Russia (Russian: Росси́я, Rossiya; pronounced [rʌsʲi.jə]), als the Russian Federation (Росси́йская Федера́ция, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; [rʌsʲi.skə.jə fʲɪ.dʲɪra.ʦɪ.jə],(Russian language) listen (help·info)), is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia (Asia and Europe). With an area of 17,075,400 km², Russia is the largest country in the world covering almost twice the total area of the next-largest country, Canada, and has significant mineral and energy resources. Russia has the worlds ninth-largest population. Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It is also close to the United States (Alaska state), Sweden, and Japan across relatively small stretches of water (the Bering Strait, the Baltic Sea, and La Pérouse Strait, respectively).
Formerly the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia became the Russian Federation following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. After the Soviet era, the area, population, and industrial production of the Soviet Union (then one of the worlds two Cold Wa>After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly-independent Russian Federation emerged as a great power (although it is also considered to be an energ Russia is considered the Soviet Unions successor state in diplomatic matters (see Russias membership in the United Nations) and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the worlds largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction (see Russia and weapons of mass destruction). Russia is the leading nation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a member of the G8 as well as other international organisations.
