Russia

more...

Home
Bullion
Coins: Ancient
Coins: US
Coins: World
Africa
Asia, Middle East
Australia, Oceania
Collections, Lots
Commemorative
Errors
Europe
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Europe: Other
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy, San Marino, Vatican
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
UK (Great Britain)
Gold
Mint, Proof Sets
North, Central America
Other
South America
Exonumia
Paper Money: US
Paper Money: World
Publications & Supplies
Scripophily

Russia (Russian: Росси́я, Rossiya; pronounced ), also the Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; pronounced , listen (help·info)), is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of Eurasia. With an area of 17,075,400 square kilometres, it is the largest country in the world by land mass, covering almost twice the territory of the next-largest country, Canada. It has the world's eighth largest population. Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from NW to SE): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It is also close to the United States and Japan across relatively small stretches of water.

Formerly the dominant republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia is now an independent country and an influential member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, since the Union's dissolution in December 1991. During the Soviet era, Russia was officially called the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Russia is considered the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic matters.

Most of the area, population, and industrial production of the Soviet Union, then one of the world's two superpowers, lay in Russia. After the breakup of the USSR, Russia's global role was greatly diminished compared to that of the former Soviet Union. In October 2005, the federal statistics agency reported that Russia's population has shrunk by more than half a million people dipping to 143 million, although Russia remains the second country in the world by the number of immigrants from abroad.

History

Ancient Rus

Prior to the Christian era, the vast lands of South Russia were home to disunited tribes, such as Proto-Indo-Europeans and Scythians. Between the third and sixth centuries AD, the steppes were overwhelmed by successive waves of nomadic invasions, led by warlike tribes which would often move on to Europe, as was the case with Huns and Turkish Avars. A Turkic people, the Khazars, ruled South Russia through the 8th century. They were important allies of the Byzantine Empire and waged a series of successful wars against the Arab Califates.

Read more at Wikipedia.org