Territorial changes of Russia

Approximate ethno-linguistic map of Kievan Rus in the 9th century: The five Volga Finnic groups of the Merya, Mari, Muromians, Meshchera and Mordvins are shown as surrounded by the Slavs to the west, the three Finnic groups of the Veps, Ests and Chuds, and Indo-European Balts to the northwest, the Permians to the northeast the (Turkic) Bulghars and Khazars to the southeast and south.
Theoretical expansion of Old Rus, (IX-X)
Principalities of Kievan Rus', 1054-1132: Permic Udmurts to the east, the (Lithuanian) Samogitians, ancient Latvians or Latgalians, Finnic Karelians to the northwest, the Turkic Pechenegs to the south.
From 1500 to 1800 Russia expanded from the Oka River to the Black Sea

Territorial changes of Russia in the course of over five centuries happened by means of military conquest and by ideological and political unions.

Russian Tsardom and Empire

Many non-Slavic peoples founded their own states before Kievan Rus, for example, Sarir state of the Caucasian Avars (5th – 12th centuries), Tsahur Khanate (7th – 16th centuries), Zirikhgeran state of the Dargin and Kubachi peoples (6th – 15th centuries), Gazikumukh Shamkhalate of the Lak people (734–1642), Kaitag state of the Dargin people (6th century – 1813) etc.

Ivan III (reigned 1462-1505) and IV (reigned 1547-1584) expanded Muscovy's (1283–1547) borders considerably by annexing the Novgorod Republic (1478). After a period of political instability the Romanovs came to power (1613) and the expansion-colonization process of the Tsardom continued.

While western Europe colonized the new world, the Tsardom of Russia expanded overland - principally to the east, north and south.

This continued for centuries; by the end of the 19th century, the Russian Empire reached from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and for some time included colonies in the Americas (1732-1867) and a short-lived unofficial colony in Africa (1889) in present-day Djibouti.

Soviet Union

After the October Revolution, Poland and Finland became independent from Russia and stayed so until modern times. Russia proper has become "Soviet Russia" and eventually Russian Federation. Its territory varied greatly during the Russian Civil War. Eventually most of the former lands of the Russian Empire were consolidated into the Soviet Union.

After World War II the Soviet Union annexed Karelia from Finland, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad Oblast) from Germany, the Kuril Islands and southern Sakhalin from Japan, Tuva (previously governed by Mongolia and Manchu Empire), West Belarus and West Ukraine from Second Polish Republic

Territories of the former Russian Empire that permanently or temporarily became independent:

Modern Russia

The dissolution of the Soviet Union have led to the creation of independent post-Soviet states, with Russian SFSR becoming Russian Federation. Territorial disputes of the Russian Federation involve both post-Soviet states and other neighbors.

East Slavic tribes and peoples, 8th and 9th centuries
Territorial development of the Muscovy between 1390 and 1530

The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was an unrecognized secessionist government of the Chechen Republic during 1991–2000, which fought two wars against Russia until the government was exiled in 2000.

Following the annexation of Crimea, the Crimean peninsula became part of the Russian Federation.

See also

Notes and references

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