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Russia , Russian: Росси́я, Rossiya), also the Russian Federation
(Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция , Rossiyskaya Federatsiya), is a
transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia. It is a
semi-presidential republic comprising 83 federal subjects. Russia shares
land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from northwest
to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Kaliningrad
Oblast), Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It is also close to the U.S.
state of Alaska, Sweden, Turkey and Japan across relatively small stretches
of water (the Bering Strait, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and La Pérouse
Strait, respectively).
At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is by far the
largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s
land area; with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population.
It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11
time zones and incorporating a great range of environments and landforms.
Russia has the world's largest mineral and energy resources,[4] and is
considered an energy superpower. It has the world's largest forest reserves
and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen
fresh water.
The nation's history began with that of the East Slavs. The Slavs emerged as
a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD.[
Founded and ruled by Vikings and their descendants, the first East Slavic
state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century and adopted Christianity from
the Byzantine Empire in 988, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and
Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium.
Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated and the lands were divided into many
small feudal Russian states. The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus'
was Moscow, which served as the main force in the Russian reunification
process and independence struggle against the Golden Horde. Moscow gradually
reunified the surrounding Russian principalities and came to dominate the
cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'. By the 18th century, the
nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation and exploration to
become the huge Russian Empire, stretching from Poland eastward to the
Pacific Ocean.
Russia established worldwide power and influence from the times of the
Russian Empire to being the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet
Union, the world's first and largest constitutionally socialist state and a
recognized superpower. The nation can boast a long tradition of excellence
in every aspect of the arts and sciences. The Russian Federation was
founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is
recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet Union. Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a
leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the G8. It is
one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the world's
largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
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