Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ( listen); Russian: Россия transliterated: Rossiya , pronounced [rʌˈsʲijə]), officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation[8][9] (Russian: Российская Федерация (help·info), Rossiyskaya Federatsiya), is a country in northern Eurasia (Europe and Asia together).[10] It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. Russia shares borders with the following countries (from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Poland (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan (by the Sea of Okhotsk) and the United States (by the Bering Strait). At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is, in area, by far the largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s land area; with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population.[1] It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones, and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources,[11] and is considered an energy superpower.[12] [13] [14] It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.[15]
The nation's history began with that of the East Slavs, which emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD.[10] Founded and ruled by a noble Viking warrior class and their descendants, the first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century and adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988,[16] beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium.[16] Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated and the lands were divided into many small feudal states. The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus' was Moscow, which served as the main force in the Russian reunification process and independence struggle against the Golden Horde. Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities and came to dominate the cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation and exploration to become the Russian Empire, which was the third largest empire in history, stretching from Poland to Alaska.
Russia established worldwide power and influence from the times of the Russian Empire to being the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first and largest constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] The Russian Federation was founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet state.[27] Russia is constitutionally a semi-presidential republic with the President acting as head of state and the Prime Minister acting as head of government under a representative democratic structure.[28] Nevertheless, leading Western pro-democracy organizations claim Russia exhibits few democratic attributes, for example the nation is described as ‘not free’ by Freedom House[29]. Russia has the world's eighth largest GDP by nominal GDP or sixth largest by purchasing power parity with the eighth largest military budget. It is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[30] Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, APEC and the SCO, and is a leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Russian nation can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts and sciences,[10] as well as a strong tradition in technology, including such significant achievements as the first human spaceflight.
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Washington Post
President Obama's decision to scrap a planned missile defense system that had infuriated Russia is expected to ...
UN chief says Russia -US arms deal key for nuke-free world RIA Novosti
Experts: US Russia face tough arms control talks The Associated Press
Russia , US Begin Latest Round of START Talks Global Security Newswire
Xinhua - Xinhua - Global Security Newswire
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For most westerners Russia is associated with its European cities Moscow St Petersburg and Murmansk This is the heartland of Imperial Russia and these great and ancient cities often
NY Times
hu, 24 Sep 2009 08:26:19 GM
During talks this week with his American counterpart, . Russia's. top drug enforcement official, Viktor P. Ivanov, will press the United States to step up efforts to destroy Afghan poppy cultivation, which he said was feeding a devastating ...
Q. Because of us aiding georgians. I have a feeling that Russia left the battlezone of Georgia and is now at the borders to bring in more troops and reinforcements but is making people think they are really leaving? how do you feel about this. Do you think the U.S. is going to let Russia get a way with what they did?
Asked by Johnnysaks - Thu Aug 21 21:00:13 2008 - - 14 Answers - 9 Comments
A. Russia is still very afraid of the US. And rightfully so. We would pulverize them and they know it. But they do love to shake their fists and throw hissy fits and make a lot of noise. This problem with Georgia is about oil and gas. Russia wants to control all the pipelines into Europe so they can boss the Europeans around. But Georgia has a huge pipeline running through their free country that the Russians can't have. So the Russians are trying to take it by force. We need to hope we don't get someone like Obama as a president who will just surrender and let the Russians control Europe. That would be a disaster. And will eventually lead to another world war.
Answered by cbjack - Thu Aug 21 22:01:19 2008
