Russia

Russia (ⁱ/ˈrʌʃə/; Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossija; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), also officially known as the Russian Federation^[11] (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, tr. Rossijskaja Federacija; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a sovereign state in northern Eurasia.^[12] It is a federal semi-presidential republic. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi),^[13] Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area.^[14]^[15]^[16] Russia is the world's ninth most populous country with over 144 million people at the end of 2015.^[5]^[6]

Extending across the entirety of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait.

The nation's history began with that of the East Slavs, who emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD.^[17] Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, the medieval state of Rus arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire,^[18] beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium.^[18] Rus' ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states; most of the Rus' lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion and became tributaries of the nomadic Golden Horde in the 13th century.^[19]

The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde, 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 Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from Poland in Europe to Alaska in North America.^[20]^[21]

Following the Russian Revolution, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union abbreviated to USSR, the world's first constitutionally socialist state and a recognized world superpower, and a rival to the United States^[22] which played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II.^[23]^[24] The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite, and the first man in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the world's second largest economy, largest standing military in the world and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction (the state detonated in 1961 the Tsar Bomba, which was mankind's most powerful nuclear bomb ever built).^[25]^[26]^[27] Following the partition of the Soviet Union in 1991, fourteen independent republics emerged from the USSR; as the largest, most populous, and most economically developed republic, the Russian SFSR reconstituted itself as the Russian Federation and is recognized as the continuing legal personality (the sole successor state) of the Soviet Union.^[28]

The Russian economy ranks as the tenth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015.^[29] Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources, the largest reserves in the world,^[30] have made it one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas globally.^[31]^[32] The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.^[33] Russia was the world's second biggest exporter of major arms in 2010-14, according to SIPRI data.^[34]

Russia is a great power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as being the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and one of the 5 members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Etymology

Main articles: Rus' people and Rus' (name)

The name Russia is derived from Rus, a medieval state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this proper name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants "Русская Земля" (russkaja zemlja), which can be translated as "Russian Land" or "Land of Rus'". In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus' by modern historiography. The name Rus itself comes from Rus people, a group of Varangians (possibly Swedish Vikings)^[35]^[36] who founded the state of Rus (Русь).

An old Latin version of the name Rus' was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus' that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия (Rossija), comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus', Ρωσσία Rossía—spelt Ρωσία (Rosía pronounced [roˈsia]) in Modern Greek.^[37]

The standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is "Russians".

History

Main article: History of Russia

Prehistory

Main article: Prehistory of Russia

Further information: Scythia, Early Slavs, East Slavs, Huns, Turkic expansion and Prehistory of Siberia

Further information: Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Uralic

Nomadic pastoralism developed in the Pontic-Caspian steppe beginning in the Chalcolithic.^[38]

In classical antiquity, the Pontic Steppe was known as Scythia. Beginning in the 8th century BC, Ancient Greek traders brought their civilization to the trade emporiums in Tanais and Phanagoria. The Romans settled on the western part of the Caspian Sea, where their empire stretched towards the east.^[39] In the 3rd to 4th centuries AD a semi-legendary Gothic kingdom of Oium existed in Southern Russia until it was overrun by Huns. Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, the Bosporan Kingdom, a Hellenistic polity which succeeded the Greek colonies,^[40] was also overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes, such as the Huns and Eurasian Avars.^[41] A Turkic people, the Khazars, ruled the lower Volga basin steppes between the Caspian and Black Seas until the 10th century.^[42]

The ancestors of modern Russians are the Slavic tribes, whose original home is thought by some scholars to have been the wooded areas of the Pinsk Marshes.^[43] The East Slavs gradually settled Western Russia in two waves: one moving from Kiev toward present-day Suzdal and Murom and another from Polotsk toward Novgorod and Rostov. From the 7th century onwards, the East Slavs constituted the bulk of the population in Western Russia^[44] and assimilated the native Finno-Ugric peoples, including the Merya, the Muromians, and the Meshchera.

Kievan Rus'

Main articles: Rus' Khaganate, Kievan Rus' and List of early East Slavic states

Kievan Rus' in the 11th century

The establishment of the first East Slavic states in the 9th century coincided with the arrival of Varangians, the traders, warriors and settlers from the Baltic Sea region. Primarily they were Vikings of Scandinavian origin, who ventured along the waterways extending from the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas.^[45] According to the Primary Chronicle, a Varangian from Rus' people, named Rurik, was elected ruler of Novgorod in 862. In 882 his successor Oleg ventured south and conquered Kiev,^[46] which had been previously paying tribute to the Khazars, founding Kievan Rus'. Oleg, Rurik's son Igor and Igor's son Sviatoslav subsequently subdued all local East Slavic tribes to Kievan rule, destroyed the Khazar khaganate and launched several military expeditions to Byzantium and Persia.

In the 10th to 11th centuries Kievan Rus' became one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe.^[47] The reigns of Vladimir the Great (980–1015) and his son Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054) constitute the Golden Age of Kiev, which saw the acceptance of Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium and the creation of the first East Slavic written legal code, the Russkaya Pravda.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic tribes, such as the Kipchaks and the Pechenegs, caused a massive migration of Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north, particularly to the area known as Zalesye.^[48]

The Baptism of Kievans, by Klavdy Lebedev

The age of feudalism and decentralization was marked by constant in-fighting between members of the Rurik Dynasty that ruled Kievan Rus' collectively. Kiev's dominance waned, to the benefit of Vladimir-Suzdal in the north-east, Novgorod Republic in the north-west and Galicia-Volhynia in the south-west.

Ultimately Kievan Rus' disintegrated, with the final blow being the Mongol invasion of 1237–40^[49] that resulted in the destruction of Kiev^[50] and the death of about half the population of Rus'.^[51] The invading Mongol elite, together with their conquered Turkic subjects (Cumans, Kipchaks, Bulgars), became known as Tatars, forming the state of the Golden Horde, which pillaged the Russian principalities; the Mongols ruled the Cuman-Kipchak confederation and Volga Bulgaria (modern-day southern and central expanses of Russia) for over two centuries.^[52]

Galicia-Volhynia was eventually assimilated by the Kingdom of Poland, while the Mongol-dominated Vladimir-Suzdal and Novgorod Republic, two regions on the periphery of Kiev, established the basis for the modern Russian nation.^[18] The Novgorod together with Pskov retained some degree of autonomy during the time of the Mongol yoke and were largely spared the atrocities that affected the rest of the country. Led by Prince Alexander Nevsky, Novgorodians repelled the invading Swedes in the Battle of the Neva in 1240, as well as the Germanic crusaders in the Battle of the Ice in 1242, breaking their attempts to colonize the Northern Rus'.

Grand Duchy of Moscow

Main article: Grand Duchy of Moscow

Sergius of Radonezh blessing Dmitry Donskoy in Trinity Sergius Lavra, before the Battle of Kulikovo, depicted in a painting by Ernst Lissner

The most powerful state to eventually arise after the destruction of Kievan Rus' was the Grand Duchy of Moscow ("Muscovy" in the Western chronicles), 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 Central Rus' in the early 14th century, gradually becoming the main leading force in the process of the Rus' lands' reunification and expansion of Russia. Moscow's last rival, the Novgorod Republic, prospered as the chief fur trade center and the easternmost port of the Hanseatic League.

Times remained difficult, with frequent Mongol-Tatar raids and agriculture suffering from the beginning of the Little Ice Age. As in the rest of Europe, plague was a frequent occurrence between 1350 and 1490.^[53] However, because of the lower population density and better hygiene (widespread practicing of banya, the wet steam bath), the death rate from plague was not as severe as in Western Europe,^[54] and population numbers recovered by 1500.^[53]

Led by Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow and helped by the Russian Orthodox Church, the united army of Russian principalities inflicted a milestone defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Moscow gradually absorbed the surrounding principalities, including its formerly strong rivals such as Tver and Novgorod.

Ivan III ("the Great") finally threw off the control of the Golden Horde, consolidated the whole of Central and Northern Rus' under Moscow's dominion, and was the first to take the title "Grand Duke of all the Russias".^[55] 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.

Tsardom of Russia

Main article: Tsardom of Russia

Tsar Ivan the Terrible by Victor Vasnetsov

In development of the Third Rome ideas, the Grand Duke Ivan IV (the "Terrible")^[56] was officially crowned the first Tsar ("Caesar") of Russia in 1547. The Tsar promulgated a new code of laws (Sudebnik of 1550), established the first Russian feudal representative body (Zemsky Sobor) and introduced local self-management into the rural regions.^[57]^[58]

During his long reign, Ivan the Terrible nearly doubled the already large Russian territory by annexing the three Tatar khanates (parts of the disintegrated Golden Horde): Kazan and Astrakhan along the Volga River, and the Siberian Khanate in southwestern Siberia. Thus, by the end of the 16th century Russia was transformed into a multiethnic, multidenominational and transcontinental state.

However, the Tsardom was weakened by the long and unsuccessful Livonian War against the coalition of Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden for access to the Baltic coast and sea trade.^[59] At the same time, the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate, the only remaining successor to the Golden Horde, continued to raid Southern Russia.^[60] In an effort to restore the Volga khanates, Crimeans and their Ottoman allies invaded central Russia and were even able to burn down parts of Moscow in 1571.^[61] But in the next year the large invading army was thoroughly defeated by Russians in the Battle of Molodi, forever eliminating the threat of an Ottoman–Crimean expansion into Russia. The slave raids of Crimeans, however, did not cease until the late 17th century though the construction of new fortification lines across Southern Russia, such as the Great Abatis Line, constantly narrowed the area accessible to incursions.^[62]

Monument to Minin and Pozharsky in Moscow

The death of Ivan's sons marked the end of the ancient Rurik Dynasty in 1598, and in combination with the famine of 1601–03^[63] led to civil war, the rule of pretenders, and foreign intervention during the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century.^[64] The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied parts of Russia, including Moscow. In 1612, the Poles were forced to retreat by the Russian volunteer corps, led by two national heroes, merchant Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. The Romanov Dynasty acceded to the throne in 1613 by the decision of 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 Cossacks. Cossacks were warriors organized into military communities, resembling pirates and pioneers of the New World. In 1648, the peasants of Ukraine joined the Zaporozhian Cossacks in rebellion against Poland-Lithuania during the Khmelnytsky Uprising in reaction to the social and religious oppression they had been suffering under Polish rule. In 1654, the Ukrainian leader, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, offered to place Ukraine under the protection of the Russian Tsar, Aleksey I. Aleksey's acceptance of this offer led to another Russo-Polish War. Finally, Ukraine was split along the Dnieper River, leaving the western part, right-bank Ukraine, under Polish rule and the eastern part (Left-bank Ukraine and Kiev) under Russian rule. Later, in 1670–71, the Don Cossacks led by Stenka Razin initiated a major uprising in the Volga Region, but the Tsar's troops were successful in defeating the rebels.

In the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonisation of the huge territories of Siberia was led mostly by Cossacks 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 Pacific coast. In 1648, the Bering Strait between Asia and North America was passed for the first time by Fedot Popov and Semyon Dezhnyov.

Imperial Russia

Main article: Russian Empire

Peter the Great, the first Emperor of Russia

Under Peter the Great, Russia was proclaimed an Empire in 1721 and became recognized as a world power. Ruling from 1682 to 1725, Peter defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War, forcing it to cede West Karelia and Ingria (two regions lost by Russia in the Time of Troubles),^[65] as well as Estland and Livland, securing Russia's access to the sea and sea trade.^[66] On the Baltic Sea Peter founded a new capital called Saint Petersburg, later known as Russia's "Window to Europe". Peter the Great's reforms brought considerable Western European cultural influences to Russia.

The reign of Peter I's daughter Elizabeth in 1741–62 saw Russia's participation in the Seven Years' War (1756–63). During this conflict Russia annexed East Prussia for a while and even took Berlin. However, upon Elisabeth'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 in 1762–96, presided over the Age of Russian Enlightenment. She extended Russian political control over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and incorporated most of its territories into Russia during the Partitions of Poland, pushing the Russian frontier westward into Central Europe. In the south, after successful Russo-Turkish Wars against Ottoman Turkey, Catherine advanced Russia's boundary to the Black Sea, defeating the Crimean Khanate. As a result of victories over Qajar Iran through the Russo-Persian Wars, by the first half of the 19th century Russia also made significant territorial gains in Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus, forcing the former to irrevocably cede what is nowadays Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan and Armenia to Russia.^[67]^[68] This continued with Alexander I's (1801–25) wresting of Finland from the weakened kingdom of Sweden in 1809 and of Bessarabia from the Ottomans in 1812. At the same time, Russians colonized Alaska and even founded settlements in California, such as Fort Ross.

In 1803–1806, the first Russian circumnavigation was made, later followed by other notable Russian sea exploration voyages. In 1820 a Russian expedition discovered the continent of Antarctica.

In alliances with various European countries, Russia fought against Napoleon's France. The French invasion of Russia at the height of Napoleon's power in 1812 failed miserably as the obstinate resistance in combination with the bitterly cold Russian winter led to a disastrous defeat of invaders, in which more than 95% of the pan-European Grande Armée perished.^[69] Led by Mikhail Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly, the Russian army ousted Napoleon from the country and drove through Europe in the war of the Sixth Coalition, finally entering Paris. Alexander I headed Russia's delegation at the Congress of Vienna that defined the map of post-Napoleonic Europe.

The officers of the Napoleonic Wars brought ideas of liberalism back to Russia with them and attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive Decembrist revolt of 1825. At the end of the conservative reign of Nicolas I (1825–55), a zenith period of Russia's power and influence in Europe was disrupted by defeat in the Crimean War. Between 1847 and 1851, about one million people died of Asiatic cholera.^[70]

Nicholas's successor Alexander II (1855–81) enacted significant changes in the country, including the emancipation reform of 1861. These Great Reforms spurred industrialization and modernized the Russian army, which had successfully liberated Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in the 1877–78 Russo-Turkish War.

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist movements in Russia. Alexander II was killed in 1881 by revolutionary terrorists, and the reign of his son Alexander III (1881–94) was less liberal but more peaceful. The last Russian Emperor, Nicholas II (1894–1917), was unable to prevent the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905, triggered by the unsuccessful Russo-Japanese War and the demonstration incident known as Bloody Sunday. The uprising was put down, but the government was forced to concede major reforms, including granting the freedoms of speech and assembly, the legalization of political parties, and the creation of an elected legislative body, the State Duma of the Russian Empire. The Stolypin agrarian reform led to a massive peasant migration and settlement into Siberia. More than four million settlers arrived in that region between 1906 and 1914.^[71]

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 Russian Army almost completely destroyed the military of Austria-Hungary. However, the already-existing public distrust of the regime was deepened by the rising costs of war, high casualties, and rumors of corruption and treason. All this formed the climate for the Russian Revolution of 1917, carried out in two major acts.

Revolution and Russian Republic

Main articles: February Revolution, Russian Provisional Government and Russian Republic

Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Great October Socialist Revolution

The February Revolution forced Nicholas II to abdicate; he and his family were imprisoned and later executed in Yekaterinburg during the Russian Civil War. The monarchy was replaced by a shaky coalition of political parties that declared itself the Provisional Government. An alternative socialist establishment existed alongside, 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. 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.

Soviet Russia and civil war

Main articles: October Revolution, Russian Civil War and Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

The symbols of the early Soviet era: Tatlin's Tower project and the giant Worker and Kolkhoz Woman sculpture group

Following the October Revolution, a civil war broke out between the anti-Communist White movement and the new Soviet regime with its Red Army. Bolshevist Russia lost its Ukrainian, Polish, Baltic, and Finnish territories by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that concluded hostilities with the Central Powers of World War I. 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 civil war, Russia's economy and infrastructure were heavily damaged. Millions became White émigrés,^[72] and the Povolzhye famine of 1921 claimed up to 5 million victims.^[73]

Soviet Union

Main article: Soviet Union

The Russian SFSR as a part of the USSR in 1922

The Russian SFSR as a part of the USSR in 1936, after intra-Soviet territorial changes

The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (called Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic at the time), together with the Ukrainian, Byelorussian, and Transcaucasian Soviet Socialist Republics, formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or Soviet Union, on 30 December 1922. Out of the 15 republics that would make up the USSR, the largest in size and over half of the total USSR population was the Russian SFSR, which came to dominate the union for its entire 69-year history.

Following Lenin's death in 1924, a troika was designated to govern the Soviet Union. However, Joseph Stalin, an elected General Secretary of the Communist Party, managed to suppress all opposition groups within the party and consolidate power in his hands. 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 primary line. The continued internal struggle in the Bolshevik party culminated in the Great Purge, a period of mass repressions in 1937–38, during which hundreds of thousands of people were executed, including original party members and military leaders accused of coup d'état plots.^[74]

Millions of Gulag inmates were forced to work on massive government projects such as the construction of the White Sea–Baltic Canal in 1931–1933

Under Stalin's leadership, the government launched a planned economy, industrialisation of the largely rural country, and collectivization of its agriculture. During this period of rapid economic and social change, millions of people were sent to penal labor camps,^[75] including many political convicts for their opposition to Stalin's rule; millions were deported and exiled to remote areas of the Soviet Union.^[75] 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.^[76] The Soviet Union, though with a heavy price, was transformed from a largely agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse in a short span of time.

The Appeasement policy of Great Britain and France towards Adolf Hitler's annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia did not stem an increase in the power of Nazi Germany and initiated a threat of war to the Soviet Union. Around the same time, the Third Reich allied with the Empire of Japan, a rival of the USSR in the Far East and an open enemy of the USSR in the Soviet–Japanese Border Wars in 1938–39.

The siege of Leningrad during the World War II was the deadliest siege of a city in history

In August 1939, after another failure of attempts to establish an anti-Nazi alliance with Britain and France, the Soviet government decided to improve relations with Germany by concluding the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, pledging non-aggression between the two countries and dividing Eastern Europe into their respective spheres of influence. While Hitler conquered Poland and France and other countries acted on a single front at the start of World War II, the USSR was able to build up its military and claim some of the former territories of the Russian Empire, Western Ukraine, Hertza region and Northern Bukovina as a result of the Soviet invasion of Poland, Winter War, occupation of the Baltic states and Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.

Soviet T-34/76s and infantry advance past a destroyed Panzer IV. Kharkov, August 1943

On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany broke the non-aggression treaty and invaded the Soviet Union with the largest and most powerful invasion force in human history,^[77] opening the largest theater of World War II. Although the German army 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 1942–43,^[78] 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.^[79] Under Stalin's administration and the leadership of such commanders as Georgy Zhukov and Konstantin Rokossovsky, Soviet forces took Eastern Europe in 1944–45 and captured Berlin in May 1945. In August 1945 the Soviet Army ousted the Japanese from China's Manchukuo and North Korea, contributing to the allied victory over Japan.

The 1941–45 period of World War II is known in Russia as the "Great Patriotic War". The Soviet Union together with the United States, the United Kingdom and China were considered as the Big Four of Allied powers in World War II ^[80] and later became the Four Policemen which was the foundation of the United Nations Security Council.^[81] During this war, which included many of the most lethal battle operations in human history, Soviet military and civilian deaths were 10.6 million and 15.9 million respectively,^[82] accounting for about a third of all World War II casualties. The full demographic loss to the Soviet peoples was even greater.^[83] The Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered massive devastation which caused the Soviet famine of 1946–47^[84] but the Soviet Union emerged as an acknowledged military superpower on the continent.

Sputnik 1 was the world's first artificial satellite

After the war, Eastern and Central Europe including East Germany and part of Austria was occupied by Red Army according to the Potsdam Conference. Dependent socialist governments were installed in the Eastern Bloc satellite states. Becoming the world's second nuclear weapons power, the USSR established the Warsaw Pact alliance and entered into a struggle for global dominance, known as the Cold War, with the United States and NATO. The Soviet Union supported revolutionary movements across the world, including the newly formed People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and, later on, the Republic of Cuba. Significant amounts of Soviet resources were allocated in aid to the other socialist states.^[85]

After Stalin's death and a short period of collective rule, the new leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced the cult of personality of Stalin and launched the policy of de-Stalinization. The penal labor system was reformed and many prisoners were released and rehabilitated (many of them posthumously).^[86] The general easement of repressive policies became known later as the Khrushchev Thaw. At the same time, tensions with the United States heightened when the two rivals clashed over the deployment of the U.S. 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. Russia's cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth, aboard the Vostok 1 manned spacecraft on 12 April 1961.

Following the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964, another period of collective rule ensued, until Leonid Brezhnev became the leader. The era of the 1970s and the early 1980s was designated later as the Era of Stagnation, a period when economic growth slowed and social policies became static. The 1965 Kosygin reform aimed for partial decentralization of the Soviet economy and shifted the emphasis from heavy industry and weapons to light industry and consumer goods but was stifled by the conservative Communist leadership.

Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Red Square during the Moscow Summit, 31 May 1988

In 1979, after a Communist-led revolution in Afghanistan, Soviet forces entered that country at the request of the new regime. The occupation drained economic resources and dragged on without achieving meaningful political results. Ultimately, the Soviet Army was withdrawn from Afghanistan in 1989 due to international opposition, persistent anti-Soviet guerilla warfare, and a lack of support by Soviet citizens.

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. Prior to 1991, the Soviet economy was the second largest in the world,^[87] but during its last years it was afflicted by shortages of goods in grocery stores, huge budget deficits, and explosive growth in the money supply leading to inflation.^[88]

Incumbent Russian President Boris Yeltsin stands on a tank during the August Coup of 1991, two months after the presidential election

By 1991, economic and political turmoil began to boil over, as the Baltic republics 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 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, the USSR was dissolved into 15 post-Soviet states.

Russian Federation

Main article: History of Russia (1992–present)

Moscow International Business Center

In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first directly elected President in Russian history when he was elected President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which became the independent Russian Federation in December of that year. During and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, wide-ranging reforms including privatization and market and trade liberalization were undertaken,^[89] including radical changes along the lines of "shock therapy" as recommended by the United States and the International Monetary Fund.^[90] All this resulted in a major economic crisis, characterized by a 50% decline in both GDP and industrial output between 1990 and 1995.^[89]^[91]

The privatization largely shifted control of enterprises from state agencies to individuals with inside connections in the government. Many of the newly rich moved billions in cash and assets outside of the country in an enormous capital flight.^[92] The depression of the economy led to the collapse of social services; the birth rate plummeted while the death rate skyrocketed.^[93] Millions plunged into poverty, from a level of 1.5% in the late Soviet era to 39–49% by mid-1993.^[94] The 1990s saw extreme corruption and lawlessness, the rise of criminal gangs and violent crime.^[95]

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 has been fought between the rebel groups and the Russian military. Terrorist attacks against civilians carried out by separatists, most notably the Moscow theater hostage crisis and Beslan school siege, caused hundreds of deaths and drew worldwide attention.

Russia took up the responsibility for settling the USSR's external debts, even though its population made up just half of the population of the USSR at the time of its dissolution.^[96] High budget deficits caused the 1998 Russian financial crisis^[97] and resulted in a further GDP decline.^[89]

Boris Yeltsin with Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Alexy II

On 31 December 1999, President Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned, handing the post to the recently appointed Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, who then won the 2000 presidential election. Putin suppressed the Chechen insurgency although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the Northern Caucasus. High oil prices and the initially weak currency followed by increasing domestic demand, consumption, and investments has helped the economy grow for nine straight years, improving the standard of living and increasing Russia's influence on the world stage.^[98] While many reforms made during the Putin presidency have been generally criticized by Western nations as undemocratic,^[99] Putin's leadership over the return of order, stability, and progress has won him widespread admiration in Russia.^[100]

On 2 March 2008, Dmitry Medvedev was elected President of Russia while Putin became Prime Minister. Putin returned to the presidency following the 2012 presidential elections, and Medvedev was appointed Prime Minister.

In 2014, after President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine fled as a result of a revolution, Putin requested and received authorization from the Russian Parliament to deploy Russian troops to Ukraine.^[101]^[102]^[103]^[104]^[105] Following a Crimean referendum in which separation was favored by a large majority of voters, but not accepted internationally,^[106]^[107]^[108]^[109]^[110]^[111] the Russian leadership announced the accession of Crimea into the Russian Federation. On 27 March the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of a non-binding resolution opposing the Russian annexation of Crimea by a vote of 100 in favour, 11 against and 58 abstentions.^[112]

In September 2015, Russia started military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, consisting of air strikes against militant groups of the Islamic State, al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda in the Levant), and the Army of Conquest.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Russia

Governance

Moscow Kremlin, the working residence of the President of Russia

According to the Constitution of Russia, the country is a federation and semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state^[113] and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Russian Federation is fundamentally 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 166-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 Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Government of Russia (Cabinet) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
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 (eligible for a second term, but not for a third consecutive term).^[114] 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). Leading political parties in Russia include United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, and A Just Russia. In 2013, Russia was ranked as 122nd of 167 countries in the Democracy Index, compiled by The Economist Intelligence Unit,^[115] while the World Justice Project currently ranks Russia 80th of 99 countries surveyed in terms of rule of law.^[116]

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Russia

As a transcontinental country, Russia is a member of both the Council of Europe (COE) and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.

The Russian Federation became the 39th member state of the Council of Europe on 28 February 1996

Member states, observers and partners of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

The Russian Federation is recognized in international law as a successor state of the former Soviet Union.^[28] Russia continues to implement the international commitments of the USSR, and has assumed the USSR's permanent seat in the UN Security Council, membership in other international organisations, the rights and obligations under international treaties, and property and debts. Russia has a multifaceted foreign policy. As of 2009, it maintains diplomatic relations with 191 countries and has 144 embassies. The foreign policy is determined by the President and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.^[117]

As the successor to a former superpower, Russia's geopolitical status has often been debated, particularly in relation to unipolar and multipolar views on the global political system. While Russia is commonly accepted to be a great power, in recent years it has been characterized by a number of world leaders,^[118]^[119] scholars,^[120] commentators and politicians^[121] as a currently reinstating or potential superpower.^[122]^[123]^[124]

As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia plays a major role in maintaining international peace and security. The country participates in the Quartet on the Middle East and the Six-party talks with North Korea. Russia is a member of the G8 industrialized nations, the Council of Europe, OSCE, and APEC. Russia usually takes a leading role in regional organisations such as the CIS, EurAsEC, CSTO, and the SCO.^[125] Russia became the 39th member state of the Council of Europe in 1996.^[126] In 1998, Russia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. The legal basis for EU relations with Russia is the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which came into force in 1997. The Agreement recalls the parties' shared respect for democracy and human rights, political and economic freedom and commitment to international peace and security.^[127] In May 2003, the EU and Russia agreed to reinforce their cooperation on the basis of common values and shared interests.^[128] Former President Vladimir Putin had advocated a strategic partnership with close integration in various dimensions including establishment of EU-Russia Common Spaces.^[129] Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has developed a friendlier relationship with the United States and NATO. The NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002 to allow the United States, Russia and the 27 allies in NATO to work together as equal partners to pursue opportunities for joint collaboration.^[130]

Leaders of the BRIC nations in 2008: (l-r) Manmohan Singh of India, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Hu Jintao of China and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil

Russia maintains strong and positive relations with other BRIC countries. India is the largest customer of Russian military equipment and the two countries share extensive defense and strategic relations.^[131] In recent years, the country has strengthened bilateral ties especially with the People's Republic of China by signing the Treaty of Friendship as well as building the Trans-Siberian oil pipeline and gas pipeline from Siberia to China.^[132]^[133]

An important aspect of Russia's relations with the West is the criticism of Russia's political system and human rights management (including LGBT rights, media freedom, and reports about killed journalists) by Western governments, the mass media and the leading democracy and human rights watchdogs. In particular, such organisations as the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch consider Russia to have not enough democratic attributes and to allow few political rights and civil liberties to its citizens.^[134]^[135] Freedom House, an international organisation funded by the United States, ranks Russia as "not free", citing "carefully engineered elections" and "absence" of debate.^[136] Russian authorities dismiss these claims and especially criticise Freedom House. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the 2006 Freedom in the World report "prefabricated", stating that the human rights issues have been turned into a political weapon in particular by the United States. The ministry also claims that such organisations as Freedom House and Human Rights Watch use the same scheme of voluntary extrapolation of "isolated facts that of course can be found in any country" into dominant tendencies.^[137]

Military

Main article: Russian Armed Forces

Modern Russian aircraft Sukhoi Su-35, Sukhoi Su-34 and Sukhoi PAK FA

The Russian military is divided into the Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service: Strategic Missile Troops, Aerospace Defence Forces, and the Airborne Troops. In 2006, the military had 1.037 million personnel on active duty.^[138] It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be drafted for a year of service in Armed Forces.^[98]

Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. It has the second largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines and is the only country apart from the United States with a modern strategic bomber force.^[33]^[139] Russia's tank force is the largest in the world, its surface navy and air force are among the largest ones.

The country has a large and fully indigenous arms industry, producing most of its own military equipment with only few types of weapons imported. Russia is one of the world's top supplier of arms, a spot it has held since 2001, accounting for around 30% of worldwide weapons sales^[140] and exporting weapons to about 80 countries.^[141] The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, found that Russia was the second biggest exporter of arms in 2010-14, increasing their exports by 37 per cent from the period 2005-2009. In 2010-14, Russia delivered weapons to 56 states and to rebel forces in eastern Ukraine.^[34]

The Russian government's published 2014 military budget is about 2.49 trillion rubles (approximately US$69.3 billion), the third largest in the world behind the US and China. The official budget is set to rise to 3.03 trillion rubles (approximately US$83.7 billion) in 2015, and 3.36 trillion rubles (approximately US$93.9 billion) in 2016.^[142] However, unofficial estimates put the budget significantly higher, for example the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) 2013 Military Expenditure Database estimated Russia's military expenditure in 2012 at US$90.749 billion.^[143] This estimate is an increase of more than US$18 billion on SIPRI's estimate of the Russian military budget for 2011 (US$71.9 billion).^[144] As of 2014, Russia's military budget is higher than any other European nation.

According to 2012 Global Peace Index, Russia is the sixth least peaceful out of 162 countries in the world, principally because of its defense industry. Russia has historically ranked low on the index since its inception in 2007.^[145]

Political divisions

Main article: Subdivisions of Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Akhmad Kadyrov, former rebel and head of the Chechen Republic, 2000

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiyev in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, 2011

Federal subjects

According to the Constitution, the country comprises eighty-five federal subjects,^[146] including the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol, whose recent establishment is internationally disputed and criticized as illegal annexation.^[147] In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were eighty-nine federal subjects listed, but later some of them were merged. These subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council.^[148] However, they differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy.

46 oblasts (provinces): most common type of federal subjects, with locally elected governor and legislature.^[149]
22 republics: nominally autonomous; each is tasked with drafting its own constitution, direct-elected^[149] head of republic^[150] or a similar post, and parliament. Republics are allowed to establish their own official language alongside Russian but are represented by the federal government in international affairs. Republics are meant to be home to specific ethnic minorities.
9 krais (territories): essentially the same as oblasts. The "territory" designation is historic, originally given to frontier regions and later also to the administrative divisions that comprised autonomous okrugs or autonomous oblasts.
4 autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts): originally autonomous entities within oblasts and krais created for ethnic minorities, their status was elevated to that of federal subjects in the 1990s. With the exception of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, all autonomous okrugs are still administratively subordinated to a krai or an oblast of which they are a part.
1 autonomous oblast (the Jewish Autonomous Oblast): historically, autonomous oblasts were administrative units subordinated to krais. In 1990, all of them except for the Jewish AO were elevated in status to that of a republic.
3 federal cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Sevastopol): major cities that function as separate regions.

Further information: Political status of Crimea and Sevastopol and 2014 Crimean crisis

Federal districts

Federal subjects are grouped into nine federal districts, each administered by an envoy appointed by the President of Russia.^[151] Unlike the federal subjects, the federal districts are not a subnational level of government, but are a level of administration of the federal government. Federal districts' envoys serve as liaisons between the federal subjects and the federal government and are primarily responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with the federal laws.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Russia

Topography

The two most widely separated points in Russia are about 8,000 km (4,971 mi) apart along a geodesic line. These points are: a 60 km (37 mi) long Vistula Spit the boundary with Poland separating the Gdańsk Bay from the Vistula Lagoon and the most southeastern point of the Kuril Islands. The points which are farthest separated in longitude are 6,600 km (4,101 mi) apart along a geodesic line. These points are: in the west, the same spit on the boundary with Poland, and in the east, the Big Diomede Island. The Russian Federation spans nine time zones.

Mount Elbrus, the highest point of the Caucasus, Russia and Europe

Most of Russia consists of vast stretches of plains that are predominantly steppe to the south and heavily forested to the north, with tundra along the northern coast. Russia possesses 10% of the world's arable land.^[154] Mountain ranges are found along the southern borders, such as the Caucasus (containing Mount Elbrus, which at 5,642 m (18,510 ft) is the highest point in both Russia and Europe) and the Altai (containing Mount Belukha, which at the 4,506 m (14,783 ft) is the highest point of Siberia outside of the Russian Far East); and in the eastern parts, such as the Verkhoyansk Range or the volcanoes of Kamchatka Peninsula (containing Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which at the 4,750 m (15,584 ft) is the highest active volcano in Eurasia as well as the highest point of Asian Russia). The Ural Mountains, rich in mineral resources, form a north-south range that divides Europe and Asia.

Russia has an extensive coastline of over 37,000 km (22,991 mi) along the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, as well as along the Baltic Sea, Sea of Azov, Black Sea and Caspian Sea.^[98] The Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and the Sea of Japan are linked to Russia via the Arctic and Pacific. Russia's major islands and archipelagos include Novaya Zemlya, the Franz Josef Land, the Severnaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin. The Diomede Islands (one controlled by Russia, the other by the U.S.) are just 3 km (1.9 mi) apart, and Kunashir Island is about 20 km (12.4 mi) from Hokkaido, Japan.

Volga River in Samara Oblast

Russia has thousands of rivers and inland bodies of water, providing it with one of the world's largest surface water resources. Its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's liquid fresh water.^[155] The largest and most prominent of Russia's bodies of fresh water is Lake Baikal, the world's deepest, purest, oldest and most capacious fresh water lake.^[156] Baikal alone contains over one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.^[155] Other major lakes include Ladoga and Onega, two of the largest lakes in Europe. Russia is second only to Brazil in volume of the total renewable water resources. Of the country's 100,000 rivers,^[157] the Volga is the most famous, not only because it is the longest river in Europe, but also because of its major role in Russian history.^[98] The Siberian rivers Ob, Yenisey, Lena and Amur are among the longest rivers in the world.

Climate

Main article: Climate of Russia

Taiga forest, Yugyd Va National Park in the Komi Republic

Sochi, Black Sea coast

The enormous size of Russia and the remoteness of many areas from the sea result in the dominance of the humid continental climate, which is prevalent in all parts of the country except for the tundra and the extreme southeast. Mountains in the south obstruct the flow of warm air masses from the Indian Ocean, while the plain of the west and north makes the country open to Arctic and Atlantic influences.^[158]

Most of Northern European Russia and Siberia has a subarctic climate, with extremely severe winters in the inner regions of Northeast Siberia (mostly the Sakha Republic, where the Northern Pole of Cold is located with the record low temperature of −71.2 °C or −96.2 °F), and more moderate winters elsewhere. Both the strip of land along the shore of the Arctic Ocean and the Russian Arctic islands have a polar climate.

The coastal part of Krasnodar Krai on the Black Sea, most notably in Sochi, possesses a humid subtropical climate with mild and wet winters. In many regions of East Siberia and the Far East, winter is dry compared to summer; other parts of the country experience more even precipitation across seasons. Winter precipitation in most parts of the country usually falls as snow. The region along the Lower Volga and Caspian Sea coast, as well as some areas of southernmost Siberia, possesses a semi-arid climate.

Climate data for Russia (records)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	22.2 (72)	23.8 (74.8)	30.3 (86.5)	34.0 (93.2)	37.7 (99.9)	43.2 (109.8)	45.4 (113.7)	43.5 (110.3)	41.5 (106.7)	33.7 (92.7)	29.1 (84.4)	25.0 (77)	45.4 (113.7)
Record low °C (°F)	−71.2 (−96.2)	−64.4 (−83.9)	−60.6 (−77.1)	−46.4 (−51.5)	−28.9 (−20)	−9.7 (14.5)	−9.3 (15.3)	−17.1 (1.2)	−25.3 (−13.5)	−47.6 (−53.7)	−58.5 (−73.3)	−62.8 (−81)	−71.2 (−96.2)
Source: Pogoda.ru.net^[159]

Throughout much of the territory there are only two distinct seasons—winter and summer—as spring and autumn are usually brief periods of change between extremely low and extremely high temperatures.^[158] 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.^[160] The continental interiors are the driest areas.

Biodiversity

Main articles: List of ecoregions in Russia, List of mammals of Russia, List of birds of Russia, List of freshwater fish of Russia and Wildlife of Russia

The brown bear is a popular symbol of Russia, particularly in the West.

From north to south the East European Plain, also known as Russian Plain, is clad sequentially in Arctic tundra, coniferous forest (taiga), mixed and broad-leaf forests, grassland (steppe), and semi-desert (fringing the Caspian Sea), as the changes in vegetation reflect the changes in climate. Siberia supports a similar sequence but is largely taiga. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves,^[161] known as "the lungs of Europe",^[162] second only to the Amazon Rainforest in the amount of carbon dioxide it absorbs.

There are 266 mammal species and 780 bird species in Russia. A total of 415 animal species have been included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation as of 1997 and are now protected.^[163]

Economy

Main articles: Economy of Russia and Timeline of largest projects in the Russian economy

World Trade Center in Moscow

Russia has a developed, high-income market economy with enormous natural resources, particularly oil and natural gas. It has the 15th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the 6th largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Since the turn of the 21st century, higher domestic consumption and greater political stability have bolstered economic growth in Russia. The country ended 2008 with its ninth straight year of growth, but growth has slowed with the decline in the price of oil and gas. Real GDP per capita, PPP (current international) was 19,840 in 2010.^[164] Growth was primarily driven by non-traded services and goods for the domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports.^[98] The average nominal salary in Russia was $967 per month in early 2013, up from $80 in 2000.^[165]^[166] In March 2014 the average nominal monthly wages reached 30,000 RUR (or US$980),^[167]^[168] while tax on the income of individuals is payable at the rate of 13% on most incomes.^[169] Approximately 12.8% of Russians lived below the national poverty line in 2011,^[170] significantly down from 40% in 1998 at the worst point of the post-Soviet collapse.^[94] Unemployment in Russia was 5.4% in 2014, down from about 12.4% in 1999.^[171] The middle class has grown from just 8 million persons in 2000 to 104 million persons in 2013.^[172]^[173] However, after U.S.-led sanctions since 2014 and a collapse in oil prices, the proportion of middle-class could halve to 20%.^[174] Sugar imports reportedly dropped 82% between 2012 and 2013 as a result of the increase in domestic output.^[175]

Russian economy since the end of the Soviet Union

Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of Russian exports abroad.^[98] Since 2003, the exports of natural resources started decreasing in economic importance as the internal market strengthened considerably. Despite higher energy prices, oil and gas only contribute to 5.7% of Russia's GDP and the government predicts this will be 3.7% by 2011.^[176] Oil export earnings allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves from $12 billion in 1999 to $597.3 billion on 1 August 2008, the third largest foreign exchange reserves in the world.^[177] The macroeconomic policy under Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was prudent and sound, with excess income being stored in the Stabilization Fund of Russia.^[178] In 2006, Russia repaid most of its formerly massive debts,^[179] leaving it with one of the lowest foreign debts among major economies.^[180] The Stabilization Fund helped Russia to come out of the global financial crisis in a much better state than many experts had expected.^[178]

A simpler, more streamlined tax code adopted in 2001 reduced the tax burden on people and dramatically increased state revenue.^[181] Russia has a flat tax rate of 13%. This ranks it as the country with the second most attractive personal tax system for single managers in the world after the United Arab Emirates.^[182] According to Bloomberg, Russia is considered well ahead of most other resource-rich countries in its economic development, with a long tradition of education, science, and industry.^[183] The country has a higher proportion of higher education graduates than any other country in Eurasia.^[184]

On 21 May 2014, Russia and China signed a $400 billion gas deal. Starting 2019 Russia plans to provide natural gas to China for the next 30 years.

The economic development of the country has been uneven geographically with the Moscow region contributing a very large share of the country's GDP.^[185] Inequality of household income and wealth has also been noted, with Credit Suisse finding Russian wealth distribution so much more extreme than other countries studied it "deserves to be placed in a separate category."^[186]^[187] Another problem is modernisation of infrastructure, ageing and inadequate after years of being neglected in the 1990s; the government has said $1 trillion will be invested in development of infrastructure by 2020.^[188] In December 2011, Russia finally joined the World Trade Organisation, allowing it a greater access to overseas markets. Some analysts estimate that WTO membership could bring the Russian economy a bounce of up to 3% annually.^[189] Russia ranks as the second-most corrupt country in Europe (after Ukraine), according to the Corruption Perceptions Index. The Norwegian-Russian Chamber of Commerce also states that "[c]orruption is one of the biggest problems both Russian and international companies have to deal with".^[190] The high rate of corruption acts as a hidden tax as businesses and individuals often have to pay money that is not part of the official tax rate. It is estimated that corruption is costing the Russian economy an estimated $2 billion (80 billion rubles) per year.^[191] In 2014, a book-length study by Professor Karen Dawisha was published concerning corruption in Russian under Putin's government.^[192]

The Russian central bank announced plans in 2013 to free float the Russian ruble in 2015. According to a stress test conducted by the central bank Russian financial system would be able to handle a currency decline of 25%–30% without major central bank interference. However, Russian economy began stagnating in late 2013 and in combination with the War in Donbass is in danger of entering stagflation, slow growth and high inflation. The Russian ruble collapsed by 24% from October 2013 to October 2014 entering the level where the central bank may need to intervene to strengthen the currency. Moreover, after bringing inflation down to 3.6% in 2012, the lowest rate since gaining independence from the Soviet Union, inflation in Russia jumped to nearly 7.5% in 2014, causing the central bank to increase its lending rate to 8% from 5.5% in 2013.^[193]^[194]^[195] In an October 2014 article in Bloomberg Business Week, it was reported that Russia had significantly started shifting its economy towards China in response to increasing financial tensions following its annexation of Crimea and subsequent Western economic sanctions.^[196]

Agriculture

Main articles: Agriculture in Russia and Fishing industry in Russia

Rye Fields, by Ivan Shishkin. Russia is the world's top producer of barley, buckwheat and oats, and one of the largest producers and exporters of rye, sunflower seed and wheat.

Russia's total area of cultivated land is estimated at 1,237,294 square kilometres (477,722 sq mi), the fourth largest in the world.^[197] From 1999 to 2009, Russia's agriculture grew steadily,^[198] and the country turned from a grain importer to the third largest grain exporter after the EU and the United States.^[199] The production of meat has grown from 6,813,000 tonnes in 1999 to 9,331,000 tonnes in 2008, and continues to grow.^[200]

This restoration of agriculture was supported by a credit policy of the government, helping both individual farmers and large privatized corporate farms that once were Soviet kolkhozes and which still own the significant share of agricultural land.^[201] While large farms concentrate mainly on grain production and husbandry products, small private household plots produce most of the country's potatoes, vegetables and fruits.^[202]

Since Russia borders three oceans (the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific), Russian fishing fleets are a major world fish supplier. Russia captured 3,191,068 tons of fish in 2005.^[203] Both exports and imports of fish and sea products grew significantly in recent years, reaching $2,415 and $2,036 million, respectively, in 2008.^[204]

Sprawling from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, Russia has more than a fifth of the world's forests, which makes it the largest forest country in the world.^[161]^[205] However, according to a 2012 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Government of the Russian Federation,^[206] the considerable potential of Russian forests is underutilized and Russia's share of the global trade in forest products is less than four percent.^[207]

Energy

Main articles: Energy in Russia and Nuclear power in Russia

Russia is a key oil and gas supplier to much of Europe.

In recent years, Russia has frequently been described in the media as an energy superpower.^[208]^[209] The country has the world's largest natural gas reserves,^[210] the 8th largest oil reserves,^[211] and the second largest coal reserves.^[212] Russia is the world's leading natural gas exporter^[213] and second largest natural gas producer,^[32] while also the largest oil exporter and the largest oil producer.^[31]

Russia is the 3rd largest electricity producer in the world^[214] and the 5th largest renewable energy producer, the latter because of the well-developed hydroelectricity production in the country.^[215] Large cascades of hydropower plants are built in European Russia along big rivers like the Volga. The Asian part of Russia also features a number of major hydropower stations, however the gigantic hydroelectric potential of Siberia and the Russian Far East largely remains unexploited.

Russia was the first country to develop civilian nuclear power and to construct the world's first nuclear power plant. Currently the country is the 4th largest nuclear energy producer,^[216] with all nuclear power in Russia being managed by Rosatom State Corporation. The sector is rapidly developing, with an aim of increasing the total share of nuclear energy from current 16.9% to 23% by 2020. The Russian government plans to allocate 127 billion rubles ($5.42 billion) to a federal program dedicated to the next generation of nuclear energy technology. About 1 trillion rubles ($42.7 billion) is to be allocated from the federal budget to nuclear power and industry development before 2015.^[217]

In May 2014 on a two-day trip to Shanghai, President Putin signed a deal on behalf of Gazprom for the Russian energy giant to supply China with 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. Construction of a pipeline to facilitate the deal was agreed whereby Russia would contribute $55bn to the cost, and China $22bn, in what Putin described as "the world's biggest construction project for the next four years." The natural gas would begin to flow sometime between 2018 and 2020 and would continue for 30 years at an ultimate cost to China of $400bn.^[218]

Transport

Main articles: Transport in Russia, History of rail transport in Russia and Rail transport in Russia

The marker for kilometre 9288 at the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Vladivostok

Railway transport in Russia is mostly under the control of the state-run Russian Railways monopoly. The company accounts for over 3.6% of Russia's GDP and handles 39% of the total freight traffic (including pipelines) and more than 42% of passenger traffic.^[219] The total length of common-used railway tracks exceeds 85,500 km (53,127 mi),^[219] second only to the United States. Over 44,000 km (27,340 mi) of tracks are electrified,^[220] which is the largest number in the world, and additionally there are more than 30,000 km (18,641 mi) of industrial non-common carrier lines. Railways in Russia, unlike in the most of the world, use broad gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in), with the exception of 957 km (595 mi) on Sakhalin island using narrow gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in). The most renowned railway in Russia is Trans-Siberian (Transsib), spanning a record 7 time zones and serving the longest single continuous services in the world, Moscow-Vladivostok (9,259 km (5,753 mi)), Moscow–Pyongyang (10,267 km (6,380 mi))^[221] and Kiev–Vladivostok (11,085 km (6,888 mi)).^[222]

As of 2006 Russia had 933,000 km of roads, of which 755,000 were paved.^[223] Some of these make up the Russian federal motorway system. With a large land area the road density is the lowest of all the G8 and BRIC countries.^[224]

Much of Russia's inland waterways, which total 102,000 km (63,380 mi), are made up of natural rivers or lakes. In the European part of the country the network of channels connects the basins of major rivers. Russia's capital, Moscow, is sometimes called "the port of the five seas", because of its waterway connections to the Baltic, White, Caspian, Azov and Black Seas.

Yamal, one of Russia's nuclear-powered icebreakers^[225]

Major sea ports of Russia include Rostov-on-Don on the Azov Sea, Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, Astrakhan and Makhachkala on the Caspian, Kaliningrad and St Petersburg on the Baltic, Arkhangelsk on the White Sea, Murmansk on the Barents Sea, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean. In 2008 the country owned 1,448 merchant marine ships. The world's only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers advances the economic exploitation of the Arctic continental shelf of Russia and the development of sea trade through the Northern Sea Route between Europe and East Asia.

By total length of pipelines Russia is second only to the United States. Currently many new pipeline projects are being realized, including Nord Stream and South Stream natural gas pipelines to Europe, and the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline (ESPO) to the Russian Far East and China.

Russia has 1,216 airports,^[226] the busiest being Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo in Moscow, and Pulkovo in St. Petersburg.

Typically, major Russian cities have well-developed systems of public transport, with the most common varieties of exploited vehicles being bus, trolleybus and tram. Seven Russian cities, namely Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Samara, Yekaterinburg, and Kazan, have underground metros, while Volgograd features a metrotram. The total length of metros in Russia is 465.4 kilometres (289.2 mi). Moscow Metro and Saint Petersburg Metro are the oldest in Russia, opened in 1935 and 1955 respectively. These two are among the fastest and busiest metro systems in the world, and are famous for rich decorations and unique designs of their stations, which is a common tradition in Russian metros and railways.

Science and technology

Main articles: Timeline of Russian inventions and technology records, Science and technology in Russia, List of Russian scientists and List of Russian inventors

Mikhail Lomonosov, polymath scientist, inventor, poet and artist

Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1904

Science and technology in Russia blossomed since the Age of Enlightenment, when Peter the Great founded the Russian Academy of Sciences and Saint Petersburg State University, and polymath Mikhail Lomonosov established the Moscow State University, paving the way for a strong native tradition in learning and innovation. In the 19th and 20th centuries the country produced a large number of notable scientists and inventors.

The Russian physics school began with Lomonosov who proposed the law of conservation of matter preceding the energy conservation law. Russian discoveries and inventions in physics include the electric arc, electrodynamical Lenz's law, space groups of crystals, photoelectric cell, superfluidity, Cherenkov radiation, electron paramagnetic resonance, heterotransistors and 3D holography. Lasers and masers were co-invented by Nikolai Basov and Alexander Prokhorov, while the idea of tokamak for controlled nuclear fusion was introduced by Igor Tamm, Andrei Sakharov and Lev Artsimovich, leading eventually the modern international ITER project, where Russia is a party.

Since the time of Nikolay Lobachevsky (the "Copernicus of Geometry" who pioneered the non-Euclidean geometry) and a prominent tutor Pafnuty Chebyshev, the Russian mathematical school became one of the most influential in the world.^[227] Chebyshev's students included Aleksandr Lyapunov, who founded the modern stability theory, and Andrey Markov who invented the Markov chains. In the 20th century Soviet mathematicians, such as Andrey Kolmogorov, Israel Gelfand, and Sergey Sobolev, made major contributions to various areas of mathematics. Nine Soviet/Russian mathematicians were awarded with Fields Medal, a most prestigious award in mathematics. Recently Grigori Perelman was offered the first ever Clay Millennium Prize Problems Award for his final proof of the Poincaré conjecture in 2002.^[228]

Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev invented the Periodic table, the main framework of modern chemistry. Aleksandr Butlerov was one of the creators of the theory of chemical structure, playing a central role in organic chemistry. Russian biologists include Dmitry Ivanovsky who discovered viruses, Ivan Pavlov who was the first to experiment with the classical conditioning, and Ilya Mechnikov who was a pioneer researcher of the immune system and probiotics.

Many Russian scientists and inventors were émigrés, like Igor Sikorsky, who built the first airliners and modern-type helicopters; Vladimir Zworykin, often called the father of TV; chemist Ilya Prigogine, noted for his work on dissipative structures and complex systems; Nobel Prize-winning economists Simon Kuznets and Wassily Leontief; physicist Georgiy Gamov (an author of the Big Bang theory) and social scientist Pitirim Sorokin. Many foreigners worked in Russia for a long time, like Leonard Euler and Alfred Nobel.

Russian inventions include arc welding by Nikolay Benardos, further developed by Nikolay Slavyanov, Konstantin Khrenov and other Russian engineers. Gleb Kotelnikov invented the knapsack parachute, while Evgeniy Chertovsky introduced the pressure suit. Alexander Lodygin and Pavel Yablochkov were pioneers of electric lighting, and Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky introduced the first three-phase electric power systems, widely used today. Sergei Lebedev invented the first commercially viable and mass-produced type of synthetic rubber. The first ternary computer, Setun, was developed by Nikolay Brusentsov.

The Sukhoi PAK FA is a fifth-generation jet fighter being developed for the Russian Air Force.

In the 20th century a number of prominent Soviet aerospace engineers, inspired by the fundamental works of Nikolai Zhukovsky, Sergei Chaplygin and others, designed many hundreds of models of military and civilian aircraft and founded a number of KBs (Construction Bureaus) that now constitute the bulk of Russian United Aircraft Corporation. Famous Russian aircraft include the civilian Tu-series, Su and MiG fighter aircraft, Ka and Mi-series helicopters; many Russian aircraft models are on the list of most produced aircraft in history.

Famous Russian battle tanks include T34, the most heavily produced tank design of World War II,^[229] and further tanks of T-series, including the most produced tank in history, T54/55.^[230] The AK47 and AK74 by Mikhail Kalashnikov constitute the most widely used type of assault rifle throughout the world—so much so that more AK-type rifles have been manufactured than all other assault rifles combined.^[231]

With all these achievements, however, since the late Soviet era Russia was lagging behind the West in a number of technologies, mostly those related to energy conservation and consumer goods production. The crisis of the 1990s led to the drastic reduction of the state support for science and a brain drain migration from Russia.

In the 2000s, on the wave of a new economic boom, the situation in the Russian science and technology has improved, and the government launched a campaign aimed into modernisation and innovation. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev formulated top priorities for the country's technological development:

Efficient energy use
Information technology, including both common products and the products combined with space technology
Nuclear energy
Pharmaceuticals^[232]

Currently Russia has completed the GLONASS satellite navigation system. The country is developing its own fifth-generation jet fighter and constructing the first serial mobile nuclear plant in the world.

Space exploration

Soviet and Russian space station Mir

Soyuz TMA-2 is launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying one of the first resident crews to the International Space Station

Russian achievements in the field of space technology and space exploration are traced back to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the father of theoretical astronautics.^[233] His 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 program on 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 Yury Gagarin. Many other Soviet and Russian space exploration records ensued, including the first spacewalk performed by Alexey Leonov, Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to land on the Moon, Venera 7 was the first to land on another planet (Venus), Mars 3 then the first to land on Mars, the first space exploration rover Lunokhod 1 and the first space station Salyut 1 and Mir.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some government-funded space exploration programs, including the Buran space shuttle program, were cancelled or delayed, while participation of the Russian space industry in commercial activities and international cooperation intensified. Nowadays Russia is the largest satellite launcher.^[234] After the U.S. Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, Soyuz rockets became the only provider of transport for astronauts at the International Space Station.

Water supply and sanitation

Main article: Water supply and sanitation in Russia

In Russia, approximately 70 per cent of drinking water comes from surface water and 30 per cent from groundwater. In 2004, water supply systems had a total capacity of 90 million cubic metres a day. The average residential water use was 248 litres per capita per day.^[235] One fourth of the world's fresh surface and groundwater is located in Russia. The water utilities sector is one of the largest industries in Russia serving the entire Russian population.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Russia and Rossiyane

Percentage of ethnic Russians by region in 2010

>80%

70—79%

50—69%

20—49%

<20%

Natural population growth rate in Russia, 2015.

Ethnic Russians comprise 81% of the country's population.^[1] The Russian Federation is also home to several sizeable minorities. In all, 160 different other ethnic groups and indigenous peoples live within its borders.^[236] Though Russia's population is comparatively large, its density is low because of the country's enormous size. Population is densest in European Russia, near the Ural Mountains, and in southwest Siberia. 73% of the population lives in urban areas while 27% in rural ones.^[237] The results of the 2010 Census show a total population of 142,856,536.^[238]

Russia's population peaked at 148,689,000 in 1991, just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It began to experience a rapid decline starting in the mid-1990s.^[239] The decline has slowed to near stagnation in recent years because of reduced death rates, increased birth rates and increased immigration.^[240]

In 2009, Russia recorded annual population growth for the first time in fifteen years, with total growth of 10,500.^[240] 279,906 migrants arrived to the Russian Federation the same year, of which 93% came from CIS countries.^[240] The number of Russian emigrants steadily declined from 359,000 in 2000 to 32,000 in 2009.^[240] There are also an estimated 10 million illegal immigrants from the ex-Soviet states in Russia.^[241] Russia is home to approximately 116 million ethnic Russians^[236] and about 20 million ethnic Russians live outside Russia in the former republics of the Soviet Union,^[242] mostly in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.^[243]

The 2010 census recorded 81% of the population as ethnically Russian, and 19% as other ethnicities:^[1] 3.7% Tatars; 1.4% Ukrainians; 1.1% Bashkirs; 1% Chuvashes; 11.8% others and unspecified. According to the Census, 84.93% of the Russian population belongs to European ethnic groups (Slavic, Germanic, Finnic other than Ugric, Greek, and others). This is a decline from the 2002, when they constituted for more than 86% of the population.^[1]

Russia's birth rate is higher than that of most European countries (12.6 births per 1000 people in 2010^[240] compared to the European Union average of 9.90 per 1000),^[244] but its death rate is also substantially higher (in 2010, Russia's death rate was 14.3 per 1000 people^[240] compared to the EU average of 10.28 per 1000).^[245] The Russian Ministry of Health and Social Affairs predicted that by 2011 the death rate would equal the birth rate because of increase in fertility and decline in mortality.^[246] The government is implementing a number of programs designed to increase the birth rate and attract more migrants. Monthly government child-assistance payments were doubled to US$55, and a one-time payment of US$9,200 was offered to women who had a second child since 2007.^[247]

In 2006, in a bid to compensate for the country's demographic decline, the Russian government started simplifying immigration laws and launched a state program "for providing assistance to voluntary immigration of ethnic Russians from former Soviet republics".^[248] In 2009 Russia experienced its highest birth rate since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.^[240]^[249] In 2012, the birth rate increased again. Russia recorded 1,896,263 births, the highest number since 1990, and even exceeding annual births during the period 1967–1969, with a TFR of about 1.7, the highest since 1991. (Source: Vital statistics table below)

In August 2012, as the country saw its first demographic growth since the 1990s, President Putin declared that Russia's population could reach 146 million by 2025, mainly as a result of immigration.^[250]

Largest cities

Main article: List of cities and towns in Russia by population

Largest cities or towns in Russia Rosstat (2010)^[251]^[252]
	Rank	Name	Federal subject	Pop.	Rank	Name	Federal subject	Pop.
Moscow Saint Petersburg	1	Moscow	Moscow	12,100,000	11	Ufa	Bashkortostan	1,090,000	Novosibirsk Yekaterinburg
	2	Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg	5,190,000	12	Krasnoyarsk	Krasnoyarsk Krai	1,050,000
	3	Novosibirsk	Novosibirsk Oblast	1,560,000	13	Perm	Perm Krai	1,030,000
	4	Yekaterinburg	Sverdlovsk Oblast	1,420,000	14	Voronezh	Voronezh Oblast	1,000,496
	5	Nizhny Novgorod	Nizhny Novgorod Oblast	1,250,000	15	Volgograd	Volgograd Oblast	1,000,000
	6	Kazan	Tatarstan	1,200,000	16	Saratov	Saratov Oblast	840,000
	7	Chelyabinsk	Chelyabinsk Oblast	1,180,000	17	Krasnodar	Krasnodar Krai	800,000
	8	Samara	Samara Oblast	1,170,000	18	Tolyatti	Samara Oblast	720,000
	9	Omsk	Omsk Oblast	1,170,000	19	Izhevsk	Udmurtia	640,000
	10	Rostov-na-Donu	Rostov Oblast	1,100,000	20	Ulyanovsk	Ulyanovsk Oblast	615,000

Ethnic groups

Main article: Ethnic groups in Russia

Language

Area where Russian language is spoken

Main articles: Russian language, Languages of Russia and List of endangered languages in Russia

Russia's 160 ethnic groups speak some 100 languages.^[12] According to the 2002 Census, 142.6 million people speak Russian, followed by Tatar with 5.3 million and Ukrainian with 1.8 million speakers.^[253] Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives the individual republics the right to establish their own state languages in addition to Russian.^[254]

Despite its wide distribution, the Russian language is homogeneous throughout the country. Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, as well as the most widely spoken Slavic language.^[255] It belongs to the Indo-European language family and is one of the living members of the East Slavic languages, the others being Belarusian and Ukrainian (and possibly Rusyn). Written examples of Old East Slavic (Old Russian) are attested from the 10th century onwards.^[256]

Russian is the second-most used language on the Internet after English,^[257] one of two official languages aboard the International Space Station^[258] and is one of the six official languages of the UN.^[259]

35 languages are officially recognized in Russia in various regions by local governments.

Language	Language family	Federal subject(s)	Source
Abaza	Northwest Caucasian	Karachay-Cherkessia	^[260]
Adyghe	Northwest Caucasian	Adygea	^[261]
Altai	Turkic	Altai Republic	^[262]^[263]
Bashkir	Turkic	Bashkortostan	;^[264] see also regional law
Buryat	Mongolic	Buryatia	^[265]
Chechen	Northeast Caucasian	Chechnya	^[266]
Cherkess	Northwest Caucasian	Karachay-Cherkessia	^[260]
Chuvash	Turkic	Chuvashia	^[267]
Crimean Tatar	Turkic	Republic of Crimea	^[268]
Erzya	Uralic	Mordovia	^[269]
Ingush	Northeast Caucasian	Ingushetia	^[270]
Kabardian	Northwest Caucasian	Kabardino-Balkaria	^[271]
Kalmyk	Mongolic	Kalmykia	^[272]
Karachay-Balkar	Turkic	Kabardino-Balkaria Karachay-Cherkessia	^[260]^[271]
Khakas	Turkic	Khakassia	^[273]
Komi	Uralic	Komi Republic	^[274]
Hill Mari	Uralic	Mari El	^[275]
Meadow Mari	Uralic	Mari El	^[275]
Moksha	Uralic	Mordovia	^[269]
Nogai	Turkic	Karachay-Cherkessia	^[260]
Ossetic	Indo-European	North Ossetia–Alania	^[276]
Tatar	Turkic	Tatarstan	^[277]
Tuvаn	Turkic	Tuva	^[278]
Udmurt	Uralic	Udmurtia	^[279]
Ukrainian	Indo-European	Republic of Crimea	^[268]
Yakut	Turkic	Sakha Republic	^[280]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Russia

Ivan Eggink's painting represents Vladimir listening to the Orthodox priests, while the papal envoy stands aside in discontent

The Baptism of Vladimir, a fresco by Viktor Vasnetsov

The ancestors of many of today's Russians practised Orthodox Christianity since the 10th century. According to the Orthodox Church Tradition, Christianity was first brought to the territory of modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine by Saint Andrew, the first Apostle of Jesus Christ.^[281] Following the Primary Chronicle, the definitive Christianization of Kievan Rus' dates from the year 988 (the year is disputed^[282]), when Vladimir the Great was baptized in Chersonesus and proceeded to baptize his family and people in Kiev. The latter events are traditionally referred to as baptism of Rus' (Russian: Крещение Руси, Ukrainian: Хрещення Русі) in Russian and Ukrainian literature.

At the time of the 1917 Revolution, the Russian Orthodox Church was deeply integrated into the autocratic state, enjoying official status. This was a significant factor that contributed to the Bolshevik attitude to religion and the steps they took to control it. Bolsheviks consisted of many people with non-Russian, Communist Russians and influential Jewish backgrounds such as Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Grigori Sokolnikov who were indifferent towards Christianity and based on the writings of Jewish philosopher Karl Marx with Marxism–Leninism as an ideology went on to form the Communist party.^[283] Thus the USSR became the first state to have, as an ideological objective, the elimination of religion^[284] and its replacement with universal atheism.^[285]^[286] The communist regime confiscated religious property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in schools.^[287] The confiscation of religious assets was often based on accusations of illegal accumulation of wealth.

The vast majority of people in the Russian empire were, at the time of the revolution, religious believers, whereas the communists aimed to break the power of all religious institutions and eventually replace religious belief with atheism. "Science" was counterposed to "religious superstition" in the media and in academic writing. The main religions of pre-revolutionary Russia persisted throughout the entire Soviet period, but they were only tolerated within certain limits. Generally, this meant that believers were free to worship in private and in their respective religious buildings (churches, mosques, etc.), but public displays of religion outside of such designated areas were prohibited. In addition, religious institutions were not allowed to express their views in any type of mass media, and many religious buildings were demolished or used for other purposes.

State Atheism in the Soviet Union was known as gosateizm,^[284] and was based on the ideology of Marxism–Leninism. Marxist–Leninist Atheism has consistently advocated the control, suppression, and elimination of religion. Within about a year of the revolution, the state expropriated all church property, including the churches themselves, and in the period from 1922 to 1926, 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and more than 1,200 priests were killed. Many more were persecuted.^[17]

Currently, there is no official census of religion in Russia, and estimates are based on surveys only. In August 2012, ARENA^[288] estimated that about 46.8% of Russians are Christians (including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and non-denominational), while 25% believed in God but without any religion. However, later that year, the Levada Center estimated that 76% of Russians are Christians,^[289] and in June 2013, the Public Opinion Foundation^[290] estimated that 65% of Russians are Christians. These findings are in line with Pew Research Center's 2011 survey,^[291] which estimated that 73.6% of Russians are Christians, with Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM)'s 2010 survey (~77% Christian),^[292] and with Ipsos MORI's 2011 survey (69%).^[293] Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism are Russia's traditional religions, and are all legally a part of Russia's "historical heritage".^[294]

Traced back to the Christianization of Kievan Rus' in the 10th century, Russian Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in the country; smaller Christian denominations such as Catholics, Armenian Gregorians and various Protestant churches also exist. The Russian Orthodox Church was the country's state religion prior to the Revolution and remains the largest religious body in the country. An estimated 95% of the registered Orthodox parishes belong to the Russian Orthodox Church while there are a number of smaller Orthodox Churches.^[295] However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis. Easter is the most popular religious holiday in Russia, celebrated by a large segment of the Russian population, including large numbers of those who are non-religious. More than three-quarters of the Russian population celebrate Easter by making traditional Easter cakes, coloured eggs and paskha.^[296]

Temple of All Religions, Kazan, Tatarstan

Islam is the second largest religion in Russia after Russian Orthodoxy.^[297] It is the traditional or predominant religion amongst some Caucasian ethnicities (notably the Chechens, the Ingush and the Circassians), and amongst some Turkic peoples (notably the Tatars and the Bashkirs). Altogether, there are 9,400,000 Muslims in Russia or 6.5% of the total population as of 2012 (the share of Muslims is probably much higher because the survey doesn't include detailed data for the traditionally Islamic states of Chechnya and Ingushetia). Notwithstanding, various differences split the Muslim population in different groups. According to the survey, most of the Muslims (precisely 6,700,000 or 4.6% of the total population) are "unaffiliated" to any Islamic schools and branches or Islamic organisation, this is mainly because it is not essential for Muslims to be affiliated with any specific sect or organization. Those who are affiliated are mostly Sunni Muslims, with Shia and Ahmadiyya minorities.^[298] Unaffiliated Muslims constitute significant numbers of over 10% in Kabardino-Balkaria (49%), Bashkortostan (38%), Karachay-Cherkessia (34%), Tatarstan (31%), Yamalia (13%), Orenburg Oblast (11%), Adygea (11%) and Astrakhan Oblast (11%). Most of the regions of Siberia have an unaffiliated Muslim population of 1% to 2%.^[288]^[299]

Buddhism is traditional in three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva, and Kalmykia. Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, such as Yakutia and Chukotka, practice shamanist, pantheistic, and pagan rites, along with the major religions. Induction into religion takes place primarily along ethnic lines. Slavs are significantly Orthodox Christian, Turkic speakers are predominantly Muslim, and Mongolic peoples are generally Buddhists.^[300]

According to various western purposive reports, the number of non-religious in Russia is between 16% and 48% of the population.^[301] The number of atheists has decreased significantly; according to the recent statistic, only seven percent declared themselves atheists, a decrease of 5% in three years.^[302] In a 2012 poll by Gallup International, 6% of Russian people reported that they were "convinced atheists which is lowest among European countries"^[303]

Health

Main article: Healthcare in Russia

A mobile clinic used to provide health care at remote railway stations

The Russian Constitution guarantees free, universal health care for all its citizens.^[304] In practice, however, free health care is partially restricted because of mandatory registration.^[305] While Russia has more physicians, hospitals, and health care workers than almost any other country in the world on a per capita basis,^[306] since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the health of the Russian population has declined considerably as a result of social, economic, and lifestyle changes;^[307] the trend has been reversed only in the recent years, with average life expectancy having increased 5.2 years for males and 3.1 years for females between 2006 and 2014.^[308]

As of 2014, the average life expectancy in Russia was 65.29 years for males and 76.49 years for females.^[308] The biggest factor contributing to the relatively low life expectancy for males is a high mortality rate among working-age males. Deaths mostly occur because of preventable causes (e.g., alcohol poisoning, smoking, traffic accidents, violent crime).^[240] As a result of the large gender difference in life expectancy, and also because of the lasting effect of high casualties in World War II, the gender imbalance remains to this day; there are 0.859 males to every female.^[98]

Education

Main article: Education in Russia

Moscow State University

Russia has the most college-level or higher graduates in terms of percentage of population in the world, at 54%.^[309] Russia has a free education system, which is guaranteed for all citizens by the Constitution,^[310] however entry to subsidized higher education is highly competitive.^[311] As a result of great emphasis on science and technology in education, Russian medical, mathematical, scientific, and aerospace research is generally of a high order.^[312]

Since 1990, the 11-year school education has been introduced. Education in state-owned secondary schools is free. University level education is free, with exceptions. A substantial share of students is enrolled for full pay (many state institutions started to open commercial positions in the last years).^[313]

In 2004, state spending for education amounted to 3.6% of the GDP, or 13% of the consolidated state budget.^[314] The Government allocates funding to pay the tuition fees within an established quota or number of students for each state institution. In higher education institutions, students are paid a small stipend and provided with free housing if they are from out of town.^[315]

The oldest and largest Russian universities are Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University. In the 2000s, in order to create higher education and research institutions of comparable scale in Russian regions, the government launched a program of establishing "federal universities", mostly by merging existing large regional universities and research institutes and providing them with a special funding. These new institutions include the Southern Federal University, Siberian Federal University, Kazan Volga Federal University, North-Eastern Federal University, and Far Eastern Federal University.

Culture

Main article: Russian culture

Folk culture and cuisine

The Merchant's Wife by Boris Kustodiev, showcasing the Russian tea culture

There are over 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples in Russia.^[236] The country's vast cultural diversity spans ethnic Russians with their Slavic Orthodox traditions, Tatars and Bashkirs with their Turkic Muslim culture, Buddhist nomadic Buryats and Kalmyks, Shamanistic peoples of the Extreme North and Siberia, highlanders of the Northern Caucasus, and Finno-Ugric peoples of the Russian North West and Volga Region.

Handicraft, like Dymkovo toy, khokhloma, gzhel and palekh miniature represent an important aspect of Russian folk culture. Ethnic Russian clothes include kaftan, kosovorotka and ushanka for men, sarafan and kokoshnik for women, with lapti and valenki as common shoes. The clothes of Cossacks from Southern Russia include burka and papaha, which they share with the peoples of the Northern Caucasus.

Russian cuisine widely uses fish, poultry, mushrooms, berries, and honey. Crops of rye, wheat, barley, and millet provide the ingredients for various breads, pancakes and cereals, as well as for kvass, beer and vodka drinks. Black bread is rather popular in Russia, compared to the rest of the world. Flavourful soups and stews include shchi, borsch, ukha, solyanka and okroshka. Smetana (a heavy sour cream) is often added to soups and salads. Pirozhki, blini and syrniki are native types of pancakes. Chicken Kiev, pelmeni and shashlyk are popular meat dishes, the last two being of Tatar and Caucasus origin respectively. Other meat dishes include stuffed cabbage rolls (golubtsy) usually filled with meat.^[316] Salads include Olivier salad, vinegret and dressed herring.

Russia's large number of ethnic groups have distinctive traditions regarding folk music. Typical ethnic Russian musical instruments are gusli, balalaika, zhaleika, and garmoshka. Folk music had a significant influence on Russian classical composers, and in modern times it is a source of inspiration for a number of popular folk bands, like Melnitsa. Russian folk songs, as well as patriotic Soviet songs, constitute the bulk of the repertoire of the world-renowned Red Army choir and other popular ensembles.

Russians have many traditions, including the washing in banya, a hot steam bath somewhat similar to sauna.^[54] Old Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan Slavic religion. Many Russian fairy tales and epic bylinas were adapted for animation films, or for feature movies by the prominent directors like Aleksandr Ptushko (Ilya Muromets, Sadko) and Aleksandr Rou (Morozko, Vasilisa the Beautiful). Russian poets, including Pyotr Yershov and Leonid Filatov, made a number of well-known poetical interpretations of the classical fairy tales, and in some cases, like that of Alexander Pushkin, also created fully original fairy tale poems of great popularity.

Architecture

Main articles: Russian architecture and List of Russian architects

Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, a well known piece of Russian architecture

Since the Christianization of Kievan Rus' for several ages Russian architecture was influenced predominantly by the Byzantine architecture. Apart from fortifications (kremlins), the main stone buildings of ancient Rus' were Orthodox churches with their many domes, often gilded or brightly painted.

Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects brought Renaissance trends into Russia since the late 15th century, while the 16th century saw the development of unique tent-like churches culminating in Saint Basil's Cathedral.^[317] By that time the onion dome design was also fully developed.^[318] In the 17th century, the "fiery style" of ornamentation flourished in Moscow and Yaroslavl, gradually paving the way for the Naryshkin baroque of the 1690s. After the reforms of Peter the Great the change of architectural styles in Russia generally followed that in the Western Europe.

The 18th-century taste for rococo architecture led to the ornate works of Bartolomeo Rastrelli and his followers. The reigns of Catherine the Great and her grandson Alexander I saw the flourishing of Neoclassical architecture, most notably in the capital city of Saint Petersburg. The second half of the 19th century was dominated by the Neo-Byzantine and Russian Revival styles. Prevalent styles of the 20th century were the Art Nouveau, Constructivism, and the Stalin Empire style.

In 1955, a new Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, condemned the "excesses" of the former academic architecture,^[319] and the late Soviet era was dominated by plain functionalism in architecture. This helped somewhat to resolve the housing problem, but created a large quantity of buildings of low architectural quality, much in contrast with the previous bright styles. The situation improved in the recent two decades. Many temples demolished in Soviet times were rebuilt, and this process continues along with the restoration of various historical buildings destroyed in World War II. A total of 23,000 Orthodox churches have been rebuilt between 1991 and 2010, which effectively quadrapled the number of operating churches in Russia.^[320]

Visual arts

Main article: Russian artists

A piece of Russian icon art known as Rublev's Trinity

Karl Bryullov (1799–1852), a key figure in transition from the Russian neoclassicism to romanticism.

Early Russian painting is represented in icons and vibrant frescos, the two genres inherited from Byzantium. As Moscow rose to power, Theophanes the Greek, Dionisius and Andrei Rublev became vital names associated with a distinctly Russian art.

The Russian Academy of Arts was created in 1757^[321] and gave Russian artists an international role and status. Ivan Argunov, Dmitry Levitzky, Vladimir Borovikovsky and other 18th century academicians mostly focused on portrait painting. In the early 19th century, when neoclassicism and romantism flourished, mythological and Biblical themes inspired many prominent paintings, notably by Karl Briullov and Alexander Ivanov.

In the mid-19th century the Peredvizhniki (Wanderers) group of artists broke with the Academy and initiated a school of art liberated from academic restrictions.^[322] These were mostly realist painters who captured Russian identity in landscapes of wide rivers, forests, and birch clearings, as well as vigorous genre scenes and robust portraits of their contemporaries. Some artists focused on depicting dramatic moments in Russian history, while others turned to social criticism, showing the conditions of the poor and caricaturing authority; critical realism flourished under the reign of Alexander II. Leading realists include Ivan Shishkin, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ivan Kramskoi, Vasily Polenov, Isaac Levitan, Vasily Surikov, Viktor Vasnetsov, Ilya Repin, and Boris Kustodiev.

The turn of the 20th century saw the rise of symbolist painting, represented by Mikhail Vrubel, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, and Nicholas Roerich.

The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of modernist art that flourished in Russia from approximately 1890 to 1930. The term covers many separate, but inextricably related art movements that occurred at the time, namely neo-primitivism, suprematism, constructivism, rayonism, and Russian Futurism. Notable artists from this era include El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marc Chagall. Since the 1930s the revolutionary ideas of the avant-garde clashed with the newly emerged conservative direction of socialist realism.

Soviet art produced works that were furiously patriotic and anti-fascist during and after the Great Patriotic War. Multiple war memorials, marked by a great restrained solemnity, were built throughout the country. Soviet artists often combined innovation with socialist realism, notably the sculptors Vera Mukhina, Yevgeny Vuchetich and Ernst Neizvestny.

Music and dance

Main articles: Music of Russia, Russian ballet, Russian opera, Russian rock, Russian pop and Russian composers

The Snowdance scene from The Nutcracker ballet, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Music in 19th century Russia was defined by the tension between classical composer Mikhail Glinka along with other members of The Mighty Handful, who embraced Russian national identity and added religious and folk elements to their compositions, and the Russian Musical Society led by composers Anton and Nikolay Rubinsteins, which was musically conservative. 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.^[323] World-renowned composers of the 20th century include Alexander Scriabin, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich and Alfred Schnittke.

Russian conservatories have turned out generations of famous soloists. Among the best known are violinists Jascha Heifetz, David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Gidon Kremer, and Maxim Vengerov; cellists Mstislav Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman; pianists Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Vladimir Sofronitsky and Evgeny Kissin; and vocalists Fyodor Shalyapin, Mark Reizen, Elena Obraztsova, Tamara Sinyavskaya, Nina Dorliak, Galina Vishnevskaya, Anna Netrebko and Dmitry Hvorostovsky.^[324]

During the early 20th century, Russian ballet dancers Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky rose to fame, and impresario Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes' travels abroad profoundly influenced the development of dance worldwide.^[325] Soviet ballet preserved the perfected 19th century traditions,^[326] and the Soviet Union's choreography schools produced many internationally famous stars, including Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg remain famous throughout the world.^[327]

Modern Russian rock music takes its roots both in the Western rock and roll and heavy metal, and in traditions of the Russian bards of the Soviet era, such as Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava.^[328] Popular Russian rock groups include Mashina Vremeni, DDT, Aquarium, Alisa, Kino, Kipelov, Nautilus Pompilius, Aria, Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Splean and Korol i Shut. Russian pop music developed from what was known in the Soviet times as estrada into full-fledged industry, with some performers gaining wide international recognition, such as t.A.T.u., Nu Virgos and Vitas.

Literature and philosophy

Main articles: Russian literature, Russian philosophy, Russian poets, Russian playwrights, Russian novelists and Russian science fiction and fantasy

Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher

In the 18th century, during the era of Russian Enlightenment, the development of Russian literature was boosted by the works of Mikhail Lomonosov and Denis Fonvizin. By the early 19th century a modern native tradition had emerged, producing some of the greatest writers in Russian history. This period, known also as the Golden Age of Russian Poetry, began with Alexander Pushkin, who is considered the founder of the modern Russian literary language and often described as the "Russian Shakespeare".^[329] It continued into the 19th century with the poetry of Mikhail Lermontov and Nikolay Nekrasov, dramas of Alexander Ostrovsky and Anton Chekhov, and the prose of Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Turgenev. Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky have been described by literary critics as the greatest novelists of all time.^[330]^[331]

By the 1880s, the age of the great novelists was over, and short fiction and poetry became the dominant genres. The next several decades became known as the Silver Age of Russian Poetry, when the previously dominant literary realism was replaced by symbolism. Leading authors of this era include such poets as Valery Bryusov, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Alexander Blok, Nikolay Gumilev and Anna Akhmatova, and novelists Leonid Andreyev, Ivan Bunin, and Maxim Gorky.

Russian philosophy blossomed in the 19th century, when it was defined initially by the opposition of Westernizers, advocating Western political and economical models, and Slavophiles, insisting on developing Russia as a unique civilization. The latter group includes Nikolai Danilevsky and Konstantin Leontiev, the founders of eurasianism. In its further development Russian philosophy was always marked by a deep connection to literature and interest in creativity, society, politics and nationalism; Russian cosmism and religious philosophy were other major areas. Notable philosophers of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries include Vladimir Solovyev, Sergei Bulgakov, and Vladimir Vernadsky.

Alexander Pushkin

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 many prominent writers and philosophers left the country, including Bunin, Vladimir Nabokov and Nikolay Berdyayev, while a new generation of talented authors joined together in an effort to create a distinctive working-class culture appropriate for the new Soviet state. In the 1930s censorship over literature was tightened in line with the policy of socialist realism. In the late 1950s restrictions on literature were eased, and by the 1970s and 1980s, writers were increasingly ignoring official guidelines. Leading authors of the Soviet era include novelists Yevgeny Zamyatin, Ilf and Petrov, Mikhail Bulgakov and Mikhail Sholokhov, and poets Vladimir Mayakovsky, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and Andrey Voznesensky.

The Soviet Union was also a major producer of science fiction, written by authors like Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Kir Bulychov, Alexander Belayev and Ivan Yefremov.^[332] Traditions of Russian science fiction and fantasy are continued today by numerous writers.

Cinema, animation and media

Main articles: Cinema of Russia, Russian animation, Television in Russia and Media of Russia

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Washington studio of Russia Today TV with Margarita Simonyan

Russian and later Soviet cinema was a hotbed of invention in the period immediately following 1917, resulting in world-renowned films such as The Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein.^[333] Eisenstein was a student of filmmaker and theorist Lev Kuleshov, who developed the Soviet montage theory of film editing at the world's first film school, the All-Union Institute of Cinematography. Dziga Vertov, whose kino-glaz ("film-eye") theory—that the camera, like the human eye, is best used to explore real life—had a huge impact on the development of documentary film making and cinema realism. The subsequent state policy of socialist realism somewhat limited creativity; however, many Soviet films in this style were artistically successful, including Chapaev, The Cranes Are Flying, and Ballad of a Soldier.^[333]

The 1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in Soviet cinema. Eldar Ryazanov's and Leonid Gaidai's comedies of that time were immensely popular, with many of the catch phrases 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.^[334] 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.^[335]

Shukhov Tower in Moscow served early radio and TV broadcasting.

Russian animation dates back to late Russian Empire times. During the Soviet era, Soyuzmultfilm studio was the largest animation producer. Soviet animators developed a great variety of pioneering techniques and aesthetic styles, with prominent directors including Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Fyodor Khitruk and Aleksandr Tatarsky. Many Soviet cartoon heroes such as the Russian-style Winnie-the-Pooh, cute little Cheburashka, Wolf and Hare from Nu, Pogodi!, are iconic images in Russia and many surrounding countries.

The late 1980s and 1990s were a period of crisis in Russian cinema and animation. Although Russian filmmakers became free to express themselves, state subsidies were drastically reduced, resulting in fewer films produced. The early years of the 21st century have brought increased viewership and subsequent prosperity to the industry on the back of the economic revival. Production levels are already higher than in Britain and Germany.^[336] Russia's total box-office revenue in 2007 was $565 million, up 37% from the previous year.^[337] In 2002 the Russian Ark became the first feature film ever to be shot in a single take. The traditions of Soviet animation were developed recently by such directors as Aleksandr Petrov and studios like Melnitsa Animation.

Russia was among the first countries to introduce radio and television. While there were few channels in the Soviet time, in the past two decades many new state and privately owned radio stations and TV channels have appeared. In 2005 a state-run English language Russia Today TV started broadcasting, and its Arabic version Rusiya Al-Yaum was launched in 2007.

Sports

Main article: Sport in Russia

The Russia national football team at UEFA Euro 2012

Combining the total medals of the Soviet Union and Russia, the country is second among all nations by number of gold medals both at the Summer Olympics and at the Winter Olympics. Soviet and later Russian athletes have always been in the top three for the number of gold medals collected at the Summer Olympics. Soviet gymnasts, track-and-field athletes, weight lifters, wrestlers, boxers, fencers, shooters, cross country skiers, biathletes, speed skaters and figure skaters were consistently among the best in the world, along with Soviet basketball, handball, volleyball and ice hockey players.^[338] The 1980 Summer Olympics were held in Moscow while the 2014 Winter Olympics were hosted in Sochi.

KHL finals, the league is considered to be the second-best in the world

Although ice hockey was only introduced during the Soviet era, the national team managed to win gold at almost all the Olympics and World Championships they contested. Russian players Valery Kharlamov, Sergei Makarov, Vyacheslav Fetisov and Vladislav Tretiak hold four of six positions in the IIHF Team of the Century.^[339] Russia has not won the Olympic ice hockey tournament since the Unified Team won gold in 1992. Recently Russia won the 2008, 2009,^[340] 2012 and the 2014 IIHF World Championships. Russia dominated the 2012 tournament, winning all of its ten matches—the first time any team had done so since the Soviet Union in 1989.^[341]

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) was founded in 2008 as a successor to the Russian Superleague. It is seen as a rival to the National Hockey League (NHL), is ranked the top hockey league in Europe as of 2009,^[342] and the second-best in the world.^[343] It is an international professional ice hockey league in Eurasia and consists of 28 teams, of which 21 are based in Russia and 7 more are located in Latvia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Finland, Slovakia, and Croatia.

Bandy, also known as Russian hockey, is another traditionally popular ice sport.^[344] The Soviet Union won all the Bandy World Championships for men between 1957–79^[345] and some thereafter too. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has continuously been one of the most successful teams, winning many world championships.

Dmitry Medvedev with the Russia men's national ice hockey team

Opening of the 2014 Winter Olympics

Association football is one of the most popular sports in modern Russia. The Soviet national team became the first ever European Champions by winning Euro 1960. Appearing in four FIFA World Cups from 1958 to 1970, Lev Yashin is regarded to be one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of football, and was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team.^[346]^[347] The Soviet national team reached the final of Euro 1988. In 1956 and 1988, the Soviet Union won gold at the Olympic football tournament. Russian clubs CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg won the UEFA Cup in 2005 and 2008 respectively. The Russian national football team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008, losing only to the eventual champions Spain. Russia will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with 11 host cities located in the European part of the country and in the Ural region.

In 2007, the Russian national basketball team won the European Basketball Championship. Russian basketball club PBC CSKA Moscow is one of the top teams in Europe, winning the Euroleague in 2006 and 2008.

Larisa Latynina, who currently holds the record for the most gold Olympic medals won by a woman (and held the record for most Olympic medals won per person from 1964 until 2012 when swimmer Michael Phelps replaced her record), established the USSR as the dominant force in gymnastics for many years.^[348] Today, Russia is the leading nation in rhythmic gymnastics with Yevgeniya Kanayeva. Russian synchronized swimming is the best in the world, with almost all gold medals at Olympics and World Championships having been swept by Russians in recent decades. Figure skating is another popular sport in Russia, especially pair skating and ice dancing. With the exception of 2010 a Soviet or Russian pair has won gold at every Winter Olympics since 1964.

Since the end of the Soviet era, tennis has grown in popularity and Russia has produced a number of famous players, including Maria Sharapova, the world's highest paid female athlete.^[349] In martial arts, Russia produced the sport Sambo and renowned fighters, like Fedor Emelianenko. Chess is a widely popular pastime in Russia; from 1927, Russian grandmasters have held the world chess championship almost continuously.^[350]

The 2014 Winter Olympics were held in Sochi in the south of Russia. Russia won the largest number of medals among the participating nations with 13 gold, 11 silver, and 9 bronze medals for a total of 33 medals. Commentators evaluated the Games as having been an overall success.^[351]^[352]

Formula One is also becoming increasingly popular in Russia. In 2010 Vitaly Petrov became the first Russian to drive in Formula One. There had only been two Russian Grands Prix (in 1913 and 1914), but the Russian Grand Prix returned as part of the Formula One season in 2014, as part of a six-year deal.^[353]

National holidays and symbols

Main articles: Public holidays in Russia and Cultural icons of Russia

Scarlet Sails celebration on the Neva river in Saint Petersburg

There are seven public holidays in Russia,^[354] except those always celebrated on Sunday. Russian New Year traditions resemble those of the Western Christmas, with New Year Trees and gifts, and Ded Moroz (Father Frost) playing the same role as Santa Claus. Orthodox Christmas falls on 7 January, because the Russian Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar, and all Orthodox holidays are 13 days after Western ones. Two other major Christian holidays are Easter and Trinity Sunday. Kurban Bayram and Uraza Bayram are celebrated by Russian Muslims.

Further Russian public holidays include Defender of the Fatherland Day (23 February), which honors Russian men, especially those serving in the army; International Women's Day (8 March), which combines the traditions of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day; Spring and Labor Day (1 May); Victory Day; Russia Day (12 June); and Unity Day (4 November), commemorating the popular uprising which expelled the Polish occupation force from Moscow in 1612.

Victory Day is the second most popular holiday in Russia; it commemorates the victory over Nazism in the Great Patriotic War. A huge military parade, hosted by the President of Russia, is annually organised in Moscow on Red Square. Similar parades take place in all major Russian cities and cities with the status Hero city or City of Military Glory.

Popular non-public holidays include Old New Year (the New Year according to the Julian Calendar on 14 January), Tatiana Day (students holiday on 25 January), Maslenitsa (a pre-Christian spring holiday a week before the Great Lent), Cosmonautics Day (in tribute to the first human trip into space), Ivan Kupala Day (another pre-Christian holiday on 7 July) and Peter and Fevronia Day (which takes place on 8 July and is the Russian analogue of Valentine's Day, focusing, however, on family love and fidelity).

Matryoshka doll taken apart

State symbols of Russia include the Byzantine double-headed eagle, combined with St. George of Moscow in the Russian coat of arms. The Russian flag dates from the late Tsardom of Russia period and has been widely used since the time of the Russian Empire. The Russian anthem shares its music with the Soviet Anthem, though not the lyrics. The imperial motto God is with us and the Soviet motto Proletarians of all countries, unite! are now obsolete and no new motto has replaced them. The hammer and sickle and the full Soviet coat of arms are still widely seen in Russian cities as a part of old architectural decorations. The Soviet Red Stars are also encountered, often on military equipment and war memorials. The Red Banner continues to be honored, especially the Banner of Victory of 1945.

The Matryoshka doll is a recognizable symbol of Russia, and the towers of Moscow Kremlin and Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow are Russia's main architectural icons. Cheburashka is a mascot of the Russian national Olympic team. St. Mary, St. Nicholas, St. Andrew, St. George, St. Alexander Nevsky, St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Seraphim of Sarov are Russia's patron saints. Chamomile is the national flower, while birch is the national tree. The Russian bear is an animal symbol and a national personification of Russia, though this image has a Western origin and Russians themselves have accepted it only fairly recently. The native Russian national personification is Mother Russia.

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Russia

Grand Cascade in Peterhof, a popular tourist destination in Saint Petersburg

Tourism in Russia has seen rapid growth since the late Soviet period, first domestic tourism and then international tourism, fueled by the rich cultural heritage and great natural variety of the country. Major tourist routes in Russia include a journey around the Golden Ring of ancient cities, cruises on the big rivers like the Volga, and long journeys on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway. In 2013, Russia was visited by 28.4 million tourists; it is the ninth most visited country in the world and the seventh most visited in Europe.^[355] The number of Western visitors dropped in 2014.^[356]

The Motherland Calls in Volgograd is the tallest statue of a woman in the world (not including pedestals)

The most visited destinations in Russia are Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the current and former capitals of the country. Recognized as World Cities, they feature such world-renowned museums as the Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage, famous theaters like Bolshoi and Mariinsky, ornate churches like Saint Basil's Cathedral, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Saint Isaac's Cathedral and Church of the Savior on Blood, impressive fortifications like the Kremlin and Peter and Paul Fortress, beautiful squares and streets like Red Square, Palace Square, Tverskaya Street and Nevsky Prospect. Rich palaces and parks are found in the former imperial residences in suburbs of Moscow (Kolomenskoye, Tsaritsyno) and St Petersburg (Peterhof, Strelna, Oranienbaum, Gatchina, Pavlovsk and Tsarskoye Selo). Moscow displays Soviet architecture at its best, along with modern skyscrapers, while St Petersburg, nicknamed Venice of the North, boasts of its classical architecture, many rivers, channels and bridges.

Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, shows a mix of Christian Russian and Muslim Tatar cultures. The city has registered a brand The Third Capital of Russia, though a number of other major cities compete for this status, including Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod.

The warm subtropical Black Sea coast of Russia is the site for a number of popular sea resorts, like Sochi, the follow-up host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The mountains of the Northern Caucasus contain popular ski resorts such as Dombay. The most famous natural destination in Russia is Lake Baikal, the Blue Eye of Siberia. This unique lake, the oldest and deepest in the world, has crystal-clear waters and is surrounded by taiga-covered mountains. Other popular natural destinations include Kamchatka with its volcanoes and geysers, Karelia with its lakes and granite rocks, the snowy Altai Mountains, and the wild steppes of Tyva.

Notes

References

1 2 3 4 "ВПН-2010". perepis-2010.ru. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012.
↑ Wikisource:Constitution of Russia
↑ 862 marks the "arrival of Rurik", considered a foundation event by the Russian authorities (Указ Президента РФ "О праздновании 1150-летия зарождения российской государственности" (Russian)); 882 marks the accession of Oleg of Novgorod.
↑ "The Russian federation: general characteristics". Federal State Statistics Service. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
1 2 3 http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/popul2016.xls
1 2 When including the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, the total population of Russia rises to 146,519,759.^[5]
↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: Russia". IMF. April 2016.
↑ "Income Gini coefficient". Human Development Reports (Source: World Bank 2013). UNDP. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
↑ "2015 Human Development Report" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
↑ Taylor, Adam (22 March 2014). "Crimea has joined the ranks of the world's 'gray areas.' Here are the others on that list.". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
↑ "The names Russian Federation and Russia shall be equal". "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". (Article 1). Retrieved 25 June 2009.
1 2 "Russia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
↑ "General Information". Russian 6Embassy. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
↑ http://www.greece.mid.ru/rus/russia/territoria_naselenie.html
↑ http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Europe/Russia.html
↑ http://www.contrtv.ru/repress/2689/
1 2 "Russia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
1 2 3 Excerpted from Glenn E. Curtis (ed.) (1998). "Russia: A Country Study: Kievan Rus' and Mongol Periods". Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
↑ Michael Prawdin and Gérard Chaliand, The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy (2005) pp. 512–550
↑ Rein Taagepera (1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly 41 (3): 475–504. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053.
↑ Peter Turchin; Thomas D. Hall; Jonathan M. Adams (2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires" (PDF). Journal of World-Systems Research, Vol. 12 (no. 2). pp. 219–229. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2007.
↑ Jonathan R. Adelman; Cristann Lea Gibson (1 July 1989). Contemporary Soviet Military Affairs: The Legacy of World War II. Unwin Hyman. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-04-445031-3. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
↑ Weinberg, G. L. (1995). A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II. Cambridge University Press. p. 264. ISBN 0-521-55879-4.
↑ Rozhnov, Konstantin, "Who won World War II?". BBC.
↑ GDP – Million 1990. CIA Factbook. 1991. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
↑ Scott and Scott (1979) p. 305
↑ https://www.ctbto.org/specials/testing-times/30-october-1961-the-tsar-bomba
1 2 "Country Profile: Russia". Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ "Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO: Panorama of Russia". Unesco.ru. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
1 2 "International Energy Agency – Oil Market Report" (PDF). 18 January 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
1 2 "Country Comparison :: Natural gas – production", CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
1 2 "Status of Nuclear Powers and Their Nuclear Capabilities". Federation of American Scientists. March 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
1 2 "Trends in International Arms Transfer, 2014". www.sipri.org. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
↑ "Rus – definition of Rus by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
↑ Milner-Gulland, R. R. (1997). The Russians: The People of Europe. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 1–4. ISBN 0-631-21849-1.
↑ Belinskij A, Härke, H (1999). "The 'Princess' of Ipatovo". Archeology 52 (2). Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
↑ Jacobson, E. (1995). The Art of the Scythians: The Interpenetration of Cultures at the Edge of the Hellenic World. Brill. p. 38. ISBN 90-04-09856-9.
↑ Tsetskhladze, G. R. (1998). The Greek Colonisation of the Black Sea Area: Historical Interpretation of Archaeology. F. Steiner. p. 48. ISBN 3-515-07302-7.
↑ Turchin, P. (2003). Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall. Princeton University Press. pp. 185–186. ISBN 0-691-11669-5.
↑ Christian, D. (1998). A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 286–288. ISBN 0-631-20814-3.
↑ For a discussion of the origins of Slavs, see Barford, P. M. (2001). The Early Slavs. Cornell University Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-8014-3977-9.
↑ Christian, D. (1998). A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 6–7.
↑ Obolensky, D. (1994). Byzantium and the Slavs. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 42. ISBN 0-88141-008-X.
↑ Thompson, J.W.; Johnson, E.N. (1937). An Introduction to Medieval Europe, 300–1500. W. W. Norton & Co. p. 268. ISBN 0-415-34699-1.
↑ "Ukraine: Security Assistance". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Klyuchevsky, V. (1987). The course of the Russian history 1. Myslʹ. ISBN 5-244-00072-1.
↑ Hamm, M.F. (1995). Kiev: A Portrait, 1800–1917. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02585-1.
↑ "The Destruction of Kiev". Tspace.library.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
↑ "History of Russia from Early Slavs history and Kievan Rus to Romanovs dynasty". Parallelsixty.com. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ Рыбаков, Б. А. (1948). Ремесло Древней Руси. pp. 525–533, 780–781.
1 2 "Black Death". Joseph Patrick Byrne (2004). p. 62. ISBN 0-313-32492-1
1 2 The history of banya and sauna (Russian)
↑ May, T. "Khanate of the Golden Horde". Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Frank D. McConnell. Storytelling and Mythmaking: Images from Film and Literature. Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-19-502572-5; p. 78: "But Ivan IV, Ivan the Terrible, or as the Russian has it, Ivan Groznyi, "Ivan the Magnificent" or "Ivan the Awesome", is precisely a man who has become a legend"
↑ Solovyov, S. (2001). History of Russia from the Earliest Times 6. AST. pp. 562–604. ISBN 5-17-002142-9.
↑ Skrynnikov, R. (1981). Ivan the Terrible. Academic Intl Pr. p. 219. ISBN 0-87569-039-4.
↑ Solovyov, S. (2001). History of Russia from the Earliest Times 6. AST. pp. 751–908. ISBN 5-17-002142-9.
↑ Eizo Matsuki. "The Crimean Tatars and their Russian-Captive Slaves." (PDF). Mediterranean Studies Group at Hitotsubashi University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ Solovyov, S. (2001). History of Russia from the Earliest Times 6. AST. pp. 751–809. ISBN 5-17-002142-9.
↑ Brian Glyn Williams (2013). "The Sultan's Raiders: The Military Role of the Crimean Tatars in the Ottoman Empire" (PDF). The Jamestown Foundation. p. 27.
↑ Borisenkov, E., Pasetski, V. The thousand-year annals of the extreme meteorological phenomena. p. 190. ISBN 5-244-00212-0.
↑ Solovyov, S. (2001). History of Russia from the Earliest Times 7. AST. pp. 461–568. ISBN 5-17-002142-9.
↑ Solovyov, S. (2001). History of Russia from the Earliest Times. 9, ch.1. AST. ISBN 5-17-002142-9. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Solovyov, S. (2001). History of Russia from the Earliest Times. 15, ch.1. AST.
↑ Timothy C. Dowling Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond pp 728-730 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 ISBN 1598849484
↑ John F. Baddeley, "The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus", Longman, Green and Co., London: 1908. ISBN 978-0700706341 p. 90
↑ "Ruling the Empire". Library of Congress. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Geoffrey A. Hosking (2001). "Russia and the Russians: a history". Harvard University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-674-00473-6
↑ N. M. Dronin, E. G. Bellinger (2005). Climate dependence and food problems in Russia, 1900–1990: The interaction of climate and agricultural policy and their effect on food problems. Central European University Press. p. 38. ISBN 963-7326-10-3
↑ Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. James E. Hassell (1991), p. 3. ISBN 0-87169-817-X
↑ Famine in Russia: the hidden horrors of 1921, International Committee of the Red Cross
↑ Abbott Gleason (2009). A Companion to Russian History. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 373. ISBN 1-4051-3560-3
1 2 Getty, Rittersporn, Zemskov. "Victims of the Soviet Penal System in the Pre-War Years: A First Approach on the Basis of Archival Evidence". The American Historical Review, Vol. 98, No. 4 (Oct. 1993), pp. 1017–49.
↑ R. W. Davies, S. G. Wheatcroft (2004). The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931–33, p. 401.
↑ "World War II". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
↑ "The Allies' first decisive successes: Stalingrad and the German retreat, summer 1942 – February 1943". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
↑ The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1995. Cambridge University Press.
↑ Brinkley, Douglas. The New York Times Living History: World War II, 1942-1945: The Allied Counteroffensive. Macmillan, 2004.
↑ Urquhart, Brian. Looking for the Sheriff. New York Review of Books, 16 July 1998.
↑ Erlikman, V. (2004). Poteri narodonaseleniia v XX veke : spravochnik. Moskva: Russkai︠a︡ panorama. ISBN 5-93165-107-1. Note: Estimates for Soviet World War II casualties vary between sources.
↑ Geoffrey A. Hosking (2006). Rulers and victims: the Russians in the Soviet Union. Harvard University Press. p. 242. ISBN 0-674-02178-9
↑ "Reconstruction and Cold War". Library of Congress. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Foreign trade from A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former). Library of Congress Country Studies project.
↑ "Great Escapes from the Gulag". TIME. 5 June 1978. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
↑ "1990 CIA World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
↑ "Russia Unforeseen Results of Reform". The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
1 2 3 "Russian Federation" (PDF). Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Retrieved 24 February 2008.
↑ Sciolino, E. (21 December 1993). "U.S. is abandoning 'shock therapy' for the Russians". New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
↑ "Russia: Economic Conditions in Mid-1996". Library of Congress. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
↑ "Russia: Clawing Its Way Back to Life (int'l edition)". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Walter C. Clemens (2001). The Baltic Transformed: Complexity Theory and European Security. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 106. ISBN 0-8476-9859-9.
1 2 Branko Milanovic (1998). Income, Inequality, and Poverty During the Transformation from Planned to Market Economy. The World Bank. pp. 186–189.
↑ Jason Bush (19 October 2006). "What's Behind Russia's Crime Wave?". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008.
↑ "Russia pays off USSR's entire debt, sets to become crediting country". Pravda.ru. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ A. Aslund. "Russia's Capitalist Revolution" (PDF). Retrieved 28 March 2008.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The World Factbook. "CIA". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
↑ Treisman, D. "Is Russia's Experiment with Democracy Over?". UCLA International Institute. Archived from the original on 11 November 2004. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
↑ Stone, N (4 December 2007). "No wonder they like Putin". The Times (UK). Retrieved 31 December 2007.
↑ Reuters (3 March 2014). "Ousted Ukrainian President Asked For Russian Troops, Envoy Says". NBC News. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
↑ "Putin to deploy Russian troops in Ukraine". BBC News. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
↑ Radyuhin, Vladimir (1 March 2014). "Russian Parliament approves use of army in Ukraine". The Hindu (Chennai, India).
↑ Walker, Shaun (4 March 2014). "Russian takeover of Crimea will not descend into war, says Vladimir Putin". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
↑ Yoon, Sangwon; Krasnolutska, Daryna; Choursina, Kateryna (4 March 2014). "Russia Stays in Ukraine as Putin Channels Yanukovych Request". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
↑ "Ukraine crisis: Crimea parliament asks to join Russia". BBC News. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ "OSCE". Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ "Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 15 April 2014.
↑ Jacobs, Harrison (11 April 2014). "The UN's Scathing Crimea Report Suggests Russia May Have Rigged Secession Vote". Business Insider.
↑ "Jobbik MEP Béla Kovács: The Crimean referendum is perfectly legitimate". hungarianambiance.com. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ 16 March 2014, David Herszenhornmarch, The New York Times, "Crimea Votes to Secede From Ukraine as Russian Troops Keep Watch."
↑ "Backing Ukraine's territorial integrity, UN Assembly declares Crimea referendum invalid". UN News Centre. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
↑ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". (Article 80, §1). Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". (Article 81, §3). Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Democracy at a standstill" (PDF). World Justice Project. 2013. p. 7. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
↑ "World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2014".
↑ Kosachev. K. "Russian Foreign Policy Vertical". Russia in Global Affairs. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez recognizes independence of breakaway Georgia republics by Megan K. Stack. 9 September 2009
↑ Netanyahu declares Russia as superpower Russia Today News 15 February 2010
↑ Superpower Reborn by Ronald Steel. New York Times, 24 August 2008
↑ "Russia is a Superpower CNN, US Senators telling the truth". CNN News. 30 August 2008.
↑ Steven Rosefielde, Russia in the 21st Century The Prodigal Superpower, Cambridge University Press, 2005 ISBN 0-521-83678-6
↑ "Is Russia a Superpower? Cold War II?", Atlantic Review, 25 August 2008.
↑ "What's Looming in Ukraine Is more Threatening than Georgia", Der Spiegel, 16 October 2008. Quote: "Nikonov: Russia is not a superpower and won't be one for the foreseeable future. But Russia is a great power. It was one, it is one and it will continue to be one."
↑ The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at Globalsecurity.org 27 April 2005
↑ "Russian Federation – Member state". Council of Europe. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
↑ "Legal framework - The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement". Delegation of the European Union to Russia. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ "Political framework - Europe and Russia: Building a Strategic Partnership". Delegation of the European Union to Russia. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ "Interview of official Ambassador of Russian Foreign Ministry on relations with the EU" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
↑ "NATO-Russia relations". NATO. Archived from the original on 11 April 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Kotoky, Anurag (16 November 2013). "Indian navy gets Russian carrier as it seeks to bolster military". Ruetes.
↑ Page, Jeremy (26 September 2010). "Russian Oil Route Will Open to China". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
↑ "Russia in milestone oil pipeline supply to China". Reuters. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
↑ "Amnesty International report on Russia". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
↑ Human Rights Watch on Russia and Chechnya HTW.org
↑ "Annual report Russia". Freedom House. 10 May 2004. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ "In Russian: МИД России назвал доклад Freedom House "дубиной" в руках Вашингтона". Newsru.com. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ "Overview of the major Asian Powers" (PDF). International Institute for Strategic Studies: 31. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
↑ Russia pilots proud of flights to foreign shores by David Nowak. The Associated Press, 15 September 2008
↑ "US drives world military spending to record high". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 13 June 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Russia arms exports could exceed $7 bln in 2007 – Ivanov". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
↑ Kazak, Sergey. "Russia to Up Nuclear Weapons Spending 50% by 2016". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
↑ "SIPRI Military Expenditure Database". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
↑ Toohey, Nathan. "Russia's defense spending grows to third largest in the world". Moscow Times. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
↑ Earle, Jonathan (14 June 2012). "Report: Russia Less Peaceful Than North Korea". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
↑ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". pravo.gov.ru (in Russian). 11 April 2014. pp. 19, 21.
↑ "Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on Ascension to the Russian Federation of the Republic of Crimea and on Establishment of New Subjects Within the Russian Federation" (in Russian). Kremlin.ru. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
↑ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". (Article 95, §2). Retrieved 27 December 2007.
1 2 Direct elections of heads of republics (and other federal subjects) are mandated by Article 18 of the Federal Law of 06.10.1999 No. 184-FZ as amended by Federal Law of 2.05.2012 No. 40-FZ
↑ Designation of republican heads as presidents is forbidden by Federal Law of 28.12.2010 No. 406-FZ, but transitional period lasts until 1 January 2015
↑ Russian Classification of Economic Regions (OK 024–95) of 1 January 1997 as amended by the Amendments #1/1998 through #5/2001. (Section I. Federal Districts)
↑ The World Network of Biosphere Reserves—UNESCO. "Russian Federation". Retrieved 26 December 2007.
↑ Alton S Donnelly, The Russian Conquest of Bashkiria, 1968, pages 23 and 127; Lincoln, W. Bruce. The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians. New York: Random House, 1994, p. 30
↑ "Oil prices drive the cost of food". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
1 2 Library of Congress. "Topography and drainage". Retrieved 26 December 2007.
↑ "Lake Baikal—A Touchstone for Global Change and Rift Studies". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
↑ "Angara River". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
1 2 "Climate". Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
↑ "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). Retrieved 8 September 2010.
↑ Drozdov, V. A.; Glezer, O. B.; Nefedova, T. G.; Shabdurasulov, I. V. (1992). "Ecological and Geographical Characteristics of the Coastal Zone of the Black Sea". GeoJournal 27 (2): 169. doi:10.1007/BF00717701.
1 2 "FAO. 2010. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010. Main Report. FAO Forestry Working Paper 163, Rome, Italy" (PDF). Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ Walsh, N. P. (19 September 2003). "It's Europe's lungs and home to many rare species. But to Russia it's £100bn of wood". London: Guardian (UK). Retrieved 26 December 2007.
↑ I. A. Merzliakova (1 November 1997). "List of animals of the Red Data Book of Russian Federation". UNEP/GRID–Arendal. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ World Bank. "World Development Indicators". World Bank. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
↑ "Russians weigh an enigma with Putin's protégé". MSNBC. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
↑ Mark Adomanis (9 October 2012). "What is the Russian Middle Class? Probably Not What You Think". Forbes. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ "Average salary in Russia reached 30,000 rubles". Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
↑ "Average salary in Russia from Russia's Federal Statistics Service (May 2013)". Gks.ru. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
↑ "Lessons from the Russia's 2001 Flat Tax Reform". Voxeu.org. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ "Russia Is Getting Wealthier". The Moscow Times. 21 October 2010.
↑ "Russia's unemployment rate down 10% in 2007 – report". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
↑ "Russia: How Long Can The Fun Last?". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "A Rising Middle Class Will Fuel Growth in Russia". nielsen.com. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ Putin's Miracle Dissolves as Russian Middle Class Faces Crunch
↑ Sysoyeva, Marina (27 August 2012). "Russia Raw-Sugar Imports Dropped 82% This Year Through Aug. 22". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ "Russia fixed asset investment to reach $370 bln by 2010–Kudrin". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "International Reserves of the Russian Federation in 2008". The Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
1 2 "Kudrin and Fischer honoured by Euromoney and IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington". Euromoney. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
↑ "Russia's foreign debt down 31.3% in Q3—finance ministry". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Debt – external, CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
↑ Tavernise, S. (23 March 2002). "Russia Imposes Flat Tax on Income, and Its Coffers Swell". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Global personal taxation comparison survey–market rankings". Mercer (consulting firms). Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Russia: How Long Can The Fun Last?". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Finnegan, Leah (22 July 2010). "Countries with the MOST College Graduates (PHOTOS)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
↑ GRP by federal subjects of Russia, 1998–2007 (Russian)
↑ "Inequality and the Putin Economy: Inside the Numbers". pbs.org. Frontline. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
↑ "Global Wealth Report 2014". Credit Suisse. Research Institute. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
↑ "Russia to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure by 2020 – ministry". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
↑ "Russia finally joins WTO". Financial Times. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ "Doing business in Russia". Norwegian-Russian Chamber of Commerce. 10 June 2012. Archived from the original on 18 September 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
↑ "Russia Ready to Float Ruble Next Year Regardless of Rate". CRIA. 2009.
↑ Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?, published 30 September 2014, by Karen Dawisha.
↑ Ostroukh, Andrey (17 January 2014). "Russia Ready to Float Ruble Next Year Regardless of Rate". Wall Street Journal.
↑ Razumovskaya, Olga (25 July 2014). "Russian Central Bank Raises Key Interest Rate to 8% From 7.5%". Wall Street Journal.
↑ "USD/RUB exchange rate". Bloomberg L.P.
↑ "China Embraces Russia", Bloomberg Business Week, 9 October 2014, pp 15–16.
↑ "Land Use", CIA World Factbook
↑ Data by Rosstat (Russian)
↑ Russia takes the third place in the world by grain exports, rosbankjournal.ru (Russian)
↑ Data by Rosstat (Russian)
↑ "Agricultural land by type of owners", Rosstat, 2009 (Russian)
↑ Main agricultural products by type of owners Rosstat, 2009 (Russian)
↑ Brown, Felicity (2 September 2009). "Fish capture by country since 1950". Guardian. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ "Exports and imports of fish and sea products", Rosstat, 2009 (Russian)
↑ Глобальная оценка лесных ресурсов 2010 года [Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010] (PDF) (in Russian). FAO Forestry Working Paper 163, Rome, Italy. 2010.
↑ "Innovations and investments urged to modernize Russian forest sector www.fao.org". FAO. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ "The Russian Federation Forest Sector Outlook Study to 2030" (PDF). FAO. Rome, Italy. 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ Russia, China in Deal On Refinery, Not Gas by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen. Wall Street Journal, 22 September 2010
↑ Did A New Pipeline Just Make Russia The Most Important Energy Superpower By Far by Graham Winfrey. Business Insider, 6 January 2010
↑ Country Comparison :: Natural gas – proved reserves. CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
↑ Country Comparison :: Oil – proved reserves. CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
↑ "BP Statistical review of world energy June 2007". BP. June 2007. Archived from the original (XLS) on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
↑ Country Comparison :: Natural gas – exports. CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
↑ Country Comparison :: Electricity – production. CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
↑ "BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2009: Hydroelectricity consumption". Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
↑ Nuclear Power Plant Information, International Atomic Energy Agency. Retrieved 12 June 2006.
↑ Russia builds nuclear power stations all over the world at amur.kp.ru (Russian)
↑ "China and Russia sign $400 billion 30-year gas deal". Russia Herald. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
1 2 "Russian Railways". Eng.rzd.ru. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
↑ "Invest in Russia–Infrastructure". Invest.gov.ru. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Pyongyang, August 2009. Note: several different routes have the same number.
↑ CIS railway timetable, route No. 350, Kiev-Vladivostok, August 2009.
↑ Rosstat statistics on length of roads Retrieved 10 June 2009
↑ "Transport in Russia". International Transport Statistics Database. iRAP. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
↑ "Russian Atomic Icebreakers". English Russia. 31 March 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
↑ "CIA The World Factbook–Rank Order–Airports". Cia.gov. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
↑ Yakov Sinai, ed. (2003). Russian Mathematicians in the 20th Century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-981-02-4390-6.
↑ "The Poincaré Conjecture". Claymath.org. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ Panzerkampfwagen T-34(r) by George Parada (n.d.) Achtung Panzer! website. Retrieved 17 November 2008
↑ Halberstadt, Hans Inside the Great Tanks The Crowood Press Ltd. Wiltshire, England 1997 94–96 ISBN 1-86126-270-1: "The T-54/T-55 series is the hands down, all time most popular tank in history".
↑ "Weaponomics: The Economics of Small Arms" (PDF). Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ Medvedev outlines priorities for Russian economy's modernization RIA Novosti
↑ "American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics". Aiaa.org. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
↑ "Russian space program in 2009: plans and reality". Russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ United Nations:Sanitation Country Profile Russian Federation, 2004
1 2 3 Ethnic groups in Russia, 2002 census, Demoscope Weekly. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
↑ "Resident population". Rosstat. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
↑ "Demographics". Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Modern demographics of Russia by Rosstat. Retrieved on 5 October 2010
↑ "Russia cracking down on illegal migrants". International Herald Tribune. 15 January 2007. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008.
↑ Putin tries to lure millions of Russian expats home at the Wayback Machine (archived 25 May 2010) Times Online. 9 February 2006.
↑ Moya Flynn. Migrant resettlement in the Russian federation: reconstructing 'homes' and 'homelands', Anthem Press (2004). p. 15. ISBN 1-84331-117-8
↑ The World Factbook. "Rank Order—Birth rate". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
↑ The World Factbook. "Rank Order—Death rate". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
↑ "Russia's birth, mortality rates to equal by 2011–ministry". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
↑ "Country Profile: Russia" (PDF). Library of Congress—Federal Research Division. October 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Russia trying to resolve demographic problem through immigration". rian.ru. 14 July 2006.
↑ Russian birth rates 1950–2008 Demoscope Weekly. Retrieved October 2010.
↑ "Immigration Drives Russian Population Increase". ria.ru. 20 August 2012.
↑ Cities with over 1 million population Rosstat
↑ Cities with population between 500,000 and 1 million Rosstat
↑ "Russian Census of 2002". 4.3. Population by nationalities and knowledge of Russian; 4.4. Spreading of knowledge of languages (except Russian). Rosstat. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
↑ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". (Article 68, §2). Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Russian". University of Toronto. Archived from the original on 6 January 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Russian Language History". Foreigntranslations.com. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ Matthias Gelbmann (19 March 2013). "Russian is now the second most used language on the web". W3Techs. Q-Success. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
↑ "JAXA - My Long Mission in Space".
↑ Poser, Bill (5 May 2004). "The languages of the UN". Itre.cis.upenn.edu. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
1 2 3 4 Статья 11. Конституция Карачаево-Черкесской Республики
↑ Статья 5. Конституция Республики Адыгея
↑ Статья 13. Конституция Республики Алтай
↑ Закон Республики Алтай «О языках». Глава I, статья 4
↑ Статья 1. Конституция Республики Башкортостан
↑ Статья 67. Конституция Республики Бурятия
↑ Статья 10. Конституция Чеченской Республики
↑ Статья 8. Конституция Чувашской Республики
1 2 "Constitution of the Republic of Crimea". Article 10 (in Russian). State Council, Republic of Crimea. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
1 2 Статья 13. Конституции Республики Мордовия
↑ Статья 14. Конституция Республики Ингушетия
1 2 Статья 76. Конституция Кабардино-Балкарской Республики
↑ Статья 17. Степное Уложение (Конституция) Республики Калмыкия
↑ Статья 69. Конституция Республики Хакасия
↑ Статья 67. Конституция Республики Коми
1 2 Статья 15. Конституция республики Марий Эл
↑ Статья 15. Конституция Республики Северная Осетия-Алания
↑ Статья 8. Конституция Республики Татарстан
↑ Статья 5. Конституция Республики Тыва
↑ Статья 8. Конституция Удмуртской Республики
↑ Статья 46. Конституция (Основной закон) Республики Саха (Якутия)
↑ Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007. Russia. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
↑ Oleg Rapov, Russkaya tserkov v IX–pervoy treti XII veka (The Russian Church from the 9th to the First 3rd of the 12th Century). Moscow, 1988.
↑ Arto Luukkanen (1994), The Party of Unbelief, Helsinki: Studia Historica 48, ISBN 951-710-008-6, OCLC 832629341
1 2 Kowalewski, David (October 1980). "Protest for Religious Rights in the USSR: Characteristics and Consequences". Russian Review 39 (4): 426–441. doi:10.2307/128810. JSTOR 128810 – via JSTOR. (registration required (help)).
↑ Ramet, Sabrina Petra. (Ed) (1993). Religious Policy in the Soviet Union. Cambridge University Press. p. 4.
↑ Anderson, John (1994). Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-521-46784-5.
↑ "Anti-religious Campaigns". Loc.gov. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
1 2 Arena – Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia. Sreda.org
↑ Пресс выпуски - В России 74% православных и 7% мусульман [Press releases - In Russia 74% are Orthodox and 7% are Muslims]. levada.ru (in Russian). 17 December 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2015. C1 control character in |script-title= at position 60 (help)
↑ Ценности: религиозность [Values: Religious]. fom.ru (in Russian). 14 June 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ ВЦИОМ: Социальное самочувствие россиян и экономические реалии: непересекающиеся пространства? [MEETING OF THE SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL VCIOM: The social well-being of Russians and economic realities: a disjointed space?]. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (in Russian). 28 October 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ "Views on globalisation and faith" (PDF). 5 July 2011. p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2013.
↑ Rev. Canon Michael Bourdeaux (2002). "Trends in Religious Policy". In Imogen Bell. Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2003 (3 ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-85743-137-7. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ Сведения о религиозных организациях, зарегистрированных в Российской Федерации по данным Федеральной регистрационной службы [Data about religious organizations registered in Russian Federation according to Federal Migration Service records] (in Russian). 19 December 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Over 90 percent of Russians are going to celebrate Easter anyway - poll". Interfax Religion. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
↑ "Russian Federation". Europe: Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine. World and Its Peoples. Marshall Cavendish. 2010. p. 1387. ISBN 978-0-7614-7900-0. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ Ingvar Svanberg; David Westerlund (6 December 2012). Islam Outside the Arab World. Routledge. p. 418. ISBN 978-1-136-11330-7. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ 2012 Survey Maps. "Ogonek", No. 34 (5243), 27 August 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
↑ Richard Hellie. "Russia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
↑ Zuckerman, P. (2005). "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns". In Michael Martin. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press.
↑ Социологи вновь посчитали верующих россиян [Sociologists have counted Russian believers anew] (in Russian). Sova Center. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
↑ "Global Index of Religion and Atheism" (PDF). WIN/Gallup International. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
↑ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation". Article 41. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Российский омбудсмен будет бороться с дискриминацией по "прописке" через суд [Russian ombudsman will be fighting discrimination based on passport "registration" in the courts] (in Russian). 6 June 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
↑ "Healthcare in Russia – Don't Play Russian Roulette". justlanded.com. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
↑ W. R. Leonard (April 2002). "Declining growth status of indigenous Siberian children in post-Soviet Russia". Human Biology. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
1 2 ОЖИДАЕМАЯ ПРОДОЛЖИТЕЛЬНОСТЬ ЖИЗНИ ПРИ РОЖДЕНИИ [Life expectancy at birth] (XLS). Rosstat. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
↑ Huffington Post: Countries With The MOST College Graduates retrieved 27 September 2013
↑ David Johnson, ed., Politics, Modernisation and Educational Reform in Russia: From Past to Present (2010)
↑ Smolentseva, A. "Bridging the Gap Between Higher and Secondary Education in Russia". Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Background Note: Russia". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
↑ "Higher Education Institutions". Rosstat. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
↑ "Education for All by 2015: will we make it?" (PDF). EFA global monitoring report. 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ "Higher education structure". State University Higher School of Economics. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "How to Cook Golubtzy". Moscow-russia-insiders-guide.com. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ The first stone tented roof church and the origins of the tented roof architecture by Sergey Zagraevsky at RusArch.ru (Russian)
↑ The shapes of domes of ancient Russian churches by Sergey Zagraevsky at the site of RusArch.ru (Russian)
↑ Russian: Постановление ЦК КПСС и СМ СССР "Об устранении излишеств в проектировании и строительстве", 4 November 1955 (Khrushchev's decree On liquidation of excesses ...) (Russian)
↑ "Over 20,000 churches rebuilt in Russia in 20 years - Patriarch Kirill". rian.ru. 3 December 2010.
↑ Russian Academy of Arts official site.
↑ Gray, Camilla (2002). Russian Experiment in Art. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 9.
↑ Norris, Gregory; ed. Stanley, Sadie (1980). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition. London: MacMillian. p. 707. ISBN 0-333-23111-2.
↑ "Russia::Music". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
↑ Garafola, L (1989). Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Oxford University Press. p. 576. ISBN 0-19-505701-5.
↑ K. K. Cashin. "Alexander Pushkin's Influence on Russian Ballet—Chapter Five: Pushkin, Soviet Ballet, and Afterward" (PDF). Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "A Tale of Two Operas". Petersburg City. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
↑ History of Rock Music in Russia at Russia-InfoCentre
↑ Kelly, C (2001). Russian Literature: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback). Oxford Paperbacks. ISBN 0-19-280144-9.
↑ "Russian literature; Leo Tolstoy". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
↑ Otto Friedrich (6 September 1971). "Freaking-Out with Fyodor". Time Magazine. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
↑ McGuire, Patrick L. (1985). Red stars: political aspects of Soviet science fiction. Studies in speculative fiction (Vol. 7, ill.). UMI Research Press. ISBN 0-8357-1579-5. Glad, John (1971). Russian Soviet science fiction and related critical activity. New York University. Tevis, Yvonne Pacheco, Reginald, R. (1983). East of the Sun: Russian and Eastern European Science Fiction. Science fiction and fantasy criticism (Vol. 5). Ayer Company. ISBN 0-88143-038-2.
1 2 "Russia:Motion pictures". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ Birgit Beumers. A History of Russian Cinema. Berg Publishers (2009). ISBN 978-1-84520-215-6. p. 143.
↑ "White Sun of the Desert". Film Society of Lincoln Center. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
↑ Dzieciolowski, Z. "Kinoeye: Russia's reviving film industry". Retrieved 27 December 2007.
↑ "Russian Entertainment & Media Industry worth $27.9 bn by 2011". joomag magazine. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
↑ "The USSR and Olympism" (PDF). Olympic Review (International Olympic Committee) (84): 530–557. October 1974. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
↑ "IIHF Centennial All-Star Team". Iihf.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
↑ "Pure gold: Russia repeats!". IIHF. 10 May 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ "Russia dominates Slovakia to win 2012 IIHF gold; 2014 Sochi groups announced". Yahoo Sports. 20 May 2012.
↑ "Russian league tops first CHL ranking". 7 March 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ "World of difference for KHL?". iihf.com. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ "Russian Bandy Championship, 2006–7 season". bandy.ru. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
↑ Ralph Hickok (18 February 2013). "Bandy". Hickoksports.com. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
↑ "Yashin, the impregnable Spider". FIFA. Retrieved 28 November 2013
↑ "The greatest XI in the history of football ... and there's no room for Ronaldo, Eusebio and Best". Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 November 2013
↑ "Legendary Olympians". CNN. 19 August 2008.
↑ Tom Van Riper and Kurt Badenhausen (22 July 2008). "Top-Earning Female Athletes". Forbes. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
↑ "Chessgames guide to the World Championship". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
↑ Sappenfield, Mark (24 February 2014). "Sochi Olympics report card: So how good were Putin's Games?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
↑ Grohmann, Karolos (23 February 2014). "'Excellent' Sochi Games proved critics wrong, says IOC's Bach". Reuters. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
↑ "Russia secures 2014 grand prix deal". ESPN. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
↑ "Official days off for public holidays in Russia". Sras.org. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
↑ "Tourism Highlights 2014" (PDF). UNWTO (World Tourism Organization). 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
↑ RBTH, Concern in Russia as foreign tourist numbers slump

External links

Look up Russia, Россия, or Русь in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Russia at DMOZ
Wikimedia Atlas of Russia
Geographic data related to Russia at OpenStreetMap
Russia entry at The World Factbook
Russia at UCB Libraries GovPubs
Russia from the BBC News
Russia at Encyclopædia Britannica

Government

Other

Post-Soviet Problems from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
Russia Beyond the Headlines International news project about Russia
Way to Russia. An Introduction to Russia and Russian People
Russia cities and regions guide
Official Russia Travel Guide
Russian Consulate
Russia Beyond the Headlines International news project about Russia
Moscow Russia Insider's Guide Moscow and Russia through Muscovite's eyes.

Russia articles

History

Timeline	Proto-Indo-Europeans Scythians East Slavs Rus' Khaganate Kievan Rus' Novgorod Republic Vladimir-Suzdal Grand Duchy of Moscow Tsardom of Russia Russian Empire Russian Republic Russian SFSR Soviet Union Russian Federation

By topic	Economy Military Postal

Geography

Politics

Economy

Society

Demographics Russian citizens Abortion Alcoholism Crime Education Healthcare Ethnic groups Languages Illegal immigration Prostitution Racism Religion Suicide Water supply and sanitation

Culture	Architecture Art Literature Ballet Cinema Graffiti Inventions Media Music Public holidays Opera Language Cuisine Martial arts Folklore Television Internet National anthem Coat of arms National flag Sports

Outline

Book
Category
Portal
WikiProject

Russian souvenirs, arts and crafts

	Handicrafts	Gorodets painting Gzhel Filimonovo toy Kholmogory bone carving Khokhloma Russian lacquer art Fedoskino miniature Kholuy miniature Mstyora miniature Palekh miniature Russian icons Zhostovo painting

	Tableware	Table-glass Podstakannik Russian porcelain Dulyovo porcelain Samovar

	Clothing	Afghanka Budenovka Cherkeska Gymnastyorka Kokoshnik Kosovorotka Lapti Orenburg shawl Papakha Peaked cap Podvorotnichok Sailor cap Sarafan Spetsodezhda Telnyashka Ushanka Valenki

	Musical instruments	Balalaika Garmon Bayan Russian guitar Musical spoons Treshchotka

	Toys	Bird of Happiness Cheburashka Filimonovo toy Dymkovo toys Kargopol toys Matryoshka doll Petrushka

	Other	Izba Fabergé egg Shashka Tula gingerbread

Subdivisions of Russia

Federal subjects

Republics	Adygea Altai Bashkortostan Buryatia Chechnya Chuvashia Crimea¹ Dagestan Ingushetia Kabardino-Balkaria Kalmykia Karachay-Cherkessia Karelia Khakassia Komi Mari El Mordovia North Ossetia-Alania Sakha Tatarstan Tuva Udmurtia

Krais	Altai Kamchatka Khabarovsk Krasnodar Krasnoyarsk Perm Primorsky Stavropol Zabaykalsky

Oblasts	Amur Arkhangelsk Astrakhan Belgorod Bryansk Chelyabinsk Irkutsk Ivanovo Kaliningrad Kaluga Kemerovo Kirov Kostroma Kurgan Kursk Leningrad Lipetsk Magadan Moscow Murmansk Nizhny Novgorod Novgorod Novosibirsk Omsk Orenburg Oryol Penza Pskov Rostov Ryazan Sakhalin Samara Saratov Smolensk Sverdlovsk Tambov Tomsk Tula Tver Tyumen Ulyanovsk Vladimir Volgograd Vologda Voronezh Yaroslavl

Federal cities	Moscow St. Petersburg Sevastopol¹

Autonomous oblast	Jewish

Autonomous okrugs	Chukotka Khanty-Mansi² Nenets³ Yamalo-Nenets²

¹Claimed by Ukraine and considered by most of the international community to be part of Ukraine ²Administratively subordinated to Tyumen Oblast ³Administratively subordinated to Arkhangelsk Oblast

Internal additional non-constitutional divisions by different institutions

Economic regions (by Ministry of Economic Development) Military districts (by Ministry of Defence) Federal districts (by President) Judicial districts (by law "On arbitration courts")

World Heritage Sites in Russia by federal district

	Central	Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye Moscow Kremlin and Red Square Novodevichy Convent Trinity Sergius Lavra White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal Historic Centre of Yaroslavl

	Southern	Western Caucasus

	Northwestern	Curonian Spit¹ Ferapontov Monastery Kizhi Pogost Virgin Komi Forests Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Surroundings Solovetsky Islands Struve Geodetic Arc²

	Far Eastern	Lena Pillars Volcanoes of Kamchatka Central Sikhote-Alin Wrangel Island

	Siberian	Golden Mountains of Altai Lake Baikal Putorana Plateau Uvs Nuur Basin³

	Volga	Bolghar Kazan Kremlin

	North Caucasian	Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent

¹ Shared with Lithuania ² Shared with nine other countries ³ Shared with Mongolia

People from Russia

Political and religious leaders	Pre-1168 1168–1917 1922–1991 1991–present RSFSR leaders General secretaries Soviet premiers (1st deputies) Soviet heads of state (and their spouses) Prime ministers (1st deputies) Foreign ministers Prosecutors general Metropolitans and Patriarchs Saints (1, 2)

Military figures and explorers	Field marshals Soviet marshals Admirals Aviators Cosmonauts

Scientists, engineers and inventors	Aerospace engineers Astronomers and astrophysicists Biologists Chemists Earth scientists Electrical engineers IT developers Linguists and philologists Mathematicians Naval engineers Physicians and psychologists Physicists Weaponry makers

Artists and writers	Architects Ballet dancers Composers Opera singers Novelists Philosophers Playwrights Poets

Sportspeople	Chess players

Geographic locale

Sovereign states and dependencies of Europe

Sovereign states

States with limited
recognition

Dependencies and
other territories

Denmark	Faroe Islands constituent country

Finland	Åland Islands autonomous region

Norway	Jan Mayen Svalbard unincorporated areas

United Kingdom	Akrotiri and Dhekelia¹ sovereign base areas Gibraltar overseas territory Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey crown dependencies

¹ Partially in Asia, or entirely in Asia with cultural links to Europe.

Countries and dependencies of Asia

Sovereign states

States with limited recognition

Dependencies and special
administrative regions

Australia	Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands

China	Hong Kong Macau

United Kingdom	Akrotiri and Dhekelia British Indian Ocean Territory

Countries bordering the Baltic Sea

Denmark Estonia Finland Germany Latvia Lithuania Poland Russia Sweden

Black Sea

Countries bordering the Black Sea	Abkhazia¹ Bulgaria Georgia Romania Russia Turkey Ukraine

Cities	Batumi Burgas Constanța Giresun Hopa Istanbul Kerch Mangalia Năvodari Novorossiysk Odessa Ordu Poti Rize Samsun Sevastopol Sochi Sukhumi Trabzon Varna Yalta Zonguldak

¹ Disputed statehood — partial international recognition, but considered by most countries to be Georgian territory.

International organizations

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Australia Brunei Canada Chile China Hong Kong¹ Indonesia Japan South Korea Malaysia Mexico New Zealand Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Russia Singapore Taiwan² Thailand United States Vietnam

Meetings	1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Other	APEC Business Travel Card APEC blue APEC Youth Science Festival

1. A Special administrative region of China, participates as "Hong Kong, China" 2. Officially the Republic of China, participates as "Chinese Taipei"

BRICS

Membership	Brazil Russia India China South Africa

Summits	Yekaterinburg 2009 Brasília 2010 Sanya 2011 New Delhi 2012 Durban 2013 Fortaleza 2014 Ufa 2015 Panaji 2016

Bilateral relations	Brazil–China Brazil–India Brazil–Russia Brazil–South Africa China–India China–Russia China–South Africa India–Russia India–South Africa Russia–South Africa

Leaders	Rousseff Putin Modi Xi Zuma

Related	New Development Bank BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement BRICS Leaders BRICS Cable BRICS Universities League

BRICS U-17 Football Cup	2016 New Delhi

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Membership

Members	Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Russia Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Associate members	Turkmenistan Ukraine

Former members	Georgia (1993–2009)

History	Russian Empire Soviet Union Union of Sovereign States Belavezha Accords (Near abroad) Alma-Ata Protocol

Sports

Military

Economics

Organization

Interstate Aviation Committee

Category

Council of Europe

Institutions	Secretary General Committee of Ministers Parliamentary Assembly Congress Court of Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights Commission for the Efficiency of Justice Commission against Racism and Intolerance

Members	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia¹ Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom

Observers	Canada Israel Japan Mexico United States Sovereign Military Order of Malta Holy See

Former Members	Czechoslovakia (1991–1992) Saar (assoc. 1950–1956)

¹ Provisionally referred to by the Council of Europe as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"; see Macedonia naming dispute.

East Asia Summit (EAS)

First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh

Australia Brunei Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Laos Malaysia Myanmar New Zealand Philippines Russia Singapore South Korea Thailand United States Vietnam

Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)

Member states	Armenia Belarus Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Russia

Group of Eight (G8) and Group of Eight + Five (G8+5)

G8 members	Canada France Germany Italy Japan Russia United Kingdom United States

Representative	European Union

G8+5	Brazil China India Mexico South Africa

See also	Group of Six Group of Seven G7+1

Group of Twenty (G-20)

Argentina Australia Brazil Canada China European Union France Germany India Indonesia Italy Japan Mexico Russia Saudi Arabia South Africa Republic of Korea Turkey United Kingdom United States

Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)

Quartet on the Middle East

Negotiating parties	Israel Palestinian Authority

Diplomatic quartet	European Union (Mogherini) Russia (Lavrov) United Nations (Ban) United States (Kerry)

Special Envoy	Tony Blair

Associated organizations	Elections Reform Support Group

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Summits	Beijing 2012 Dushanbe 2014

Member states	China India Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Pakistan Russia Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Observer states	Afghanistan Iran Mongolia

Dialogue partners	Belarus Sri Lanka Turkey

Guests	ASEAN CIS Turkmenistan

See also	Eurasian Land Bridge Three Evils Working languages Chinese Russian

Security Council of the United Nations

Power

Organization

Missions

Members

Permanent	China France Russia United Kingdom United States

Term ends end of 2016	Angola Malaysia New Zealand Spain Venezuela

Term starts start of 2016	Egypt Japan Senegal Ukraine Uruguay

Category

World Trade Organization

System	Accession and membership Appellate Body Dispute Settlement Body International Trade Centre Chronology of key events

Issues	Criticism Doha Development Round Singapore issues Quota Elimination Peace Clause

Agreements	General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Agriculture Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Technical Barriers to Trade Trade Related Investment Measures Trade in Services Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Government Procurement Information Technology Marrakech Agreement Doha Declaration Bali Package

Ministerial Conferences	1st (1996) 2nd (1998) 3rd (1999) 4th (2001) 5th (2003) 6th (2005) 7th (2009) 8th (2011) 9th (2013) 10th (2015)

People	Pascal Lamy (Director-General) Roberto Azevêdo (Elected Director-General) Supachai Panitchpakdi (Former Director-General) Deputy Directors-General: Alejandro Jara Valentine Rugwabiza Harsha Singh Rufus Yerxa

Members	Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belize Benin Bolivia Botswana Brazil Brunei Burkina Faso Burma Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Cuba Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador European Union¹ Fiji Gabon The Gambia Georgia Ghana Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong² Iceland India Indonesia Israel Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Macau² Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Qatar Russia Rwanda St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Solomon Islands South Africa Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Switzerland Tajikistan Taiwan³ Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe 1. All twenty-eight member states of the European Union are also members of the WTO in their own right: Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom 2. Special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, participates as "Hong Kong, China" and "Macao China". 3. Officially the Republic of China, participates as "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu", and "Chinese Taipei" in short.

Arctic Ocean

Bering Strait

Black Sea

Gulf of Finland

Pacific Ocean

Black Sea

Sea of Japan

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 168830626 LCCN: n92056007 GND: 4076899-5 SUDOC: 031531156 BNF: cb122728378 (data) NDL: 00569699 NKC: ge130512

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Russia

Etymology

History

Prehistory

Kievan Rus'

Grand Duchy of Moscow

Tsardom of Russia

Imperial Russia

Revolution and Russian Republic

Soviet Russia and civil war

Soviet Union

Russian Federation

Politics

Governance

Foreign relations

Military

Political divisions

Geography

Topography

Climate

Biodiversity

Economy

Agriculture

Energy

Transport

Science and technology

Space exploration

Water supply and sanitation

Demographics

Largest cities

Ethnic groups

Language

Religion

Health

Education

Culture

Folk culture and cuisine

Architecture

Visual arts

Music and dance

Literature and philosophy

Cinema, animation and media

Sports

National holidays and symbols

Tourism

See also

Notes

References

External links