Russia: Country & Culture
Facts
A country in eastern Europe and northern Asia, Russia is formerly a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Russia has a population of 143,673,000. The capital of Russia is Moscow. The population is primarily Russian. Minorities include Tatars and Ukrainians. The official language is Russian, but many speak various Turkic and Uralic languages as well. The main religions are Russian Orthodox Christianity and Islam. However, most of the people are nonreligious. Their currency is the ruble. The land and its environments are varied, including the Ural Mountains and ranges in eastern Siberia, with the highest peaks on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Russian Plain contains the great Volga and Northern Dvina rivers, and in the Siberia are the valleys of the Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and Amur rivers. Tundra covers extensive portions in the north, and in the south there are forests, steppes, and fertile areas.
Recent History
Russia was invaded by Napoleon in 1812; after his defeat, Russia received most of the grand duchy of Warsaw (1815). Russia annexed Georgia, Armenia, and Caucasus territories in the 19th century. The Russian southward advance against the Ottoman Empire was of key importance to Europe. Russia was defeated in the Crimean War. Chinese cession of the Amur River's left bank in 1858 marked Russia's expansion in the Far East. It sold Alaska to the U.S. in 1867. Its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War led to an unsuccessful uprising in 1905. In World War I it fought against the Central Powers. The popular overthrow of the tsarist regime in 1917 marked the beginning of a government of soviets. The Bolsheviks brought the main part of the former empire under communist control and organized it as the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. The Russian S.F.S.R. joined other soviet republics in 1922 to form the U.S.S.R. Upon the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, the Russian S.F.S.R. was renamed and became the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It adopted a new constitution in 1993. During the 1990s and into the early 21st century, it struggled on several fronts, beset with economic difficulties, political corruption, and independence movements. The economy was industrialized from 1917 to 1945 but was in serious decline by the 1980s. In 1992 the government decreed radical reforms to convert the centrally planned economy into a market economy based on private enterprise. Russia is a federal republic with a bicameral legislative body; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister.
(Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Online)
