World Cities Online - Cities In Russia

The Largest Country In The World

Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world by area, extends across eleven time zones, and shares land boundaries with fourteen countries. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country. The country's capital and largest city is Moscow. Saint Petersburg is Russia's cultural centre and second largest city. Other major urban areas in the country include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Kazan. into the Russian Empire, which remains the third-largest empire in history. However with the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia's monarchic rule was abolished and eventually replaced by the Russian SFSR, the world's first constitutionally socialist state. Following the Russian Civil War, the Russian SFSR established the Soviet Union with three other Soviet republics, within which it was the largest and principal constituent. With the onset of the Cold War, it competed with the United States for global ideological influence. In 1991 the Russian SFSR emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the independent Russian Federation. A new constitution was adopted which established a federal semi presidential system. Since the turn of the century Russia's political system has been dominated by Vladimir Putin.

Russia's vast landmass stretches over the easternmost part of Europe and the northernmost part of Asia. It spans the northernmost edge of Eurasia and has the world's fourth-longest coastline of over 37,653 km (23,396 mi). Russia, by landmass is larger than three continents. Russia has nine major mountain ranges and they are found along the southernmost regions which share a significant portion of the Caucasus Mountains (containing Mount Elbrus, which at 5,642 m (18,510 ft) is the highest peak in Russia and Europe); the Altai and Sayan Mountains in Siberia; and in the East Siberian Mountains and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East (containing Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which at 4,750 m (15,584 ft) is the highest active volcano in Eurasia). The Ural Mountains running north to south through the country's west are rich in mineral resources and form the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia. The lowest point in Russia and Europe is situated at the head of the Caspian Sea where the Caspian Depression reaches some 29 metres (95.1 ft) below sea level.

Russia as one of the world's only three countries bordering three oceans has links with a great number of seas. Its major islands and archipelagos include Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, Severnaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, the Kuril Islands (four of which are disputed with Japan), and Sakhalin. The Diomede Islands, administered by Russia and the United States are just 3.8 km (2.4 mi) apart; and Kunashir Island of the Kuril Islands is merely 20 km (12.4 mi) from Hokkaido, Japan. Russia is home of over 100,000 rivers, has one of the world's largest surface water resources, with its lakes containing approximately one quarter of the world's liquid fresh water. Lake Baikal, the largest and most prominent among Russia's fresh water bodies, is the world's deepest, purest, oldest and most capacious fresh water lake, containing over one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. Ladoga and Onega in northwestern Russia are two of the largest lakes in Europe. Russia is second only to Brazil by total renewable water resources. The Volga in western Russia, widely regarded as Russia's national river, is the longest river in Europe; and forms the Volga Delta, the largest river delta in the continent. The Siberian rivers of Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and Amur are among the world's longest rivers.