Russians can rightfully claim that they live in the largest country in the world. The area of Russia at the beginning of 2014 was about 17,125 thousand square kilometers, which is twice that of Canada, which ranks second. And such a large territory of our state was formed gradually, over many centuries. It all started with a chain of small settlements that arose along the trade route from Scandinavia to Constantinople (“from the Varangians to the Greeks”) with the main cities - Novgorod and Kyiv. The area of Russian cities at that time was extremely small.
The political and economic relations of Russia were then mainly directed to Europe, but the state had to expand to the northeast, since relatively small Finno-Ugric peoples lived there, which, mixing with the arriving Slavic tribes, began to form the basis Russian ethnic group. In the Westthe same lay European states, where the population density was quite high.
Emerging Russia was larger than modern Saudi Arabia
In the 10th-12th centuries, the Slavs began to actively explore the territories between the Oka and Volga rivers, where the Krivichi began to move from Novgorod, and the Vyatichi from the south-west. A new trade route was formed along the Volga, which flows into the Caspian Sea, and new trading centers appeared in the northeast (Ryazan, Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, etc.).
By the end of the 12th century, the area of Russia (Rus) was 2.5 million square meters. kilometers. However, the next few centuries were unfavorable for territorial acquisitions, since in the 13th-15th centuries Russia underwent a disintegration into small principalities and was conquered by the Mongol-Tatar troops, the Polish-Lithuanian armies. The development of the territories at that time proceeded only in a northern direction (people fled there, founding a sub-ethnos of Pomors on the shores of the Barents and White Seas). At that time, the area of Russia is only 2 million square meters. kilometers, which, however, is larger than the territory of modern Mexico or Saudi Arabia (about 1.9 million square kilometers each).
Russia's area triples
In the 14th century, the Principality of Moscow began to play a special role in the Russian expanses, which received from the Golden Horde the right to collect tribute from other lands. This state formation gradually strengthened and in 1380 won the first victory over the Mongols-Tatars. Further to the available territories wereVeliky Ustyug, Tula, Rzhev, Nizhny Novgorod were annexed, and the victory on the Ugra River in 1480 freed Russian lands from Horde dependence and made it possible to expand to the east.
When Ivan the Terrible came to power, he annexed the Astrakhan and Kazan khanates to the Moscow principality, while attempts to expand to the west in the 14th-17th centuries were unsuccessful. At the end of the 16th century, the predominantly peaceful development of Siberia, the Urals began, Russian settlers came to the shores of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk, building cities everywhere and organizing fur fishing. By the end of the 17th century, the area of Russia is 7 million square meters. km.
Formation of the Russian Empire
In the eighteenth-early nineteenth century, the formation of the Russian Empire began, when the Left-Bank Ukraine came out of the jurisdiction of the Commonwe alth and became part of what was then Russia. In the same period, Peter the Great "cut a window to Europe", took possession of the territories of modern Estonia and Latvia. Further, during the division of the Commonwe alth, Belarus, Lithuania and Right-Bank Ukraine passed to the Russian Empire. In the east, it is possible to win back the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas from the Ottomans, and in the west, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, to annex Finland. In addition, Bessarabia was annexed during this period. The total area of the Russian state by the end of the above period was 16 million square meters. kilometers.
The area of the Russian Empire reached 24 million square meters. kilometers
Approximately 8 million more sq. kilometers (up to 24 mln.sq. km) the area of Russia increased by the beginning of the 20th century due to the entry of Georgia and Armenia (at the request of the rulers of these territories), a number of lands of the North Caucasian peoples, the voluntary annexation of almost all Kazakh territories, Kyrgyz lands. The Khiva and Bukhansk kingdoms were introduced into the Russian Empire as a result of wars, and Alaska (which was subsequently sold to America, in 1867), Primorye and the Amur region - in the order of peaceful annexation.
Tough twentieth century
A number of wars and a revolution in the twentieth century constantly changed the political map of Russia, on which certain territories appeared and disappeared. For example, Finland, which signed independence from the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century, transferred part of the territories (the city of Vyborg and its environs) back as a result of the Second World War, etc. The Soviet Union, which was formed in the former territories of the Russian Empire in the post-war period, had a common territory in 22.4 million km and did not carry out any major actions to change the territory, except for the internal transfer of Crimea from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954.
The collapse of the USSR and the return of Crimea to Russia
About 17 million 125 thousand square kilometers - that's what the area of Russia turned out after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the separation of 15 republics. At the same time, it should be taken into account that mainly southern territories with a more favorable climate separated, while the territory of modern Russia includes vast lands with permafrost,where there are severe enough natural conditions for human habitation. Therefore, the population of the Russian Federation, whose average density is just over 8 people per sq. km., distributed unevenly - most of it is concentrated in the European part of the country, where a maximum density of 4.6 thousand people per square meter was revealed. km. - in Moscow, while in Chukotka it does not exceed 0.07 people for the same area.
In March 2014, as a result of the will of the inhabitants of Crimea, this territory with a wonderful climate returned to our country, and the area of Russia with Crimea began to be 17,151 thousand square meters. kilometers, including the area of the Crimean Federal District - about 26.9 thousand square meters. km.
Most of Russia's population lives in cities
Once upon a time, a large area of Russia was covered with forests, and during the Soviet period, the predatory plunder of this natural resource was not particularly allowed, so after the collapse of the USSR, about 46% of Russian territory had enviable forests. Today this figure is much less. However, the area of Russia (with Crimea) is a land still rich in various minerals, with beautiful flora, fauna, water resources and places of rare beauty. In the post-Soviet period, due to the collapse of collective farms and lack of work, the rural population moved to the cities, where today up to 77% of the total number of Russians live. The total area of Russian cities has not been established to date. It is only known that megacities with an area of 100 sq. km or moreRussian Federation as of spring 2014, there are more than 120 units, including Moscow with an area of 2550 square meters. km, Volgograd - about 860 sq. km, St. Petersburg - about 1440 sq. km. etc.
