10 Facts About Russia

Russia is an immensely huge and diverse country. Following are 10 facts about Russia.

10 Facts About Russia

With a long history and immense political turmoil, there are a ton of facts about Russia. Here are 10 quick facts:

Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was dominated for over 200 years by the Mongols.
Under Peter the Great (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire.
In 1917, The Communists under Vladimir Lenin seized power and formed the USSR.

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.
A determined guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya and threatens to destabilize the North Caucasus region.
Russia has a wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, timber, gold and many strategic minerals.
Russia is the largest country in the world.
The population of Russia was estimated in 2005 to be 143,420,309.

There are approximately 10 million more woman than men in Russia.
Russia ended 2005 with its seventh straight year of growth, averaging 6.4% annually since the financial crisis of 1998.

These 10 facts about Russia are really the tip of the iceberg. Still, they are as good a starting point as any.