Russia (The Lion Kings)

The Imperial Eurasian Federation, commonly known as Russia, is a sovereign transcontinental state in Eurasia. Russia is the largest country in the world, and one of the most populous. Extending across the entirety of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Scandinavia, the Dual Monarchy, Hungary, Wallachia, Pontus, the Gulf Federation, Afghanistan, Punjab, Tibet, China, Manchuria, and Korea, as well as maritime borders with Japan and the United States.

The nation's history began with that of the East Slavs, who emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, the medieval state of Rus arose in the 9th century. In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus' ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states; most of the Rus' lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion and became tributaries of the nomadic Golden Horde in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow gradually reunified the surrounding Russian principalities, achieved independence from the Golden Horde, and came to dominate the cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'. By the 18th century, the nation had greatly expanded through conquest, annexation, and exploration to become the Russian Empire, which was the largest empire in history, stretching from Poland on the west to Alaska on the east.

In the beginning of the 20th century, a loss in the Second Great War, combined with other factors, resulted in the period of political and cultural upheaval known as the Russian Revolution. At the end of the Revolution, Russia emerged as the Imperial Eurasian Federation with a constitutional monarchy and an elected legislature known as the Duma. The new Russia played a decisive role in the Third Great War and emerged as a recognized superpower and rival to the United States during the Cold War. The latter half of the 20th century saw some of the most significant technological achievements in history, including the world's first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, Russia had the world's second largest economy, largest standing military in the world and the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. However, talks with the United States beginning in the late 1980s and stretching into the 2000s resulted in what is known as the Thaw, the warming of relations between the two great powers, increased cooperation, and the limitation of nuclear weapons.

The Russian economy ranks as the fifth largest by nominal GDP. Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally. The country is one of the seven recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is still considered one of the two superpowers and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as well as a member of the G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as being the leading member of the Trebizond Pact.