Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ( listen); Russian: Россия transliterated: Rossiya , pronounced [rʌˈsʲijə]), officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation[8][9] (Russian: Российская Федерация​ (help·info), Rossiyskaya Federatsiya), is a country in northern Eurasia (Europe and Asia together).[10] It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. Russia shares borders with the following countries (from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Poland (via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan (by the Sea of Okhotsk) and the United States (by the Bering Strait). At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is, in area, by far the largest country in the world, covering more than an eighth of the Earth’s land area; with 142 million people, it is the ninth largest by population.[1] It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 11 time zones, and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources,[11] and is considered an energy superpower.[12] [13] [14] It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.[15]

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.[10] Founded and ruled by a noble Viking warrior class and their descendants, the first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', arose in the 9th century and adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988,[16] beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium.[16] Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated and the lands were divided into many small feudal states. The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus' was Moscow, which served as the main force in the Russian reunification process and independence struggle against the Golden Horde. Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities 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 to Alaska.

Russia established worldwide power and influence from the times of the Russian Empire to being the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first and largest constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] The Russian Federation was founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet state.[27] Russia is constitutionally a semi-presidential republic with the President acting as head of state and the Prime Minister acting as head of government under a representative democratic structure.[28] Nevertheless, leading Western pro-democracy organizations claim Russia exhibits few democratic attributes, for example the nation is described as ‘not free’ by Freedom House.[29] Russia has the world's eighth largest GDP by nominal GDP or sixth largest by purchasing power parity with the eighth largest military budget. It is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.[30] Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, G20, APEC, and the SCO, and is a leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Russian nation can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts and sciences,[10] as well as a strong tradition in technology, including such significant achievements as the first human spaceflight.

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Russia: 2 Opposition Parties Return - New York Times
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Russia : 2 Opposition Parties Return

New York Times

Two days after they walked out of Russia's Parliament to protest what they said was widespread election fraud, two opposition parties ...

Kremlin tells ruling party: no shame in victory Reuters India



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Thu Oct 8 17:24:00 2009
 Russia Hedges on Iran Sanctions | Taylor Marsh TaylorMarsh.com ...
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Taylor Marsh

ue, 13 Oct 2009 23:01:53 GM

Taylor Marsh is a political analyst, author, and insightful journalist focusing on political analysis and foreign policy, as well as anything happening on the national scene, and has been writing on the web since 1996, ...

Google Blogs Search: Russia,
Wed Oct 14 05:27:20 2009
Do you think Russia and China will soon start selling big weapons to South american countries ?
Q. and other countries throughout the world and slowly start surrounding the USA with countries that are friendlier to them than USA? If Russian wants to have a several billion dollar arm deal with Venezuela at this point, what can the USA do to stop it...other than escalating the situation by doing more of the same such as placing missiles in Poland etc..?? Was there not a time, when it was understood that Russia (then the soviets) could not dare to even enter into such a deal with a country in our hemisphere?
Asked by jesswzmn - Mon Sep 29 04:57:48 2008 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Yes, America's standing in the world has been reduced, and our influence weakened, over the last eight years. It will probably take a generation to repair the damage Bush and the Republicans have done.
Answered by Elwood Blues - Mon Sep 29 09:41:18 2008

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Sun Oct 18 03:25:31 2009