Short introduction to Russia

The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of the communist period.

Source: World Factbook

  1. Saint Petersburg
  2. Moscow
  3. Vladivostok
  4. Suzdal'
  5. Kostroma

  6. Dmitriyev
  7. Rostov
  8. Lake Baikal
  9. Yekaterinburg
10. Chayvo

11. Novgorod
12. Vladimir
13. Ramenskaya
14. Pskov
15. Irkutsk

16. Petersburg
17. Volgograd
18. Leningrad
19. Slyudyanka
20. Vyborg

  1. Moscow
  2. Saint Petersburg
  3. Vladivostok
  4. Ekaterinburg
  5. Chayvo

  6. Dmitriyev
  7. Vladimir
  8. Irkutsk
  9. Rostov
10. Yekaterinburg

11. Trans Urals
12. Russia
13. Ramenskaya
14. Dmitrov
15. Azov

16. Khuzhir
17. Novgorod
18. Omsk
19. Moscow-central

 1.  

Russia on Lonely Planet
Russia travel information, images, facts and more.

 2.  

Russia on Wikipedia
Lots of user contributed links and information on Russia.