Welcome to The Russia Portal

The flag of Russia

Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extending across eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. Russia is a highly urbanized country consisting of 16 population centers with over million inhabitants. Its capital as well as its largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and cultural capital.

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

Featured article

  Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Selected picture

Did you know...

Maria Nikolaevna

In this month

Alliances formed as a result of the Diplomatic Revolution

Cellar in the Abrau-Durso winery, near Novorossiysk

Russian wine refers to wine made in Russia, at times also including the disputed region of Crimea. The vast majority of Russia's territory is unsuitable for grape growing, with most of the production concentrated in parts of Krasnodar and Rostov regions, as well as Crimea.

The Russian market is characterized by the presence of many low-cost products, with a significant part of local wines having a retail price of less than 100 rubles ($1.71). Attempts to shift away from the low-quality reputation of Soviet wines has been moderately successful, though 80% of wines sold in Russia in 2013 were made from grape concentrates. (Full article...)

Selected biography – show another

Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan, also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi Baghramyan (2 December [O.S. 20 November] 1897 – 21 September 1982), was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union of Armenian origin.

During World War II Bagramyan was the second non-Slavic military officer, after Latvian Max Reyter, to become a commander of a Front. He was among several Armenians in the Soviet Army who held the highest proportion of high-ranking officers in the Soviet military during the war. (Full article...)

In the news

17 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine launches a massive drone attack across southwestern Russia, causing fires at several oil refineries, including at the port of Novorossiysk. (The New York Times)
Kharkiv strikes
At least three civilians are killed and 28 others are injured by Russian guided bombs in Kharkiv. (Reuters)
16 May 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces a $2 billion military aid package for Ukraine, aimed at investing in Ukraine's industrial base. (Al Jazeera)

More Did you know (auto generated)

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

WikiProjects

Selected quote

Complete equality of rights for all nations; the right of nations to self-determination; the unity of the workers of all nations—such is the national program that Marxism, the experience of the whole world, and the experience of Russia, teach the workers.

Featured content

Extended content
Featured articles
Featured lists
A-Class articles
Good articles

Topics

Related portals

Tasks

Things you can do Привет and Welcome! The following is a list of things you can do:

Russian editions of Wikimedia projects

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Wikiproject information

Discover Wikipedia using portals