Russia (Russian: Россия, romanized: Rossiya, [rɐˈsʲijə]), or the Russian Federation,[c] is a country

spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending
across eleven time zones. It shares land boundaries with fourteen countries.[d] It is the world's ninth-
most populous country and Europe's most populous country. The country's executive, legislative and
judicial capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and
"cultural capital" where the Constitutional Court of Russia resides. Other major urban areas in the
country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan,
Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.

The East Slavs emerged as a recognised group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries CE. The first
East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century, and in 988, it adopted Orthodox Christianity from
the Byzantine Empire. Rus' ultimately disintegrated, with the Grand Duchy of Moscow growing to
become the Tsardom of Russia. By the early 18th century, Russia had vastly expanded through conquest,
annexation, and the efforts of Russian explorers, developing into the Russian Empire, which remains the
third-largest empire in history. However, with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule
was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR—the world's first constitutionally socialist
state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other
Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. At the expense of millions of
lives, the Soviet Union underwent rapid industrialisation in the 1930s and later played a decisive role for
the Allies in World War II by leading large-scale efforts on the Eastern Front. With the onset of the Cold
War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence. The Soviet era of the 20th
century saw some of the most significant Russian technological achievements, including the first human-
made satellite and the first human expedition into outer space.

In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian
Federation. A new constitution was adopted, which established a federal semi-presidential system. Since
the turn of the century, Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin, under whom the
country has experienced democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. Russia has been
militarily involved in a number of conflicts in former Soviet states and other countries, including its war
with Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 from neighbouring Ukraine, followed by the
further annexation of four other regions in 2022 during an ongoing invasion.

The Russian economy ranks 11th by nominal GDP and 68th by GDP per capita, relying heavily on its
abundant natural resources. Its mineral and energy sources are the world's largest, and its figures for oil
production and natural gas production rank highly globally. Russia possesses the largest stockpile of
nuclear weapons and has the third-highest military expenditure. The country is a permanent member of
the United Nations Security Council; a member state of the G20, SCO, BRICS, APEC, OSCE, and WTO; and
the leading member state of post-Soviet organisations such as CIS, CSTO, and EAEU/EEU. Russia is home
to 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.