1. A brief history of
Russia

2. RUSSIAN GEOGRAPHY
Russia is transcontinental, meaning it spans two continents: Europe and Asia.
European Russia is the name for the area west of the Ural Mountains.
Asian Russia is east of the Ural Mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Russia is therefore considered a nation that is part of the Pacific Rim.

3. Modern Russia

4. Russian Terrain and Topography
15% of Russia is made up of tundra in the North.
The next layer is called Taiga, which is mixed forest, and makes up about 30-35% of Russian lands.
Next comes the Steppe, which is fertile farmland.
Finally, the section that is farthest south is desert.

5. Russian Rivers
Almost all of the Rivers in Russia run from the North to the South.
The Amur River, however, runs East-West and forms the border with Manchuria (China).
The Dnieper River runs through Kiev in the Ukraine.
The Volga empties into the Caspian Sea, and the Don empties into the Black Sea

6. Russian Rivers

7. Earliest Russia
The first civilization in Russia that was truly Russian included Southwestern European Russia and Ukraine.
It was founded by a people called East Slavs.
Starting in about the 9th Century (800s)

8. Kievan Russia Kievan Russia was the first society that formed.
They had a patrimonial society, meaning that groups or tribes were led by one leader who took care of them and ruled them.
They never had any concept of individual rights.

9. Kievan Russia
Kievan Russia seems to have some rulers of Norse or Danish descent (Viking) but the line of succession is messy and unclear.
In the Mid to Late 900s, Sviatoslav was the Keivan ruler of Russia. He fought with various people groups, including the Byzantines (to whom he lost).
When Sviatoslav died, his son Vladimir took over from 980—1015.

10. Kievan Russia
Vladimir I (the Great, or the Saint) was a pagan who converted to Christianity, and brought Christianity to Russia until 1917.
When he died, his son Iaroslav (or Yaroslavl) took over. He ruled from 1015 to He was called Iaroslav the Wise because he gave Russia a permanent law code called the Pravda Iaroslava.

11. Kievan Russia
Kievan Russia continued for quite some time, and had several different rulers.
One was Iurii Dolgorukii who founded Moscow and built a kremlin (fort) which had a palace, and the Cathedral of Assumption.

12. Cathedral of Assumption

13. Kievan Russia
Another was Alexander Iarlovich Nevski who fought against Tuetonic knights (Germans) who wanted to convert Russia to Latin Christianity.
Alexander Nevski’s son was named Daniel. He began the Daniilovichi line of princes. His line runs unbroken from father to son for almost three hundred years.

14. Kievan Russia Some of his descendants include:
Ivan I (R ) who was called Kalita, which means money bags, because he collected money for the Khan.
Ivan III (R ) who was called the Great.
Ivan IV (R ) who called Groznyi, which means Terrible. (His wife was Anastasia Romanov).

15. Later Russia
In the 17th and 18th Century, Russia was ruled by Peter the Great, who Westernized Russia to a great degree and brought it into closer connection with the rest of Europe.
This connection was eventually very significant when World War I began.