Russia is the largest country in the world by land area, spanning Eastern Europe and the whole of northern Asia across eleven time zones. It stretches from its western border with countries such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the Pacific coast facing Japan and Alaska across the Bering Strait.

Where Is Russia Located?

Russia occupies the northern part of the Eurasian landmass, bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the east, with the Ural Mountains conventionally marking the boundary between its European and Asian portions. Most of the country’s vast Asian territory, known as Siberia, is covered by taiga forest and tundra and has a much lower population density than the European west, where most major cities, including the capital, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg, are located. Lake Baikal, in southern Siberia, is the world’s deepest lake and holds roughly a fifth of the planet’s unfrozen fresh water.

A Brief History of Russia

The medieval state of Kievan Rus, centered on Kyiv and Novgorod, is considered the common ancestor of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian national identities. Moscow rose to dominance from the fourteenth century, and the Tsardom of Russia expanded into the much larger Russian Empire under rulers such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. The 1917 Revolution overthrew the tsarist government and eventually brought the Communist Party to power, forming the Soviet Union in 1922, which became one of two global superpowers after the Second World War. The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, and the Russian Federation emerged as its largest successor state, inheriting its UN Security Council seat and most of its nuclear arsenal.

Government and Economy

Russia is a federal semi-presidential republic, and Vladimir Putin, first elected president in 2000, has been the country’s dominant political figure for most of the period since. The economy is heavily dependent on exports of oil, natural gas, and other natural resources. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, an action widely condemned by the United Nations General Assembly and met with extensive sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and other governments, Russia’s international trade relationships and economic outlook have been substantially reshaped, with its government disputing the characterization of the war pressed by Ukraine and most Western governments. This remains a live and contested geopolitical issue, and the subject is noted here only for factual context.

Culture and People

Russian, a Slavic language written in the Cyrillic alphabet, is the official language, and Russian Orthodox Christianity is the largest religious tradition, though the country is religiously diverse. Russia has an outsized global cultural footprint for its population, producing writers such as Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Anton Chekhov, composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and institutions such as the Bolshoi Ballet and the Hermitage Museum.

What Is Russia Known For?

Besides its sheer size, Russia is most widely recognized by the colorful, onion-domed silhouette of Saint Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow, built in the sixteenth century under Ivan the Terrible. Red Square and the adjoining Moscow Kremlin, the historic seat of Russian government, together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are the single most reproduced image of the country, appearing constantly in film, media, and tourism material. Russia is also widely known for its pioneering role in early spaceflight, including the 1957 Sputnik satellite and Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 flight as the first human in space.

Why Russia Matters

As the world’s largest country by area, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the holder of the world’s largest nuclear weapons stockpile, Russia exerts outsized influence on international security, energy markets, and global diplomacy, regardless of shifts in its economic fortunes or international standing.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed October 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue