@Russia
Introduction Russia
Background:
Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able
to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th
centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding
principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty
continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific.
Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic
Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th
century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia.
Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led
to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and
to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists
under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR.
The brutal rule of Iosif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened communist
rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of
millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the
following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV
(1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika
(restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his
initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991
splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics.
Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a
democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict
social, political, and economic controls of the Communist period.
While some progress has been made on the economic front, recent
years have seen a recentralization of power under Vladimir PUTIN and
the erosion of nascent democratic institutions. A determined
guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya and threatens to
destabilize the North Caucasus region.
Geography Russia
Location:
Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of
Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North
Pacific Ocean
Geographic coordinates:
60 00 N, 100 00 E
Map references:
Asia
Area:
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km
water: 79,400 sq km
Area - comparative:
approximately 1.8 times the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 20,096.5 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China
(southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland
1,340 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km,
Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 280.5 km, Mongolia
3,485 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 232 km, Ukraine
1,576 km