After the disintegration of the USSR, the Russian economy went through a crisis, far worse than the Great Depression.

Duma elections were held most recently on December 7, 2003, and presidential elections on March 14, 2004. The pro-government party, United Russia, won close to half of the seats in the Duma. Combined with its allies, United Russia commands a two-thirds majority. The OSCE judged the Duma elections as failing to meet international standards for fairness, due largely to extensive slanted media bias in the campaign. Vladimir Putin was re-elected to a second four-year term with 71% of the vote in March 2004. The Russian constitution does not allow presidents to serve more than two consecutive terms. Next elections for the Duma occur in December 2007, and for President in March 2008.

The official establishment of Imperial Russia began shortly after the Great Northern War wherein the Swedish Empire was devastated, leaving the Russian Empire to be the dominant power in the Baltic Sea.

The Russia's tundra often frosts over and is generally very cold.

The federal budget has run surpluses since 2001 and ended 2006 with a surplus of 9% of GDP.

After the capital of Kiev was plundered and taken under the control of Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1169, the state of Kievan Rus could no longer fight off the attacks and invasions.

While the country began a somewhat successful transformation from an agrarian economy to an industrial powerhouse in 1928, millions of people suffered famine, loss and misery because of the severe economic upheaval.

Business has put pressure on the government in 2006 to reduce value added taxes (VAT) on oil and gas, but the government has postponed this discussion. Tax enforcement of disputes, particularly following the Yukos case, continues to be uneven and unpredictable.