Russia

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief
  - The Kola-Karelian region
  - The Russian Plain
  - The Ural Mountains
  - The West Siberian Plain
  - The Central Siberian Plateau
  - The mountains of the south and east
- Drainage
  - Rivers
  - Lakes
- Climate
  - Atmospheric pressure and winds
  - Temperature
  - Precipitation
- Soils and plant and animal life
  - Arctic desert
  - Tundra
  - Taiga
  - Mixed and deciduous forest
  - Wooded steppe and steppe
People
- Ethnic groups and languages
  - The Indo-European group
  - The Altaic group
  - The Uralic group
  - The Caucasian group
  - Other groups
- Religion
- Settlement patterns
- Demographic trends
Economy
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
  - Agriculture
  - Forestry
  - Fishing
- Resources and power
- Manufacturing
  - Machine building
  - Chemicals
  - Light industry
- Finance
- Trade
- Services
- Labour and taxation
- Transportation and telecommunications
Government and society
- Constitutional framework
- Regional and local government
- Justice
- Political process
- Security
- Health and welfare
- Housing
- Education
Cultural life
- The development of Russian culture
  - The Kievan period
  - The Muscovite period
  - The emergence of modern Russian culture
- Daily life and social customs
- The arts
  - Literature
    - The 19th century
    - The 20th century
  - Music
    - The 19th century
    - The 20th century
  - The visual arts
    - The 19th century
    - The 20th century
  - The performing arts
    - The 19th century
    - The 20th century
  - Motion pictures
- Cultural institutions
- Sports and recreation
- Media and publishing
History
- From the beginnings to c. 1700
  - Prehistory and the rise of the Rus
  - Kiev
    - The rise of Kiev
    - The decline of Kiev
    - Social and political institutions
  - The lands of Rus
    - Novgorod
    - The northwest
    - The northeast
    - The southwest
  - The Mongol period
    - The Mongol invasion
    - Tatar rule
    - The rise of Muscovy
    - Cultural life and the “Tatar influence”
    - The post-Sarai period
  - Rurikid Muscovy
    - Ivan III
    - Vasily III
    - Ivan IV (the Terrible)
    - Boris Godunov
    - The Time of Troubles
    - Social and economic conditions
    - Cultural trends
  - Romanov Muscovy
    - Michael
    - Alexis
    - Trends in the 17th century
      Cultural life
      The great schism
- The 18th century
  - The reign of Peter I (the Great; 1689–1725)
    - Peter’s youth and early reign
    - The Petrine state
    - Assessment of Peter’s reign
  - Peter I’s successors (1725–62)
    - Anna (1730–40)
    - Elizabeth (1741–62)
  - The reign of Catherine II (the Great; 1762–96)
    - Expansion of the empire
    - Government administration under Catherine
  - Education and social change in the 18th century
  - The reign of Paul I (1796–1801)
- Russia from 1801 to 1917
  - The reigns of Alexander I and Nicholas I
    - General survey
    - Government
    - Social classes
    - Education and intellectual life
    - The Russian Empire
    - Foreign policy
  - From Alexander II to Nicholas II
    - Emancipation and reform
    - Revolutionary activities
    - Economic and social development
    - Education and ideas
    - Russification policies
    - Foreign policy
  - The last years of tsardom
    - The revolution of 1905–06
    - The State Duma
    - Agrarian reforms
    - War and the fall of the monarchy
- Soviet Russia
  - After the monarchy
  - The October (November) Revolution
  - The Civil War and War Communism (1918–21)
    - The Civil War
    - War Communism
  - New Economic Policy (1921–28)
  - The Stalin era (1928–53)
  - The Khrushchev era (1953–64)
  - The Brezhnev era (1964–82)
  - The Gorbachev era: perestroika and glasnost
  - Collapse of the Soviet Union
- Post-Soviet Russia
  - The Yeltsin presidency (1991–99)
    - Economic reforms
    - Political and social changes
    - Ethnic relations and Russia’s “near-abroad”
    - Foreign affairs
    - Rewriting history
  - The Putin presidency
    - Separatism
    - Foreign affairs
    - The oligarchs
    - Political and economic reforms
  - The Medvedev presidency
  - The second Putin presidency
    - The Ukraine crisis
    - Consolidation of power, Syria, and campaign against the West
    - Putin’s fourth term as president, novichok attacks, and military action against Ukraine
Leaders of Russia from 1276

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images, Videos & Interactives

Political map of Russia showing national boundaries, major cities, and neighboring countries across Europe and Asia. The map highlights Russia's extensive borders with countries such as Finland, China, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, and includes a locator inset in the upper left corner indicating Russia's position on a world map. Major Russian cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg are labeled, along with surrounding seas such as the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea,

western Greater Caucasus range

Map highlighting Russia in orange, spanning Eastern Europe and northern Asia from the borders of Europe to the Pacific Ocean. Surrounding countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and Japan are labeled, as well as nearby bodies of water including the Arctic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. An inset globe in the upper right shows Russia's location within the northern hemisphere.

Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, St. Petersburg, Russia

Map of Russia showing its administrative divisions, including oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs, and autonomous oblasts, each color-coded. The map labels major regions and federal districts, with an inset highlighting Russia's location in Eurasia. A legend and list below the map provide the names and numbers of all administrative divisions by federal district.

Physical map of Russia showing major landforms such as the Ural Mountains, Siberian Plain, Central Siberian Plateau, and key rivers and lakes. Neighboring countries and surrounding seas are labeled, and a small locator map in the top left highlights Russia's position within Eurasia.

Map of western Russia showing major cities, rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, and neighboring countries including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The map highlights physical features such as the Ural Mountains, Volga River, and Caspian Sea, as well as political boundaries. An inset locator map in the lower left shows the position of the main map area within Europe and western Russia.

At a Glance

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Leaders of Russia from 1276

in

Russia

Also known as: Rossija, Rossiya, Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, Russian Federation, Russian S.F.S.R., Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic(Show More)

Written by

Richard HellieAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 14, 2026 •History

The table provides a chronological list of the leaders of Russia from 1276 onward.

Leaders of Muscovy, Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union
princes and grand princes of Moscow (Muscovy): Danilovich dynasty*
*The Danilovich dynasty is a late branch of the Rurik dynasty and is named after its progenitor, Daniel.
*On Oct. 22 (O.S.), 1721, Peter I the Great took the title of "emperor" (Russian: imperator), considering it a larger, more European title than the Russian "tsar." However, despite the official titling, conventional usage took an odd turn. Every male sovereign continued usually to be called tsar (and his consort tsarina, or tsaritsa), but every female sovereign was conventionally called empress (imperatritsa*).
***The direct line of the Romanov dynasty came to an end in 1761 with the death of Elizabeth, daughter of Peter I. However, subsequent rulers of the "Holstein-Gottorp dynasty"—the first of whom was Peter III, son of Charles Frederick, duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and Anna, daughter of Peter I—took the family name of Romanov.
Daniel (son of Alexander Nevsky)	c. 1276–1303
Yury	1303–25
Ivan I	1325–40
Semyon (Simeon)	1340–53
Ivan II	1353–59
Dmitry (II) Donskoy	1359–89
Vasily I	1389–1425
Vasily II	1425–62
Ivan III	1462–1505
Vasily III	1505–33
Ivan IV	1533–47
tsars of Russia: Danilovich dynasty
Ivan IV	1547–84
Fyodor I	1584–98
tsars of Russia: Time of Troubles
Boris Godunov	1598–1605
Fyodor II	1605
False Dmitry	1605–06
Vasily (IV) Shuysky	1606–10
Interregnum	1610–12
tsars and empresses of Russia and the Russian Empire: Romanov dynasty**
Michael	1613–45
Alexis	1645–76
Fyodor III	1676–82
Peter I (Ivan V coruler 1682–96)	1682–1725
Catherine I	1725–27
Peter II	1727–30
Anna	1730–40
Ivan VI	1740–41
Elizabeth	1741–61 (O.S.)
Peter III***	1761–62 (O.S.)
Catherine II	1762–96
Paul	1796–1801
Alexander I	1801–25
Nicholas I	1825–55
Alexander II	1855–81
Alexander III	1881–94
Nicholas II	1894–1917
provisional government	1917
chairmen (or first secretaries) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Vladimir Ilich Lenin	1917–24
Joseph Stalin	1924–53
Georgy Malenkov	1953
Nikita Khrushchev	1953–64
Leonid Brezhnev	1964–82
Yury Andropov	1982–84
Konstantin Chernenko	1984–85
Mikhail Gorbachev	1985–91
presidents of Russia
Boris Yeltsin	1991–99
Vladimir Putin	1999–2008
Dmitry Medvedev	2008–12
Vladimir Putin	2012–