BookRags.com Literature Guides Literature
Guides
Criticism & Essays Criticism &
Essays
Questions & Answers Questions &
Answers
Lesson Plans Lesson
Plans
My Bibliography Periodic Table U.S. Presidents Shakespeare Sonnet Shake-Up
Research Anything:        
History | Encyclopedias | Films | News | Create a Bibliography | More... Login | Register | Help

Not What You Meant?  There are 31 definitions for Russia.  Also try: Euromil or East or Active or NSU.

Russia

Print-Friendly  Order the PDF version  Order the RTF version
About 10 pages (2,873 words)
Russia Summary

Bookmark and Share Questions on this topic? Just ask!

Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world. It spans eleven time zones and contains 148 million people, making it sixth largest nation in terms of population. It borders fourteen countries—eight of which were, like Russia, former members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)—and the Arctic and North Pacific oceans. It is rich in natural resources, but its northern climate limits the amount of land available for cultivation and habitation. Russia's historic capital is Moscow. Peter the Great (1672–1725) moved the capital to his new city of St. Petersburg in 1712, and Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) returned the government to Moscow in 1918.

Until the twentieth century Russia was an autocracy ruled by czars. In March 1917, as the economy collapsed, popular unrest mounted, and casualties rose in World War I (1914–1918), Czar Nicholas II (1868–1918) abdicated. A provisional government assumed control, but before a constitutional assembly could convene the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seized power on November 7, 1917. After a lengthy civil war Lenin established the USSR in 1924. Russia was the largest of the USSR's fifteen constituent republics, but the names Soviet Union and Russia were often—and incorrectly—used interchangeably. The USSR collapsed in late 1991, leaving Russia the largest of fifteen newly independent states.

This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This article contains 2,873 words (approx. 10 pages at 300 words per page).

Read the rest of this Article with our Russia Access Pass.

Ask any question on Russia and get it answered FAST!
Answer questions in BookRags Q&A and earn points toward
discounted or even FREE Study Guides and other BookRags products!
Learn more about BookRags Q&A
Copyrights
Russia from Governments of the World. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group. All rights reserved.

Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags




About BookRags | Customer Service | Report an Error | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy