Jump to content

Portal:Russia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 urbanised country including 16 population centres with over a million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and its 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. Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated; the Grand Duchy of Moscow led the unification of Russian lands, leading to the proclamation of the Tsardom of Russia in 1547. 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 ideological dominance and international 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...

Kirill Eskov

In this month

Moscow Kremlin

Pastila from Kolomna

Pastila (Russian: пастила́ [pəsʲtʲɪˈɫa]) is a traditional Russian fruit confectionery (pâte de fruits). It has been described as "small squares of pressed fruit paste" and "light, airy puffs with a delicate apple flavor". In Imperial Russia, the "small jellied sweetmeats" were served for tea "with a white foamy top, a bit like marshmallow, but tasting of pure fruit".

The first mentions of pastila in Russian written sources date back to the 16th century. The name is probably a loanword from Italian: pastello or pastiglia, or from the cognate French: pastille which in turn comes from Latin: pastillus (a loaf or pie, cf. pastilla). (Full article...)

Selected biography – show another

An elderly man sitting by a table and looking left. His right arm rests on the table and holds a book
Nikita Zotov, rotogravure by Alexandr Osipov, 1882–1883

Count Nikita Moiseevich Zotov (Russian: Никита Моисеевич Зотов, romanized: Nikita Moiseyevich Zotov, IPA: [nʲ'kʲta moɨ'sʲɛɪvʲɪt͡ɕ 'zotv] ) (1644 – December 1717) was a childhood tutor and lifelong friend of Russian Tsar Peter the Great. Historians disagree on the quality of Zotov's tutoring. Robert K. Massie, for example, praises his efforts, but Lindsey Hughes criticizes the education that he gave to the future tsar.

Not much is known about Zotov's life aside from his connection to Peter. Zotov left Moscow for a diplomatic mission to Crimea in 1680 and returned to Moscow before 1683. He became part of the "Jolly Company", a group of several dozen of Peter's friends that eventually became The All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters. Zotov was mockingly appointed "Prince-Pope" of the Synod, and regularly led them in games and celebrations. He accompanied Peter on many important occasions, such as the Azov campaigns and the torture of the Streltsy after their uprising. Zotov held a number of state posts, including from 1701 a leading position in the Tsar's personal secretariat. Three years before his death, Zotov married a woman 50 years his junior. He died in December 1717 of unknown causes. (Full article...)

In the news

18 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian energy crisis, 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
Ukraine re-implements nationwide rolling blackouts primarily due to the destruction of energy infrastructure by Russian airstrikes during the prior day. Odesa continues to be left without power since the onset of the attacks. (Reuters)
Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Odesa strikes
Russian forces launched a missile attack on the city of Odesa at the second consecutive day, killing at least 10 civilians, dozens injured and damaging civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings. (Ukrainska Pravda)
17 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian energy crisis

More Did you know (auto generated)

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

WikiProjects

Selected quote

Leo Tolstoy
A Frenchman is self-assured because he regards himself personally, both in mind and body, as irresistibly attractive to men and women. An Englishman is self-assured, as being a citizen of the best-organized state in the world, and therefore as an Englishman always knows what he should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly correct. An Italian is self-assured because he is excitable and easily forgets himself and other people. A Russian is self-assured just because he knows nothing and does not want to know anything, since he does not believe that anything can be known. The German's self-assurance is worst of all, stronger and more repulsive than any other, because he imagines that he knows the truth--science--which he himself has invented but which is for him the absolute truth.
Extended content
Featured articles
Featured lists
A-Class articles
Good articles

Topics

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