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The Russian Empire

Russian Empire
Pre-reformed Russian  Россійская Имперія
                    Russian  Российская империя
              transliteration  Rossiyskaya imperiya
1721–1917
Motto
"S' nami Bog!"
Съ нами Богъ!

"God is with us!"
Anthem
Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!
Боже, Царя храни!

"God Save the Tsar!"
All territories that were ever part of the Russian Empire or in its sphere of influence.
  Territory[a]
  Protectorates, overseas territories, occupied territories and sphere of influence
Capital St. Petersburg
(1721–1728, 1730–1917)
Moscow
(1728–1730)
Languages Official
Russian
Religion Russian Orthodox
Government Absolute monarchy (1721–1906)
Constitutional monarchy (1906–1917) (de jure)
Emperor (House of Romanov)
 •  1721–1725 (first) Peter I
 •  1894–1917 (last) Nicholas II
 •  1905–1906 (first) Sergei Witte
 •  1917 (last) Nikolai Golitsyn
Legislature
Emperor exercised
legislative power in
conjunction with the
State Council and
State Duma
 •  Upper house State Council
 •  Lower house State Duma
History
 •  Accession of Peter I 7 May [O.S. 27 Apr] 1682[c]
 •  Empire proclaimed 22 Oct [O.S. 11 Oct] 1721
 •  Decembrist revolt 26 Dec [O.S. 14 Dec] 1825
 •  Feudalism abolished 3 Mar [O.S. 19 Feb] 1861
 •  1905 Revolution Jan–Dec 1905
 •  Constitution adopted 6 May [O.S. 23 Apr] 1906
 •  February Revolution 15 Mar [O.S. 2 Mar] 1917
 •  October Revolution 7 Nov [O.S. 25 Oct] 1917
Area
 •  1895 22,800,000 km2 (8,800,000 sq mi)
Population
 •  1897 est. 125,640,021 
Currency Ruble
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Tsardom of Russia
Russian Republic
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The Russian Empire (also known as Russia) was an empire that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917.

One of the largest empires in world history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring rival powers: the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia and the Ottoman Empire. It played a major role in 1812–1814 in defeating Napoleon's ambitions to control Europe and expanded to the west and south.

The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov, ruled from 1762. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea in the south, from the Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean, and (until 1867) into Alaska in North America on the east. With 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, and religion. There were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts; they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia.


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