Russia, officially the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It's the world's largest country by area and shares land borders with fourteen nations. With a population exceeding 140 million, Russia is the most populous country in Europe and the ninth-most populous globally. It is highly urbanized, with numerous cities exceeding one million residents. Moscow serves as the capital and largest city, while Saint Petersburg is a major cultural center.
Since 1904, Nobel Prizes were awarded to 26 Soviets and Russians in various fields.
In 1905, the Revolution of 1905 was triggered by the failure of the Russo-Japanese War, leading to major reforms.
In 1906, the Russian Constitution of 1906 was implemented, granting freedoms and creating the State Duma.
In 1914, Russia entered World War I in response to Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia.
In 1916, the Brusilov Offensive of the Imperial Russian Army significantly damaged the Austro-Hungarian Army.
In 1917, the Russian Revolution occurred, abolishing monarchic rule and replacing it with the Russian SFSR, the world's first constitutionally socialist state.
Under Nicholas II, in 1917, his reign came to an end.
In 1918, following the Russian Revolution, the Russian SFSR was proclaimed, with the name "Russian" in the title being Rossiyskaya to denote a multinational state.
On January 19, 1918, Russia was declared a democratic federal republic by the Russian Constituent Assembly, but the assembly was dissolved the next day.
The Russian famine of 1921 began, claiming up to five million victims.
On December 30, 1922, the Soviet Union was formed by joining the Russian SFSR with the Byelorussian, Transcaucasian, and Ukrainian republics.
In 1922, the Russian famine continued, claiming up to five million victims.
Following Lenin's death in 1924, a troika was designated to take charge.
In 1929, Leon Trotsky was exiled from the Soviet Union, and Stalin's idea of Socialism in One Country became the official line.
The Russian avant-garde flourished approximately from 1890 to 1930, producing globally influential artists.
In 1932, the Soviet famine began, leading to millions of deaths in the Russian SFSR.
In 1933, the Soviet famine continued, leading to millions of deaths.
On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union entered World War II with its invasion of Poland.
On June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front.
In 1941, the Siege of Leningrad began, resulting in starvation and many deaths.
In 1941, the period of World War II known as the Great Patriotic War began in Russia.
In the winter of 1942, the Germans were dealt a major defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad.
In the summer of 1943, the Germans suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Kursk.
In 1944, Soviet forces steamrolled through Eastern and Central Europe.
In May 1945, Soviet forces captured Berlin.
In August 1945, the Red Army invaded Manchuria and ousted the Japanese.
By 1945, the Soviet Union was considered one of the Big Four Allied powers in World War II.
In 1953, after Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin and launched the policy of de-Stalinization.
In 1954, Russia built the world's first nuclear power plant, pioneering civilian nuclear power.
In 1957, Laika, a Soviet space dog, became the first animal to orbit the Earth, aboard Sputnik 2.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, marking the start of the Space Age.
In 1958, the film Battleship Potemkin was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels World's Fair.
In 1960, the Soviet Union national football team became the first European champions by winning Euro 1960.
On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
From 1961 to 1968, Sergey Bondarchuk directed the Oscar-winning film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. It was the most expensive film made in the Soviet Union at that time.
In 1961, Yuri Gagarin successfully made the first human trip into space.
In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first and youngest woman in space, flying a solo mission on Vostok 6.
Following the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964, another period of collective rule ensued until Leonid Brezhnev became the leader.
In 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first human to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the space capsule during Voskhod 2.
In 1965, the Kosygin reform aimed for partial decentralisation of the Soviet economy.
In 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on the Moon.
In 1968, Zond 5 brought the first Earthlings (two tortoises and other life forms) to circumnavigate the Moon.
In 1969, Vladimir Motyl's White Sun of the Desert was released; the film is traditionally watched by cosmonauts before any trip into space.
In 1970, Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to land on another planet, Venus.
In 1979, Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan after a communist-led revolution.
From 1985 onwards, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).
In May 1988, the Soviets started to withdraw from Afghanistan.
In 1988, the Soviet Union national football team reached the finals of Euro 1988.
In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first directly elected President in Russian history when he was elected President of the Russian SFSR.
In August 1991, a coup d'état attempt by members of Gorbachev's government led to the end of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
On December 25, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, along with contemporary Russia, fourteen other post-Soviet states emerged.
In 1991, the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the Russian Federation.
Prior to 1991, the Soviet economy was the world's second-largest, but during its final years, it went into a crisis.
In 1992, most consumer price controls were eliminated, causing extreme inflation and significantly devaluing the rouble.
In 1993, Russia's population peaked at over 148 million.
In late 1993, tensions between Yeltsin and the Russian parliament culminated in a constitutional crisis which ended violently through military force.
In 1998, high budget deficits caused the Russian financial crisis, which resulted in a further GDP decline.
On December 31, 1999, President Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned, handing the post to Vladimir Putin.
In 2000, Putin won the presidential election and defeated the Chechen insurgency in the Second Chechen War.
In 2000, Vladimir Putin established the federal districts of Russia to enhance central government control of the federal subjects.
Since 2000, the number of incarcerated persons has fallen steadily, by 59%.
In 2002, Grigori Perelman was offered the first ever Clay Millennium Prize Problems Award for his final proof of the Poincaré conjecture.
In 2004, Vladimir Putin secured his second presidential term. This period saw significant improvements in the Russian economy and living standards, driven by high oil prices and increased foreign investment.
Since 2004, Freedom House has consistently ranked Russia as "not free" in its annual Freedom in the World survey.
In 2006, Grigori Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal.
In 2007, the Russian national basketball team won the EuroBasket 2007.
During 1–12 August 2008, the Russo-Georgian War took place, resulting in Russia recognising two separatist states in the territories it occupies in Georgia. This was the first European war of the 21st century.
In 2008, Russia was militarily involved in a war with Georgia.
In 2008, Vladimir Putin transitioned to the role of Prime Minister, while Dmitry Medvedev was elected President. This arrangement, described as a "tandemocracy," allowed Putin to maintain power despite presidential term limits.
In 2009, Russia recorded annual population growth for the first time in fifteen years.
According to the Russian Census of 2010, 137.5 million people across the country spoke Russian, 3.1 million spoke Tatar, and 1.1 million spoke Ukrainian.
In 2012, the research organisation Sreda, published the Arena Atlas, an adjunct to the 2010 census
In the 2010 census, roughly 81% of the population in Russia were ethnic Russians.
In 2011, with the final flight of the Space Shuttle program, Soyuz rockets became the only launch vehicles capable of transporting astronauts to the ISS until 2020.
Since 2011, the Economist Intelligence Unit has classified Russia as an "authoritarian regime" in its Democracy Index.
In 2012, Vladimir Putin won the presidential election, which sparked the "Snow Revolution" protests.
In 2012, the research organization Sreda, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, published the Arena Atlas detailing religious populations and nationalities of Russia.
In 2013, Russia introduced restrictions on LGBTQ rights, passing an anti-LGBTQ law banning "gay propaganda."
In 2014, Russia was expelled from the G8.
In 2014, Russia was militarily involved in a war with Ukraine, which included the internationally unrecognised annexation of Crimea.
In 2014, the Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics were hosted in Sochi.
In early 2014, Russia annexed Crimea following a disputed referendum held under Russian occupation after a pro-Western revolution in Ukraine. This annexation triggered an insurgency in the Donbas region of Ukraine, supported by Russian military intervention.
In 2015, Russia joined the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In 2017, Russia was the host nation for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In 2017, the Jehovah's Witnesses were outlawed in Russia, facing persecution after being declared an "extremist" and "nontraditional" faith.
Amidst nationwide protests against corruption, Vladimir Putin was re-elected for his second consecutive term in the 2018 presidential election.
In 2018, Russia maintained the world's sixth-largest fishing industry, capturing nearly 5 million tons of fish.
In 2018, Russia's shadow economy was estimated to be about 44% of the total GDP.
As of 2019, Russia has the third-largest immigrant population in the world, with over 12 million immigrants.
As of 2019, Russia has the world's fifth-largest road network, with over 1.5 million km of roads.
In 2019, Russia had a Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 9.02, ranking 10th out of 172 countries.
In 2019, Russia ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In 2019, Russia spent about 1% of its GDP on research and development.
As of 2020, the vast majority of immigrants in Russia hail from post-Soviet states, with about half of them being from Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
In 2020, Russia ranked tenth worldwide in the number of scientific publications, with roughly 1.3 million papers.
In 2020, the Russian parliament legalized a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Since 2020, excessive deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the largest peacetime decline in Russia's history.
Until SpaceX's first crewed mission in 2020, Soyuz rockets were the only launch vehicles capable of transporting astronauts to the ISS following the final flight of the Space Shuttle program in 2011.
As of 2021, Russia's intentional homicide rate stood at 6.8 per 100,000 people.
In 2021, Russia spent 7.39% of its GDP on healthcare, which is notably lower than other developed nations.
In 2021, the Ministry of Justice designated the LGBTQ rights group Russian LGBT Network as a "foreign agent".
In the 2021 census, Russia's population was 147.2 million.
Russia ranked 45th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, before dropping to 60th in 2024.
As of 2022, Russia is the fifth-largest hydroelectric producer, with hydroelectric power contributing almost a fifth to the total energy generation.
As of 2022, the overall life expectancy in Russia at birth is 73 years (68 years for males and 78 years for females).
During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia established filtration camps where many Ukrainians were subjected to abuses and forcibly sent to Russia.
Following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia significantly developed its relations with North Korea, with increased defence co-operation.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country faced extensive sanctions which have the aim of isolating the Russian economy from the Western financial system.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the demographic crisis has deepened, owing to high military fatalities and renewed emigration.
In 2022, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe.
In 2022, during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Russia annexed four other regions of Ukrainian territory, which was internationally unrecognised.
In 2022, further amendments were made to the 2013 anti-LGBTQ law.
In 2022, the annual Formula One Russian Grand Prix, held at the Sochi Autodrom, was terminated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since 2022, penal military units have been deployed as storm troops during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War.
In June 2023, the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, initiated a rebellion against the Russian Ministry of Defence, capturing Rostov-on-Don before marching on Moscow. The rebellion was later called off after negotiations, and the leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash.
In August 2023, Luna 25 launched, marking the first of the Luna-Glob Moon exploration program.
As of 2023, Russia is the second-largest producer and the third-largest exporter of natural gas.
As of 2023, Russia is the world's third-largest energy producer, with fossil fuels accounting for a significant portion of its energy production and consumption.
As of 2023, Russia maintains the world's third-highest military expenditure, spending $109 billion, corresponding to about 5.9% of its GDP.
As of 2023, Russia's greenhouse gas emissions are the fourth-largest in the world.
As of 2023, agriculture, forestry and fishing contributes about 3.3% of the country's total GDP.
As of 2023, the service sector accounts for roughly 57% of Russia's total GDP.
In 2023, Russia had the world's second-largest illegal arms trade market, after the United States.
In 2023, the Russian parliament passed a bill banning gender reassignment surgery for transgender people and the Supreme Court of Russia banned the international LGBTQ movement as "extremist", outlawing it in the country.
As of 2024, Russia has the world's sixth-largest diplomatic network and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
As of 2024, Russia is the lowest rated European country in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking 154th out of the 180 countries listed.
As of 2024, the total fertility rate across Russia is estimated to be 1.41 children born per woman.
In 2024, Russia was ranked 150th out of 167 countries in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index.
In 2024, Russia's large oil and gas sector accounted for 30% of its federal budget revenues, down from 50% in the mid-2010s, indicating economic diversification.
In 2024, Vladimir Putin secured his third consecutive term in the presidential election, winning 88% of the vote.
In 2024, the Supreme Court issued the first convictions from the latter ruling.
Russia ranked 60th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024, down from 45th in 2021.
As of 2025, the Russian military has 1.1 million active-duty personnel, which is the world's fifth-largest, and about 1.5 million reserve personnel.
In 2025, Russia had an estimated population of 146.0 million (143.6 million excluding Crimea and Sevastopol).
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