The Russian Federation (Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija), or Russia (Russian: Росси́я, transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija), is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. With an area of 17,075,400 km² (6,595,600 mi²), it is the largest country in the world, covering almost twice the territory of the next-largest nation, Canada. It ranks eighth in the world in population, following China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

      Formerly the dominant republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia is an independent country, and an influential member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, since the union's dissolution in December 1991. In the Soviet Union Russia was called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR).

      Most of the area, population, and industrial production of the Soviet Union, then one of the world's two superpowers, lay in Russia. Consequently, after the breakup of the USSR, Russia again vied for an influential role on the world stage. This influence is notable, but is still far from that of the former Soviet Union