At the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 200 ethnic groups in Russia, and 146 languages and dialects were spoken. But the main part of the country's inhabitants (almost 80%) is made up of five ethnic groups: Great Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles and Jews. Great Russians make up 44.3% (55.7 million) of the country's population, Ukrainians (or Little Russians) 17.8% (22.4 million) and Belarusians 4.7% (5.9 million), and these three ethnic groups (before the 1917 revolution, the term "All Russians" included the three main East Slavic peoples - Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians) together accounted for 66.8% of the country's total population. [1]

national flag

Early flags: Time in use (1699-1858)

Early flags: Time in use (1699-1858)

After Peter the Great ascended the throne in 1721, the flag of the Russian Empire was for a long time the Romanov royal family's personal imperial flag, the black double-headed eagle on a gold background, until at the end of the 19th century, Nicholas II changed the flag to the style we know now. The flag is a horizontal rectangle with a ratio of length to width of about 3:2. The flag is made up of three parallel and equal horizontal rectangles, which are white, blue and red from top to bottom.

Middle Flag: Time of Use (1858-1883)

Middle Flag: Time of Use (1858-1883)

Russia is a vast country, and its territory spans three climatic zones: boreal, subarctic and temperate, which are connected in parallel by tricolor horizontal rectangles, which indicates this characteristic of Russia's geographical location. White represents the natural landscape of the cold zone with snow all year round, blue represents the subarctic climate zone, and symbolizes Russia's rich underground mineral deposits, forests, water power and other natural resources, and red is a symbol of the temperate zone, and also symbolizes Russia's long history and contribution to human civilization. The white, blue, and red tricolor comes from the red, white, and blue tricolor flags adopted during the reign of Peter the Great in 1697, and the red, white, and blue tricolors are known as the pan-Slavic colors.

Late National Flags: Time in Use (19th century-1917)

Late National Flags: Time in Use (19th century-1917)

The tricolor was abolished after the victory of the October Revolution in 1917.

In 1920, the Soviet government adopted a new flag, composed of red and blue, with a vertical blue bar on the left and a five-pointed star and a crossed hammer and sickle on the right. This flag is followed by the flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

After the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, the design of the national flag was modified to a red flag with a golden five-pointed star, sickle and hammer in the upper left corner.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was renamed the Russian Federation, and then the white, blue and red tricolor flags were adopted as the national flag. [2]

national emblem

In the midst of the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, the two European powers introduced the double-headed eagle motif into their coats of arms to show themselves as the legitimate successors of the ancient Roman Empire. One is Russia, where Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow, after marrying Princess Sophia Paleorog of the Byzantine Empire in 1473, put the double-headed eagle motif into the Russian coat of arms to indicate that Moscow was the third Rome.

State coat of arms of the Russian Empire

State coat of arms of the Russian Empire

The other is Austria, after the fall of Constantinople, the Habsburg royal family also made the double-headed eagle the main body of the royal emblem, showing itself as the royal family of the Holy Roman Empire. Some of the royal families of Germany used the double-headed eagle emblem to show their close relationship with the Habsburg royal family.

The State emblem of the Russian Federation is the coat of arms.

On November 30, 1993, Russia decided to adopt the national emblem of the era of Ivan the Terrible before the October Revolution with a double-headed eagle pattern: a golden double-headed eagle on the red shield, and on the head of the eagle are the three crowns of Peter the Great, and the eagle's talons hold the scepter and the golden ball that symbolize the monarchy. On the chest of the eagle is a small shield with a knight and a white horse on it.

The origin of the double-headed eagle dates back to the 15th century AD. The double-headed eagle was originally the emblem of Constantine I of the Byzantine Empire. Straddling the borders of Europe and Asia, the Byzantine Empire looked at southeastern Europe in the west and western Asia in the east, symbolizing the unity of the two continents and the union of peoples.

On May 29, 1453, the once glorious Byzantine Empire was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire, and the last emperor of the empire, Constantine XI, died heroically in battle. His two younger brothers, one submitted to the Ottoman Empire, and the other fled to Rome with his two sons and daughter, Sofia Palaiolog. Later, the two sons and one daughter were raised by the Pope after the death of their father. At that time, in order to use Russia's military power to defend against the Ottoman Turks, the Roman politicians married Sophia to Ivan III, the Grand Duke of Moscow.

Sophia thus came to Russia wearing the majestic double-headed eagle insignia of the Byzantine Empire. Sophia assisted her husband Ivan III in uniting the Russian lands into a unified state with a vast territory.

In 1497, the double-headed eagle appeared as a state emblem for the first time on the state seal of Russia, where it remained until 1918.

On November 30, 1993, the double-headed eagle, a symbol of the unity and unification of the Russian state, "flew" back to the coat of arms of Russia. At the end of the twentieth century, the State Duma legally established the double-headed eagle as the state symbol of Russia. [2]

Religious beliefs

St. Basil's Cathedral, the most famous Orthodox place in Russia

St. Basil's Cathedral, the most famous Orthodox place in Russia

The state religion of the Russian Empire was the Russian Orthodox Church, with the Tsar as its leader and the title of supreme protector. Although the Tsar could make appointments and dismissals, he could not modify the dogma and the content of the Church. The governing body of the Orthodox Church in the religious sense is the most holy synod of bishops, which enjoys great power in religious matters. Theoretically, all religious beliefs are free, but there are certain restrictions on Jews.

Geography ProfileEdit

Regional location

The Russian Empire spanned two continents, Europe and Asia (once established a colony in Alaska, North America, between 1799~1856), with an area of 228

Territory of the Russian Empire (1914)

Territory of the Russian Empire (1914)

80,000 square kilometers (1914), slightly smaller than North America, much larger than South America, was the second largest country in the world at that time, second only to the British Empire, its territory from the Bering Strait in the east, including the entire Siberian and Eastern European Plain, west to the Baltic Sea, south to the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea and the Hindu Kush Mountains, across the Amur River (Heilongjiang) and the Ussuri River to China, land and Lee Korea (before 1910), the Japanese Empire (after 1905), China (before 1912 for the Qing Empire, After 1912, it was bordered by the Republic of China), Afghanistan, Persia (Iran), the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Romania, Austria-Hungary, the German Empire, Sweden, Norway and other countries or regions. [3]

Topography

The Russian Empire consisted of five main geographical units:

(1) East Siberian mountains east of the Lena River, where the cold and barren, rugged terrain, sparsely populated, coniferous forests and tundra are widely distributed, forest resources are abundant, the main cities are Yakutsk, Tiksi, etc.

(2) The Central Siberian Plateau east of the Yenisei River and west of the Lena River, the altitude of this place is not as high as that of East Siberia, so it is relatively warm, and the transportation and economy are more developed than the latter, the Trans-Siberian Railway passes through here, the important channel Amur River (Heilongjiang) and the important port Vladivostok (Vladivostok) are also here, the world's deepest freshwater lake Lake Baikal is on the south side of this district, and important cities are Irkutsk, Vladivostok (Vladivostok) and so on.

(3) The West Siberian Plain east of the Ural Mountains and west of the Yenisei River, the terrain here is low and flat, the coniferous forest and permafrost are widely distributed, the temperature is low, and it is not suitable for agricultural production, but the transportation and water system are developed, the Ob River passes through, and the Trans-Siberian Railway is also on the south side, and the oil resources here are abundant, so the economy is developed, and the important cities are Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, etc.

(4) Central Asia, this place is located in the south more than other parts of Russia, so the sunshine is more sufficient, the cotton planting area in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya regions is huge, the steppe in the Kazakh region is widely distributed, it is an important animal husbandry base in Russia, the topography of this place is inclined from east to west, the east is the Tianshan Mountains, the central part is the Kazakh hills, the west is the Caspian coastal lowland, the main cities are Samarkand, Tashkent, Almaty, etc.

(5) The Eastern European Plain, which is the center of the Russian Empire, is the political and economic center of Russia, the climate in the north is cold, the coastal area in the northwest, the shipping and fishing industry is developed, the climate in the south of Ukraine is warm, the agriculture is developed, the whole region is low, the water system is developed, the Volga, the Dnieper River and other important rivers flow through here, the main cities are St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Astrakhan, Minsk, Warsaw, etc.

Climatic characteristics

The vast majority of Russia has a temperate continental climate, with only the mountainous part having a plateau climate and the northern Arctic Ocean coast having a cold climate.

time zone

Russia is a vast country, spanning 10 time zones (2nd to 12th East).

History editing

Overview

Ivan III

Ivan III

On May 29, 1453, after two years of siege, Mehmed II captured Constantinople (Istanbul), and the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine XI was killed in battle. The Eastern Roman Empire fell, the niece of the last Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine XI Sophia Palaiorog and the Russian Grand Duke Ivan III married Ivan III and became the second wife of Ivan III, Sophia Palaiorog and the son of the Russian Grand Duke Ivan III inherited the throne and became Vasily III.

The ancestors of the Russians were the Eastern Slavs of the Rus' tribe.

At the end of the 15th century, Grand Duke Ivan III of Muscovy established a centralized state, the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

In 1547, Ivan IV proclaimed himself "Tsar", and since the Rurik dynasty the capital has been Moss