俄罗斯(Russia)
正式名称俄罗斯联邦（Russian Federation）
欧洲东部及亚洲北部国家，前苏联的共和国之一。面积17,075,383平方公里。人口约144,417,000（2001）。首都︰莫斯科。大多数人民为俄罗斯人，其他少数民族包括鞑靼人、乌克兰人。语言︰俄语（官方语）、突厥语和乌拉语等多种语言。宗教：俄罗斯东正教、伊斯兰教，但大部分人民没有宗教信仰。货币︰卢布（Rub）。俄罗斯的地形和环境多种多样，包括乌拉山脉和西伯利亚东部山脉，最高峰位於堪察加半岛。俄罗斯平原有大窝瓦河和北杜味拿河，西伯利亚平原则有鄂毕河、叶尼塞河、勒那河和黑龙江等河谷。北部广阔地区为冻原覆盖，南部为森林、大草原和肥沃地区。1917～1945年经济工业化，但到1980年代经济严重衰退。政府於1992年下令彻底改革，由中央计画经济转向以私人企业为基础的市场经济。政府形式为共和国，两院制。国家元首为总统，政府首脑是总理。
聂斯特河与窝瓦河之间的地区，自古以来即有许多民族曾居住於此，包括斯拉夫人。西元前8世纪到西元6世纪期间，该地区主要活动着一些游牧民族，先後有西蒂安人（Sythian）、萨尔马特人、哥德人、匈奴人以及阿瓦尔人。10世纪左右，出现了来自基辅的基辅罗斯公国邦联的统治。11～12世纪基辅罗斯的霸权落入几个独立的公国手中，包括诺夫哥罗德（Novgorod）和弗拉基米尔（Vladimir）。诺夫哥罗德在北部崛起，成为13世纪躲过蒙古金帐汗国统治的唯一俄罗斯公国。14～15世纪时，莫斯科诸大公逐渐推翻了蒙古人；在伊凡四世的领导下，俄罗斯开始扩张。1613年形成罗曼诺夫王朝。彼得大帝（彼得一世）和凯萨琳二世时期继续扩张。1812年拿破仑侵入该地区；拿破仑战败後，1815年俄罗斯接收了大部分华沙公国的领地。19世纪里，俄罗斯吞并了乔治亚、亚美尼亚以及高加索的领土。俄罗斯向南挺进对抗鄂图曼帝国，这对欧洲至关重大（参阅Crimea）。克里米亚战争中俄罗斯被打败。1858年中国将黑龙江左岸割让给俄罗斯，标志着俄罗斯在远东地区的扩张。1867年俄罗斯把阿拉斯加卖给了美国（参阅Alaska Purchase）。日俄战争中俄罗斯的失败导致了1905年不成功的起义（参阅Russian Revolution of 1905）。第一次世界大战中与同盟国作战。1917年民众推翻了沙皇的统治，标志着苏维埃政府的开始（参阅Russian Revolution of 1917）。布尔什维克将前帝国的主要部分都带入共产主义的统治之下，并组成俄罗斯苏维埃联邦社会主义共和国（范围与今日的俄罗斯相同）。1922年俄罗斯苏维埃联邦社会主义共和国与其他的苏维埃共和国一起组成苏维埃社会主义共和国联邦（U.S.S.R.，亦称苏联）。关於1922～1991年的历史参阅Union of Soviet Socialist Republics。1991年苏联解体後，重新更名为俄罗斯苏维埃联邦社会主义共和国，并成为独立国协的领导成员。1993年通过新宪法。1990年代俄罗斯在数条战线上奋斗，受到经济困难、政治腐败以及独立运动等方面的困扰（参阅Chechnya）。
English version：
Russia
Nation, eastern Europe and northern Asia, former republic of the U.S.S.R. Area: 6,592,812 sq mi (17,075,383 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 147,231,000. Capital: Moscow. Most of the people are Russian; minorities include Tatars and Ukrainians. Languages: Russian (official), various Turkic and Uralic languages. Religion: Russian Orthodox Christianity, Islam, but most of the people are nonreligious. Currency: ruble. The land and its environments are varied, including the Ural Mtns. and ranges in eastern Siberia, with the highest peaks in Kamchatka. The Russian plain contains the great Volga and Northern Dvina rivers, and in the Siberian plain are the valleys of the Ob, Yenisey, Lena, and Amur rivers. Tundra covers extensive portions in the north, and in the south there are forests, steppes, and fertile areas. The economy was industrialized from 1917 to 1945 but was in serious decline by the 1980s. In 1992 the government decreed radical reforms to convert the centrally planned economy into a market economy based on private enterprise. Russia is a republic with a bicameral legislative body; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. The region between the Dniester and the Volga rivers was inhabited from ancient times by various peoples, including the Slavs. The area was overrun in the 8th century BC-6th century AD by successive nomadic peoples, including the Sythians, Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, and Avars. Kievan Rus, a confederation of principalities ruling from Kiev, emerged c. 10th century. It lost supremacy in the 11th-12th century to independent principalities, including Novgorod and Vladimir. Novgorod ascended in the north and was the only Russian principality to escape the domination of the Mongol Golden Horde in the 13th century. In the 14th-15th century the princes of Moscow gradually overthrew the Mongols. Under Ivan IV, Russia began to expand. The Romanov dynasty arose in 1613. Expansion continued under Peter I (the Great) and Catherine II (the Great). The area was invaded by Napoleon in 1812; after his defeat, Russia received most of the grand duchy of Warsaw (1815). Russia annexed Georgia, Armenia, and Caucasus territories in the 19th century. The Russian southward advance against the Ottoman empire was of key importance to Europe (see Crimea). Russia was defeated in the Crimean War. Chinese cession of the Amur River's left bank in 1858 marked Russia's expansion in the Far East. It sold Alaska to the U.S. in 1867 (see Alaska Purchase). Its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War led to an unsuccessful uprising in 1905 (see Russian Revolution of 1905). In World War I it fought against the Central Powers. The popular overthrow of the Czarist regime in 1917 marked the beginning of a government of soviets (see Russian Revolution of 1917). The Bolsheviks brought the main part of the former empire under Communist control and organized it as the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (coextensive with present-day Russia). The Russian S.F.S.R. joined other soviet republics in 1922 to form the U.S.S.R. (See Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for history 1922-91.) Upon the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, the Russian S.F.S.R. was renamed and became the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It adopted a new constitution in 1993. During the 1990s, it struggled on several fronts, beset with economic difficulties, political corruption, and independence movements (see Chechnya).
