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September
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Full breakfast
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Seamus Heaney
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Superman
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2013 Ghouta attacks in Syria
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Stone paper
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Look Back in Anger
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Emmy Award
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Pun
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Dolce & Gabbana
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Russia
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Stock market bubble
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Rare earths
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Sophia Loren
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Steganography
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Deindustrialization
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Subject-auxiliary inversion
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Phrasal verb
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Labyrinth
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Goalkeeper (football)
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The Decameron
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Umberto Eco
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Taser
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Territorial claims in the Arctic
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Google Glass
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Pizza
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Linux Operating System
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Augmented reality
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Charlie Chaplin
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Diwali
|
WIKIMAG n. 10 - Settembre 2013
Russia
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Russia
i//
or
//
(Russian:
Россия,
tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] (
listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation[10]
(Russian:
Российская Федерация,
tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə
fʲɪdʲɪˈrat͡sɨjə] (
listen)), is a country in northern
Eurasia.[11]
It is a
federal
semi-presidential republic, comprising 83
federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia
shares land borders with
Norway,
Finland,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania and
Poland
(both with
Kaliningrad Oblast),
Belarus,
Ukraine,
Georgia,
Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan,
China,
Mongolia, and
North Korea. It shares
maritime borders with
Japan by
the
Sea of Okhotsk and the
US state of
Alaska
across the
Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi),
Russia is the
largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the
Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the world's ninth
most populous nation with 143 million people as of 2012.[12]
Extending across the entirety of
northern Asia and much of Europe, Russia spans
nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of
environments and landforms.
The nation's history began with that of the
East Slavs, who emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between
the 3rd and 8th centuries AD.[13]
Founded and ruled by a
Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, the
medieval state of
Rus arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted
Orthodox Christianity from the
Byzantine Empire,[14]
beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined
Russian culture for the
next millennium.[14]
Rus' ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states; most of
the Rus' lands were overrun by the
Mongol invasion and became tributaries of the nomadic
Golden Horde.[15]
The
Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian
principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde, and came to
dominate the cultural and political legacy of
Kievan Rus'. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded
through conquest, annexation, and
exploration to become the
Russian Empire, which was the third
largest empire in history, stretching from Poland in Europe to
Alaska in North America.[16][17]
Following the
Russian Revolution, the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the largest and
leading constituent of the
Soviet Union, the world's first constitutionally
socialist state and a recognized superpower,[18]
which played a decisive role in the
Allied victory in
World War II.[19][20]
The Soviet era saw some of the
most significant technological achievements of the 20th century,
including the world's
first spacecraft, and the
first astronaut. The Russian Federation became the successor state
of the Russian SFSR following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and is recognized as the
continuing legal personality of the
All-Union state.[21]
The
Russian economy ranks as the
eighth largest by
nominal GDP and
fifth largest[4]
by
purchasing power parity. Russia's extensive mineral and energy
resources, the largest reserves in the world,[22]
have made it one of the largest
producers of oil and
natural gas globally.[23][24]
The country is one of the five
recognized
nuclear weapons states and possesses the
largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[25]
Russia is a
great power and a
permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council, a member of the
G8,
G20, the
Council of Europe, the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the
Eurasian Economic Community, the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the
World Trade Organisation (WTO), and is the leading member of the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
Etymology
The name Russia is derived from
Rus, a medieval state populated mostly by the
East Slavs. However, this proper name became more prominent in the
later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants
"Русская Земля" (russkaya zemlya) which could be translated as "Russian
Land" or "Land of Rus'". 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
Rus people, a group of
Varangians (possibly
Swedish
Vikings)[26][27]
who founded the state of
Rus (Русь).
An old Latin version of the name Rus' was
Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus'
that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country,
Россия (Rossiya), comes from the
Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus', Ρωσσία Rossía—spelt
Ρωσία (Rosía pronounced [roˈsia])
in
Modern Greek.[28]
History
Early periods
In prehistoric times the vast steppes of Southern Russia were home to
tribes of
nomadic pastoralists.[29]
Remnants of these steppe civilizations were discovered in such places as
Ipatovo,[29]
Sintashta,[30]
Arkaim,[31]
and
Pazyryk,[32]
which bear the earliest known traces of
mounted warfare, a key feature in the nomadic way of life.
In
classical antiquity, the
Pontic Steppe was known as Scythia. Since the 8th century BC,
Ancient Greek traders brought their civilization to the trade
emporiums in
Tanais
and
Phanagoria. The
Romans settled on the western part of the
Caspian Sea, where their
empire stretched towards the east.[33]
In 3rd – 4th centuries AD a semi-legendary Gothic kingdom of
Oium
existed in Southern Russia till it was overrun by
Huns.
Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, the Bosporan Kingdom, a
Hellenistic polity which succeeded the Greek colonies,[34]
was also overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes, such as
the Huns and
Eurasian Avars.[35]
A
Turkic people, the Khazars, ruled the lower
Volga basin steppes between the
Caspian and
Black
Seas until the 10th century.[36]
The ancestors of modern
Russians are the
Slavic tribes, whose original home is thought by some scholars to
have been the wooded areas of the
Pinsk Marshes.[37]
The East Slavs gradually settled Western Russia in two waves: one moving
from Kiev
toward present-day
Suzdal
and Murom
and another from
Polotsk
toward
Novgorod and
Rostov.
From the 7th century onwards, the East Slavs constituted the bulk of the
population in Western Russia[38]
and slowly but peacefully assimilated the native
Finno-Ugric peoples, including the
Merya, the
Muromians, and the
Meshchera.
Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus' in the 11th century
The establishment of the first East Slavic states in the 9th century
coincided with the arrival of
Varangians, the traders, warriors and settlers from the Baltic
Sea region. Primarily they were
Vikings
of
Scandinavian origin, who ventured along the waterways extending from
the eastern Baltic
to the Black
and Caspian Seas.[39]
According to the
Primary Chronicle, a Varangian from
Rus' people, named
Rurik,
was elected ruler of
Novgorod in 862. In 882 his successor
Oleg ventured south and conquered
Kiev,[40]
which had been previously paying tribute to the
Khazars,
founding Kievan Rus'. Oleg, Rurik's son
Igor and Igor's son
Sviatoslav subsequently subdued all local
East Slavic tribes to Kievan rule, destroyed the
Khazar khaganate and launched several military expeditions to
Byzantium and
Persia.
In the 10th to 11th centuries Kievan Rus' became one of the largest
and most prosperous states in Europe.[41]
The reigns of
Vladimir the Great (980–1015) and his son
Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054) constitute the
Golden Age of Kiev, which saw
the acceptance of
Orthodox Christianity from
Byzantium and the creation of the first East Slavic written
legal code, the
Russkaya Pravda.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic
tribes, such as the
Kipchaks and the
Pechenegs, caused a massive migration of Slavic populations to the
safer, heavily forested regions of the north, particularly to the area
known as
Zalesye.[42]
The age of
feudalism and decentralization was marked by constant in-fighting
between members of the
Rurik Dynasty that ruled Kievan Rus' collectively. Kiev's dominance
waned, to the benefit of
Vladimir-Suzdal in the north-east,
Novgorod Republic in the north-west and
Galicia-Volhynia in the south-west.
Ultimately Kievan Rus' disintegrated, with the final blow being the
Mongol invasion of 1237–40,[43]
that resulted in the destruction of Kiev[44]
and the death of about half the population of Rus'.[45]
The invading Mongol elite, together with their conquered Turkic subjects
(Cumans, Kipchaks, Bulgars) became known as
Tatars,
formed the state of the
Golden Horde, which pillaged the Russian principalities; the Mongols
ruled the
Cuman-Kipchak confederation and
Volga Bulgaria (modern-day southern and central expanses of Russia)
for over two centuries.[46]
Galicia-Volhynia was eventually assimilated by the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while the Mongol-dominated
Vladimir-Suzdal and Novgorod Republic, two regions on the periphery of
Kiev, established the basis for the modern Russian nation.[14]
The Novgorod together with
Pskov
retained some degree of autonomy during the time of the
Mongol yoke and were largely spared the atrocities that affected the
rest of the country. Led by Prince
Alexander Nevsky, Novgorodians repelled the invading Swedes in the
Battle of the Neva in 1240, as well as the
Germanic crusaders in the
Battle of the Ice in 1242, breaking their attempts to colonize the
Northern Rus'.
Grand Duchy of
Moscow
The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus' was the Grand Duchy
of Moscow ("Moscovy" in the Western chronicles), initially a part of
Vladimir-Suzdal. While still under the domain of the Mongol-Tatars
and with their connivance, Moscow began to assert its influence in the
Central Rus' in the early 14th century, gradually becoming the main
leading force in the process of the Rus' lands' reunification and
expansion of Russia.
Those were hard times, with frequent
Mongol-Tatar raids and agriculture suffering from the beginning of
the
Little Ice Age. As in the rest of Europe, plagues hit Russia
somewhere once every five or six years from 1350 to 1490. However,
because of the lower population density and better hygiene (widespread
practicing of
banya, the wet steam bath),[47]
the population loss caused by plagues was not so severe as in the
Western Europe, and the pre-Plague populations were reached in Russia as
early as 1500.[48]
Led by Prince
Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow and helped by the
Russian Orthodox Church, the united army of Russian principalities
inflicted a milestone defeat on the Mongol-Tatars in the
Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. Moscow gradually absorbed the
surrounding principalities, including the formerly strong rivals, such
as
Tver and
Novgorod.
Ivan III (the Great) finally threw off the control of the
Golden Horde, consolidated the whole of Central and Northern Rus' under
Moscow's dominion, and was the first to take the title "Grand Duke of
all the Russias".[49]
After the
fall of Constantinople in 1453, Moscow
claimed succession to the legacy of the
Eastern Roman Empire. Ivan III married
Sophia Palaiologina, the niece of the last
Byzantine emperor
Constantine XI, and made the Byzantine
double-headed eagle his own, and eventually Russian, coat-of-arms.
Tsardom of Russia
In development of the
Third Rome ideas, the Grand Duke
Ivan IV (the "Terrible"[50])
was officially crowned the first
Tsar ("Caesar")
of Russia in 1547. The Tsar promulgated a new code of laws (Sudebnik
of 1550), established the first Russian feudal representative body (Zemsky
Sobor) and introduced local self-management into the rural regions.[51][52]
During his long reign, Ivan the Terrible nearly doubled the already
large Russian territory by annexing the three Tatar khanates (parts of
disintegrated
Golden Horde):
Kazan and
Astrakhan along the Volga River, and
Sibirean Khanate in South Western Siberia. Thus by the end of the
16th century Russia was transformed into a
multiethnic,
multidenominational and
transcontinental state.
However, the Tsardom was weakened by the long and unsuccessful
Livonian War against the coalition of Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden
for access to the Baltic coast and sea trade.[53]
At the same time the Tatars of the
Crimean Khanate, the only remaining successor to the Golden Horde,
continued to raid Southern Russia.[54]
In effort to restore the Volga khanates, Crimeans and their
Ottoman allies
invaded central Russia and were even able to
burn down parts of Moscow in 1571.[55]
But next year the large invading army was thoroughly defeated by
Russians in the
Battle of Molodi, forever eliminating the threat of the
Ottoman-Crimean expansion into Russia. The raids of Crimeans, however,
didn't cease until the late 17th century, though the construction of new
fortification lines across Southern Russia, such as the
Great Abatis Line, constantly narrowed the area accessible to
incursions.
The death of Ivan's sons marked the end of the ancient
Rurik Dynasty in 1598, and in combination with the
famine of 1601–03[56]
led to the civil war, the rule of pretenders and foreign intervention
during the
Time of Troubles in the early 17th century.[57]
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied parts of Russia, including
Moscow. In 1612, the Poles were forced to retreat by the Russian
volunteer corps, led by two national heroes, merchant
Kuzma Minin and Prince
Dmitry Pozharsky. The
Romanov Dynasty acceded the throne in 1613 by the decision of Zemsky
Sobor, and the country started its gradual recovery from the crisis.
Russia continued its territorial growth through the 17th century,
which was the age of
Cossacks. Cossacks were warriors organized into military
communities, resembling
pirates and
pioneers of the New World. In 1648, the peasants of Ukraine joined
the
Zaporozhian Cossacks in rebellion against Poland-Lithuania during
the
Khmelnytsky Uprising, because of the social and religious oppression
they suffered under Polish rule. In 1654, the Ukrainian leader,
Bohdan Khmelnytsky, offered to place Ukraine under the protection of
the Russian Tsar,
Aleksey I. Aleksey's acceptance of this offer led to another
Russo-Polish War (1654–1667). Finally, Ukraine was split along the
Dnieper River, leaving the western part (or
Right-bank Ukraine) under Polish rule and eastern part (Left-bank
Ukraine and
Kiev) under Russian. Later, in 1670–71 the
Don Cossacks led by
Stenka Razin initiated a major uprising in the
Volga Region, but the Tsar's troops were successful in defeating the
rebels.
In the east, the rapid Russian exploration and colonisation of the
huge territories of Siberia was led mostly by Cossacks 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 Pacific coast. In 1648, the
Bering Strait between Asia and North America was passed for the
first time by
Fedot Popov and
Semyon Dezhnyov.
Imperial Russia
Main article:
Russian Empire
Under
Peter the Great, Russia was proclaimed an Empire in 1721 and became
recognized as a world power. Ruling from 1682 to 1725, Peter defeated
Sweden in the
Great Northern War, forcing it to cede West
Karelia
and Ingria
(two regions lost by Russia in the
Time of Troubles),[58]
as well as
Estland and
Livland, securing Russia's access to the sea and sea trade.[59]
On the
Baltic Sea Peter founded a new capital called
Saint Petersburg, later known as Russia's Window to Europe.
Peter the Great's reforms brought considerable Western European
cultural influences to Russia.
The reign of Peter I's daughter
Elizabeth in 1741–62 saw Russia's participation in the
Seven Years' War (1756–63). During this conflict Russia annexed
East Prussia for a while and even took Berlin. However, upon
Elisabeth's death, all these conquests were returned to
Kingdom of Prussia by pro-Prussian
Peter III of Russia.
Catherine II (the Great), who ruled in 1762–96, presided over
the Age of
Russian Enlightenment. She extended Russian political control over
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and incorporated most of its
territories into Russia during the
Partitions of Poland, pushing the Russian frontier westward into
Central Europe. In the south, after successful
Russo-Turkish Wars against the Ottoman Empire, Catherine advanced
Russia's boundary to the Black Sea, defeating the
Crimean Khanate. As a result of victories over the Ottomans, by the
early 19th century Russia also made significant territorial gains in
Transcaucasia. This continued with
Alexander I's (1801–25) wresting of Finland from the weakened
kingdom of Sweden in 1809 and of
Bessarabia from the Ottomans in 1812. At the same time Russians
colonized Alaska and even founded settlements in California, like
Fort Ross.
In 1803–06, the
first Russian circumnavigation was made, later followed by other
notable Russian sea exploration voyages. In 1820
a Russian expedition discovered the continent of
Antarctica.
The Russian Empire in 1866 and its spheres of influence
In alliances with various European countries, Russia fought against
Napoleon's France. The
French invasion of Russia at the height of Napoleon's power in 1812
failed miserably as the obstinate resistance in combination with the
bitterly cold
Russian Winter led to a disastrous defeat of invaders, in which more
than 95% of the pan-European
Grande Armée perished.[60]
Led by
Mikhail Kutuzov and
Barclay de Tolly, the Russian army ousted Napoleon from the country
and drove through Europe in the
war of the Sixth Coalition, finally entering Paris. Alexander I
headed Russia's delegation at the
Congress of Vienna that defined the map of post-Napoleonic Europe.
The officers of the
Napoleonic Wars brought ideas of liberalism back to Russia with them
and attempted to curtail the tsar's powers during the abortive
Decembrist revolt of 1825. At the end of the conservative reign of
Nicolas I (1825–55), a zenith period of Russia's power and influence
in Europe was disrupted by defeat in the
Crimean War. Between 1847 and 1851, a massive wave of Asiatic
cholera
swept over Russia, claiming about one million lives.[61]
Nicholas's successor
Alexander II (1855–81) enacted significant changes in the country,
including the
emancipation reform of 1861. These Great Reforms spurred
industrialization and modernized the Russian army, which had
successfully liberated Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in
1877–78 Russo-Turkish War.
The late 19th century saw the rise of various socialist movements in
Russia. Alexander II was killed in 1881 by revolutionary terrorists, and
the reign of his son
Alexander III (1881–94) was less liberal but more peaceful. The last
Russian Emperor,
Nicholas II (1894–1917), was unable to prevent the events of the
Russian
Revolution of 1905, triggered by the unsuccessful
Russo-Japanese War and the demonstration incident known as
Bloody Sunday. The uprising was put down, but the government was
forced to concede major reforms, including granting the
freedoms of speech and
assembly, the legalization of political parties, and the creation of
an elected legislative body, the
State Duma of the Russian Empire. Migration to
Siberia
increased rapidly in the early 20th century, particularly during the
Stolypin
agrarian reform. Between 1906 and 1914 more than four million
settlers arrived in that region.[62]
In 1914, Russia entered
World War I in response to Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on
Russia's ally Serbia, and fought across multiple fronts while isolated
from its
Triple Entente allies. In 1916, the
Brusilov Offensive of the Russian Army almost completely destroyed
the military of
Austria-Hungary. However, the already-existing public distrust of
the regime was deepened by the rising costs of war,
high casualties, and rumors of corruption and treason. All this
formed the climate for the
Russian Revolution of 1917, carried out in two major acts.
Revolution and Russian Republic
The
February Revolution forced Nicholas II to abdicate; he and his
family were imprisoned and
later executed during the
Russian Civil War. The monarchy was replaced by a shaky coalition of
political parties that declared itself the
Provisional Government. An alternative socialist establishment
existed alongside, 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. 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.
Soviet
Russia and civil war
Following the October Revolution, a
civil war broke out between the
anti-communist
White movement and the new
Soviet regime with its
Red
Army. Bolshevist Russia lost its Ukrainian, Polish, Baltic, and
Finnish territories by signing the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that concluded hostilities with the
Central Powers of World War I. The
Allied powers launched an unsuccessful
military intervention in support of anti-Communist forces. 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. By the end of the civil war, the Russian economy and
its infrastructure were heavily damaged. Millions became
White émigrés,[63]
and the
Povolzhye famine of 1921 claimed up to 5 million victims.[64]
Soviet Union
Main article:
Soviet Union
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (called Russian
Socialist Federative Soviet Republic at the time) together with the
Ukrainian,
Byelorussian, and
Transcaucasion Soviet Socialist Republics,
formed the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or Soviet Union, on 30
December 1922. Out of the 15
republics that would make up the USSR, the largest in size and over
half of the total USSR population was the Russian SFSR, which came to
dominate the union for its entire 69-year history.
Following Lenin's death in 1924, a
troika was designated to govern the Soviet Union. However,
Joseph Stalin, an elected
General Secretary of the Communist Party, managed to suppress all
opposition groups within the party and consolidate power in his hands.
Leon Trotsky, the main proponent of
world revolution, was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, and
Stalin's idea of
Socialism in One Country became the primary line. The continued
internal struggle in the Bolshevik party culminated in the
Great Purge, a period of mass repressions in 1937–38, during which
hundreds of thousands of people were executed, including
original party members and military leaders accused of
coup d'état plots.[65]
The Red Army is greeted in Bucharest, August 1944
Under Stalin's leadership, the government launched a
planned economy, industrialisation of the largely rural country, and
collectivization of its agriculture. During this period of rapid
economic and social change, millions of people were sent to
penal labor
camps,[66]
including many political convicts for their opposition to Stalin's rule;
millions were
deported and exiled to remote areas of the Soviet Union.[66]
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.[67]
The Soviet Union, though with a heavy price, was transformed from a
largely agrarian economy to a major industrial powerhouse in a short
span of time.
The
Appeasement policy of Great Britain and France towards
Adolf Hitler's
annexation of Austria and
Czechoslovakia enlarged the might of
Nazi Germany and put a threat of war to the Soviet Union. Around the
same time the
Third Reich allied with the
Empire of Japan, a rival of the USSR in the Far East and an open
enemy of the USSR in the
Soviet–Japanese Border Wars in 1938–39.
In August 1939, after another failure of attempts to establish an
anti-Nazi alliance with Britain and France, the Soviet government
decided to improve relations with Germany by concluding the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, pledging non-aggression between the two
countries and dividing their spheres of influence in Eastern Europe.
While Hitler conquered Poland, France and other countries actied on
single front at the start of
World War II, the USSR was able to build up its military and claim
some of the former territories of the Russian Empire as a result of the
Soviet invasion of Poland,
Winter War and the
occupation of the Baltic states.
On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany broke the non-aggression treaty and
invaded the Soviet Union with the largest and most powerful invasion
force in human history,[68]
opening the
largest theater of World War II. Although the
German army had considerable early success, their attack was halted
in the
Battle of Moscow. Subsequently the Germans were dealt major defeats
first at the
Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–43,[69]
and then in the
Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Another German failure was
the
Siege of Leningrad, in which the city was fully blockaded on land
between 1941–44 by German and Finnish forces, and suffered starvation
and more than a million deaths, but never surrendered.[70]
Under Stalin's administration and the leadership of such commanders as
Georgy Zhukov and
Konstantin Rokossovsky, Soviet forces took Eastern Europe in 1944–45
and
captured Berlin in May 1945. In August 1945 the
Soviet Army
ousted the Japanese from China's
Manchukuo and North Korea, contributing to the allied victory over
Japan.
The 1941–45 period of World War II is known in Russia as the
Great Patriotic War. During this conflict, which included many
of the
most lethal battle operations in human history, Soviet military and
civilian deaths were 10.6 million and 15.9 million respectively,[71]
accounting for about a third of all
World War II casualties. The full demographic loss to the Soviet
peoples was even greater.[72]
The
Soviet economy and infrastructure suffered massive devastation[73]
but the Soviet Union emerged as an acknowledged military superpower on
the continent.
The
Red Army occupied Eastern Europe after the war, including
East Germany. Dependent socialist governments were installed in the
Eastern Bloc satellite states. Becoming the world's second
nuclear weapons power, the USSR established the
Warsaw Pact alliance and entered into a struggle for global
dominance, known as the
Cold
War, with the United States and
NATO. The
Soviet Union supported revolutionary movements across the world,
including the newly formed
People's Republic of China, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea and, later on, the
Republic of Cuba. Significant amounts of the Soviet resources were
allocated in aid to the other socialist states.[74]
After Stalin's death and a short period of
collective rule, new leader
Nikita Khrushchev denounced the
cult of personality of Stalin and launched the policy of
de-Stalinization. The penal labor system was reformed and many
prisoners were released and rehabilitated (many of them posthumously).[75]
The general easement of repressive policies became known later as the
Khrushchev Thaw. At the same time, tensions with the United States
heightened when the two rivals clashed over the deployment of the U.S.
Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Soviet
missiles in Cuba.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial
satellite,
Sputnik 1, thus starting the
Space
Age. Russian
cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth aboard
Vostok
1 manned spacecraft on
12 April 1961.
Sputnik 1 was the world's first artificial satellite
Following the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964, another period of
collective rule ensued, until
Leonid Brezhnev became the leader. The era of 1970s and the early
1980s was designated later as the
Era of Stagnation, a period when the economic growth slowed and
social policies became static. The 1965
Kosygin reform, aimed for partial
decentralization of the
Soviet economy and shifted the emphasis from
heavy industry and weapons to
light industry and
consumer goods, but was stifled by the conservative Communist
leadership.
In 1979, after a Communist-led revolution in Afghanistan,
Soviet forces entered that country at request of the new regime. The
occupation drained economic resources and dragged on without achieving
meaningful political results. Ultimately the Soviet Army was withdrawn
from Afghanistan in 1989 due to international opposition, persistent
anti-Soviet guerilla warfare, and a lack of support by Soviet citizens.
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 democratise the government.
This, however, led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist
movements. Prior to 1991, the Soviet economy was the second largest in
the world,[76]
but during its last years it was afflicted by shortages of goods in
grocery stores, huge budget deficits, and explosive growth in money
supply leading to inflation.[77]
By 1991, economic and political turmoil began to boil over, as the
Baltic republics chose to secede from the Union. On 17 March, a
referendum was held, to which the vast majority of participating
citizens voted in favour of preserving the Soviet Union as a
renewed federation. 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. Despite the will
expressed by the people, on 25 December 1991, the USSR
was dissolved into 15
post-Soviet states.
Russian Federation
Boris Yeltsin was elected the
President of Russia in June 1991, in the first direct presidential
election in Russian history. During and after the Soviet disintegration,
wide-ranging reforms including
privatization and
market and trade liberalization were undertaken,[78]
including radical changes along the lines of "shock
therapy" as recommended by the United States and
International Monetary Fund.[79]
All this resulted in a major
economic crisis, characterized by 50% decline of both GDP and
industrial output between 1990–95.[78][80]
The privatization largely shifted control of enterprises from state
agencies to individuals with inside connections in the government. Many
of the newly rich moved billions in cash and assets outside of the
country in an enormous
capital flight.[81]
The depression of the economy led to the collapse of social services;
the
birth rate plummeted while the
death rate skyrocketed.[82]
Millions plunged into poverty, from 1.5% level of poverty in the late
Soviet era, to 39–49% by mid-1993.[83]
The 1990s saw extreme corruption and lawlessness, the rise of criminal
gangs and violent crime.[84]
The 1990s were plagued by armed conflicts in the
North Caucasus, both local ethnic skirmishes and separatist
Islamist insurrections. From the time
Chechen
separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, an
intermittent guerrilla war has been fought between the rebel groups
and the Russian military.
Terrorist attacks against civilians carried out by separatists, most
notably the
Moscow theater hostage crisis and
Beslan school siege, caused hundreds of deaths and drew worldwide
attention.
Russia took up the responsibility for settling the USSR's external
debts, even though its population made up just half of the population of
the USSR at the time of its dissolution.[85]
High budget deficits caused the
1998 Russian financial crisis[86]
and resulted in a further GDP decline.[78]
On 31 December 1999, President Yeltsin resigned, handing the post to
the recently appointed Prime Minister,
Vladimir Putin, who then won
the 2000 presidential election. Putin
suppressed the Chechen insurgency, although sporadic violence still
occurs throughout the Northern Caucasus. High oil prices and the
initially weak currency followed by increasing domestic demand,
consumption and investments has helped the economy to grow for nine
straight years, improving the standard of living and increasing Russia's
influence on the world stage.[87]
While many reforms made during the Putin presidency have been generally
criticized by Western nations as un-democratic,[88]
Putin's leadership over the return of order, stability, and progress has
won him widespread popularity in Russia.[89]
On 2 March 2008,
Dmitry Medvedev was elected President of Russia, whilst Putin became
Prime Minister. Putin returned to the presidency following the
2012 presidential elections, and Medvedev was appointed Prime
Minister.
Politics
Governance
According to the
Constitution of Russia, the country is a federation and
semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the
head of state[90]
and the
Prime Minister is the
head of government. The Russian Federation is fundamentally
structured as a
multi-party
representative democracy, with the federal government composed of
three branches:
- Legislative: The
bicameral
Federal Assembly of Russia, made up of the 450-member
State Duma and the 166-member
Federation Council, adopts
federal law,
declares war, approves treaties, has the
power of the purse and the power of
impeachment of the President.
- Executive: The
President is the
Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can veto
legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the
Government of Russia (Cabinet) and other officers, who
administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
-
Judiciary: The
Constitutional Court,
Supreme Court,
Supreme Court of Arbitration and lower federal courts, whose
judges are appointed by the Federation Council on the recommendation
of the President, interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem
unconstitutional.
The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term
(eligible for a second term, but not for a third consecutive term).[91]
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).
Leading political parties in Russia include
United Russia, the
Communist Party, the
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and
A Just Russia.
Foreign relations
The Russian Federation is recognized in international law as a
successor state of the former
Soviet Union.[21]
Russia continues to implement the international commitments of the USSR,
and has assumed the USSR's permanent seat in the
UN Security Council, membership in other international
organisations, the rights and obligations under international treaties,
and property and debts. Russia has a multifaceted foreign policy. As of
2009, it maintains diplomatic relations with 191 countries and has
144 embassies. The foreign policy is determined by the President and
implemented by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.[92]
As the successor to a former superpower, Russia's geopolitical status
has been often debated, particularly in relation to
unipolar and multipolar views on the global political system. While
Russia is commonly accepted to be a
great power, in recent years it has been characterized by a number
of world leaders,[93][94]
scholars,[95]
commentators and politicians[96]
as a currently reinstating or
potential superpower.[97][98][99]
An important aspect of Russia's relations with the West is the
criticism of Russia's political system and human rights management by
the Western governments, the mass media and the leading democracy and
human rights watchdogs. In particular, such organisations as the
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.[100][101]
Freedom House, an international organisation funded by the United
States, ranks Russia as "not free", citing "carefully engineered
elections" and "absence" of debate.[102]
Russian authorities dismiss these claims and especially criticise
Freedom House. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the
2006
Freedom in the World report "prefabricated", stating that the
human rights issues have been turned into a political weapon in
particular by the United States. The ministry also claims that such
organisations as Freedom House and Human Rights Watch use the same
scheme of voluntary extrapolation of "isolated facts that of course
can be found in any country" into "dominant tendencies".[103]
As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia
plays a major role in maintaining international peace and security. The
country participates in the
Quartet on the Middle East and the
Six-party talks with North Korea. Russia is a member of the
G8
industrialized nations, the
Council of Europe,
OSCE and
APEC. Russia usually takes a leading role in regional organisations
such as the
CIS,
EurAsEC,
CSTO, and the
SCO.[104]
Former President Vladimir Putin had advocated a strategic partnership
with close integration in various dimensions including establishment of
EU-Russia Common Spaces.[105]
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has developed a
friendlier relationship with the
United States and
NATO. The
NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002 to allow the United
States, Russia and the 25 allies in NATO to work together as equal
partners to pursue opportunities for joint collaboration.[106]
Russia maintains strong and positive relations with other
BRIC countries.
In recent years, the country has sought to strengthen ties especially
with the People's Republic of China by signing the
Treaty of Friendship as well as building the
Trans-Siberian oil pipeline geared toward growing Chinese energy
needs.[107]
Military
The Russian military is divided into the
Ground Forces,
Navy, and
Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service:
Strategic Missile Troops,
Aerospace Defence Forces, and the
Airborne Troops. In 2006, the military had 1.037 million personnel
on active duty.[108]
It is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be
drafted for a year of service in Armed Forces.[87]
Russia has
the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. It has the
second largest fleet of
ballistic missile submarines and is the only country apart from the
U.S. with a modern
strategic bomber force.[25][109]
Russia's tank
force is the largest in the world, its surface navy and air force are
among the largest ones.
The country has a large and fully indigenous
arms industry, producing most of its own military equipment with
only few types of weapons imported. Russia is the world's top supplier
of arms, a spot it has held since 2001, accounting for around 30% of
worldwide weapons sales[110]
and exporting weapons to about 80 countries.[111]
Official government military spending for 2012 was $90.70 billion,
the
third largest in the world, though various sources have estimated
Russia's military expenditures to be considerably higher.[112]
Currently, a major equipment upgrade worth about $200 billion is on its
way between 2006 and 2015.[113]
According to 2012
Global Peace Index, Russia is the sixth least peaceful out of 162
countries in the world, principally because of its defense industry.
Russia has historically ranked low on the index since its inception in
2007.[114]
Political
divisions
- Federal subjects
The Russian Federation comprises 83 federal
subjects.[115]
These subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the
Federation Council.[116]
However, they differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy.
- 46
oblasts (provinces): most common type of federal subjects, with
locally elected[117]
governor and legislature.
- 21
republics: nominally autonomous; each has its own constitution,
direct-elected[117]
head of republic[118]
or a similar post, and parliament. Republics are allowed to
establish their own official language alongside Russian but are
represented by the federal government in international affairs.
Republics are meant to be home to specific ethnic minorities.
- 9
krais (territories): essentially the same as oblasts. The
"territory" designation is historic, originally given to frontier
regions and later also to the administrative divisions that
comprised autonomous okrugs or autonomous oblasts.
- 4
autonomous okrugs (autonomous districts): originally autonomous
entities within oblasts and krais created for ethnic minorities,
their status was elevated to that of federal subjects in the 1990s.
With the exception of
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, all autonomous okrugs are still
administratively subordinated to a krai or an oblast of which they
are a part.
- 1
autonomous oblast (the
Jewish Autonomous Oblast): historically, autonomous oblasts were
administrative units subordinated to krais. In 1990, all of them
except for the Jewish AO were elevated in status to that of a
republic.
- 2
federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg): major cities that
function as separate regions.
- Federal districts
Federal subjects are grouped into eight
federal districts, each administered by an envoy appointed by the
President of Russia.[119]
Unlike the federal subjects, the federal districts are not a subnational
level of government, but are a level of administration of the federal
government. Federal districts' envoys serve as liaisons between the
federal subjects and the federal government and are primarily
responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with
the federal laws.
Geography
Russia is the
largest country in the world; its total area is 17,075,400 square
kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi). There are 23 UNESCO
World Heritage Sites in Russia, 40 UNESCO
biosphere reserves,[120]
41
national parks and 101
nature reserves. It lies between latitudes
41° and
82° N, and longitudes
19° E and
169° W.
Russia has a wide natural resource base, including major deposits of
timber, petroleum, natural gas, coal, ores and other mineral resources.
Topography
The two widest separated points in Russia are about 8,000 km
(4,971 mi) apart along a
geodesic line. These points are: the boundary with Poland on a 60 km
(37 mi) long
Vistula Spit separating the
Gdańsk Bay from the
Vistula Lagoon; and the farthest southeast of the
Kuril Islands. The points which are furthest separated in
longitude are 6,600 km (4,101 mi) apart along a geodesic line. These
points are: in the west, the same spit; in the east, the
Big Diomede Island. The Russian Federation spans 9
time
zones.
Most of Russia consists of vast stretches of plains that are
predominantly
steppe
to the south and heavily forested to the north, with
tundra
along the northern coast. Russia possesses 10% of the world's
arable land.[121]
Mountain ranges are found along the southern borders, such as the
Caucasus (containing
Mount Elbrus, which at 5,642 m (18,510 ft) is the highest point in
both Russia and Europe) and the
Altai (containing
Mount Belukha, which at the 4,506 m (14,783 ft) is the highest point
of Siberia outside of the
Russian Far East); and in the eastern parts, such as the
Verkhoyansk Range or the volcanoes of
Kamchatka Peninsula (containing
Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which at the 4,750 m (15,584 ft) is the highest
active volcano in Eurasia as well as the highest point of
Asian Russia). The
Ural Mountains, rich in mineral resources, form a north-south range
that divides Europe and Asia.
Russia has an extensive coastline of over 37,000 km (22,991 mi) along
the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, as well as along the
Baltic Sea,
Sea of Azov,
Black
Sea and
Caspian Sea.[87]
The
Barents Sea,
White
Sea,
Kara
Sea,
Laptev Sea,
East Siberian Sea,
Chukchi Sea,
Bering Sea,
Sea of Okhotsk, and the
Sea of Japan are linked to Russia via the Arctic and Pacific.
Russia's major islands and archipelagos include
Novaya Zemlya, the
Franz Josef Land, the
Severnaya Zemlya, the
New Siberian Islands,
Wrangel Island, the
Kuril Islands, and
Sakhalin. The
Diomede Islands (one controlled by Russia, the other by the U.S.)
are just 3 km (1.9 mi) apart, and
Kunashir Island is about 20 km (12.4 mi) from
Hokkaido, Japan.
Russia
has thousands of rivers and inland bodies of water, providing it
with one of the world's largest surface water resources. Its lakes
contain approximately one-quarter of the world's liquid
fresh water.[122]
The largest and most prominent of Russia's bodies of fresh water is
Lake Baikal, the world's deepest, purest, oldest and most capacious
fresh water lake.[123]
Baikal alone contains over one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.[122]
Other major lakes include
Ladoga and
Onega, two of the
largest lakes in Europe. Russia is second only to Brazil in volume
of the
total renewable water resources. Of the country's 100,000 rivers,[124]
the
Volga is the most famous, not only because it is the
longest river in Europe, but also because of its major role in
Russian history.[87]
The Siberian rivers
Ob,
Yenisey,
Lena and
Amur are among the
longest rivers in the world.
Climate
The enormous size of Russia and the remoteness of many areas from the
sea result in the dominance of the
humid continental climate, which is prevalent in all parts of the
country except for the tundra and the extreme southeast. Mountains in
the south obstruct the flow of warm air masses from the Indian Ocean,
while the plain of the west and north makes the country open to Arctic
and Atlantic influences.[125]
Most of Northern European Russia and Siberia has a
subarctic climate, with extremely severe winters in the inner
regions of Northeast Siberia (mostly the
Sakha Republic, where the Northern
Pole of Cold is located with the record low temperature of −71.2 °C
or −96.2 °F), and more moderate elsewhere. The strip of land along the
shore of the Arctic Ocean, as well as the
Russian Arctic islands, have a
polar climate.
The coastal part of
Krasnodar Krai on the Black Sea, most notably in
Sochi,
possesses a
humid subtropical climate with mild and wet winters. Winter is dry
compared to summer in many regions of East Siberia and the Far East,
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 region along the Lower Volga and Caspian Sea
coast, as well as some areas of southernmost Siberia, possesses a
semi-arid climate.
[hide]Climate
data for Russia (records) |
Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
Record high °C (°F) |
22.2
(72) |
23.8
(74.8) |
30.3
(86.5) |
34.0
(93.2) |
37.7
(99.9) |
43.2
(109.8) |
45.4
(113.7) |
43.5
(110.3) |
41.5
(106.7) |
33.7
(92.7) |
29.1
(84.4) |
25.0
(77) |
45.4
(113.7) |
Record low °C (°F) |
−71.2
(−96.2) |
−64.4
(−83.9) |
−60.6
(−77.1) |
−46.4
(−51.5) |
−28.9
(−20) |
−9.7
(14.5) |
−9.3
(15.3) |
−17.1
(1.2) |
−25.3
(−13.5) |
−47.6
(−53.7) |
−58.5
(−73.3) |
−62.8
(−81) |
−71.2
(−96.2) |
Source: Pogoda.ru.net[126] |
Throughout much of the territory there are only two distinct
seasons—winter and summer; spring and autumn are usually brief periods
of change between extremely low temperatures and extremely high.[125]
The coldest month is January (February on the coastline), the warmest
usually is 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.[127]
The continental interiors are the driest areas.
Biodiversity
From north to south the
East European Plain, also known as Russian Plain, is clad
sequentially in Arctic
tundra,
coniferous forest (taiga),
mixed and broad-leaf forests, grassland (steppe),
and semi-desert (fringing the Caspian Sea), as the changes in vegetation
reflect the changes in climate. Siberia supports a similar sequence but
is largely taiga. Russia has the world's largest
forest reserves,[128]
known as "the lungs of Europe",[129]
second only to the
Amazon Rainforest in the amount of
carbon dioxide it absorbs.
There are 266 mammal species and 780 bird species in Russia. A total
of 415 animal species have been included in the
Red Data Book of the Russian Federation as of 1997[130]
and are now protected.
Economy
World Trade Center in Moscow
Russia has a
market economy with enormous natural resources, particularly
oil and natural gas. It has the
8th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the
6th largest by
purchasing power parity (PPP). Since the turn of the 21st century,
higher domestic consumption and greater political stability have
bolstered economic growth in Russia. The country ended 2008 with its
ninth straight year of growth, averaging 7% annually between 2000 and
2008. Real GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) was 19,840 in
2010.[131]
Growth was primarily driven by non-traded services and goods for the
domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports.[87]
The average nominal salary in Russia was $640 per month in early 2008,
up from $80 in 2000.[132]
In the May of 2013 the average nominal monthly wages reached 30,000 RUR
(or US$967),[133][134]
while tax on the income of individuals is payable at the rate of 13% on
most incomes.[135]
Approximately 13.7% of Russians lived
below the national poverty line in 2010,[136]
significantly down from 40% in 1998 at the worst point of the
post-Soviet collapse.[83]
Unemployment in Russia was at 6% in 2007, down from about 12.4% in 1999.[137]
The middle class has grown from just 8 million persons in 2000 to
55 million persons in 2006.[138]
Sugar imports reportedly dropped 82% between 2012–2013.[139]
Russian economy since the end of the Soviet Union
Oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80% of
Russian exports abroad.[87]
Since 2003, the exports of natural resources started decreasing in
economic importance as the internal market strengthened considerably.
Despite higher energy prices, oil and gas only contribute to 5.7% of
Russia's GDP and the government predicts this will be 3.7% by 2011.[140]
Oil export earnings allowed Russia to increase its foreign reserves from
$12 billion in 1999 to $597.3 billion on 1 August 2008, the third
largest foreign exchange reserves in the world.[141]
The macroeconomic policy under Finance Minister
Alexei Kudrin was prudent and sound, with excess income being stored
in the
Stabilization Fund of Russia.[142]
In 2006, Russia repaid most of its formerly massive debts,[143]
leaving it with
one of the lowest foreign debts among major economies.[144]
The Stabilization Fund helped Russia to come out of the
global financial crisis in a much better state than many experts had
expected.[142]
A simpler, more streamlined tax code adopted in 2001 reduced the tax
burden on people and dramatically increased state revenue.[145]
Russia has a
flat
tax rate of 13%. This ranks it as the country with the second most
attractive personal tax system for single managers in the world after
the United Arab Emirates.[146]
According to
Bloomberg, Russia is considered well ahead of most other
resource-rich countries in its economic development, with a long
tradition of education, science, and industry.[147]
The country has a higher proportion of higher education graduates than
any other country in Eurasia.[148]
The economic development of the country has been uneven
geographically with the Moscow region contributing
a very large share of the country's GDP.[149]
Another problem is modernisation of infrastructure, ageing and
inadequate after years of being neglected in 1990s; the government has
said $1 trillion will be invested in development of infrastructure by
2020.[150]
In December 2011, Russia finally joined World Trade Organisation,
allowing it a greater access to overseas markets. Some analysts estimate
that WTO membership could bring the Russian economy a bounce of up to 3
per cent annually.[151]
Russia ranks the second most corrupt country in Europe (after Ukraine),
according to the
Corruption Perceptions Index. The Norwegian-Russian Chamber of
Commerce also states that "[c]orruption is one of the biggest
problems both Russian and international companies have to deal with."[152]
Agriculture
The
total area of cultivated land in Russia was estimated as
1,237,294 km2 in 2005, the fourth largest in the world.[153]
In 1999–2009, Russia's agriculture demonstrated steady growth,[154]
and the country turned from a grain importer to the third largest grain
exporter after EU and USA.[155]
The production of meat has grown from 6,813,000 tonnes in 1999 to
9,331,000 tonnes in 2008, and continues to grow.[156]
This restoration of agriculture was supported by credit policy of the
government, helping both individual farmers and large privatized
corporate farms, that once were Soviet
kolkhozes
and still own the significant share of agricultural land.[157]
While large farms concentrate mainly on the production of grain and
husbandry products, small private
household plots produce most of the country's yield of potatoes,
vegetables and fruits.[158]
With access to three of the world's oceans—the Atlantic, Arctic, and
Pacific—Russian fishing fleets are a major contributor to the
world's fish supply. The total capture of fish was at 3,191,068 tons
in 2005.[159]
Both exports and imports of fish and sea products grew significantly in
the recent years, reaching correspondingly $2,415 and $2,036 millions in
2008.[160]
Sprawling from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, Russia has more
than a fifth of the world's forests, which makes it the largest forest
country in the world.[128][161]
However, according to a 2012 study by the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the
Government of the Russian Federation,[162]
the considerable potential of Russian forests is underutilized and
Russia's share of the global trade in forest products is less than four
percent.[163][164]
Energy
Russia is a key
oil and
gas supplier to much of Europe.
In recent years, Russia has frequently been described in the media as
an
energy superpower.[165][166]
The country has the world's largest
natural gas reserves,[167]
the 8th largest
oil reserves,[168]
and the second largest
coal reserves.[169]
Russia is the world's leading
natural gas exporter[170]
and second largest
natural gas producer,[24]
while also the largest
oil exporter and the largest
oil producer.[23]
On 1 January 2011, Russia said it had begun scheduled oil shipments to
China, with the plan to increase the rate up to 300,000 barrels per day
in 2011.[171]
Russia is the 3rd largest
electricity producer in the world[172]
and the 5th largest
renewable energy producer, the latter because of the well-developed
hydroelectricity production in the country.[173]
Large cascades of
hydropower plants are built in European Russia along big rivers like
Volga. The Asian part of Russia also features a number of major
hydropower stations, however the gigantic hydroelectric potential of
Siberia and the Russian Far East largely remains unexploited.
Russia was the first country to develop civilian nuclear power and to
construct the world's
first nuclear power plant. Currently the country is the 4th largest
nuclear energy producer,[174]
with all
nuclear power in Russia being managed by
Rosatom
State Corporation. The sector is rapidly developing, with an aim of
increasing the total share of nuclear energy from current 16.9% to 23%
by 2020. The Russian government plans to allocate 127 billion rubles
($5.42 billion) to a federal program dedicated to the next generation of
nuclear energy technology. About 1 trillion rubles ($42.7 billion) is to
be allocated from the federal budget to nuclear power and industry
development before 2015.[175]
Transport
Railway transport in Russia is mostly under the control of the
state-run
Russian Railways monopoly. The company accounts for over 3.6% of
Russia's GDP and handles 39% of the total freight traffic (including
pipelines) and more than 42% of passenger traffic.[176]
The total length of common-used railway tracks exceeds 85,500 km,[176]
second only to the U.S. Over 44,000 km of tracks are
electrified,[177]
which is the largest number in the world, and additionally there are
more than 30,000 km of industrial non-common carrier lines. Railways in
Russia, unlike in the most of the world, use
broad gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11
5⁄6 in), with the exception of
957 km on
Sakhalin island using narrow gauge of 1,067 mm
(3 ft 6 in). The most renown railway in Russia is
Trans-Siberian (Transsib), spanning a record 7 time zones and
serving the longest single continuous services in the world, Moscow-Vladivostok
(9,259 km, 5,753 mi), Moscow–Pyongyang
(10,267 km, 6,380 mi)[178]
and Kiev–Vladivostok
(11,085 km, 6,888 mi).[179]
As of 2006 Russia had
933,000 km of roads, of which 755,000 were paved.[180]
Some of these make up the
Russian federal motorway system. With a large land area the road
density is the lowest of all the
G8 and
BRIC
countries.[181]
Much of Russia's inland waterways, which
total 102,000 km (63,380 mi), are made up of natural rivers or
lakes. In the European part of the country the network of channels
connects the basins of major rivers. Russia's capital, Moscow, is
sometimes called "the port of the five seas", because of its
waterway connections to the Baltic,
White,
Caspian,
Azov and
Black
Seas.
Major sea ports of Russia include
Rostov-on-Don on the Azov Sea,
Novorossiysk on the Black Sea,
Astrakhan and
Makhachkala on the Caspian,
Kaliningrad and St Petersburg on the Baltic,
Arkhangelsk on the White Sea,
Murmansk on the Barents Sea,
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and
Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean. In 2008 the country owned
1448 merchant marine ships. The world's only fleet of
nuclear-powered icebreakers advances the economic exploitation of
the Arctic
continental shelf of Russia and the development of sea trade through
the
Northern Sea Route between Europe and East Asia.
By
total length of pipelines Russia is second only to the U.S.
Currently many new pipeline projects are being realized, including
Nord Stream and
South Stream natural gas pipelines to Europe, and the
Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline (ESPO) to the Russian
Far East and China.
Russia has 1216 airports,[182]
the busiest being
Sheremetyevo,
Domodedovo, and
Vnukovo in Moscow, and
Pulkovo in St Petersburg. The total length of runways in Russia
exceeds 600,000 kilometres (370,000 mi).[183]
Typically, major Russian cities have well-developed systems of public
transport, with the most common varieties of exploited vehicles being
bus,
trolleybus and tram. Seven Russian cities, namely
Moscow,
Saint Petersburg,
Nizhny Novgorod,
Novosibirsk,
Samara,
Yekaterinburg and
Kazan, have underground metros, while
Volgograd features a
metrotram. The
total length of metros in Russia is 465.4 kilometres (289.2 mi).
Moscow Metro and Saint Petersburg Metro are the oldest in Russia, opened
in 1935 and 1955 respectively. These two are among the fastest and
busiest metro systems in the world, and are famous for rich
decorations and unique designs of their stations, which is a common
tradition on Russian metros and railways.
Science and
technology
Science and technology in Russia blossomed since the
Age of Enlightenment, when
Peter the Great founded the
Russian Academy of Sciences and
Saint Petersburg State University, and
polymath
Mikhail Lomonosov established the
Moscow State University, paving the way for a strong native
tradition in learning and innovation. In the 19th and 20th centuries the
country produced a large number of notable scientists and inventors.
The
Russian physics school began with Lomonosov who proposed the law of
conservation of matter preceding the
energy conservation law. Russian discoveries and inventions in
physics include the
electric arc, electrodynamical
Lenz's law,
space groups of
crystals,
photoelectric cell,
Cherenkov radiation,
electron paramagnetic resonance,
heterotransistors and
3D holography.
Lasers
and masers
were co-invented by
Nikolai Basov and
Alexander Prokhorov, while the idea of
tokamak
for controlled
nuclear fusion was introduced by
Igor
Tamm,
Andrei Sakharov and
Lev Artsimovich, leading eventually the modern international
ITER
project, where Russia is a party.
Since the time of
Nikolay Lobachevsky (a
Copernicus of
Geometry who pioneered the
non-Euclidean geometry) and a prominent tutor
Pafnuty Chebyshev, the
Russian mathematical school became one of the most influential in
the world.[184]
Chebyshev's students included
Aleksandr Lyapunov, who founded the modern
stability theory, and
Andrey Markov who invented the
Markov chains. In the 20th century Soviet mathematicians, such as
Andrey Kolmogorov,
Israel Gelfand and
Sergey Sobolev, made major contributions to various areas of
mathematics. Nine Soviet/Russian mathematicians were awarded with
Fields Medal, a most prestigious award in mathematics. Recently
Grigori Perelman was offered the first ever Clay
Millennium Prize Problems Award for his final proof of the
Poincaré conjecture in 2002.[185]
Russian chemist
Dmitry Mendeleev invented the
Periodic table, the main framework of modern
chemistry.
Aleksandr Butlerov was one of the creators of the theory of
chemical structure, playing a central role in
organic chemistry.
Russian biologists include
Dmitry Ivanovsky who discovered viruses,
Ivan Pavlov who was the first to experiment with the
classical conditioning, and
Ilya Mechnikov who was a pioneer researcher of the
immune system and
probiotics.
Many Russian scientists and inventors were
émigrés, like
Igor Sikorsky, who built the first
airliners and modern-type helicopters;
Vladimir Zworykin, often called the father of TV; chemist
Ilya Prigogine, noted for his work on
dissipative structures and
complex systems; Nobel Prize-winning economists
Simon Kuznets and
Wassily Leontief; physicist
Georgiy Gamov (an author of the
Big
Bang theory) and social scientist
Pitirim Sorokin. Many foreigners worked in Russia for a long time,
like
Leonard Euler and
Alfred Nobel.
Russian inventions include the
arc welding by
Nikolay Benardos, further developed by
Nikolay Slavyanov,
Konstantin Khrenov and other Russian engineers.
Gleb Kotelnikov invented the
knapsack parachute, while
Evgeniy Chertovsky introduced the
pressure suit.
Alexander Lodygin and
Pavel Yablochkov were pioneers of
electric lighting, and
Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky introduced the first
three-phase electric power systems, widely used today.
Sergei Lebedev invented the first commercially viable and
mass-produced type of
synthetic rubber. The first
ternary computer,
Setun,
was developed by
Nikolay Brusentsov.
In the 20th century a number of prominent
Soviet aerospace engineers, inspired by the fundamental works of
Nikolai Zhukovsky,
Sergei Chaplygin and others, designed many hundreds of models of
military and civilian aircraft and founded a number of KBs (Construction
Bureaus) that now constitute the bulk of Russian
United Aircraft Corporation. Famous Russian aircraft include the
civilian
Tu-series,
Su and
MiG fighter aircraft,
Ka and
Mi-series helicopters; many Russian aircraft models are on the
list of most produced aircraft in history.
Famous Russian battle tanks include
T-34, the
best tank design of World War II,[186]
and further tanks of T-series, including the most produced tank in
history,
T-54/55.[187]
The AK-47
and AK-74
by
Mikhail Kalashnikov constitute the most widely used type of
assault rifle throughout the world—so much so that more AK-type
rifles have been manufactured than all other assault rifles combined.[188]
With all these achievements, however, since the late Soviet era
Russia was lagging behind the West in a number of technologies, mostly
those related to
energy conservation and
consumer goods production. The crisis of 1990-s led to the drastic
reduction of the state support for science and a
brain drain migration from Russia.
In the 2000s, on the wave of a new economic boom, the situation in
the Russian science and technology has improved, and the government
launched a campaign aimed into modernisation and
innovation. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev formulated top 5
priorities for the country's technological development:
efficient energy use,
IT (including both common products and the products combined with
space technology),
nuclear energy and
pharmaceuticals.[189]
Currently Russia has completed the
GLONASS
satellite navigation system. The country is developing its own
fifth-generation jet fighter and constructing the first serial
mobile nuclear plant in the world. In 2010, an economy class
hybrid electric car project was introduced, called
Yo-mobil, that will be mass-produced by ë-Auto, a Russian company
that is a joint venture between truck maker Yarovit and the Onexim
investment group.[190][191][192]
Space exploration
Russian achievements in the field of
space technology and
space exploration are traced back to
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the father of theoretical austronautics.[193]
His works had inspired leading
Soviet rocket engineers, such as
Sergey Korolyov,
Valentin Glushko and many others who contributed to the success of
the
Soviet space program on early stages of the
Space Race and beyond.
In 1957 the first Earth-orbiting artificial
satellite,
Sputnik 1, was launched; in 1961 the first human trip into space
was successfully made by
Yury Gagarin. Many other Soviet and Russian
space exploration records ensued, including the first
spacewalk performed by
Alexey Leonov,
Luna 9
was the first spacecraft to land on the
Moon,
Venera
7 was the first to land on another planet (Venus),
Mars 3
then the first to land on
Mars, the
first
space exploration rover
Lunokhod-1 and the first
space station
Salyut
1 and
Mir.
After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, some government-funded space
exploration programs, including the
Buran space shuttle program, were cancelled or delayed, while
participation of the Russian space industry in commercial activities and
international cooperation intensified. Nowadays Russia is the largest
satellite launcher.[194]
After the U.S.
Space Shuttle program ended in 2011,
Soyuz rockets became the only provider of transport for astronauts
at the
International Space Station.
Demographics
Percentage of ethnic Russians by region in 2010
>80%
70—79%
50—69%
Natural population growth rate in Russia, 2012.
Ethnic Russians comprise 81% of the country's population.[1]
The Russian Federation is also home to several sizeable minorities. In
all, 160 different other ethnic groups and indigenous peoples live
within its borders.[195]
Though Russia's population is comparatively large,
its density is low because of the country's enormous size.
Population is densest in
European Russia, near the
Ural Mountains, and in southwest Siberia. 73% of the population
lives in urban areas while 27% in rural ones.[196]
The results of the
2010 Census show a total population of 142,856,536.[197]
Russia's population peaked at 148,689,000 in 1991, just before the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. It began to experience a rapid
decline starting in the mid-1990s.[198]
The decline has slowed to near stagnation in recent years because of
reduced
death rates, increased
birth rates and increased immigration.[199]
In 2009, Russia recorded annual population growth for the first time
in fifteen years, with total growth of 10,500.[199]
279,906 migrants arrived to the Russian Federation the same year, of
which 93% came from
CIS countries.[199]
The number of Russian emigrants steadily declined from 359,000 in 2000
to 32,000 in 2009.[199]
There are also an estimated 10 million illegal immigrants from the
ex-Soviet states in Russia.[200]
Roughly 116 million ethnic Russians live in Russia[195]
and about 20 million more live in other former republics of the Soviet
Union,[201]
mostly in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.[202]
The
2010 census recorded 81% of the population as
ethnically Russian, and 19% as other ethnicities:[1]
3.7% Tatars;
1.4%
Ukrainians; 1.1%
Bashkirs; 1%
Chuvashes; 11.8% others and unspecified. According to the Census,
84.93% of the Russian population belongs to European ethnic groups
(Slavic, Germanic, Finnic other than Ugric, Greek.etc.). This is a
decline from the 2002, when they constituted for more than 86% of the
population.[1]
Russia's birth rate is higher than that of most European countries
(12.6 births per 1000 people in 2010[199]
compared to the European Union average of 9.90 per 1000),[203]
but its death rate is also substantially higher (in 2010, Russia's death
rate was 14.3 per 1000 people[199]
compared to the EU average of 10.28 per 1000).[204]
The Russian Ministry of Health and Social Affairs predicted that by 2011
the death rate would equal the birth rate because of increase in
fertility and decline in mortality.[205]
The government is implementing a number of programs designed to increase
the birth rate and attract more migrants. Monthly government child
assistance payments were doubled to US$55, and a one-time payment of
US$9,200 was offered to women who had a second child since 2007.[206]
In 2009 Russia experienced its highest birth rate since the dissolution
of the Soviet Union.[199][207]
Largest cities
Largest cities or towns of
Russia
Rosstat (2009)[208][209] |
|
Rank |
City name |
Federal subject |
Pop. |
Rank |
City name |
Federal subject |
Pop. |
|
Moscow
Saint Petersburg |
1 |
Moscow |
Moscow |
11,514,300 |
11 |
Ufa |
Bashkortostan |
1,094,842 |
Novosibirsk
Yekaterinburg |
2 |
Saint Petersburg |
Saint Petersburg |
5,227,567 |
12 |
Volgograd |
Volgograd Oblast |
1,091,200 |
3 |
Novosibirsk |
Novosibirsk Oblast |
1,473,737 |
13 |
Perm |
Perm Krai |
1,090,679 |
4 |
Yekaterinburg |
Sverdlovsk Oblast |
1,350,136 |
14 |
Krasnoyarsk |
Krasnoyarsk Krai |
1,000,601 |
5 |
Nizhny Novgorod |
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast |
1,250,252 |
15 |
Voronezh |
Voronezh Oblast |
1,000,496 |
6 |
Samara |
Samara Oblast |
1,164,900 |
16 |
Saratov |
Saratov Oblast |
900,953 |
7 |
Kazan |
Tatarstan |
1,143,600 |
17 |
Tolyatti |
Samara Oblast |
720,346 |
8 |
Omsk |
Omsk Oblast |
1,153,971 |
18 |
Krasnodar |
Krasnodar Krai |
710,686 |
9 |
Chelyabinsk |
Chelyabinsk Oblast |
1,130,273 |
19 |
Izhevsk |
Udmurtia |
611,043 |
10 |
Rostov-on-Don |
Rostov Oblast |
1,098,991 |
20 |
Yaroslavl |
Yaroslavl Oblast |
606,336 |
Language
Russia's 160 ethnic groups speak some 100 languages.[11]
According to the 2002 Census, 142.6 million people speak Russian,
followed by
Tatar with 5.3 million and
Ukrainian with 1.8 million speakers.[210]
Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives
the individual
republics the right to make their native language official in
addition to Russian.[211]
Despite its wide distribution, the Russian language is homogeneous
throughout the country. Russian is the most geographically widespread
language of Eurasia, as well as the most widely spoken
Slavic language.[212]
It belongs to the
Indo-European language family and is one of the living members of
the
East Slavic languages, the others being
Belarusian and
Ukrainian (and possibly
Rusyn). Written examples of
Old East Slavic (Old Russian) are attested from the 10th
century onwards.[213]
Russian is one of the six
official languages of the UN.[214]
Religion
Orthodox Christianity,
Islam,
Judaism and
Buddhism are Russia's traditional religions, and are all legally a
part of Russia's "historical heritage".[215]
Traced back to the
Christianization of Kievan Rus' in the 10th century, Russian
Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in the country; smaller Christian
denominations such as Catholics,
Armenian Gregorians and various Protestant churches also exist.. The
Russian Orthodox Church was the country's state religion prior to
the Revolution and remains the largest religious body in the country.
Estimates on how many believers the church has fluctuate widely in
different sources. A 15 January 2013 statistic by the
Russian Academy of Sciences announced that 79% of the Russian
population belong to the Russian Orthodox Church.[216]
95% of the registered Orthodox parishes belong to the Russian Orthodox
Church while there are a number of
smaller Orthodox Churches.[217]
However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on
a regular basis. Easter is the most popular religious holiday in Russia,
celebrated by more than 90% of all Russian citizens, including large
numbers of those who are non-religious. More than three-quarters of the
Russian population celebrate Easter by making traditional Easter cakes,
coloured eggs and
paskha.[218]
Estimates of the number of
Muslims in Russia range from 7–9 million by local sources, to
15–20 million by Western and Islamic sources.[219]
There are approximately 3 to 4 million temporary Muslim migrants from
the
post-Soviet states.[220]
Most Muslims live in the
Volga-Ural region, as well as in the Caucasus, Moscow, St.
Petersburg and Western Siberia.[221]
Buddhism is traditional in three regions of the Russian Federation:
Buryatia,
Tuva, and
Kalmykia. Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions,
such as
Yakutia and
Chukotka, practice
shamanist,
pantheistic, and
pagan rites, along with the major religions. Induction into religion
takes place primarily along ethnic lines.
Slavs are overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian,
Turkic speakers are predominantly Muslim, and
Mongolic peoples are generally Buddhists.[222]
Various reports put the number of
non-religious in Russia at between 16–48% of the population.[223]
The number of atheists has decreased significantly; according to the
recent statistic, only seven percent declared themselves atheists, a
decrease of 5% in three years.[216]
Health
A mobile clinic used to provide health care at remote
railway stations
The Russian Constitution guarantees free,
universal health care for all its citizens.[224]
In practice, however, free health care is partially restricted because
of
mandatory registration.[225]
While Russia has more physicians, hospitals, and health care workers
than almost any other country in the world on a per capita basis,[226]
since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the health of the Russian
population has declined considerably as a result of social, economic,
and lifestyle changes;[227]
the trend has been reversed only in the recent years, with average life
expectancy having increased 2.4 years for males and 1.4 years for
females between 2006–09.[199]
As of 2009, the average life expectancy in Russia was 62.77 years for
males and 74.67 years for females.[228]
The biggest factor contributing to the relatively low life expectancy
for males is a high mortality rate among working-age males. Deaths
mostly occur because of preventable causes (e.g., alcohol poisoning,
smoking, traffic accidents, violent crime).[199]
As a result of the large gender difference in life expectancy, and also
because of the lasting effect of high casualties in World War II, the
gender imbalance remains to this day and there are 0.859 males to
every female.[87]
Education
Russia has a
free education system – this is guaranteed for all citizens by the
Constitution,[229]
however an entry to subsidized
post-secondary education is highly competitive.[230]
As a result of great emphasis on science and technology in education,
Russian medical, mathematical, scientific, and aerospace research is
generally of a high order.[231]
Since 1990, the 11-year school education has been introduced.
Education in state-owned secondary schools is free. University level
education is free, with exceptions. A substantial share of students is
enrolled for full pay (many state institutions started to open
commercial positions in the last years).[232]
In 2004, state spending for education amounted to 3.6% of the GDP, or
13% of the consolidated state budget.[233]
The Government allocates funding to pay the tuition fees within an
established quota or number of students for each state institution. In
higher education institutions, students are paid a small
stipend
and provided with free housing if they are from out of town.[234]
The oldest and largest
Russian universities are
Moscow State University and
Saint Petersburg State University. In the 2000s, in order to create
higher education and research institutions of comparable scale in
Russian regions, the government launched a program of establishing
federal universities, mostly by merging existing large regional
universities and research institutes and providing them with a special
funding. These new institutions include the
Southern Federal University,
Siberian Federal University,
Kazan Volga Federal University,
North-Eastern Federal University and
Far Eastern Federal University.
Culture
Folk culture
and cuisine
There are over 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples in
Russia.[195]
Ethnic
Russians with their
Slavic
Orthodox traditions,
Tatars
and
Bashkirs with their Turkic Muslim culture,
Buddhist
nomadic
Buryats
and
Kalmyks,
Shamanistic peoples of the
Extreme North and Siberia, highlanders of the
Northern Caucasus,
Finno-Ugric peoples of the
Russian North West and
Volga Region all contribute to the cultural diversity of the
country.
Handicraft, like
Dymkovo toy,
khokhloma,
gzhel and
palekh miniature represent an important aspect of Russian
folk culture. Ethnic Russian clothes include
kaftan,
kosovorotka and
ushanka
for men,
sarafan and
kokoshnik for women, with
lapti and
valenki
as common shoes. The clothes of
Cossacks from Southern Russia include
burka and
papaha, which they share with the peoples of the Northern Caucasus.
Russian cuisine widely uses fish, poultry, mushrooms, berries, and
honey. Crops of
rye, wheat,
barley,
and millet
provide the ingredients for various breads,
pancakes and cereals, as well as for
kvass,
beer and vodka drinks.
Black bread is rather popular in Russia, compared to the rest of the
world. Flavourful soups and stews include
shchi,
borsch,
ukha,
solyanka and
okroshka.
Smetana (a heavy
sour cream) is often added to soups and salads.
Pirozhki,
blini and
syrniki
are native types of pancakes.
Chicken Kiev,
pelmeni
and
shashlyk are popular meat dishes, the last two being of Tatar and
Caucasus origin respectively. Other meat dishes include stuffed cabbage
rolls (golubtsy)
usually filled with meat.[235]
Salads include
Olivier salad,
Vinaigrette and
Dressed herring.
Russia's large number of ethnic groups have distinctive traditions
regarding
folk music. Typical ethnic Russian musical instruments are
gusli,
balalaika,
zhaleika and
garmoshka. Folk music had a significant influence on Russian
classical composers, and in modern times it is a source of inspiration
for a number of popular
folk bands, like
Melnitsa.
Russian folk songs, as well as patriotic
Soviet songs, constitute the bulk of the repertoire of the
world-renown
Red Army choir and other popular ensembles.
Russians have
many traditions, including the washing in
banya, a hot steam bath somewhat similar to
sauna.[47]
Old
Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan
Slavic religion. Many
Russian fairy tales and epic
bylinas
were adaptated for animation films, or for feature movies by the
prominent directors like
Aleksandr Ptushko (Ilya
Muromets,
Sadko) and
Aleksandr Rou (Morozko,
Vasilisa the Beautiful). Russian poets, including
Pyotr Yershov and
Leonid Filatov, made a number of well-known poetical interpretations
of the classical fairy tales, and in some cases, like that of
Alexander Pushkin, also created fully original fairy tale poems of
great popularity.
Architecture
Since the
Christianization of Kievan Rus' for several ages Russian
architecture was influenced predominantly by the
Byzantine architecture. Apart from fortifications (kremlins),
the main stone buildings of ancient Rus' were
Orthodox churches with their many
domes,
often gilded or brightly painted.
Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects brought
Renaissance trends into Russia since the late 15th century, while
the 16th century saw the development of unique
tent-like churches[236]
culminating in
Saint Basil's Cathedral. By that time the
onion dome design was also fully developed.[237]
In the 17th century, the "fiery style" of ornamentation flourished in
Moscow and
Yaroslavl, gradually paving the way for the
Naryshkin baroque of the 1690s. After the
reforms of Peter the Great the change of architectural styles in
Russia generally followed that in the Western Europe.
The 18th-century taste for
rococo
architecture led to the ornate works of
Bartolomeo Rastrelli and his followers. The reigns of
Catherine the Great and her grandson
Alexander I saw the flourishing of
Neoclassical architecture, most notably in the capital city of
Saint Petersburg. The second half of the 19th century was dominated
by the
Neo-Byzantine and
Russian Revival styles. Prevalent styles of the 20th century were
the
Art Nouveau,
Constructivism, and the
Stalin Empire style.
In 1955, a new Soviet leader,
Nikita Khrushchev, condemned the "excesses" of the former academic
architecture,[238]
and the late Soviet era was dominated by plain
functionalism in architecture. This helped somewhat to resolve the
housing problem, but created a large quantity of buildings of low
architectural quality, much in contrast with the previous bright styles.
The situation improved in the recent two decades. Many temples
demolished in Soviet times were rebuilt, and this process continues
along with the restoration of various historical buildings destroyed in
World War II. A total of 23,000 Orthodox churches have been rebuilt
between 1991–2010, which effectively quadrapled the number of operating
churches in Russia.[239]
For many, mostly elderly and conservative inhabitants, the lost Russia
is identified with the Soviets. For a more liberal and largely
middle-aged part of the Russian population it is the pre-revolutionary
empire.[240]
Visual arts
Early Russian painting is represented in
icons and vibrant
frescos,
the two genres inherited from
Byzantium. As Moscow rose to power,
Theophanes the Greek,
Dionisius and
Andrei Rublev became vital names associated with a distinctly
Russian art.
The
Russian Academy of Arts was created in 1757[241]
and gave Russian artists an international role and status.
Ivan Argunov,
Dmitry Levitzky,
Vladimir Borovikovsky and other 18th century academicians mostly
focused on
portrait painting. In the early 19th century, when
neoclassicism and
romantism flourished, mythological and Biblical themes inspired many
prominent painings, notably by
Karl Briullov and
Alexander Ivanov.
In the mid-19th century the
Peredvizhniki (Wanderers) group of artists broke with the
Academy and initiated a school of art liberated from academic
restrictions.[242]
These were mostly
realist painters who captured Russian identity in landscapes of wide
rivers, forests, and birch clearings, as well as vigorous genre scenes
and robust portraits of their contemporaries. Some artists focused on
depicting dramatic moments in Russian history, while others turned to
social criticism, showing the conditions of the poor and
caricaturing authority;
critical realism flourished under the reign of
Alexander II. Leading realists include
Ivan Shishkin,
Arkhip Kuindzhi,
Ivan Kramskoi,
Vasily Polenov,
Isaac Levitan,
Vasily Surikov,
Viktor Vasnetsov,
Ilya Repin and
Boris Kustodiev.
The turn of the 20th century saw the rise of
symbolist painting, represented by
Mikhail Vrubel,
Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and
Nicholas Roerich.
The
Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of
modernist art that flourished in Russia from approximately 1890 to
1930. The term covers many separate, but inextricably related art
movements that occurred at the time, namely
neo-primitivism,
suprematism,
constructivism,
rayonism, and
Russian Futurism. Notable artists from this era include
El Lissitzky,
Kazimir Malevich,
Wassily Kandinsky, and
Marc Chagall. Since 1930s the revolutionary ideas of the
avant-garde clashed with the newly emerged conservative direction of
socialist realism.
Soviet art produced works that were furiously patriotic and
anti-fascist during and after the
Great Patriotic War. Multiple war memorials, marked by a great
restrained solemnity, were built throughout the country. Soviet artists
often combined innovation with socialist realism, notably the sculptors
Vera Mukhina,
Yevgeny Vuchetich and
Ernst Neizvestny.
Music and dance
Music in 19th century Russia was defined by the tension between
classical composer
Mikhail Glinka along with other members of
The Mighty Handful, who embraced Russian national identity and added
religious and folk elements to their compositions, and the
Russian Musical Society led by composers
Anton and
Nikolay Rubinsteins, which was musically conservative. The later
tradition of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the greatest composers of the
Romantic era, was continued into the 20th century by
Sergei Rachmaninoff.[243]
World-renowned composers of the 20th century include
Alexander Scriabin,
Igor Stravinsky,
Sergei Prokofiev,
Dmitri Shostakovich and
Alfred Schnittke.
Russian conservatories have turned out generations of famous
soloists. Among the best known are violinists
David Oistrakh and
Gidon Kremer; cellist
Mstislav Rostropovich; pianists
Vladimir Horowitz,
Sviatoslav Richter, and
Emil Gilels; and vocalists
Fyodor Shalyapin,
Galina Vishnevskaya,
Anna Netrebko and
Dmitry Hvorostovsky.[244]
During the early 20th century, Russian ballet dancers
Anna Pavlova and
Vaslav Nijinsky rose to fame, and impresario
Sergei Diaghilev and his
Ballets Russes' travels abroad profoundly influenced the development
of dance worldwide.[245]
Soviet ballet preserved the perfected 19th century traditions,[246]
and the Soviet Union's choreography schools produced many
internationally famous stars, including
Maya Plisetskaya,
Rudolf Nureyev, and
Mikhail Baryshnikov. The
Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the
Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg remain famous throughout the
world.[247]
Modern
Russian rock music takes its roots both in the Western
rock and roll and
heavy metal, and in traditions of the
Russian bards of the Soviet era, such as
Vladimir Vysotsky and
Bulat Okudzhava.[248]
Popular Russian rock groups include
Mashina Vremeni,
DDT,
Aquarium,
Alisa,
Kino,
Kipelov,
Nautilus Pompilius,
Aria,
Grazhdanskaya Oborona,
Splean
and
Korol i Shut.
Russian pop music developed from what was known in the Soviet times
as estrada into full-fledged industry, with some performers
gaining wide international recognition, such as
t.A.T.u.,
Nu
Virgos and
Vitas.
Literature
and philosophy
In the 18th century, during the era of
Russian Enlightenment, the development of
Russian literature was boosted by the works of
Mikhail Lomonosov and
Denis Fonvizin. By the early 19th century a modern native tradition
had emerged, producing some of the greatest writers in Russian history.
This period, known also as the
Golden Age of Russian Poetry, began with
Alexander Pushkin, who is considered the founder of the modern
Russian literary language and often described as the "Russian
Shakespeare".[249]
It continued into the 19th century with the poetry of
Mikhail Lermontov and
Nikolay Nekrasov, dramas of
Alexander Ostrovsky and
Anton Chekhov, and the prose of
Nikolai Gogol and
Ivan Turgenev.
Leo Tolstoy and
Fyodor Dostoyevsky have been described by literary critics as the
greatest novelists of all time.[250][251]
By the 1880s, the age of the great novelists was over, and short
fiction and poetry became the dominant genres. The next several decades
became known as the
Silver Age of Russian Poetry, when the previously dominant
literary realism was replaced by
symbolism. Leading authors of this era include such poets as
Valery Bryusov,
Vyacheslav Ivanov,
Alexander Blok,
Nikolay Gumilev and
Anna Akhmatova, and novelists
Leonid Andreyev,
Ivan Bunin, and
Maxim Gorky.
Russian philosophy blossomed in the 19th century, when it was
defined initially by the opposition of
Westernizers, advocating Western political and economical models,
and
Slavophiles, insisting on developing Russia as a unique
civilization. The latter group includes
Nikolai Danilevsky and
Konstantin Leontiev, the founders of
eurasianism. In its further development Russian philosophy was
always marked by a deep connection to literature and interest in
creativity, society, politics and nationalism;
Russian cosmism and religious philosophy were other major areas.
Notable philosophers of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries
include
Vladimir Solovyev,
Sergei Bulgakov, and
Vladimir Vernadsky.
Following the
Russian Revolution of 1917 many prominent writers and philosophers
left the country, including Bunin,
Vladimir Nabokov and
Nikolay Berdyayev, while a new generation of talented authors joined
together in an effort to create a distinctive
working-class culture appropriate for the new Soviet state. In the
1930s censorship over literature was tightened in line with the policy
of
socialist realism. In the late 1950s restrictions on literature were
eased, and by the 1970s and 1980s, writers were increasingly ignoring
official guidelines. Leading authors of the Soviet era include novelists
Yevgeny Zamyatin,
Ilf and Petrov,
Mikhail Bulgakov and
Mikhail Sholokhov, and poets
Vladimir Mayakovsky,
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and
Andrey Voznesensky.
The Soviet Union was also a major producer of science fiction,
written by authors like
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky,
Kir Bulychov,
Alexander Belayev and
Ivan Yefremov.[252]
Traditions of
Russian science fiction and fantasy are continued today by numerous
writers.
Cinema,
animation and media
Russian and later
Soviet cinema was a hotbed of invention in the period immediately
following the 1917, resulting in world-renowned films such as
The Battleship Potemkin by
Sergei Eisenstein.[253]
Eisenstein was a student of filmmaker and theorist
Lev Kuleshov, who developed the
Soviet montage theory of film editing at the world's first film
school, the
All-Union Institute of Cinematography.
Dziga Vertov, whose kino-glaz ("film-eye") theory—that the
camera, like the human eye, is best used to explore real life—had a huge
impact on the development of documentary film making and cinema realism.
The subsequent state policy of socialist realism somewhat limited
creativity, however many Soviet films in this style were artistically
successful, like
Chapaev,
The Cranes Are Flying, and
Ballad of a Soldier.[253]
1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in the
Soviet cinema.
Eldar Ryazanov's and
Leonid Gaidai's comedies of that time were immensely popular, with
many of the catch phrases still in use today. 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.[254]
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.[255]
Shukhov Tower in Moscow served for the early radio and
TV broadcasting.
Russian animation dates back to the late
Russian Empire times. During Soviet era,
Soyuzmultfilm studio was the largest animation producer. Soviet
animators developed a great variety of pioneering techniques and
aesthetic styles, with prominent directors including
Ivan Ivanov-Vano,
Fyodor Khitruk and
Aleksandr Tatarsky. Many Soviet cartoon heroes, such as the
Russian-style
Winnie-the-Pooh, cute little
Cheburashka, Wolf and Hare from
Nu, Pogodi! are iconic images in Russia and many surrounding
countries.
The late 1980s and 1990s were a period of crisis in Russian cinema
and animation. Although Russian filmmakers became free to express
themselves, state subsidies were drastically reduced, resulting in fewer
films produced. The early years of the 21st century have brought
increased viewership and subsequent prosperity to the industry on the
back of the economic revival. Production levels are already higher than
in Britain and Germany.[256]
Russia's total box-office revenue in 2007 was $565 million, up 37% from
the previous year.[257]
In 2002 the
Russian Ark became the first feature film ever to be shot in a
single take. The traditions of Soviet animation were developed recently
by such directors as
Aleksandr Petrov and studios like
Melnitsa Animation.
Russia was among the first countries to
introduce radio
and television. While there were few channels in the Soviet time, in
the past two decades many new state and private-owned
radio stations and
TV channels appeared. In 2005 a state-run English language
Russia Today TV started broadcasting, and its Arabic version
Rusiya Al-Yaum was launched in 2007.
Sports
Russian football fans with a gigantic "Go Russia!" banner,
featuring the
Russian Bear on the background of the
Russian flag
Combining the
total medals of Soviet Union and Russia, the country is second among
all nations by number of gold medals both at the Summer Olympics and at
the Winter Olympics. Soviet and later
Russian athletes have always been in the top three for the number of
gold medals collected at the Summer Olympics. Soviet gymnasts,
track-and-field athletes, weight lifters, wrestlers, boxers, fencers,
shooters, cross country skiers, biathletes, speed skaters and figure
skaters were consistently among the best in the world, along with Soviet
basketball, handball, volleyball and ice hockey players.[258]
The
1980 Summer Olympics were held in Moscow while the
2014 Winter Olympics will be hosted in
Sochi.
Although
ice
hockey was only introduced during the Soviet era, the national team
managed to win gold at almost all the
Olympics and
World Championships they contested. Russian players
Valery Kharlamov,
Sergey Makarov,
Vyacheslav Fetisov and
Vladislav Tretiak hold four of six positions in the
IIHF Team of the Century.[259]
Recently Russia won the
2008,
2009 and the
2012 IIHF World Championships, overtaking Canada as the world's
top ranked ice hockey team.[260]
Russia totally dominated the 2012 tournament, winning all of its ten
matches—the first time any team had done so since the Soviet Union in
1989.[261]
The
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) was founded in 2008 as a successor
to the
Russian Superleague. It is seen as a rival to the
National Hockey League (NHL) and is ranked the top hockey league in
Europe as of 2009.[262]
Bandy,
also known as
Russian hockey, is another traditionally popular ice sport.[263]
The Soviet Union won all the
Bandy World Championships between 1957–79.[264]
Along with ice hockey and basketball, association football is one of
the most popular sports in modern Russia. The Soviet national team
became the first ever European Champions by winning
Euro 1960. In recent years, Russian football, which downgraded in
1990s, has experienced a revival. Russian clubs
CSKA Moscow and
Zenit St Petersburg won the
UEFA Cup in 2005 and 2008 respectively. The
Russian national football team reached the semi-finals of
Euro 2008, losing only to the eventual champions Spain. Russia will
host the
2018 FIFA World Cup, with 14 host cities located in the European
part of the country and on the Urals. In 2007, the
Russian national basketball team also won the
European Basketball Championship. Russian basketball club
PBC CSKA Moscow is one of the top teams in Europe, winning the
Euroleague in
2006 and
2008.
Larisa Latynina, who currently holds a record for most Olympic
medals won per person and most gold Olympic medals won by a woman,
established the USSR as the dominant force in gymnastics for many years
to come.[265]
Today, Russia is leading in
rhythmic gymnastics with
Alina Kabayeva,
Irina Tschaschina and
Yevgeniya Kanayeva. Russian
synchronized swimming is the best in the world, with almost all gold
medals at Olympics and World Championships having been swept by Russians
in recent decades.
Figure skating is another popular sport in Russia, especially
pair skating and
ice dancing. At every Winter Olympics from 1964 until 2006 a Soviet
or Russian pair has won gold. Since the end of the Soviet era, tennis
has grown in popularity and Russia has produced a number of famous
players, including
Maria Sharapova, the world's highest paid female athlete.[266]
In martial arts, Russia produced the sport
Sambo and many renown fighters, like
Fedor Emelianenko.
Chess is
a widely popular pastime in Russia; from 1927, Russian grandmasters have
held the
world chess championship almost continuously.[267]
Formula One is also becoming increasingly popular in Russia.
Renault's
Vitaly Petrov is the only Russian Formula One driver to date. There
have only ever been two Russian Grands Prix (in 1913 and 1914), but it
is set
to return for 2014, in a six-year deal.[268]
National holidays and symbols
There are seven
public holidays in Russia,[269]
except those always celebrated on Sunday. Russian New Year traditions
resemble those of the Western Christmas, with
New Year Trees and gifts, and
Ded
Moroz (Father
Frost) playing the same role as
Santa Claus.
Orthodox Christmas falls on 7 January, because
Russian Orthodox Church still follows the
Julian calendar and all Orthodox holidays are 13 days after Western
ones. Another two major Christian holidays are Easter and
Trinity Sunday.
Kurban Bayram and
Uraza Bayram are celebrated by Russian Muslims.
Further Russian public holidays include
Defender of the Fatherland Day (23 February), which honors Russian
men, especially those serving in the army;
International Women's Day (8 March), which combines the traditions
of
Mother's Day and
Valentine's Day;
Spring and Labor Day (1 May);
Victory Day (9 May);
Russia Day (12 June); and
Unity Day (4 November), commemorating the popular uprising which
expelled the Polish occupation force from Moscow in 1612.
Victory Day is the second most popular holiday in Russia; it
commemorates the victory over
Nazism
in the
Great Patriotic War. A huge
military parade, hosted by the
President of Russia, is annually organised in Moscow on
Red
Square. Similar parades took place in all major Russian cities and
cities with the status
Hero city or City of Military Glory.
Popular non-public holidays include
Old New Year (New Year according to Julian Calendar on 14 January),
Tatiana Day (students holiday on 25 January),
Maslenitsa (a pre-Christian spring holiday a week before the
Great Lent),
Cosmonautics Day (in tribute to the first human trip into space),
Ivan Kupala Day (another pre-Christian holiday on 7 July) and
Peter and Fevronia Day (taking place on 8 July and being the Russian
analogue of Valentine's Day, which focuses, however, on the family love
and fidelity).
State symbols of Russia include the
Byzantine
double-headed eagle, combined with
St. George of Moscow in the
Russian coat of arms. The
Russian flag dates from the late
Tsardom of Russia period and has been widely used since the time of
the
Russian Empire. The
Russian anthem shares its music with the
Soviet Anthem, though not the lyrics. The imperial
motto
God is with us and the Soviet motto Proletarians of all
countries, unite! are now obsolete and no new motto has replaced
them. The
hammer and sickle and the full
Soviet coat of arms are still widely seen in Russian cities as a
part of old architectural decorations. The Soviet
Red Stars are also encountered, often on military equipment and war
memorials. The
Red
Banner continues to be honored, especially the
Banner of Victory of 1945.
The
Matryoshka doll is a recognizable symbol of Russia, and the towers
of
Moscow Kremlin and
Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow are main Russia's architectural
icons.
Cheburashka is a mascot of the
Russian national Olympic team.
St. Mary,
St. Nicholas,
St. Andrew,
St. George,
St. Alexander Nevsky,
St. Sergius of Radonezh and
St. Seraphim of Sarov are Russia's
patron saints.
Chamomile is the
national flower, while
birch the
national tree. The
Russian bear is an animal symbol and a
national personification of Russia, though this image has a Western
origin and Russians themselves have accepted it only fairly recently.
The native Russian national personification is
Mother Russia.
Tourism
Grand Cascade in
Peterhof, a popular tourist destination in Saint
Petersburg
Tourism in Russia has seen rapid growth since the late Soviet times,
first domestic tourism and then international tourism, fueled by the
rich cultural heritage and great natural variety of the country. Major
tourist routes in Russia include a journey around the
Golden Ring of ancient cities, cruises on the big rivers like the
Volga, and long journeys on the famous
Trans-Siberian Railway.
The most visited destinations in Russia are Moscow and Saint
Petersburg, the current and the former capitals of the country.
Recognized as
World Cities, they feature such world-renown museums as
Tretyakov Gallery and
Hermitage, famous theaters like
Bolshoi and
Mariinsky, ornate churches like Saint Basil's Cathedral,
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour,
Saint Isaac's Cathedral and
Church of the Savior on Blood, impressive fortifications like
Moscow Kremlin and
Peter and Paul Fortress, beautiful squares and streets like
Red
Square,
Palace Square,
Tverskaya Street and
Nevsky Prospect. Rich palaces and parks are found in the former
imperial residences in suburbs of Moscow (Kolomenskoye,
Tsaritsyno) and St Petersburg (Peterhof,
Strelna,
Oranienbaum,
Gatchina,
Pavlovsk and
Tsarskoye Selo). Moscow displays the
Soviet architecture at its best, along with
modern skyscrapers, while St Petersburg, nicknamed Venice of the
North, boasts of its classical architecture, many rivers, channels
and bridges.
Kazan,
the capital of
Tatarstan, shows a mix of Christian Russian and Muslim Tatar
cultures. The city has registered a brand The Third Capital of Russia,
though a number of other major cities compete for this status, including
Novosibirsk,
Yekaterinburg and
Nizhny Novgorod.
Typical Russian souvenirs include
matryoshka doll and other
handicrafts,
samovars
for water heating,
ushanka
and
papaha warm hats, and fur clothes. Russian
vodka and
caviar
are among the food that attracts foreigners.
The warm subtropical Black Sea coast of Russia is the site for a
number of popular sea resorts, like
Sochi,
the follow-up host of the
2014 Winter Olympics. The mountains of the
Northern Caucasus contain popular ski resorts, including
Dombay. The most famous natural destination in Russia is
Lake Baikal, the Blue Eye of Siberia. This unique lake,
oldest and deepest in the world,[123]
has crystal-clean waters and is surrounded by
taiga-covered
mountains. Other popular natural destinations include
Kamchatka with its volcanoes and geysers,
Karelia
with its lakes and
granite
rocks, the snowy
Altai Mountains, and the wild steppes of
Tyva.
See also
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