2018.06.10. Sunday of All Saints of Russia. Divine Liturgy
2nd Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday of All Saints of Russia.
Hours and Liturgy of St John Chrysostom.
Record of the live streaming video from Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Washington, DC
June 10, 2018
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The Orthodox Church in the Era of Stalin
Kontakion to the New Martyrs of Russia
Dedicated to the countless millions of Russian Orthodox martyrs of the 20th century.
From the Akathist of Thanksgiving Glory to God for All Things CD from St Ignatius Orthodox Church.
Buy online at
Russia: Thousands in St. Petersburg decry handover of St. Isaac's Cathedral to Orthodox Church
Thousands of people gathered at Field of Mars park in Saint-Petersburg on Saturday to protest against the handover of the St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. One of St. Petersburg's most popular attractions, it is feared that the handover will result in restricted access for tourists, lead to the neglect of exhibits on display, and deprive the city of extra revenue.
More than 215,000 residents of Saint-Petersburg have already signed the petition against the handover of the city's landmark.
On January 10 the authorities of St. Petersburg announced that the state will give Saint Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church for a period of 49 years. More than 200,000 people signed a petition against the handover of the UNESCO heritage site claiming such an act could result in non-worshippers facing restricted access. The Russian Orthodox Church officials maintain that the cathedral will continue to function as a museum.
Video ID: 20170318 058
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The Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers in Sarov
31.07.03. The Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers in Orthodox religious procession with relics of Saint Serafim Sarovsky from Sarov in Diveevo. 100th anniversary of Serafim Sarovsky's canonization. News of First Russian TV.
✳️ Ледовая скульптура. Православный Рождественский Фестиваль Вифлеемская звезда
✳️ VIII Международный Рождественский Фестиваль ледовой скульптуры Вифлеемская звезда. Екатеринбург, 2014.
Тема Фестиваля: Сергий Радонежский — игумен Земли русской.
В 2014 году церковь и вся мировая общественность отмечают 700-летие со дня рождения Преподобного Сергия Радонежского — всея Руси чудотворца, основателя Свято-Троицкой Сергиевой Лавры. Сергий Радонежский — один из самых высокочтимых русских святых.
Международный Рождественский Фестиваль ледовой скульптуры Вифлеемская звезда проводится ежегодно на территории Храма-Памятника на Крови во имя Всех Святых в Земле Российской просиявших, г.Екатеринбург.
Фестиваль Вифлеемская звезда является мероприятием и рождественской, и духовно-нравственной тематики.
???? Статья о Фестивале ледовых скульптур Вифлеемская звезда. 2014 -
???? На канале Семицвет представлены видеоролики снятые в снежный период, посвящённые зимней природе, мероприятиям в это время года, встрече Нового Года и Рождества.
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???? Блог Семицвет -
???? YouTube Канал Семицвет -
???? Ледовые скульптуры -
⛄ Зимушка-Зима -
???? Новогодние ёлочные игрушки -
???? Фестиваль ледовой скульптуры Милостью Божией – Победа!. 2015 -
⭐ Фестиваль ледовой скульптуры, посвящённый 70-летию Великой Победы 2015 -
???? Выставка Щелкунчик. 800 фигур и кукол Щелкунчиков -
???? Коллекция Санта Клаусов и Дедов Морозов. 500 фигурок из разных стран -
#ЛедовыеСкульптуры #ГородЕкатеринбург #Семицвет
#ЛедовыйГородок #ЕвропаАзия #Православие #НовогодниеУкрашения #НовыйГод #Рождество
The Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers in Diveevo
29.07.03. The Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers in Orthodox religious procession with relics of Saint Serafim Sarovsky from Diveevo in Sarov. 100th anniversary of Serafim Sarovsky's canonization. News of First Russian TV.
Alapayevsk Monastery
Alapayevsk monastery - where the remainder of the Russian royal family were killed.
Moscow is not Sodom! 2011
28.05.11. The Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers is protesting against so called 'gay parade' in Moscow. 'Parade' was banned and broken up by police and Russian Orthodox believers and nationalists. News of Russian TV channel 'REN' , 28.05.11.
Nicholas II of Russia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Nicholas II of Russia
00:03:16 1 Family background
00:06:34 2 Tsarevich
00:09:51 3 Engagement, accession and marriage
00:13:43 4 Reign
00:13:52 4.1 Coronation
00:17:55 4.2 Initiatives in foreign affairs
00:18:52 4.3 Ecclesiastical affairs
00:19:40 4.4 Russo-Japanese War
00:22:47 4.5 Anti-Jewish pogroms of 1903–1906
00:23:48 4.6 Bloody Sunday (1905)
00:28:08 4.7 1905 Revolution
00:31:49 4.8 Relationship with the Duma
00:41:58 4.9 Tsarevich Alexei's illness and Rasputin
00:44:33 4.10 European affairs
00:46:48 4.11 Tercentenary
00:47:26 4.12 First World War
00:56:40 4.13 Collapse
01:01:25 4.13.1 Abdication (1917)
01:04:41 4.14 Imprisonment
01:08:10 4.15 Execution
01:11:32 5 Identification
01:13:22 6 Funeral
01:14:12 7 Sainthood
01:16:19 8 Assessment
01:19:54 9 Ancestry
01:20:03 10 Titles, styles, honours and arms
01:20:14 10.1 Titles and styles
01:21:29 10.2 Honours
01:22:12 10.2.1 National
01:22:39 10.2.2 Foreign
01:23:30 10.3 Arms
01:23:38 11 Children
01:23:47 12 Wealth
01:25:01 13 Documentaries and films
01:25:37 14 See also
01:25:53 15 Note
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Nicholas II or Nikolai II (Russian: Николай II Алекса́ндрович, tr. Nikolai II Aleksandrovich; 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918), known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer in the Russian Orthodox Church, was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 2 March 1917. His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. He was given the nickname Nicholas the Bloody or Vile Nicholas by his political adversaries due to the Khodynka Tragedy, anti-Semitic pogroms, Bloody Sunday, the violent suppression of the 1905 Russian Revolution, the execution of political opponents, and his perceived responsibility for the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Soviet historians portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects.Russia was defeated in the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War which saw the annihilation of the reinforcing Russian Baltic Fleet after being sent on its round-the-world cruise at the naval Battle of Tsushima, off the coasts of Korea and Japan, the loss of Russian influence over Manchuria and Korea, and the Japanese annexation to the north of South Sakhalin Island. The Anglo-Russian Entente was designed to counter the German Empire's attempts to gain influence in the Middle East, but it also ended the Great Game of confrontation between Russia and the United Kingdom. When all Russian diplomatic efforts to prevent the First World War (1914–1918) failed, Nicholas approved the Imperial Russian Army mobilization on 30 July 1914 which gave Imperial Germany formal grounds to declare war on Russia on 1 August 1914. An estimated 3.3 million Russians were killed in the First World War. The Imperial Russian Army's severe losses, the High Command's incompetent management of the war efforts, and lack of food and supplies on the home front were all leading causes of the fall of the House of Romanov.
Following the February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas abdicated on behalf of himself and his son and heir, the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. He and his family were imprisoned and transferred to Tobolsk in late summer 1917. On 30 April 1918, Nicholas, Alexandra, and their daughter Maria were handed over to the local Ural Soviet council in Ekaterinburg (renamed Sverdlovsk during the Soviet era); the rest of the captives followed on 23 May. Nicholas and his family were executed by their Bolshevik guards on the night of 16/17 July 1918. The remains of the imperial family were later found, exhumed, identified and re-interred with elaborate State and Church ceremony in St. Petersburg on 17 July 1998 – 80 years later.
In 1981, Nicholas, his wife, and their children were recognized as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outsid ...
Centre de théologie orthodoxe de San Serge à Paris
Centre de théologie orthodoxe de San Serge à Paris
Spritualità: Daniela Asaro Romanoff 2013
Russia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:06:32 1 Etymology
00:08:41 2 History
00:08:51 2.1 Early history
00:10:56 2.2 Kievan Rus'
00:14:52 2.3 Grand Duchy of Moscow
00:17:32 2.4 Tsardom of Russia
00:22:40 2.5 Imperial Russia
00:29:11 2.6 February Revolution and Russian Republic
00:31:01 2.7 Soviet Russia and civil war
00:32:50 2.8 Soviet Union
00:37:29 2.8.1 World War II
00:41:28 2.8.2 Cold War
00:46:28 2.9 Russian Federation
00:52:03 3 Politics
00:52:13 3.1 Governance
00:54:43 3.2 Foreign relations
01:00:35 3.3 Military
01:04:04 3.4 Political divisions
01:07:27 4 Geography
01:08:51 4.1 Topography
01:13:30 4.2 Climate
01:16:04 4.3 Biodiversity
01:17:30 5 Economy
01:26:22 5.1 Corruption
01:29:29 5.2 Agriculture
01:32:05 5.3 Energy
01:35:09 5.4 Transport
01:40:52 5.5 Science and technology
01:48:14 5.6 Space exploration
01:50:29 5.7 Water supply and sanitation
01:51:21 6 Demographics
01:57:01 6.1 Largest cities
01:57:11 6.2 Ethnic groups
01:57:41 6.3 Language
01:59:20 6.4 Religion
02:11:26 6.5 Health
02:13:42 6.6 Education
02:15:56 7 Culture
02:16:06 7.1 Folk culture and cuisine
02:20:06 7.2 Architecture
02:24:14 7.3 Visual arts
02:27:49 7.4 Music and dance
02:31:04 7.5 Literature and philosophy
02:35:14 7.6 Cinema, animation and media
02:39:41 7.7 Sports
02:47:57 7.8 National holidays and symbols
02:52:37 7.9 Tourism
02:56:04 8 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
Speaking Rate: 0.7925987386990176
Voice name: en-GB-Wavenet-C
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Russia (Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), officially the Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a country in Eurasia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 144.5 million people as of 2018, excluding Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is the largest metropolitan area in Europe proper and one of the largest cities in the world; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. 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 U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. However, Russia recognises two more countries that border it, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. 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, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. 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 in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde. 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 on the west to Alaska on th ...
Russian Federation | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:05:32 1 Etymology
00:07:19 2 History
00:07:28 2.1 Early history
00:09:14 2.2 Kievan Rus'
00:12:33 2.3 Grand Duchy of Moscow
00:14:49 2.4 Tsardom of Russia
00:19:10 2.5 Imperial Russia
00:24:38 2.6 February Revolution and Russian Republic
00:26:13 2.7 Soviet Russia and civil war
00:27:46 2.8 Soviet Union
00:31:41 2.8.1 World War II
00:36:03 2.8.2 Cold War
00:40:19 2.9 Russian Federation
00:47:10 3 Politics
00:47:19 3.1 Governance
00:49:28 3.2 Foreign relations
00:54:06 3.3 Military
00:57:02 3.4 Political divisions
00:59:52 4 Geography
01:01:04 4.1 Topography
01:04:56 4.2 Climate
01:07:07 4.3 Biodiversity
01:08:19 5 Economy
01:15:44 5.1 Energy
01:18:19 5.2 External trade and investment
01:19:12 5.3 Agriculture
01:21:22 5.4 Transport
01:26:09 5.5 Science and technology
01:32:23 5.6 Space exploration
01:34:41 5.7 Water supply and sanitation
01:35:25 5.8 Corruption
01:38:01 6 Demographics
01:43:21 6.1 Largest cities
01:43:29 6.2 Ethnic groups
01:43:55 6.3 Language
01:45:19 6.4 Religion
01:55:31 6.5 Health
01:57:25 6.6 Education
01:59:19 7 Culture
01:59:27 7.1 Folk culture and cuisine
02:02:48 7.2 Architecture
02:06:16 7.3 Visual arts
02:09:16 7.4 Music and dance
02:12:01 7.5 Literature and philosophy
02:15:32 7.6 Cinema, animation and media
02:19:16 7.7 Sports
02:26:13 7.8 National holidays and symbols
02:30:11 7.9 Tourism
02:33:06 8 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
Speaking Rate: 0.840215070640857
Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-C
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Russia (Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), officially the Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is by a considerable margin the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 146.77 million people as of 2019, including Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is one of the largest cities in the world and the second largest city in Europe; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. 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 U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. However, Russia recognises two more countries that border it, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. 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, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. 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 in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities and achieved independence from the Golden Horde. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to become the Russian Empire, wh ...
Russia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Russia
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
In case you don't find one that you were looking for, put a comment.
This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.
SUMMARY
=======
Russia (Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), officially the Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a country in Eurasia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 144.5 million people as of 2018, excluding Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is the largest metropolitan area in Europe proper and one of the largest cities in the world; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. 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 U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. 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, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. 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 in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde. 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 on the west to Alaska on the east.Following the Russian Revolution, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first constitutionally socialist state. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II, and emerged as a recognized superpower and rival to the United States during the Cold War. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the world's second largest economy, largest standing military in the world and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, twelve independent republics emerged from the USSR: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Baltic states regained independence: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania; the Russian SFSR reconstituted itself as the Russian Federation and is recognized as the continuing legal personality and a successor of the Soviet Union. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic.
Russia's economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has b ...
Russia | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Russia
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Russia (Russian: Росси́я, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə]), officially the Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə]), is a country in Eurasia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 144.5 million people as of 2018, excluding Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is the largest metropolitan area in Europe proper and one of the largest cities in the world; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. 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 U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait.
The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. 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, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. 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 in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde. 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 on the west to Alaska on the east.Following the Russian Revolution, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic became the largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first constitutionally socialist state. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II, and emerged as a recognized superpower and rival to the United States during the Cold War. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the world's second largest economy, largest standing military in the world and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, twelve independent republics emerged from the USSR: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Baltic states regained independence: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania; the Russian SFSR reconstituted itself as the Russian Federation and is recognized as the continuing legal personality and a successor of the Soviet Union. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic.
Russia's economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons ...