Rus (state)

Kievan Rus'
Рѹ́сь
882–1240
Realm of Kievan Rus at its height (with dependent lands)
Capital		Kiev
Languages		Old East Slavic
Religion		Slavic Paganism Orthodox Christianity
Government		Monarchy
Grand Prince of Kiev
•	882–912	Oleg of Novgorod (first)
•	980–1015	Vladimir the Great
•	1019–1054	Yaroslav the Wise
•	1236–40, 1241–43	Saint Michael of Chernigov (last)
Legislature		Veche, Prince Council
History
•	Established	882
•	Conquest of Khazar Khaganate	965–969
•	Baptism of Rus'	c. 988
•	Rus' Justice	early 11th century
•	Mongol invasion of Rus'	1240
Area
•	1000	1,330,000 km2 (510,000 sq mi)
Population
•	1000 est.	5,400,000
Density		4/km2 (11/sq mi)
Currency		Grivna
Today part of		Belarus  Moldova  Poland  Romania  Russia  Slovakia  Ukraine

Kievan Rus' (Old East Slavic: Рѹ́сь (Rus'), Рѹ́сьскаѧ землѧ (Rus'skaya zemlya), Ancient Greek: Ῥωσία, translit. Rhōsía, Latin: Rus(s)ia, Ruscia, Ruzzia, Rut(h)enia,Old Norse: Garðaríki) was a loose federation of East Slavic tribes in Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century, under the reign of the Rurik dynasty. The modern peoples of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestors, with Belarus and Russia deriving their names from it.

At its greatest extent in the mid-11th century, it stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the Taman Peninsula in the east, uniting the majority of East Slavic tribes.

According to Russian historiography the first ruler to start uniting East Slavic lands into what has become known as Kievan Rus' was Prince Oleg (882–912). He extended his control from Novgorod south along the Dnieper river valley to protect trade from Khazar incursions from the east, and he moved his capital to the more strategic Kiev. Sviatoslav I (died 972) achieved the first major expansion of Kievan Rus' territorial control, fighting a war of conquest against the Khazars. Vladimir the Great (980–1015) introduced Christianity with his own baptism and, by decree, extended it to all inhabitants of Kiev and beyond. Kievan Rus' reached its greatest extent under Yaroslav the Wise (1019–1054); his sons assembled and issued its first written legal code, the Rus' Justice, shortly after his death.