. Ministries of the government are

composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected

other individuals; all are appointed by the president on the

recommendation of the prime minister (whereas the appointment of

the latter requires the consent of the State Duma). United Russia

is the dominant political party in Russia and has been described as

"big tent" and the "party of power".

Political history

___________________

While there is scholarly debate over the significance of the

'veche' in the Middle Ages as a representative political body,

Russian society has historically been ruled by various forms of

autocracy. This pattern of a centralised ruling system has its

roots in the late Middle Ages, with a unified Russian state being

established as an absolute monarchy in the late 15th century, a

governance structure that was followed until the early 20th

century. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the monarchy was

abolished, and the Soviet Union was proclaimed as a one-party

communist state until its collapse. Brief periods of non-autocratic

rule include the short-lived Provisional Government in 1917

established during the February Revolution, and during the

transition of post-Soviet Russia into a flawed democracy during the

presidency of Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s.

In the 21st century, following the presidencies of Vladimir Putin

and Dmitry Medvedev, Russia has experienced significant democratic

backsliding. The political system evolved from electoral

authoritarianism into a consolidated authoritarian regime. Some

political scientists have characterised Putin as the head of a

dictatorship, or a personalist regime. Putin's second tenure as

president has led to further autocratization, which has been the

most significant since the Soviet era, with some authors suggesting

a regeneration of totalitarian elements. Putin's ruling policies

are generally referred to as Putinism.

Political divisions

_____________________

Russia, by constitution, is a symmetric federation with the

possibility of an asymmetric configuration. 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". The regions of Russia

have reserved areas of competence, but regions do not 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.

The federal subjects have equal representation--two delegates

each--in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Federal

Assembly. However, they differ in the degree of autonomy they

enjoy. The federal districts of Russia were established by Putin in

2000 to facilitate central government control of the federal

subjects. Originally seven, currently there are eight federal

districts, each headed by an envoy appointed by the president.

Federal subjects Governance

The most common type of federal subject with a governor and

locally elected legislature. Commonly named after their

administrative centres.

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.

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.

Occasionally referred to as "autonomous district", "autonomous

area", and "autonomous region", each with a substantial or

predominant ethnic minority.

Major cities that function as separate regions (Moscow and Saint

Petersburg, as well as Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Ukraine).

The only autonomous oblast is the Jewish Autonomous Oblast.

Foreign relations

___________________

Russia has the sixth-largest diplomatic network in the world . It

maintains diplomatic relations with 187 United Nations member

states, two partially-recognised states, and two United Nations

observer states, along with 143 embassies. As the legal successor

of the Soviet Union, Russia retains its seat as a permanent member

of the United Nations Security Council. It is generally described

by political analysts as a great power. Russia is also a former

superpower as the leading constituent of the former Soviet Union.

In the 21st century, many scholars view its global influence as

being in decline. Russia is a member state of the G20, the OSCE,

BRICS, WTO, and the APEC; and the leading member state of

organisations such as the CIS, the EAEU, the CSTO, and the SCO. It

was also a member state of the G8 (now the G7) and part of the

Council of Europe before its expulsion from the two groups in 2014

and 2022, respectively.

Russia maintains close relations with neighbouring Belarus, which

is a part of the Union State, a supranational confederation of the

two states. Serbia has been a historically close ally of Russia, as

both countries share a strong mutual cultural, ethnic, and

religious affinity. From the 21st century, relations between Russia

and China have significantly strengthened bilaterally and

economically due to shared political interests. India is the

largest customer of Russian military equipment, and the two

countries share a strong strategic and diplomatic relationship

since the Soviet era. Russia wields significant political influence

across the geopolitically important South Caucasus and Central

Asia, described in Russia as the "near abroad", while foreign

political analysts have described the two regions as being part of

Russia's "backyard".

Russia shares a complex strategic, energy, and defence relationship

with Turkey. It maintains cordial relations with Iran, as it is a

strategic and economic ally. Russia has also significantly

developed its relations with North Korea following its invasion of

Ukraine in 2022, with increased defence co-operation. At the same

time, its relations with neighbouring Ukraine and the Western

world--specifically the United States and the countries of the

European Union and NATO--have collapsed.

In the 21st century, Russia has pursued an aggressive foreign

policy aimed at securing regional dominance in Europe and

increasing its international influence, as well as increasing

domestic support for the government. It has initiated military

interventions in the post-Soviet states of Georgia and Ukraine, as

well as in Syria during its prolonged civil war in a bid to

increase its influence in the Middle East, and achieve its great

power ambitions. Two-thirds of the global population, specifically

the developing countries of the Global South, are either neutral or

leaning towards Russia politically. Russian state-funded Wagner

Group has been deployed in Africa (Africa Corps), and in Syria; to

maintain political stability in failed states through military

projection and exploit local natural resources. Russia has also

increasingly pushed to expand its influence across the Arctic, the

Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. It has also continued using

subversive tactics in its rival countries to project its

geopolitical power, such as cyberwarfare, disinformation campaigns,

sabotage attacks, assassination attempts, airspace violations,

electoral interferences, nuclear sabre-rattling, and hybrid

warfare.

Military

__________

The Russian Armed Forces are divided into the Ground Forces, the

Navy, and the Aerospace Forces--and there are also two independent

arms of service: the Strategic Missile Troops and the Airborne

Troops. , the military have 1.1 million active-duty personnel,

which is the world's fifth-largest, and about 1.5 million reserve

personnel. It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18-27 to be

drafted for a year of service in the Armed Forces.

Russia is among the five recognised nuclear-weapons states, with

the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons; over half of the

world's nuclear weapons are owned by Russia. Russia possesses the

second-largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines, and is one of

the only three countries operating strategic bombers. , Russia

maintains the world's third-highest military expenditure, spending

$190 billion, corresponding to about 7.5% of its GDP.'' It was also

the third-largest arms exporter in 2020-2024, and has a large and

indigenous defence industry, which produces the majority of its

military equipment.

Law, corruption and crime

___________________________

Post-Soviet Russia under the regime of Vladimir Putin has been

governed by a form of crony capitalism. Its political system has

been variously described as a kleptocracy, an oligarchy, and a

plutocracy. , it is the lowest rated European country in

Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index,

ranking 157th out of the 180 countries listed.

Corruption has significantly increased following the collapse of

the Soviet Union, and is seen as a significant issue in society. It

affects various sectors, including the economy, the government, law

enforcement, healthcare, education, and the military. Russia's

shadow economy was estimated to be about 44% of the total GDP in

2018. Penal military units have been deployed as storm troops

during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War since 2022, such as the

Storm-Z and Storm-V units. According to estimates by the BBC,

around 48,000 prisoners were recruited to fight for the Wagner

Group.

The primary and fundamental statement of laws in Russia is the

constitution. Statutes, such as the Russian Civil Code and the

Russian Criminal Code, are the predominant legal sources of Russian

law. Russia has the largest incarcerated population in Europe, and

the fifth-largest incarcerated population in the world. Its

incarceration rate is among the highest in Europe, although the

number has fallen steadily, by 59% since 2000. , Russia's

intentional homicide rate stood at 6.8 per 100,000 people. In 2023,

Russia had the world's second-largest illegal arms trade market,

after the United States, was described as a key hub for human

trafficking, and was ranked first in Europe and 19th globally in

the Global Organized Crime Index.

Human rights

______________

Violations of human rights in Russia have been increasingly

reported by leading democracy and human rights groups. In

particular, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say that

Russia is not democratic and allows few political rights and civil

liberties to its citizens.

Since 2004, Freedom House has ranked Russia as "not free" in its

'Freedom in the World' survey. Since 2011, the Economist

Intelligence Unit has ranked Russia as an "authoritarian regime" in

its Democracy Index, ranking it 148th out of 167 countries in 2025.

In regards to media freedom, Russia was ranked 172th out of 180

countries in Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index for

2026. The Russian government has been widely criticised by

political dissidents and human rights activists for unfair

elections, crackdowns on opposition political parties and protests,

persecution of non-governmental organisations and enforced

suppression and killings of independent journalists, and censorship

of mass media and internet.

Muslims, especially Salafis, have faced persecution in Russia. To

quash the insurgency in the North Caucasus, Russian authorities

have been accused of indiscriminate killings, arrests, forced

disappearances, and torture of civilians. In Dagestan, some Salafis

along with facing government harassment based on their appearance,

have had their homes blown up in counterinsurgency operations.

Chechens and Ingush in Russian prisons reportedly take more abuse

than other ethnic groups. 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. Political

repression also increased following the start of the invasion, with

laws adopted that establish punishments for "discrediting" the

armed forces.

Russia has introduced several restrictions on LGBTQ rights. In

2013, an anti-LGBTQ law banning "gay propaganda" was unanimously

passed by the State Duma and the Federation Council, later being

signed into law by Vladimir Putin. In 2020, the Russian parliament

legalised a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and in 2021

the Ministry of Justice designated the LGBTQ rights group Russian

LGBT Network as a "foreign agent". In 2022, further amendments were

made to the 2013 anti-LGBTQ law. In 2023, the Russian parliament

passed a bill banning gender reassignment surgery for transgender

people and the Supreme Court of Russia banned the international

LGBTQ movement as "extremist", outlawing it in the country. In

2024, the Supreme Court issued the first convictions from the

latter ruling.

Economy

______________________________

Russia has a high-income, industrialised, mixed market-oriented

economy following a turbulent transition from the Soviet planned

model during the 1990s. According to the International Monetary

Fund, it has the ninth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the

fourth-largest economy by GDP (PPP). , the service sector accounts

for roughly 57% of total GDP, followed by the industrial sector

(30%), while the agricultural sector is the smallest, at 3% of

total GDP. It has a labour force of about 72 million, which is the

ninth-largest in the world. Russia's largest trading partner is

China.

Russia's human development is ranked as "very high" in the annual

Human Development Index. Roughly 70% of Russia's total GDP is

driven by final consumption, and the country has the world's

twelfth-largest consumer market. According to 'Forbes', Russia has

the fifth-highest number of billionaires in the world. However, its

income inequality remains comparatively high compared to other

developed countries. The variance of natural resources among its

federal subjects has also led to regional economic disparities.

High levels of corruption, declining oil export revenues, a

shrinking labour force, human capital flight, and an aging and

declining population also remain major barriers to future economic

growth.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country has

faced extensive sanctions and other negative financial actions from

the Western world and its allies which have the aim of isolating

the Russian economy from the Western financial system. However,

Russia has completed its transition into a war economy, and has

shown resilience to such measures broadly, maintaining economic

stability and growth--driven primarily by high military

expenditure, rising household consumption and wages, low

unemployment, and increased government spending. Yet, inflation has

remained comparatively high, with experts predicting the sanctions

will have a long-term negative effect on the Russian economy.

Additionally, the international sanctions have led Russia to become

heavily economically and technologically dependent on China.

Transport and energy

______________________

Railway transport in Russia is mostly controlled by the state-run

Russian Railways. The total length of common-used railway tracks is

the world's third-longest, exceeding 87000 km. , Russia has the

world's fifth-largest road network, with over 1.5 million km of

roads. However, its road density is among the world's lowest, in

part to its vast land area. Russia's inland waterways are the

longest in the world, totalling 102000 km. It has over 900

airports, ranking seventh in the world, of which the busiest is

Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow. The largest ports

include the Port of Novorossiysk, the Great Port of Saint

Petersburg and the Port of Vladivostok.

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Russia has one of the world's largest amounts of energy resources

throughout its vast landmass, particularly natural gas and oil,

which play a crucial role in its energy self-sufficiency and

exports. It has been widely described as an energy superpower.

Russia has the world's largest proven gas reserves, the

second-largest coal reserves, the eighth-largest proven oil

reserves, and the largest oil shale reserves in Europe. , it is

also the second-largest producer and the third-largest exporter of

natural gas, as well as the second-largest producer and exporter of

crude oil. Russia's large oil and gas sector accounted for 30% of

its federal budget revenues in 2024, down from 50% in the

mid-2010s, suggesting economic diversification.

Russia is the world's third-largest energy producer . Fossil fuels

account for over 64% of energy production and 87% of energy

consumption. Natural gas is by far the largest source of energy,

comprising over half of the energy production and 42% of

electricity consumption. Russia was the first country to develop

civilian nuclear power, building the world's first nuclear power

plant in 1954, and remains a pioneer in nuclear energy technology

and is considered a world leader in fast neutron reactors. Russia

is the world's fourth-largest nuclear energy producer. Russian

energy policy aims to expand the role of nuclear energy and develop

new reactor technology. Russia is the sole country that builds and

operates nuclear-powered icebreakers, which ease navigation along

the Northern Sea Route, and aid in utilising its Arctic policy in

its continental shelf.

Russia joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015, and

ratified the agreement in 2019. Its greenhouse gas emissions are

the fourth-largest in the world . Coal accounts for over 10% of its

energy consumption. Russia is the fifth-largest hydroelectric

producer , with hydroelectric power contributing almost a fifth to

the total energy generation (17%). Though it is the eighth-largest

renewable energy producer , the use and development of other

renewable energy resources remain negligible, as Russia is among

the few countries without strong governmental or public support for

a renewable energy transition.

Agriculture and fishery

_________________________

Agriculture, forestry and fishing contributes about 3.3% of the

country's total GDP . It has the world's fourth-largest cultivated

area, at 1265267 km2. However, due to the harshness of its

environment, only about 13.1% of its land is agricultural, with an

additional 7.4% being arable. The country's agricultural land is

considered part of the "breadbasket" of Europe. More than one-third

of the sown area is devoted to fodder crops, and the remaining

farmland is used industrial crops, vegetables, and fruits. The main

product of Russian farming has always been grain, which occupies

well over half the cropland. Russia is the world's largest exporter

of wheat and the largest producer of barley and buckwheat. It is

also among the largest exporters of maize and sunflower oil, as

well as the leading producer of fertiliser.

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. 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. 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.

Science and technology

________________________

Russia spent about 1% of its GDP on research and development in

2019, with the world's tenth-highest budget. It also ranked tenth

worldwide in the number of scientific publications in 2020, with

roughly 1.3 million papers. Since 1904, Nobel Prize were awarded to

26 Soviets and Russians in physics, chemistry, medicine, economy,

literature and peace. Russia ranked 60th in the Global Innovation

Index in 2025.

Since the times of Nikolay Lobachevsky, who pioneered the

non-Euclidean geometry, and Pafnuty Chebyshev, a prominent tutor,

Russian mathematicians became among the world's most influential.

Dmitry Mendeleev invented the Periodic table, the main framework of

modern chemistry. Nine Soviet and Russian mathematicians have been

awarded with the Fields Medal. Grigori Perelman was offered the

first ever Clay Millennium Prize Problems Award for his final proof

of the Poincaré conjecture in 2002, as well as the Fields Medal in

2006.

Alexander Popov was among the inventors of radio, while Nikolai

Basov and Alexander Prokhorov were co-inventors of laser and maser.

Oleg Losev made crucial contributions in the field of semiconductor

junctions, and discovered light-emitting diodes. Vladimir Vernadsky

is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry,

and radiogeology. Élie Metchnikoff is known for his groundbreaking

research in immunology. Ivan Pavlov is known chiefly for his work

in classical conditioning. Lev Landau made fundamental

contributions to many areas of theoretical physics.

Nikolai Vavilov was best known for having identified the centres of

origin of cultivated plants. Trofim Lysenko was known mainly for

Lysenkoism. Many famous Russian scientists and inventors were

émigrés. Igor Sikorsky was an aviation pioneer. Vladimir Zworykin

was the inventor of the iconoscope and kinescope television

systems. Theodosius Dobzhansky was the central figure in the field

of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern

synthesis. George Gamow was one of the foremost advocates of the

Big Bang theory.

Space exploration

___________________

Roscosmos is Russia's national space agency. The country's

achievements in the field of space technology and space exploration

can be traced back to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the father of

theoretical astronautics, whose works had inspired leading Soviet

rocket engineers, such as Sergey Korolyov, Valentin Glushko, and

many others who contributed to the success of the Soviet space

programme in the early stages of the Space Race and beyond.

In 1957, the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite, 'Sputnik

1', was launched. In 1961, the first human trip into space was

successfully made by Yuri Gagarin. Many other Soviet and Russian

space exploration records ensued. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova

became the first and youngest woman in space, having flown a solo

mission on Vostok 6. In 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first human

to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the space capsule during Voskhod 2.

In 1957, Laika, a Soviet space dog, became the first animal to

orbit the Earth, aboard Sputnik 2. In 1966, Luna 9 became the first

spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a celestial body, the

Moon. In 1968, Zond 5 brought the first Earthlings (two tortoises

and other life forms) to circumnavigate the Moon. In 1970, Venera 7

became the first spacecraft to land on another planet, Venus. In

1971, Mars 3 became the first spacecraft to land on Mars. During

the same period, 'Lunokhod 1' became the first space exploration

rover, while 'Salyut 1' became the world's first space station.

, Russia has 181 active satellites in space, which is the

third-highest in the world. Between the final flight of the Space

Shuttle programme in 2011 and the 2020 SpaceX's first crewed

mission, Soyuz rockets were the only launch vehicles capable of

transporting astronauts to the ISS. Luna 25 launched in August

2023, was the first of the Luna-Glob Moon exploration programme.

Tourism

_________

Most foreign tourists come from China. Major tourist routes in

Russia include a journey around the Golden Ring of Russia, a theme

route of ancient Russian cities; cruises on large rivers such as

the Volga; hikes on mountain ranges such as the Caucasus Mountains,

and journeys on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway. Russia's most

visited and popular landmarks include Red Square, the Peterhof

Palace, the Kazan Kremlin, the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and

Lake Baikal.

Moscow, the nation's cosmopolitan capital and historic core, is a

megacity; it retains classical and Soviet-era architecture while

boasting high art, world class ballet, and modern skyscrapers.

Saint Petersburg, the imperial capital, is famous for its classical

architecture, cathedrals, museums and theatres, white nights,

crisscrossing rivers and numerous canals. Russia is famed worldwide

for its rich museums, such as the State Russian, the State

Hermitage, and the Tretyakov Gallery, and for theatres such as the

Bolshoi and the Mariinsky. The Moscow Kremlin and the Saint Basil's

Cathedral are among the cultural landmarks of Russia.

Demographics

______________________________

Russia had an estimated population of 146.0 million in 2025 (143.6

million excluding Crimea and Sevastopol), down from 147.2 million

in the 2021 census. It is the most populous country in Europe and

ninth-most populous country in the world. With a population density

of 8.5 /km2, Russia is one of the world's most sparsely populated

countries, with the vast majority of its people concentrated within

its western part. The country is highly urbanised, with two-thirds

of the population living in urban areas. , the total fertility rate

across Russia is estimated to be 1.37 children born per woman,

which is below the replacement rate of 2.1 and among the lowest in

the world. Subsequently, it has one of the oldest populations in

the world, with a median age of 41.9 years.

Russia's population peaked at over 148 million in 1993, having

subsequently declined due to its death rate exceeding its birth

rate, which some analysts have called a demographic crisis. In

2009, it recorded annual population growth for the first time in

fifteen years, and subsequently experienced annual population

growth due to declining death rates, increased birth rates, and

increased immigration. However, these population gains have been

reversed since 2020, as excessive deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic

resulted in the largest peacetime decline in its history. Following

the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the demographic crisis has

deepened, owing to high military fatalities and renewed emigration.

Russia is a multinational state with many subnational entities

associated with different minorities. There are over 193 ethnic

groups nationwide. In the 2010 census, roughly 81% of the

population were ethnic Russians, and the remaining 19% of the

population were ethnic minorities. Over four-fifths of Russia's

population was of European descent--of whom the vast majority were

Slavs, with a substantial minority of Finno-Ugric and Germanic

peoples. Russia has the third-largest immigrant population in the

world, with over 12 million immigrants residing in the country .

The vast majority of the immigrants hail from post-Soviet states,

with about half of them being from Ukraine and Kazakhstan .

Language

__________

Russian is the official and the predominantly spoken language in

Russia. It is the most spoken native language in Europe, the most

geographically widespread language of Eurasia, as well as the

world's most widely spoken Slavic language. Russian is one of two

official languages aboard the International Space Station, as well

as one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Russia is a multilingual nation: approximately 100-150 minority

languages are spoken across the country. According to the Russian

Census of 2010, 137.5 million across the country spoke Russian, 3.1

million spoke Tatar, and 1.1 million spoke Ukrainian. The

constitution gives the country's individual republics the right to

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.

However, various experts have claimed Russia's linguistic diversity

is rapidly declining due to many languages becoming endangered.

Religion

__________

Russia is constitutionally a secular state that officially

enshrines freedom of religion. The largest religion is Eastern

Orthodox Christianity, chiefly represented by the Russian Orthodox

Church, which is legally recognised for its "special role" in the

country's "history and the formation and development of its

spirituality and culture." Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and

Buddhism are recognised by Russian law as the "traditional"

religions of the country constituting its "historical heritage".

Islam is the second-largest religion in Russia and is traditional

among the majority of peoples in the North Caucasus and some Turkic

peoples in the Volga-Ural region. Large populations of Buddhists

are found in Kalmykia, Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai, and they are the

vast majority of the population in Tuva. A negligible population

practices other religions--such as Rodnovery (Slavic Neopaganism),

Assianism (Scythian Neopaganism), other ethnic Paganisms, and

inter-Pagan movements such as Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism,

various movements of Hinduism, Siberian shamanism and Tengrism,

various Neo-Theosophical movements such as Roerichism--among other

faiths. Some religious minorities have faced oppression and some

have been banned in the country: notably, in 2017 the Jehovah's

Witnesses were outlawed in Russia, facing persecution ever since,

after having been declared an "extremist" and "nontraditional"

faith.

In 2012, the research organisation Sreda, in cooperation with the

Ministry of Justice, published the Arena Atlas, an adjunct to the

2010 census, enumerating in detail the religious populations and

nationalities of Russia, based on a large-sample country-wide

survey. The results showed that 47.3% of Russians declared

themselves Christians--including 41% Russian Orthodox, 1.5% simply

Orthodox or members of non-Russian Orthodox churches, 4.1%

unaffiliated Christians, and less than 1% Old Believers, Catholics

or Protestants--25% were believers without affiliation to any

specific religion, 13% were atheists, 6.5% were Muslims, 1.2% were

followers of "traditional religions honouring gods and ancestors"

(Rodnovery, other Paganisms, Siberian shamanism and Tengrism), 0.5%

were Buddhists, 0.1% were religious Jews and 0.1% were Hindus.

Education

___________

Russia has a near-universal adult literacy rate, and has compulsory

education for a duration of 11 years, exclusively for children aged

7 to 17-18. It grants free education to its citizens by

constitution. 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. Regional authorities

regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing

framework of federal laws. , over 41% of the Russian population has

a bachelor's degree or an equivalent--which is among the highest

percentages of tertiary-level graduates in the world.

Russia's pre-school education system is highly developed and

optional, 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. 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.

Admission to an institute of higher education is selective and

highly competitive: first-degree courses usually take five years.

The oldest and largest universities in Russia are Moscow State

University and Saint Petersburg State University. There are ten

federal universities across the country.

Health

________

Russia constitutionally guarantees free, universal health care for

all Russian citizens through the mandatory medical insurance (OMS)

funded by the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (FFOMS)

created in 1993. The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

oversees national healthcare. Its healthcare system has

decentralized since the 1990s, with federal entities having local

healthcare departments, shifting from the centralized and

hierarchical Soviet system. Private healthcare has also seen

development, created out of the public healthcare fund.

Russia spent 7.39% of its GDP on healthcare in 2021. Its healthcare

expenditure is notably lower than other developed nations. , the

overall life expectancy in Russia at birth is 73 years, an increase

of roughly 8 years from 2005. Russia has among the highest gender

gaps in life expectancy--78 for females and 68 for males--a gap of

10 years. It has one of the most female-biased sex ratios in the

world, with 0.859 males to every female, due to its high male

mortality rate. Russia's infant mortality rate is very low (4 per

1,000 live births).

Cardiovascular diseases account for more than half of the yearly

mortalities in Russia, which is one of the highest percentages in

the world. Its alcohol consumption rate was historically seen as

the biggest health issue, but has seen a stark decrease since 2008

due to restrictive government measures. Obesity is a prevalent

health issue, with most adults being overweight or obese, alongside

smoking--Russia's tobacco consumption rate is among the highest in

the world. The country's high suicide rate also remains a

significant social issue.

Culture

______________________________

Russian culture reflects a long, gradual, and complex amalgamation

of various elements that coincided with centuries of development,

expansion, and interaction with different peoples, artistic

movements, and cultures. Russia has heavily influenced classical

music, ballet, theatre, mathematics, sport, painting, and cinema.

Russian writers and philosophers have played an important role in

the development of European literature and thought. Russia also

made pioneering contributions to science, technology, and space

exploration.

Russia is home to 32 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 21 of which are

cultural, while 31 lie on the tentative list. The large global

Russian diaspora has also played a major role in spreading Russian

culture throughout the world. Russia's national symbol, the

double-headed eagle, dates back to the Tsardom period and is

featured in its coat of arms and heraldry. The Russian Bear and

Mother Russia are often used as national personifications of the

country. Matryoshka dolls are a cultural icon of Russia.

Holidays

__________

Russia has eight official holidays spanning public, patriotic, and

religious commemorations. 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. Defender of the

Fatherland Day, dedicated to men, is celebrated on 23 February.

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 the flower vendors

of Moscow often see profits "fifteen times" more compared to other

holidays. Spring and Labour Day, originally a Soviet era holiday

dedicated to workers, is celebrated on 1 May.

Victory Day, which honours Soviet victory over Nazi Germany and the

End of World War II in Europe, is celebrated on 9 May as an annual

large parade in Moscow's Red Square and marks the famous Immortal

Regiment civil event. Other patriotic holidays include Russia Day

on 12 June, celebrated to commemorate Russia's declaration of

sovereignty from the collapsing Soviet Union, and Unity Day on 4

November, commemorating the 1612 uprising that marked the end of

the Polish occupation of Moscow.

There are many popular non-public holidays. Old New Year is

celebrated on 14 January. Maslenitsa is an ancient and popular East

Slavic folk holiday. Cosmonautics Day on 12 April, in tribute to

the first human trip into space. Two major Christian holidays are

Easter and Trinity Sunday.

Art and architecture

______________________

Early Russian painting is represented in icons and vibrant frescos.

In the early 15th century, master icon painter Andrei Rublev

created some of Russia's most treasured religious art. The Russian

Academy of Arts, which was established in 1757 to train Russian

artists, brought Western techniques of secular painting to Russia.

In the 18th century, academicians Ivan Argunov, Dmitry Levitzky,

Vladimir Borovikovsky became influential. The early 19th century

saw many prominent paintings by Karl Briullov and Alexander Ivanov,

both of whom were known for Romantic historical canvases. Ivan

Aivazovsky, another Romantic painter, is considered one of the

greatest masters of marine art.

In the 1860s, a group of critical realists (Peredvizhniki), led by

Ivan Kramskoy, Ilya Repin and Vasiliy Perov broke with the academy,

and portrayed the many-sided aspects of social life in paintings.

The turn of the 20th century saw the rise of symbolism, represented

by Mikhail Vrubel and Nicholas Roerich. The Russian avant-garde

flourished from approximately 1890 to 1930; globally influential

artists from this era were El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Natalia

Goncharova, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marc Chagall.

The history of Russian architecture begins with early woodcraft

buildings of ancient Slavs and the church architecture of Kievan

Rus'. The Christianization of Kievan Rus' brought centuries

Byzantine architecture. Following Mongol occupation, Kievan Rus'

cut its ties with the Byzantine Empire, and Russian architecture

saw native innovations, such as the invention of the iconostasis.

Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects brought

Renaissance trends to the Grand Principality of Moscow, which

influenced the reconstruction of the Moscow Kremlin. The 16th

century saw the development of the unique tent-like churches and

the onion dome design, which is a distinctive feature of Russian

architecture. In the 17th century, the "fiery style" of

ornamentation flourished in Moscow and Yaroslavl, gradually paving

the way for the Naryshkin baroque of the 1680s.

After the reforms of Peter the Great, Russia's architecture became

influenced by Western European styles. The 18th-century taste for

Rococo architecture led to the works of Bartolomeo Rastrelli and

his followers. The most influential Russian architects of the

eighteenth century, Vasily Bazhenov, Matvey Kazakov, and Ivan

Starov, created lasting monuments in Moscow and Saint Petersburg

and established a base for the more Russian forms that followed.

During the reign of Catherine the Great, Saint Petersburg was

transformed into an outdoor museum of Neoclassical architecture.

Under Alexander I, Empire style became the 'de facto' architectural

style. The second half of the 19th century was dominated by the

Neo-Byzantine and Russian Revival style. In the early 20th century,

Russian neoclassical revival became a trend. Prevalent styles of

the late 20th century were Art Nouveau, Constructivism, and

Socialist Classicism.

Music

_______

Until the 18th century, music in Russia consisted mainly of church

music and folk songs and dances. In the 19th century, it was

defined by the tension between classical composer Mikhail Glinka

along with other members of The Mighty Handful, who were later

succeeded by the Belyayev circle, and the Russian Musical Society

led by composers Anton and Nikolay Rubinstein. The later tradition

of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the greatest composers of the

Romantic era, was continued into the 20th century by Sergei

Rachmaninoff. World-renowned composers of the 20th century include

Alexander Scriabin, Alexander Glazunov, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei

Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, and later Edison Denisov, Sofia

Gubaidulina, Georgy Sviridov, and Alfred Schnittke.

During the Soviet era, popular music also produced a number of

renowned figures, such as the two balladeers--Vladimir Vysotsky and

Bulat Okudzhava, and performers such as Alla Pugacheva. Jazz, even

with sanctions from Soviet authorities, flourished and evolved into

one of the country's most popular musical forms. By the 1980s, rock

music became popular across Russia, and produced bands such as

Aria, Aquarium, DDT, and Kino; the latter's leader Viktor Tsoi, was

in particular, a gigantic figure. Pop music has continued to

flourish in Russia since the 1960s, with globally famous acts such

as t.A.T.u.

Literature and philosophy

___________________________

Russian literature is among the world's most influential and

developed. It can be traced to the Early Middle Ages, when Old

Church Slavonic was introduced as a liturgical language and came to

be used as a literary language, creating a situation of diglossia.

The Russian vernacular remained in use for oral literature and

chancery writing; it gradually supplanted Church Slavonic in

secular works, contributing to the standardisation of the modern

Russian literary language in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

By the Age of Enlightenment, literature had grown in importance,

with works from Mikhail Lomonosov, Denis Fonvizin, Gavrila

Derzhavin, and Nikolay Karamzin. From the early 1830s, during the

Golden Age of Russian Poetry, literature underwent an astounding

golden age in poetry, prose and drama. Romantic literature

permitted a flowering of poetic talent: Vasily Zhukovsky and later

his protégé Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Following Pushkin's

footsteps, a new generation of poets were born, including Mikhail

Lermontov, Nikolay Nekrasov, Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy,

Fyodor Tyutchev, and Afanasy Fet.

The first great Russian novelist was Nikolai Gogol. Then, during

the Age of Realism, came Ivan Turgenev, who mastered both short

stories and novels. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy soon became

internationally renowned. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote prose

satire, while Nikolai Leskov is best remembered for his shorter

fiction. In the second half of the century Anton Chekhov excelled

in short stories and became a leading dramatist. Other important

19th-century developments included the fabulist Ivan Krylov,

non-fiction writers such as the critic Vissarion Belinsky, and

playwrights such as Aleksandr Griboyedov and Aleksandr Ostrovsky.

The beginning of the 20th century ranks as the Silver Age of

Russian Poetry. This era had poets such as Alexander Blok, Anna

Akhmatova, Boris Pasternak, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Sergei Yesenin,

and Konstantin Balmont. It also produced some first-rate novelists

and short-story writers, such as Aleksandr Kuprin, Nobel Prize

winner Ivan Bunin, Leonid Andreyev, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Dmitry

Merezhkovsky, and Andrei Bely.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Russian literature split into

Soviet and white émigré parts. In the 1930s, socialist realism

became the predominant trend in Russia. Its leading figure was

Maxim Gorky, who laid the foundations of this style. Mikhail

Bulgakov was one of the leading writers of the Soviet era. 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, Joseph Brodsky, and Isaac Asimov,

who was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers.

Some writers dared to oppose Soviet ideology, such as Nobel

Prize-winning novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote about life

in the Gulag camps, and Andrey Sinyavsky.

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Russian literature faced rapid and difficult changes during the

turbulent 1990s, with writers and publishers struggling to adjust

to new economic and political developments. Domestic literature

subsequently declined in influence among most Russians, who now had

sudden and rapid access to a wide volume of previously suppressed

Western literary movements. Nevertheless, this environment fostered

experimental and postmodern literature and satire. At the beginning

of the 21st century, the most discussed figures, postmodernists

Victor Pelevin and Vladimir Sorokin, remained the leading Russian

writers.

Russian philosophy has been influential. Religious and spiritual

philosophy is represented by Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Berdyaev,

Pavel Florensky, Semyon Frank, Nikolay Lossky, Vasily Rozanov, and

others. Mystic Helena Blavatsky gained an international following

as the leading theoretician of Theosophy and the co-founder of the

Theosophical Society. Alexander Herzen is known as one of the

fathers of agrarian populism. Mikhail Bakunin is referred to as the

father of anarchism. Peter Kropotkin was the most important

theorist of anarcho-communism. Mikhail Bakhtin's writings have

significantly inspired scholars in various fields. Vladimir Lenin,

a major revolutionary, developed a variant of communism known as

Leninism. Leon Trotsky, Lenin's contemporary and co-revolutionary,

founded his own strain of Marxism known as Trotskyism. Alexander

Zinoviev was a prominent philosopher and writer in the second half

of the 20th century.

Mass media and cinema

_______________________

There are 400 news agencies in Russia, among which the largest

internationally operating are TASS, RIA Novosti, Sputnik, and

Interfax. Television is the most popular medium in Russia. Among

the 3,000 licensed radio stations nationwide, notable ones include

Radio Rossii, Vesti FM, Echo of Moscow, Radio Mayak, and Russkoye

Radio. Of the 16,000 registered newspapers, , , , 'Izvestia', and

are popular. State-run Channel One and Russia-1 are the leading

news channels, while RT is the flagship of Russia's international

media operations.

Russian and later Soviet cinema was a hotbed of invention,

resulting in world-renowned films such as 'Battleship Potemkin',

which was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels

World's Fair in 1958. Soviet-era filmmakers, most notably Sergei

Eisenstein and Andrei Tarkovsky, would go on to become among of the

world's most innovative and influential directors. Eisenstein was a

student of Lev Kuleshov, who developed the groundbreaking Soviet

montage theory of film editing at the world's first film school,

the All-Union Institute of Cinematography. Dziga Vertov's

"Kino-Eye" theory had a large effect on the development of

documentary filmmaking and cinema realism. Many Soviet socialist

realism films were artistically successful, including 'Chapaev',

'The Cranes Are Flying', and 'Ballad of a Soldier'.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in

Soviet cinema. The comedies of Eldar Ryazanov and Leonid Gaidai

were immensely popular, with many of their catchphrases still in

use today. In 1961-68 Sergey Bondarchuk directed an Oscar-winning

film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's epic 'War and Peace', which was

the most expensive film made in the Soviet Union. In 1969, Vladimir

Motyl's 'White Sun of the Desert' was released, a very popular film

in a genre of ostern; the film is traditionally watched by

cosmonauts before any trip into space. 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.

Cuisine

_________

Russian cuisine has been formed by the country's diverse climate,

cultural and religious traditions, and vast geography; it shares

similarities with neighbouring countries. Crops of rye, wheat,

barley, and millet provide the ingredients for various breads,

pancakes and cereals, as well as for many drinks. Bread, of many

varieties, is very popular across Russia. Flavourful soups and

stews include shchi, borsch, ukha, solyanka, and okroshka. Smetana

(a heavy sour cream) and mayonnaise are often added to soups and

salads. Pirozhki, blini, and syrniki are native types of pancakes.

Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Kiev, pelmeni, and shashlyk are popular

meat dishes. Other meat dishes include stuffed cabbage rolls

(golubtsy) usually filled with meat. Salads include Olivier salad,

vinegret, and dressed herring.

Russia's national non-alcoholic drink is kvass, and the national

alcoholic drink is vodka; its production in Russia (and elsewhere)

dates back to the 14th century. The country has the world's highest

vodka consumption, while beer is the most popular alcoholic

beverage. Wine has become increasingly popular in Russia in the

21st century. Tea has been popular in Russia for centuries.

Sports

________

Football is the most popular sport in Russia. The Soviet Union

national football team became the first European champions by

winning Euro 1960, and reached the finals of Euro 1988. Russian

clubs CSKA Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg won the UEFA Cup in

2005 and 2008. The Russian national football team reached the

semi-finals of Euro 2008. Russia was the host nation for the 2017

FIFA Confederations Cup, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. However,

Russian teams are currently suspended from FIFA and UEFA

competitions.

Ice hockey is very popular in Russia, and the Soviet national ice

hockey team dominated the sport internationally throughout its

existence. Bandy is Russia's national sport, and it has

historically been the highest-achieving country in the sport. The

Russian national basketball team won EuroBasket 2007, and the

Russian basketball club PBC CSKA Moscow is among the most

successful European basketball teams. The annual Formula One

Russian Grand Prix was held at the Sochi Autodrom in the Sochi

Olympic Park, until its termination following the 2022 Russian

invasion of Ukraine.

Historically, Russian athletes have been one of the most successful

contenders in the Olympic Games. Russia is the leading nation in

rhythmic gymnastics, and Russian synchronised swimming is

considered to be the world's best. Figure skating is another

popular sport in Russia, especially pair skating and ice dancing.

Russia has produced numerous prominent tennis players. Chess is

also a widely popular pastime in the nation, with many of the

world's top chess players being Russian for decades. The 1980

Summer Olympic Games were held in Moscow, and the 2014 Winter

Olympics and the 2014 Winter Paralympics were hosted in Sochi.

However, Russia has also had 43 Olympic medals stripped from its

athletes due to doping violations, which is the most of any

country, and nearly a third of the global total.

See also

______________________________

* Outline of Russia

Further reading

______________________________

* Bartlett, Roger P. (2005). 'A history of Russia'

[https://archive.org/details/historyofrussia00bart online]

* Breslauer, George W.; Colton, Timothy J. (2017). 'Russia Beyond

Putin' ('Daedalus')

[https://www.amacad.org/daedalus/russia-beyond-putin online]

* Brown, Archie, ed. (1982). 'The Cambridge encyclopedia of Russia

and the Soviet Union'

[https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencyclo00brow online]

* Frye, Timothy. 'Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's

Russia' (2021)

[https://www.amazon.com/Weak-Strongman-Limits-Putins-Russia/dp/0691212465/

excerpt]

* Greene, by Samuel A. and Graeme B. Robertson. 'Putin v. the

People: the Perilous Politics of a Divided Russia' (Yale UP, 2019)

[https://www.amazon.com/Putin-v-People-Perilous-Politics/dp/0300238398/

excerpt]

* Hosking, Geoffrey A. 'Russia and the Russians: a history' (2011)

[https://archive.org/details/russiarussianshi2ndehosk online]

* Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. 'A History of

Russia' (9th ed. 2018)

[https://archive.org/details/historyofrussia0000rias 9th edition

1993 online]

* Rosefielde, Steven. 'Putin's Russia: Economy, Defence and Foreign

Policy' (2020)

[https://www.amazon.com/Putins-Russia-Economy-Defense-Foreign/dp/9811212678/

excerpt]

* Smorodinskaya, Tatiana, and Karen Evans-Romaine, eds.

'Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture' (2014)

[https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Contemporary-Russian-Culture-Encyclopedias/dp/0415758629/

excerpt] ; 800 pp covering art, literature, music, film, media,

crime, politics, business, and economics.

* Walker, Shauin. 'The Long Hangover: Putin's New Russia and the

Ghosts Of the Past' (2018, Oxford UP)

[https://www.amazon.com/Long-Hangover-Putins-Russia-Ghosts/dp/0190659246

excerpt]

External links

______________________________

Government

* [http://en.special.kremlin.ru/structure/administration/members

Major staff and key officials]

General information

[https://web.archive.org/web/20260115083458/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/russia/

Russia]. 'The World Factbook'. Central Intelligence Agency.

* [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17839672 Russia] from BBC

News

* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=RU Key

Development Forecasts for Russia] from International Futures

License

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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia

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