Russia is the largest country in the world by area, stretching across Eastern Europe and the whole of northern Asia, spanning eleven time zones from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. This vast expanse takes in frozen tundra, immense forests, and grassy steppes, holding enormous reserves of oil, gas, minerals, and timber. A great power for centuries, Russia has shaped European and world history through its empire, its revolution, and its science.
Russian history is often traced to Kievan Rus, a medieval federation of Slavic peoples, which fell under Mongol domination before the Grand Duchy of Moscow rose to gather the Russian lands. Ivan the Terrible became the first to be crowned tsar in the sixteenth century, and under the later Romanov dynasty Russia expanded relentlessly eastward across Siberia, becoming a sprawling multi-ethnic empire and a major player in European affairs.
Russia's size is hard to overstate: it covers more land than any other nation, reaching across two continents. The Ural Mountains traditionally divide its European west from Siberia, the immense and sparsely peopled expanse of forest and tundra that makes up most of the country. It holds Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest freshwater lake on Earth, and a long Arctic coastline. Much of the land endures long, severe winters that have shaped its history and identity.
The Russian flag is a horizontal tricolour of white, blue, and red. Introduced by Tsar Peter the Great in the late seventeenth century, inspired by Dutch design, it became a symbol of Russia and later of pan-Slavic identity. Set aside during the Soviet era in favour of the red banner, the white-blue-red tricolour was restored as the national flag when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.
The dominant faith is Russian Orthodox Christianity, adopted by the medieval Rus and deeply entwined with Russian culture and national identity, its onion-domed cathedrals a national symbol. Seven decades of Soviet state atheism suppressed religious practice, but Orthodoxy revived strongly after 1991. Russia is also home to a substantial Muslim minority, concentrated in particular regions, along with Buddhists, Jews, and other communities across its vast territory.
Russian cuisine is shaped by a cold climate and long winters, favouring hearty, warming food that preserves well. Soups are central, above all borscht, the beetroot soup, and cabbage soup. Other staples include blini (thin pancakes), pelmeni (filled dumplings), dark rye bread, buckwheat, and pickled and preserved vegetables. Caviar and smoked fish are prized delicacies, and tea, traditionally brewed strong, along with vodka, are the customary drinks.
Despite its harsh climate, Russia is an agricultural giant, having become the world's largest exporter of wheat. The fertile black-earth steppes of the south produce grain in abundance, along with barley, sunflower seeds for oil, sugar beet, and potatoes. Much of the country is too cold or forested to farm, so agriculture concentrates in the warmer west and south, where it remains a strategically important part of the economy and of global food supply.
Russia's defeat of Napoleon's invasion in 1812 and its enormous role in defeating Nazi Germany in the Second World War, at the cost of some twenty-seven million lives, are central to its sense of itself. In 1917 the Russian Revolution swept away the monarchy and created the Soviet Union, the world's first communist state and a Cold War superpower that put the first satellite and the first human into space before collapsing in 1991.
Russia has a population of around 144 million people, the most populous country in Europe, though spread thinly across its vast territory and concentrated heavily in the European west, especially around Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Ethnic Russians form the large majority, alongside more than a hundred other peoples with their own languages and traditions. The population has faced long-term decline, a challenge of low birth rates and emigration that weighs on the country's future.
