The Russian Empire was a vast empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its proclamation in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about 22,800,00…

The foundations of a Russian national state were laid in the late 15th century during the reign of Ivan III. By the early 16th century, all of the semi-independent and petty princedoms in Russia had been unified with Moscow. During the reign of Ivan IV, the k…

By the end of the 19th century the area of the empire was about 22,400,000 square kilometers (8,600,000 sq mi), or almost one-sixth of the Earth's landmass; its only rival in size at the time was the British Empire. The majority of the population li…