The Largest Country on the Planet

Ever looked at a map of the world and realized that there is one country on there which is quite larger than the rest? Of course, we are talking about Russia. Let's dive a little deeper into this fascinating country.

Russia is a country spanning from eastern parts of Europe all the way to the Berings straits bordering USA, Alaska.
Russia today has a approx population 146 million and the ethnic composition is:

Ethnic Group Percentage
Russian 71.7%
Tatar 3.2%
Bashkir 1.1%
Chechen 1.1%
Other 11.3%
Not Reported 11.6%

Russia became the country it is today in 1991 when the USSR dissolved and marked the end of the cold war era. A new constitution was adopted, introducing a federal semi-presidential system.

Early history of Russia
The earliest human settlement in what we call Russia today, dates back to the Oldowan period during the early Lower Paleolithic era. Approximately 2 million years ago, Homo erectus migrated to the Taman Peninsula in southern Russia. Flint tools, estimated to be 1.5 million years old, have been uncovered in the North Caucasus. Radiocarbon dating of specimens from Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains suggests that the oldest Denisovan lived between 195,000 and 122,700 years ago. The same cave also yielded fossils of Denny, a hybrid of Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry, who lived around 90,000 years ago. Additionally, Russia was home to some of the last surviving Neanderthals, with remains dating back about 45,000 years, discovered in Mezmaiskaya Cave.

The establishment of the first East Slavic states in the 9th century coincided with the arrival of the Vikings who traveled along the waterways using their longboats. Their voyages went from the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas. According to the Primary Chronicle, a Varangian from the Rus' people, named Rurik, was elected ruler of Novgorod in 862. In 882, his successor Oleg ventured south and conquered Kiev, which had been previously paying tribute to the Khazars.Rurik's son Igor and Igor's son Sviatoslav subsequently subdued all local East Slavic tribes to Kievan rule, destroyed the Khazar Khaganate, and launched several military expeditions to Bulgaria, Byzantium and Persia.

Kievan Rus fell to the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240, which resulted in the sacking of Kiev and other cities, as well as the death of a major part of the population. The invaders, later known as Tatars, formed the state of the Golden Horde, which ruled over Russia for the next two centuries.
This part of the russian history has influenced it greatly, because the ideas of buffer zones or buffer states protecting the main mother land.

There is a lot more history you can dive into but this will be continued in the next couple of posts!

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