Russia

a very large country in Eastern Europe and northern Asia, officially called the Russian Federation, which goes from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea in the south, and from the borders of Belarus and Ukraine in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. Population: 142,500,482 (2014). Capital: Moscow. Before the Russian Revolution, Russia was a large powerful country, ruled by a king called the Czar. It formed the largest part of the Soviet Union (1917–91), and people often used the name ‘Russia’ when they meant the whole Soviet Union and its Communist government. The country now has a democratic government. Russia is known for its beautiful old buildings, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, for its many great writers, including Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov, and for having extremely cold winters. → see also CIS , Soviet Union, the

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