The name Russia is derived from Rus', a medieval state populated primarily by the East Slavs.[17] However, the proper name became more prominent in later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants "Rus land".[18] In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus' by modern historiography. The name Rus' itself comes from the early medieval Rus' people, a group of Norse merchants and warriors who relocated from across the Baltic Sea and founded a state centred on Novgorod that later became Kievan Rus'.[19]
A Medieval Latin version of the name Rus' was Ruthenia, which was used as one of several designations for East Slavic and Eastern Orthodox regions, and commonly as a designation for the lands of Rus'.[20] The current name of the country, Россия (Rossiya), comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Rus', Ρωσσία Rossía – spelled Ρωσία (Rosía pronounced [roˈsia]) in Modern Greek.[21] The standard way to refer to the citizens of Russia is "Russians" in English.[22] There are two words in Russian which are commonly translated into English as "Russians" – one is "русские" (russkiye), which most often refers to ethnic Russians – and the other is "россияне" (rossiyane), which refers to citizens of Russia, regardless of ethnicity.[23]
In the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, the Gothic kingdom of Oium existed in Southern Russia, which was later overrun by Huns.[40] Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, the Bosporan Kingdom, which was a Hellenistic polity that succeeded the Greek colonies,[41] was also overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes such as the Huns and Eurasian Avars.[42] The Khazars, who were of Turkic origin, ruled the lower Volga basin steppes between the Caspian and Black Seas until the 10th century.[43]
The ancestors of Russians are among the Slavic tribes that separated from the Proto-Indo-Europeans, who appeared in the northeastern part of Europe ca. 1500 years ago.[44] The East Slavs gradually settled western Russia in two waves: one moving from Kiev towards present-day Suzdal and Murom and another from Polotsk towards Novgorod and Rostov. From the 7th century onwards, the East Slavs constituted the bulk of the population in western Russia,[45] and slowly but peacefully assimilated the native Finnic peoples.[40]
The establishment of the first East Slavic states in the 9th century coincided with the arrival of Varangians, the Vikings who ventured along the waterways extending from the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas.[46] According to the Primary Chronicle, a Varangian from the Rus' people, named Rurik, was elected ruler of Novgorod in 862. In 882, his successor Oleg ventured south and conquered Kiev, which had been previously paying tribute to the Khazars.[40] Rurik's son Igor and Igor's son Sviatoslav subsequently subdued all local East Slavic tribes to Kievan rule, destroyed the Khazar Khaganate,[47] and launched several military expeditions to Byzantium and Persia.[48][49]
Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the final blow being the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240, which resulted in the sacking of Kiev, and the death of a major part of the population of Rus'.[40] The invaders, later known as Tatars, formed the state of the Golden Horde, which pillaged the Russian principalities and ruled the southern and central expanses of Russia for over two centuries.[50]
The most powerful state to eventually arise after the destruction of Kievan Rus' was the Grand Duchy of Moscow, initially a part of Vladimir-Suzdal.[53] While still under the domain of the Mongol-Tatars and with their connivance, Moscow began to assert its influence in the region in the early 14th century, gradually becoming the leading force in the process of the Rus' lands' reunification and expansion of Russia.[54] Moscow's last rival, the Novgorod Republic, prospered as the chief fur trade centre and the easternmost port of the Hanseatic League.[55]
The death of Ivan's sons marked the end of the ancient Rurik dynasty in 1598, and in combination with the disastrous famine of 1601–1603, led to a civil war, the rule of pretenders, and foreign intervention during the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century.[60] The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, taking advantage, occupied parts of Russia, extending into the capital Moscow.[61] In 1612, the Poles were forced to retreat by the Russian volunteer corps, led by merchant Kuzma Minin and prince Dmitry Pozharsky.[62] The Romanov dynasty acceded to the throne in 1613 by the decision of Zemsky Sobor, and the country started its gradual recovery from the crisis.[63]
Russia continued its territorial growth through the 17th century, which was the age of the Cossacks.[64] In 1654, the Ukrainian leader, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, offered to place Ukraine under the protection of the Russian tsar, Alexis; whose acceptance of this offer led to another Russo-Polish War. Ultimately, Ukraine was split along the Dnieper, leaving the eastern part, (Left-bank Ukraine and Kiev) under Russian rule.[65] In the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonisation of vast Siberia continued, hunting for valuable furs and ivory. Russian explorers pushed eastward primarily along the Siberian River Routes, and by the mid-17th century, there were Russian settlements in eastern Siberia, on the Chukchi Peninsula, along the Amur River, and on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.[64] In 1648, Semyon Dezhnyov became the first European to navigate through the Bering Strait.[66]
Under Peter the Great, Russia was proclaimed an empire in 1721, and became one of the European great powers. Ruling from 1682 to 1725, Peter defeated Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700−1721), securing Russia's access to the sea and sea trade. In 1703, on the Baltic Sea, Peter founded Saint Petersburg as Russia's new capital. Throughout his rule, sweeping reforms were made, which brought significant Western European cultural influences to Russia.[67] The reign of Peter I's daughter Elizabeth in 1741–1762 saw Russia's participation in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). During the conflict, Russian troops overran East Prussia, and even reached the gates of Berlin.[68] However, upon Elizabeth's death, all these conquests were returned to the Kingdom of Prussia by pro-Prussian Peter III of Russia.[69]
The officers who pursued Napoleon into Western Europe brought ideas of liberalism back to Russia, and attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive Decembrist revolt of 1825.[81] At the end of the conservative reign of Nicholas I (1825–1855), a zenith period of Russia's power and influence in Europe, was disrupted by defeat in the Crimean War.[82] Nicholas's successor Alexander II (1855–1881) enacted significant changes throughout the country, including the emancipation reform of 1861.[83] These reforms spurred industrialisation, and modernized the Imperial Russian Army, which liberated much of the Balkans from Ottoman rule in the aftermath of the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War.[84] During most of the 19th and early 20th century, Russia and Britain colluded over Afghanistan and its neighboring territories in Central and South Asia; the rivalry between the two major European empires came to be known as the Great Game.[85]
The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist movements in Russia. Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 by revolutionary terrorists.[86] The reign of his son
Alexander III (1881–1894) was less liberal but more peaceful.[87] The last Russian emperor, Nicholas II (1894–1917), was unable to prevent the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905, triggered by the humiliating Russo-Japanese War and the demonstration incident known as Bloody Sunday.[88][89] The uprising was put down, but the government was forced to concede major reforms (Russian Constitution of 1906), including granting the freedoms of speech and assembly, the legalisation of political parties, and the creation of an elected legislative body, the State Duma.[90]
An alternative socialist establishment co-existed, the Petrograd Soviet, wielding power through the democratically elected councils of workers and peasants, called Soviets. The rule of the new authorities only aggravated the crisis in the country instead of resolving it, and eventually, the October Revolution, led by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Provisional Government and gave full governing power to the Soviets, leading to the creation of the world's first socialist state.[94] The Russian Civil War broke out between the anti-communistWhite movement and the new Soviet regime with its Red Army.[97] In the aftermath of signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that concluded hostilities with the Central Powers of World War I; Bolshevist Russia surrendered most of its western territories, which hosted 34% of its population, 54% of its industries, 32% of its agricultural land, and roughly 90% of its coal mines.[98]
The Allied powers launched an unsuccessful military intervention in support of anti-communist forces.[99] In the meantime, both the Bolsheviks and White movement carried out campaigns of deportations and executions against each other, known respectively as the Red Terror and White Terror.[100] By the end of the violent civil war, Russia's economy and infrastructure were heavily damaged, and as many as 10 million perished during the war, mostly civilians.[101] Millions became White émigrés,[102] and the Russian famine of 1921–1922 claimed up to five million victims.[103]
On 30 December 1922, Lenin and his aides formed the Soviet Union, by joining the Russian SFSR into a single state with the Byelorussian, Transcaucasian, and Ukrainian republics.[104] Eventually internal border changes and annexations during World War II created a union of 15 republics; the largest in size and population being the Russian SFSR, which dominated the union for its entire history politically, culturally, and economically.[105] Following Lenin's death in 1924, a troika was designated to take charge. Eventually Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, managed to suppress all opposition factions and consolidate power in his hands to become the country's dictator by the 1930s.[106]Leon Trotsky, the main proponent of world revolution, was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929,[107] and Stalin's idea of Socialism in One Country became the official line.[108] The continued internal struggle in the Bolshevik party culminated in the Great Purge.[109]
Under Stalin's leadership, the government launched a command economy, industrialisation of the largely rural country, and collectivisation of its agriculture. During this period of rapid economic and social change, millions of people were sent to penal labor camps, including many political convicts for their suspected or real opposition to Stalin's rule;[110] and millions were deported and exiled to remote areas of the Soviet Union.[111] The transitional disorganisation of the country's agriculture, combined with the harsh state policies and a drought, led to the Soviet famine of 1932–1933; which killed up to 8.7 million.[112] The Soviet Union, ultimately, made the costly transformation from a largely agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse within a short span of time.[113]
The Battle of Stalingrad, the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, ended in 1943 with a decisive Soviet victory against the German Army.
Eventually, some 5 million Red Army troops were captured by the Nazis;[121]: 272 the latter deliberately starved to death or otherwise killed 3.3 million Soviet POWs, and a vast number of civilians, as the "Hunger Plan" sought to fulfill Generalplan Ost.[122]: 175–186 Although the Wehrmacht had considerable early success, their attack was halted in the Battle of Moscow.[123] Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major defeats first at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943,[124] and then in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943.[125] Another German failure was the Siege of Leningrad, in which the city was fully blockaded on land between 1941 and 1944 by German and Finnish forces, and suffered starvation and more than a million deaths, but never surrendered.[126] Soviet forces steamrolled through Eastern and Central Europe in 1944–1945 and captured Berlin in May 1945.[127] In August 1945, the Red Army invaded Manchuria and ousted the Japanese from Northeast Asia, contributing to the Allied victory over Japan.[128]
From 1985 onwards, the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who sought to enact liberal reforms in the Soviet system, introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to end the period of economic stagnation and to democratize the government.[148] This, however, led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements across the country.[149] Prior to 1991, the Soviet economy was the world's second-largest, but during its final years, it went into a crisis.[150]
By 1991, economic and political turmoil began to boil over as the Baltic states chose to secede from the Soviet Union.[151] On 17 March, a referendum was held, in which the vast majority of participating citizens voted in favour of changing the Soviet Union into a renewed federation.[152] In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first directly elected president in Russian history when he was elected president of the Russian SFSR.[153] In August 1991, a coup d'état attempt by members of Gorbachev's government, directed against Gorbachev and aimed at preserving the Soviet Union, instead led to the end of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.[154] On 25 December 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, along with contemporary Russia, fourteen other post-Soviet states emerged.[155]
The economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union led Russia into a deep and prolonged depression. During and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, wide-ranging reforms including privatisation and market and trade liberalisation were undertaken, including radical changes along the lines of "shock therapy".[156] The privatisation largely shifted control of enterprises from state agencies to individuals with inside connections in the government, which led to the rise of the infamous Russian oligarchs.[157] Many of the newly rich moved billions in cash and assets outside of the country in an enormous capital flight.[158] The depression of the economy led to the collapse of social services—the birth rate plummeted while the death rate skyrocketed,[159][160] and millions plunged into poverty;[161] while extreme corruption,[162] as well as criminal gangs and organised crime rose significantly.[163]
In late 1993, tensions between Yeltsin and the Russian parliament culminated in a constitutional crisis which ended violently through military force. During the crisis, Yeltsin was backed by Western governments, and over 100 people were killed.[164] In December, a referendum was held and approved, which introduced a new constitution, giving the president enormous powers.[165] The 1990s were plagued by armed conflicts in the North Caucasus, both local ethnic skirmishes and separatist Islamist insurrections.[166] From the time Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an intermittent guerrilla war was fought between the rebel groups and Russian forces.[167]Terrorist attacks against civilians were carried out by Chechen separatists, claiming the lives of thousands[quantify] of Russian civilians.[citation needed][e]
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia assumed responsibility for settling the latter's external debts.[168] In 1992, most consumer price controls were eliminated, causing extreme inflation and significantly devaluing the ruble.[169] High budget deficits coupled with increasing capital flight and inability to pay back debts, caused the 1998 Russian financial crisis, which resulted in a further GDP decline.[170]
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The invasion was preceded by a Russian military buildup in occupied Crimea and around Ukraine, and by Russia's recognition of the breakaway separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.[192] The invasion was the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II.[193][194][195] At about 06:00 Moscow time, Putin announced a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine;[196] minutes later, cities of Ukraine were attacked by missiles.[197] Two hours later, Russian ground forces entered the country.[198] The invasion was met with widespread international condemnation,[199] with further sanctions against Russia being introduced including removing select Russian banks from SWIFT,[200] leading to a financial crisis.[201]Anti-war protests in Russia were met with mass arrests.[202][203]
Russia is a transcontinental country, stretching vastly over the easternmost part of Europe and the northernmost part of Asia.[204] It spans the northernmost edge of Eurasia; and has the world's fourth-longest coastline, of over 37,653 km (23,396 mi).[f][206] Russia lies between latitudes 41° and 82° N, and longitudes 19° E and 169° W, extending some 9,000 km (5,600 mi) east to west, and 2,500 to 4,000 km (1,600 to 2,500 mi) north to south.[207] Russia, by landmass, is larger than three continents,[g] and has the same surface area as Pluto.[208]
Russia, home to over 100,000 rivers,[204] has one of the world's largest surface water resources, with its lakes containing approximately one-quarter of the world's liquid fresh water.[210]Lake Baikal, the largest and most prominent among Russia's fresh water bodies, is the world's deepest, purest, oldest and most capacious fresh water lake, containing over one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.[217]Ladoga and Onega in northwestern Russia are two of the largest lakes in Europe.[204] Russia is second only to Brazil by total renewable water resources.[218] The Volga in western Russia, widely regarded as Russia's national river, is the longest river in Europe;[219] while the rivers of Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and Amur in Siberia are among the world's longest rivers.[220]
The size of Russia and the remoteness of many of its areas from the sea result in the dominance of the humid continental climate throughout most of the country, except for the tundra and the extreme southwest. Mountain ranges in the south and east obstruct the flow of warm air masses from the Indian and Pacific oceans, while the European Plain spanning its west and north opens it to influence from the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.[221] Most of northwest Russia and Siberia have a subarctic climate, with extremely severe winters in the inner regions of northeast Siberia (mostly Sakha, where the Northern Pole of Cold is located with the record low temperature of −71.2 °C or −96.2 °F),[213] and more moderate winters elsewhere. Russia's vast coastline along the Arctic Ocean and the Russian Arctic islands have a polar climate.[221]
The coastal part of Krasnodar Krai on the Black Sea, most notably Sochi, and some coastal and interior strips of the North Caucasus possess a humid subtropical climate with mild and wet winters.[221] In many regions of East Siberia and the Russian Far East, winter is dry compared to summer; while other parts of the country experience more even precipitation across seasons. Winter precipitation in most parts of the country usually falls as snow. The westernmost parts of Kaliningrad Oblast and some parts in the south of Krasnodar Krai and the North Caucasus have an oceanic climate.[221] The region along the Lower Volga and Caspian Sea coast, as well as some southernmost slivers of Siberia, possess a semi-arid climate.[222]
Throughout much of the territory, there are only two distinct seasons, winter and summer; as spring and autumn are usually brief periods of change between extremely low and extremely high temperatures.[221] The coldest month is January (February on the coastline); the warmest is usually July. Great ranges of temperature are typical. In winter, temperatures get colder both from south to north and from west to east. Summers can be quite hot, even in Siberia.[223]
Russia's entirely natural ecosystems are conserved in nearly 15,000 specially protected natural territories of various statuses, occupying more than 10% of the country's total area.[224] They include 45 biosphere reserves,[228] 64 national parks, and 101 nature reserves.[229] Russia still has many ecosystems which are still untouched by man; mainly in the northern taiga areas, and the subarctic tundra of Siberia. Russia had a Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.02 in 2019, ranking 10th out of 172 countries; and the first ranked major nation globally.[230]
The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term and may be elected no more than twice.[237][i] Ministries of the government are composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister (whereas the appointment of the latter requires the consent of the State Duma). United Russia is the dominantpolitical party in Russia, and has been described as "big tent".[238]
According to the constitution, the Russian Federation is composed of 85 federal subjects.[j] In 1993, when the new constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed, but some were later merged. The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Federal Assembly.[239] They do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy.[240] The federal districts of Russia were established by Putin in 2000 to facilitate central government control of the federal subjects.[241] Originally seven, currently there are eight federal districts, each headed by an envoy appointed by the president.[242]
Each is nominally autonomous—home to a specific ethnic minority, and has its own constitution, language, and legislature, but is represented by the federal government in international affairs.[244]
For all intents and purposes, krais are legally identical to oblasts. The title "krai" ("frontier" or "territory") is historic, related to geographic (frontier) position in a certain period of history. The current krais are not related to frontiers.[245]
Occasionally referred to as "autonomous district", "autonomous area", and "autonomous region", each with a substantial or predominant ethnic minority.[246]
In 2021, Russia saw nationwide protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which led to at least 1,700 being arrested in the aftermath.[283]
Russia's human rights management has been increasingly criticised by leading democracy and human rights watchdogs. In particular, organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch consider Russia to have not enough democratic attributes and to allow few political rights and civil liberties to its citizens.[284][285] Putin, in response, has argued Western liberalism has become "obsolete" in Russia, while maintaining that the country is still democratic.[286]
A map showing major Russian gas pipelines to the European Union. Russia is a major player in the European energy sector, supplying most of the continent's crude oil, natural gas, and solid fossil fuels.[332]
Russia's agriculture sector contributes about 5% of the country's total GDP, although the sector employs about one-eighth of the total labour force.[356] It has the world's third-largest cultivated area, at 1,265,267 square kilometres (488,522 sq mi). However, due to the harshness of its environment, about 13.1% of its land is agricultural,[6] and only 7.4% of its land is arable.[357] The main product of Russian farming has always been grain, which occupies considerably more than half of the cropland.[356] Russia is the world's largest exporter of wheat.[358] Various analysts of climate change adaptation foresee large opportunities for Russian agriculture during the rest of the 21st century as arability increases in Siberia, which would lead to both internal and external migration to the region.[359]
More than one-third of the sown area is devoted to fodder crops, and the remaining farmland is devoted to industrial crops, vegetables, and fruits.[356] Owing to its large coastline along three oceans and twelve marginal seas, Russia maintains the world's sixth-largest fishing industry; capturing 4,773,413 tons of fish in 2018.[360] It is home to the world's finest caviar, the beluga; and produces about one-third of all canned fish, and some one-fourth of the world's total fresh and frozen fish.[356]
In 1957, Laika, a Soviet space dog, became the first animal to orbit the Earth, aboard Sputnik 2.[390] In 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a celestial body, the Moon.[391] In 1968, Zond 5 brought the first Earthlings (two tortoises and other life forms) to circumnavigate the Moon.[392] In 1970, Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to land on another planet, Venus.[393] In 1971, Mars 3 became the first spacecraft to land on Mars.[394]: 34–60 During the same period, Lunokhod 1 became the first space exploration rover,[395] while Salyut 1 became the world's first space station.[396] Russia had 167 active satellites in space in September 2021, the world's third-highest.[397]
According to the World Tourism Organization, Russia was the sixteenth-most visited country in the world, and the tenth-most visited country in Europe, in 2018, with over 24.6 million visits.[398] Russia was ranked 39th in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019.[399] According to Federal Agency for Tourism, the number of inbound trips of foreign citizens to Russia amounted to 24.4 million in 2019.[400] Russia's international tourism receipts in 2018 amounted to $11.6 billion.[398] In 2020, tourism accounted for about 4% of country's total GDP.[401][better source needed]
Since the 1990s, Russia's death rate has exceeded its birth rate, which has been called by analysts as a demographic crisis.[411] In 2019, the total fertility rate across Russia was estimated to be 1.5 children born per woman,[412] which is below the replacement rate of 2.1, and is one of the world's lowest fertility rates.[413] Subsequently, the nation has one of the world's oldest populations, with a median age of 40.3 years.[6] In 2009, it recorded annual population growth for the first time in fifteen years; and since the 2010s, Russia has seen increased population growth due to declining death rates, increased birth rates and increased immigration.[414] However, since 2020, due to excessive deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's population has undergone its largest peacetime decline in history.[415]
Russia is a multilingual nation; approximately 100–150 minority languages are spoken across the country.[439][440] According to the Russian Census of 2002, 142.6 million across the country spoke Russian, 5.3 million spoke Tatar, and 1.8 million spoke Ukrainian.[441] The constitution gives the country's individual republics the right to establish their own state languages in addition to Russian, as well as guarantee its citizens the right to preserve their native language and to create conditions for its study and development.[442] However, various experts have claimed Russia's linguistic diversity is rapidly declining due to many languages becoming endangered.[443][444]
Russia is a secular state by constitution, and its largest religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, chiefly represented by the Russian Orthodox Church.[4] Orthodox Christianity, together with Islam, Buddhism, and Paganism (either preserved or revived), are recognised by Russian law as the traditional religions of the country, part of its "historical heritage".[445][446] The amendments of 2020 to the constitution added, in the Article 67, the continuity of the Russian state in history based on preserving "the memory of the ancestors" and general "ideals and belief in God" which the ancestors conveyed.[447]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union there was a renewal of religions in Russia, with the revival of the traditional faiths and the emergence of new forms within the traditional faiths as well as many new religious movements.[448][449] Islam is the second-largest religion in Russia, and is the traditional religion among the majority of the peoples of the North Caucasus, and among some Turkic peoples scattered along the Volga-Ural region.[4] Large populations of Buddhists are found in Kalmykia, Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai, and they are the vast majority of the population in Tuva.[4] Many Russians practise other religions, including Rodnovery (Slavic Neopaganism),[450]Assianism (Scythian Neopaganism),[451] other ethnic Paganisms, and inter-Pagan movements such as Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism,[452] various movements of Hinduism,[453]Siberian shamanism[454] and Tengrism, various Neo-Theosophical movements such as Roerichism, and other faiths.[455][456] Some religious minorities have faced oppression and some have been banned in the country;[457] notably, in 2017 the Jehovah's Witnesses were outlawed in Russia, facing persecution ever since, after having been declared an "extremist" and "nontraditional" faith.[458]
In 2012 the research organisation Sreda in cooperation the Ministry of Justice published the Arena Atlas, an adjunct to the 2010 census, enumerating in detail the religious populations and nationalities of Russia, based on a large-sample country-wide survey. The results showed that 47.3% of Russians declared themselves Christians — including 41% Russian Orthodox, 1.5% simply Orthodox or members of non-Russian Orthodox churches, 4.1% unaffiliated Christians, and less than 1% Old Believers, Catholics or Protestants — 25% were believers without affiliation to any specific religion, 13% were atheists, 6.5% were Muslims,[b] 1.2% were followers of "traditional religions honouring gods and ancestors" (Rodnovery, other Paganisms, Siberian shamanism and Tengrism), 0.5% were Buddhists, 0.1% were religious Jews and 0.1% were Hindus.[4]
Russia's pre-school education system is highly developed and optional,[465] some four-fifths of children aged 3 to 6 attend day nurseries or kindergartens. Primary school is compulsory for eleven years, starting from age 6 to 7, and leads to a basic general education certificate.[462] An additional two or three years of schooling are required for the secondary-level certificate, and some seven-eighths of Russians continue their education past this level.[466]
Russia, by constitution, guarantees free, universal health care for all Russian citizens, through a compulsory state health insurance program.[470] The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation oversees the Russian public healthcare system, and the sector employs more than two million people. Federal regions also have their own departments of health that oversee local administration. A separate private health insurance plan is needed to access private healthcare in Russia.[471]
Russia spent 5.32% of its GDP on healthcare in 2018.[472] Its healthcare expenditure is notably lower than other developed nations.[473] Russia has one of the world's most female-biased sex ratios, with 0.859 males to every female,[6] due to its high male mortality rate.[474] In 2019, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth was 73.2 years (68.2 years for males and 78.0 years for females),[475] and it had a very low infant mortality rate (5 per 1,000 live births).[476]
The principle cause of death in Russia are cardiovascular diseases.[477]Obesity is a prevalent health issue in Russia; 61.1% of Russian adults were overweight or obese in 2016.[478] However, Russia's historically high alcohol consumption rate is the biggest health issue in the country,[479] as it remains one of the world's highest, despite a stark decrease in the last decade.[480]Smoking is another health issue in the country.[481] The country's high suicide rate, although on the decline,[482] remains a significant social issue.[483]
The Scarlet Sails being celebrated along the Neva in Saint Petersburg
Russia has eight—public, patriotic, and religious—official holidays.[498] The year starts with New Year's Day on 1 January, soon followed by Russian Orthodox Christmas on 7 January; the two are the country's most popular holidays.[499]Defender of the Fatherland Day, dedicated to men, is celebrated on 23 February.[500]International Women's Day on 8 March, gained momentum in Russia during the Soviet era. The annual celebration of women has become so popular, especially among Russian men, that Moscow's flower vendors often see profits of "15 times" more than other holidays.[501]Spring and Labor Day, originally a Soviet era holiday dedicated to workers, is celebrated on 1 May.[502]
Russia's national non-alcoholic drink is kvass,[594] and the national alcoholic drink is vodka; its creation in the nation dates back to the 14th century.[595] The country has the world's highest vodka consumption,[596] while beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage.[597]Wine has become increasingly popular in Russia in the 21st century.[598]Tea has also been a historically popular beverage in Russia.[599]
The 1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in Soviet cinema.[491] The comedies of Eldar Ryazanov and Leonid Gaidai of that time were immensely popular, with many of the catchphrases still in use today.[611][612] In 1961–68 Sergey Bondarchuk directed an Oscar-winning film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's epic War and Peace, which was the most expensive film made in the Soviet Union.[491] In 1969, Vladimir Motyl's White Sun of the Desert was released, a very popular film in a genre of ostern; the film is traditionally watched by cosmonauts before any trip into space.[613] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian cinema industry suffered large losses—however, since the late 2000s, it has seen growth once again, and continues to expand.[614]
^ abThe Sreda Arena Atlas 2012 did not count the populations of two federal subjects of Russia where the majority of the population is Muslim, namely Chechnya and Ingushetia, which together had a population of nearly 2 million, thus the proportion of Muslims was possibly slightly underestimated.[4]
^Russia has an additional 850 km (530 mi) of coastline along the Caspian Sea, which is the world's largest inland body of water, and has been variously classified as a sea or a lake.[205]
^Russia, by land area, is larger than the continents of Australia, Antarctica, and Europe; although it covers a large part of the latter itself. Its land area could be roughly compared to that of South America.
^In 2020, constitutional amendments were signed into law that limit the president to two terms overall rather than two consecutive terms, with this limit reset for current and previous presidents.[191]
^The latter includes the Republic of Crimea, and the federal city of Sevastopol, which are disputed between Russia and Ukraine, since the internationally unrecognised annexation of Crimea in 2014.[1]
^ abChevalier, Joan F. (2006). "Russian as the National Language: An Overview of Language Planning in the Russian Federation". Russian Language Journal. American Councils for International Education ACTR / ACCELS. 56: 25–36. JSTOR43669126.
^McPherson, Amy (4 October 2017). "The town that gave Russia its name". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2022. But the influence of Kievan Rus lingered. The Grand Duchy of Moscow continued to refer to its land as Rus, which evolved into 'Russia' between the 14th and 16th Centuries.
^Kuchkin, V. A. (2014). Русская земля [Russian land]. In Melnikova, E. A.; Petrukhina, V. Ya. (eds.). Древняя Русь в средневековом мире [Old Russia in the medieval world] (in Russian). Moscow: Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ladomir. pp. 697–698.
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^Jones, Polly (7 April 2006). The Dilemmas of De-Stalinization: Negotiating Cultural and Social Change in the Khrushchev Era. Routledge. pp. 2–4. ISBN978-1-134-28347-7.
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^Hollander, D. (1997). "In Post-Soviet Russia, Fertility Is on the Decline; Marriage and Childbearing are Occurring Earlier". Family Planning Perspectives (Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health). Guttmacher Institute. 29 (2): 92–94. doi:10.2307/2953371. JSTOR2953371.
^Herb, Jeremy; Starr, Barbara; Kaufman, Ellie (24 February 2022). "US orders 7,000 more troops to Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine". Oren Liebermann and Michael Conte. CNN. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. Russia's invasion of its neighbor in Ukraine is the largest conventional military attack that's been seen since World War II, the senior defense official said Thursday outlining US observations of the unfolding conflict
^Tsvetkova, Maria; Vasovic, Aleksandar; Zinets, Natalia; Charlish, Alan; Grulovic, Fedja (27 February 2022). "Putin puts nuclear 'deterrence' forces on alert". Reuters. Writing by Robert Birsel and Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by William Mallard, Angus MacSwan and David Clarke. Kyiv: Thomson Corporation. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. ... [t]he biggest assault on a European state since World War Two.
^Drozdov, V. A.; Glezer, O. B.; Nefedova, T. G.; Shabdurasulov, I. V. (1992). "Ecological and Geographical Characteristics of the Coastal Zone of the Black Sea". GeoJournal. 27 (2): 169. doi:10.1007/BF00717701. S2CID128960702.
^KARTASHKIN, V.A.; ABASHIDZE, A.KH. (2004). "Autonomy in the Russian Federation: Theory and Practice". International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. Brill. 10 (3): 203–220. doi:10.1163/1571811031310738. JSTOR24675138.
^Orttung, Robert; Lussier, Danielle; Paetskaya, Anna (2000). The Republics and Regions of the Russian Federation: A Guide to Politics, Policies, and Leaders. New York City: EastWest Institute. pp. 523–524. ISBN978-0-7656-0559-7.
^Alessandro, Vitale (2015). "Ethnopolitics as Co-operation and Coexistence: The Case-Study of the Jewish Autonomous Region in Siberia". Politeja. Księgarnia Akademicka (31/2): 123–142. doi:10.12797/Politeja.12.2015.31_2.09. JSTOR24919780.
^Sadri, Houman A. (2014). "Eurasian Economic Union (Eeu): a good idea or a Russian takeover?". Rivista di studi politici internazionali. Maria Grazia Melchionni. 81 (4): 553–561. JSTOR43580687.
^Swanström, Niklas (2012). "Central Asia and Russian Relations: Breaking Out of the Russian Orbit?". Brown Journal of World Affairs. 19 (1): 101–113. JSTOR24590931. The Central Asian states have been dependent on Russia since they gained independence in 1991, not just in economic and energy terms, but also militarily and politically.
^Kanerva, Ilkka (2018). "Russia and the West". Horizons: Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development. Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (12): 112–119. JSTOR48573515.
^Brade, Isolde; Rudolph, Robert (2004). "Moscow, the Global City? The Position of the Russian Capital within the European System of Metropolitan Areas". Area. Wiley. 36 (1): 69–80. doi:10.1111/j.0004-0894.2004.00306.x. JSTOR20004359.
^"Mixed economy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 June 2021. Mixed economies also arose in many countries that formerly had centrally planned and socialist economies. The mixed economies in modern China and Russia, for example, evolved from communist systems that were too inefficient to compete in the modern global economy.
^Excerpted from Glenn E. Curtis (ed.) (1998). "Russia - Natural Resources". Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Retrieved 25 June 2021. Russia is one of the world's richest countries in raw materials, many of which are significant inputs for an industrial economy. Russia accounts for around 20 percent of the world's production of oil and natural gas and possesses large reserves of both fuels. This abundance has made Russia virtually self-sufficient in energy and a large-scale exporter of fuels.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^N. Sönnichsen (15 June 2021). "Natural gas - countries with the largest reserves 2009-2019". Statista. Retrieved 2 July 2021. Russia has the largest proved natural gas reserves in the world. As of 2019, it had 38 trillion cubic meters worth of the fossil fuel, four trillion cubic meters more than ten years prior.
^Bowen, Andrew S. (14 October 2021). "Russian Arms Sales and Defense Industry". Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 20 December 2021. Russia is the world’s second-largest arms exporter, behind the United States. Russia exports arms to over 45 countries and has accounted for around 20% of global arms sales since 2016.
^Davydova, Angelina (24 November 2021). "Will Russia ever leave fossil fuels behind?". BBC. Retrieved 3 March 2022. Overall in Russia, oil and gas provided 39% of the federal budget revenue and made up 60% of Russian exports in 2019.
^Usitalo, Steven A. (2011). "Lomonosov: Patronage and Reputation at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences". Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas. Franz Steiner Verlag. 59 (2): 217–239. JSTOR41302521.
^"Tourism Highlights 2014"(PDF). UNWTO (World Tourism Organization). 2014. Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^Foltynova, Kristyna (19 June 2020). "Migrants Welcome: Is Russia Trying To Solve Its Demographic Crisis By Attracting Foreigners?". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 9 July 2021. Russia has been trying to boost fertility rates and reduce death rates for several years now. Special programs for families have been implemented, anti-tobacco campaigns have been organized, and raising the legal age to buy alcohol was considered. However, perhaps the most successful strategy so far has been attracting migrants, whose arrival helps Russia to compensate population losses.
^"Russia - The Indo-European Group". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 18 July 2021. East Slavs—mainly Russians but including some Ukrainians and Belarusians—constitute more than four-fifths of the total population and are prevalent throughout the country.
^Surinov, A.; et al., eds. (2016). "5. Population: Cities with population size of 1 million persons and over". Russia in Figures(PDF) (Report). Moscow: Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). p. 82. ISBN978-5-89476-420-7. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^Оксенойт, Г. К. (2016). 31. Численность населения городов и поселков городского типа по федеральным округам и субъектам Российской Федерации. In Рахманинов, М. В. (ed.). Численность населения Российской Федерации: По муниципальным образованиям (Report) (in Russian). Москва: Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Росстат). Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^Lazarev, Vladimir; Pravikova, Ludmila. "The North Caucasus Bilingualism and Language Identity"(PDF). Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University: 1325. The North Caucasus, inhabited by more than 100 of autochthonous and allochthonous peoples, including Russians, is a unique locus for conducting a large-scale research in the area of bilingualism and multilingualism.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ab"Russian". University of Toronto. Retrieved 9 July 2021. Russian is the most widespread of the Slavic languages and the largest native language in Europe. Of great political importance, it is one of the official languages of the United Nations – making it a natural area of study for those interested in geopolitics.
^"Russia - Ethnic groups and languages". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 November 2020. Although ethnic Russians comprise more than four-fifths of the country's total population, Russia is a diverse, multiethnic society. More than 120 ethnic groups, many with their own national territories, speaking some 100 languages live within Russia's borders.
^"Russian Census of 2002". 4.3. Population by nationalities and knowledge of Russian; 4.4. Spreading of knowledge of languages (except Russian). Rosstat. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
^"Chapter 3. The Federal Structure". Constitution of Russia. Retrieved 27 December 2007. 2. The Republics shall have the right to establish their own state languages. In the bodies of state authority and local self-government, state institutions of the Republics they shall be used together with the state language of the Russian Federation. 3. The Russian Federation shall guarantee to all of its peoples the right to preserve their native language and to create conditions for its study and development.
^Andreeva, Julia Olegovna (2012). "Представления о народных традициях в движении 'Звенящие кедры России'" [Representations of national traditions in the movement 'Ringing Cedars of Russia'] (PDF). In T. B. Shchepanskaya (ed.). Аспекты будущего по этнографическим и фольклорным материалам: сборник научных статей [Prospects of the future in ethnographic and folklore materials: Collection of scientific articles] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Kunstkamera. pp. 231–245. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 August 2020.
^Tkatcheva, Anna (1994). "Neo-Hindu Movements and Orthodox Christianity in Post-Communist Russia". India International Centre Quarterly. 21 (2/3): 151–162. JSTOR23003642.
^Bourdeaux, Michael; Filatov, Sergey, eds. (2006). Современная религиозная жизнь России. Опыт систематического описания [Contemporary religious life of Russia. Systematic description of experiences] (in Russian). Vol. 4. Moscow: Keston Institute; Logos. ISBN5987040574.
^The Lancet (5 October 2019). "Russia's alcohol policy: a continuing success story". The Lancet. 394 (10205): 1205. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32265-2. PMID31591968. Russians are officially drinking less and, as a consequence, are living longer than ever before...Russians are still far from being teetotal: a pure ethanol per capita consumption of 11·7 L, reported in 2016, means consumption is still one of the highest worldwide, and efforts to reduce it further are required.
^Salmond, Wendy (2002). "The Russian Avant-Garde of the 1890s: The Abramtsevo Circle". The Journal of the Walters Art Museum. The Walters Art Museum. 60/61: 7–13. JSTOR20168612.
^Letopisi: Literature of Old Rus'. Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary. ed. by Oleg Tvorogov. Moscow: Prosvescheniye ("Enlightenment"), 1996. (Russian: Летописи // Литература Древней Руси. Биобиблиографический словарь / под ред. О.В. Творогова. – М.: Просвещение, 1996.)
^Muckle, James (1984). "Nikolay Leskov: educational journalist and imaginative writer". New Zealand Slavonic Journal. Australia and New Zealand Slavists' Association: 81–110. JSTOR40921231.
^Adams, Matthew S. (2014). "Rejecting the American Model: Peter Kropotkin's Radical Communalism". History of Political Thought. Imprint Academic. 35 (1): 147–173. JSTOR26227268.
^Brom, Libor (1988). "Dialectical Identity and Destiny: A General Introduction to Alexander Zinoviev's Theory of the Soviet Man". Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature. Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association. 42 (1/2): 15–27. doi:10.2307/1347433. JSTOR1347433. S2CID146768452.
^Curtis, Michele (April 2018). In the Kitchen: The New Bible of Home Cooking. Hardie Grant Publishing. p. 66. ISBN978-1-743-58555-9.
^Sacharow, Alla (1993). Classic Russian Cuisine: A Magnificent Selection of More Than 400 Traditional Recipes. Alfred A. Knopf. p. 281. ISBN978-1-628-72079-2.
^Prokhorova, Elena; Beumers, Birgit (2008). "The Man Who Made Them Laugh: Leonid Gaidai, the King of Soviet Comedy". A History of Russian Cinema. Berg Publishers. pp. 519–542. ISBN978-1-84520-215-6.
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