RuSsia

Russia is a state in the north of Eurasia, a Republican state with a semi-presidential system of 83 federal entities. Russia has a common border with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland (through Kaliningradskaya oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan in the Sea of Okhotsk and the United States through the Bering Strait. Russia is the world's largest country in terms of area, covering 8/1 of the world's inhabited land area of 17,075,400 square kilometers (6,592,800 square miles) and the ninth largest country in the world with more than 143 million inhabitants. Russia extends across North Asia and 40% of Europe, covers nine time zones and encompasses a wide range of environments and terrain. It has the world's largest reserves of mineral resources and energy and has the world's largest reserves of forests and lakes, which contain nearly a quarter of the world's freshwater.
The history of the country began since the appearance of the 

Eastern Slavs as a recognized group in Europe between the third and eighth centuries AD. In the 9th century AD, the empire of Kiev was founded by the Frankish warriors. Orthodox Christianity became a religion in 988 because of the influence of the Byzantine Empire. This was the beginning of the fusion of the Slavic and Byzantine cultures, which together formed the features of Russian culture for the next millennium. Kiev eventually broke up into a number of small states, and most of the Russian territory fell into the hands of the Mongol invasion in 1223 and became part of the golden tribe. Later, the Duchy of Moscow gradually consolidated its neighboring states and succeeded in independence from the rule of the Golden Tribe. It succeeded in inheriting the political and cultural heritage of Kiev. By the 18th century, the country had greatly expanded by launching invasions, wars, and exploration, thus creating the Russian Empire, which made the third largest empire in history Its influence extends from Poland in Europe to Alaska in North America.