Rank Country Area (km2) Notes Russia * 3,972,400 17,098,242 including North Asia Ukraine 603,628 This includes Crimea France * 551,394 643,801 when the overseas departments are included Spain * 498,468 505,992 when the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are included Sweden 449,964 6 Norway 385,178 This includes Svalbard and Jan Mayen 7 Germany 357,168 8 Finland 338,145 9 Poland 312,685 10 Italy 301,338 11 United Kingdom 248,532 1,976,102 when the British Overseas Territories are included. 12 Romania 238,392 13 Belarus 207,600 14 Kazakhstan * 180,000 (est.) 2,724,902 including Asian part 15 Greece 131,940 16 Bulgaria 110,994 17 Iceland 102,775 18 Hungary 93,030 19 Portugal 91,568 20 Austria 83,858 21 Czech Republic 78,866 22 Serbia 77,453 This excludes Kosovo 23 Ireland 70,273 24 Lithuania 65,300 25 Latvia 64,589 26 Croatia 56,594 27 Bosnia and Herzegovina 51,129 28 Slovakia 49,036 29 Estonia 45,339 30 Denmark 44,493 This includes Faroe Islands; 2,210,579 including Greenland 31 Switzerland 41,290 32 Netherlands 41,198 Excluding Caribbean Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten. 33 Moldova 33,846 34 Belgium 30,510 35 Albania 28,748 36 Macedonia (Former Yugoslavian Republic) 25,713 37 Turkey * 23,507 783,562 including Asian part 38 Slovenia 20,273 39 Montenegro 13,812 40 Kosovo 10,908 Partially recognized state 41 Cyprus 9,251 42 Azerbaijan * 6,960 86,600 including Asian part 43 Luxembourg 2,586 44 Georgia * 2,428 69,700 including Asian part 45 Andorra 468 46 Malta 316 47 Liechtenstein 160 48 San Marino 61 49 Monaco 1.95 50 Vatican City 0.44 Total 10,141,183 ± 5,000
The Space Race began on August 2, 1955, when the Soviet Union responded to the US announcement four days earlier of intent to launch artificial satellites for the International Geophysical Year, by declaring they would also launch a satellite ``in the near future ''. The Soviet Union beat the US to this, with the October 4, 1957, orbiting of Sputnik 1, and later beat the US to the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961. The`` race'' peaked with the July 20, 1969, US landing of the first humans on the Moon with Apollo 11. The USSR tried but failed crewed lunar missions, and eventually canceled them and concentrated on Earth orbital space stations.
Naina Yeltsina was rarely seen in public. She accompanied her husband on some of his foreign visits, including 1997 visits to Sweden, Finland, and a 1999 visit to China. As a rule, Naina Yeltsina never interfered in her husband's political work. However, in the 1996 election campaign, she met with voters and gave interviews to the media. A major public appearance was the state funeral of her late husband in Moscow in April 2007.
Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin had been elected President of Russia in June 1991 in the first direct presidential election in Russian history. This ensured that Yeltsin would be the political leader of the Russian successor state following dissolution. This situation resulted in political turmoil as the Soviet and Russian leadership wrestled for control, which culminated in the 1991 August Putsch, where the Soviet military attempted to overthrow Gorbachev. Although the coup was ultimately averted, this situation contributed to rising instability in the Soviet Union. By October 1991, as the USSR was on the verge of collapse, Yeltsin announced that Russia would proceed with radical reforms, including market - oriented reform along the lines of Poland's ``big bang '', also known as`` shock therapy''.

Question: Where was the death of the first leader of largest country by area in Europe following the collapse of the country that lead the early days of the space race?
Answer: Moscow