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Russia

Russia, formally the Russian Federation, is a federal semi-presidential republic spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, the largest country in the world by area. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic declared sovereignty within the Soviet Union on 12 June 1990, and the Russian Federation emerged as the internationally recognized successor state when the Soviet Union dissolved on 26 December 1991. A new constitution, adopted by referendum on 12 December 1993 after a standoff between President Boris Yeltsin and the Russian parliament, established the strong presidency and bicameral Federal Assembly that structure the government today. The atlas dates Russia's founding to 1991, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the point at which the Russian Federation became the government holding the territory; it is not offered as the founding of Russia as a continuous state or civilization, whose roots run through the Tsarist empire and, before it, medieval Muscovy and Kievan Rus, which this atlas does not compress into one year.

Facts
Founding Year
1991 2
1991 is the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the point at which the Russian Federation became the internationally recognized successor state and the government that holds the territory today. It is not offered as the founding of Russia as a continuous state, which predates the Soviet Union by centuries and which this atlas does not compress into one year; the entity description narrates the 1990 sovereignty declaration and the 1993 constitution as related but distinct milestones within the same transition.
Classification
Freedom Status
Electoral Autocracy 1
Connections

Associated With

Constitution of Russia, adopted 1993, the current constitutional order of Russia.

Source Constitution of Russia (Wikipedia)

Russia has a federal constitution but is described as not democratic in practice.

Source Center for the Study of Federalism: What is Federalism?
Group of Seven (G7), Institutions

Russia joined in 1998 to form the G8; suspended in March 2014 following the annexation of Crimea, returning the forum to the G7.

Source G7 (Wikipedia)

This source names Russia directly: "powers, including the United States, Russia, and China, are not parties, which has led to disputes over the Court's authority to issue arrest warrants against their nationals or leaders, and some..."

Source International Criminal Court (Cornell LII)

This source names Russia directly: "tension, foreign intervention from Russia and Britain, and the onset of the First World War."

Source Constitutional Revolution, Iran (Britannica)

Britannica names Russia among the countries using proportional representation.

Source Proportional Representation (Britannica)

This source names Russia directly: "country overview article for Russia, covering its formation, government and history."

Source Russia (Britannica)

This source names Russia directly: "It has fifteen members: five permanent (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) each holding a veto over substantive resolutions, and ten elected for two-year terms."

Source United Nations (Wikipedia)

Russia is one of the five permanent, veto-holding members of the UN Security Council.

Source UNRV Roman History: Tribunes of the Plebs

Governed By

Source Catherine the Great (Wikipedia)
Source Mikhail Mishustin (Wikipedia)
Source Peter the Great (Wikipedia)
Source Vladimir Putin (Wikipedia)

Practices

Source Federation (Britannica)
Source President, Government Official (Britannica)

Shaped By

Source Dissolution of the Soviet Union (U.S. Department of State)
Source Russian Revolution (Britannica)
Source Russian Revolution (Britannica)
Source Vladimir Lenin (History.com)
In the Other Atlases

Has Member

Also in Economics Atlas: a member of this subject.

Member Of

Also in Economics Atlas: which this subject is a member of.

Source New Development Bank (Wikipedia)tier 3
Sources
1. Freedom House: Russia (Freedom in the World 2025)
Freedom HouseOverview, Global Freedom Score 12/100 (not free)
Quote, Overview, Global Freedom Score 12/100 (not free)
Power in Russia's authoritarian political system is concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin.
View the Source
2. Russia (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaView the Source
G7 (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: Group of Seven (G7), Rising profile / Consequences of the Ukraine crisis
Quote, Associated With: Group of Seven (G7), Rising profile / Consequences of the Ukraine crisis
Russia's membership was suspended in March 2014 in response to its annexation of Crimea.
View the Source
Vladimir Putin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGoverned By: Putin Administration, Lead section, opening sentence
Quote, Governed By: Putin Administration, Lead section, opening sentence
who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008.
View the Source
Mikhail Mishustin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGoverned By: Mishustin Government, Lead section, opening sentence
Quote, Governed By: Mishustin Government, Lead section, opening sentence
Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin is a Russian politician and economist serving as the prime minister of Russia since 2020.
View the Source
Catherine the Great (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGoverned By: Catherine the Great, Lead section
Quote, Governed By: Catherine the Great, Lead section
was the Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796.
View the Source
Peter the Great (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGoverned By: Peter the Great, Lead section
Quote, Governed By: Peter the Great, Lead section
was Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725
View the Source
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