Russia

A country (territory) and state populated mainly by Russians. Prior to the Great October Socialist Revolution, the term “Russia” was understood to mean the entire Russian Empire (formed in the early 18th century), whose territories were populated both by Russian and by non-Russian peoples. In Russian texts, the name “Russia” was first applied to the country in the late 15th century, but until the late 17th century the country was more often referred to as Rus’, the Russian land, or the Muscovite State.
In the mid-16th century, “Russia” or “Russian Tsardom” (Rossiiskoe tsarstvo) referred to all the lands that then constituted the centralized state headed by Moscow. Later, the term “Russian” (rossiiskii) came to refer to subjects of the state; the term “Russians” (russkie) was first used in reference to the people at the beginning of the 16th century. In the 17th century, the terms “Russia” (Rossiia) and “Russian Land” (Rossiiskaia zemlia) came into widespread use in Russian texts. In the early 18th century, the Russian State under Emperor Peter I became known officially as the Russian Empire.
As a result of the October Revolution of 1917, Soviet power was established in most of the territory of the former Russian Empire and the name “Soviet Russia” came into being. The Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic was formed. In 1922, the RSFSR, together with the Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. At present, “Russia” usually refers to the RSFSR. In foreign publications, the name “Russia” is frequently used to designate the entire USSR.
Category:Country
Category:Asia