the largest country in the world, covering N Eurasia and bordering on the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas: originating from the principality of Muscovy in the 17th century, it expanded to become the Russian Empire; the Tsar was overthrown in 1917 and the Communist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was created; this merged with neighbouring Soviet Republics in 1922 to form the Soviet Union; on the disintegration of the SovietUnion in 1991 the Russian Federation was established as an independent state; Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014 has not been internationally recognized. Official language: Russian. Religion: nonreligious and Russian Orthodox Christian. Currency: rouble. Capital: Moscow. Pop: 143 989 754 (2017 est). Area: 17 074 984 sq km (6 592 658 sq miles)