Why is Russia described as a land empire?
920635
Russia expanded its empire by taking over its surrounding land.\n\nA sea empire, as UK, expanded by use of its navy. Most of the British empire was no where near the islands.
860768
Countries can be referred as geographical land masses and political conglomerates, of which exist variations of definitions of country as a political entity. A tradition laypersons notion (pre-notion of federal states) is of a country unified through an ultimate authority or, many central authorities whose whole laws are specific and accountable only onto itself.\n\nSovereign State and Sovereign Country used synonymously is owed to the trend of countries to come under a single unified sovereign authority. It is a general description rather than a specific political definition.\n\nA sovereign state is an independent authority exercised within shared or adjacent territorial borders, separate from other sets of authorities, usually within the same geography and milieu; a country may operate under multiple independent sovereign states.\n\nWhilst sovereign states often address specific issues of the milieu, it is often less resilient when faced by threats not encompassed in their charter.\n\nSuch states are characterized by centralism, political loyalty, exercising a monopoly in the coercive collection of taxes and the application of organized violence. \n\nA unified effort allowed progressive supremacy over competing smaller institutions and a means of control to safeguard vested interests. \n\nThe emergence of sovereign national states as the ne plus ultra, allowed complex and extensive processes with a large number of distinct causes to be addressed. They were challenged by Empires, the Church and feudal rule.\n\nMonarchies, Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy, are typical centralized authorities (sovereign states) that determine ultimate societal power and independence. \n\nReligion - The precursors to the Knights Templar, under instruction from Rome, governed Malta C16 to C18, under the Sovereign and Military Order of the Knights of Malta.\nTrading - Italian sovereign city-states competed for trade.
554536
Information on this is a bit spotty. Here is what I have found but it is 10 years old:\n\nClimatic and geographic factors limit Russia's agricultural activity to about 10 percent of the country's total land area. Of that amount, about 60 percent is used for crops, the remainder for pasture and meadow (see table 15, Appendix). \n\nIn the European part of Russia, the most productive land is in the Central Chernozem Economic Region and the Volga Economic Region, which occupy the grasslands between Ukraine and Kazakstan. More than 65 percent of the land in those regions is devoted to agriculture. \n\nIn Siberia and the Far East, the most productive areas are the southernmost regions. Fodder crops dominate in the colder regions, and intensity of cultivation generally is higher in European Russia. The last expansion of cultivated land occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when the Virgin Lands program of Nikita Khrushchev opened land in southwestern Siberia (and neighboring Kazakstan) for cultivation. \n\nIn the mid-1990s, about 15 percent of the working population was occupied in agriculture, with the proportion dropping slowly as the younger population left rural areas to seek economic opportunities elsewhere (see Rural Life, ch. 5).
978865
it really didnt expand..it overtook the baltic states and Alaska but thats about it. Russia was behind technologically during colonialism. Peter the great changed that with the formation of the russian navy and railroads to and from siberia. The new transportation systems allowed the population to reside in cities so they can get their goods shipped in via train and boat.
974536
In what aspect?\nThe US and Russia are considered by some to still be Super Powers so Brazil is out.\nThe US and Brazil are in the Americas, so Russia is out.  \nAnd, like others have said, US is an abbreviation, so it is out.
343885
Hahaha! I like the spirit but perhaps this should be answered by someone unbiased and neutral.. that's me!\n\nWhile the USSR was truly mighty once upon a time, currently the strongest military force on the planet is the USA, whether you like it or not. Russia still has a formidable arsenal but they are certainly not as powerful as the US of A. Also, their economy will not be able to bear the strain of a full fledged modern conflict and so the USA it is again.
86574
I think it's the dynasty that Julius Caesar started. Or it's the family tree of the Romanovs, the last Czars of Russia(when it became the Uniion of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR).
1087457
Gosh your mouth is so small. I will entitle you to my land deeds\n\nNow the facts about politics:\nIslamic countries have oil. Big transnational companies need oil so they bribe some western governments to produce lame excuses and terrorize the western public so that they can steal away oil, just like in Iraq.
229735
Russia.  It's not as big as the former USSR (because the other former republics are independent), but it's still HUGE, stretching from Eastern Europe all the way to the Bering Strait across from Alaska.
1056980
Austria - It is one beautiful country. It is relatively central. And it's too close to something being in Asia again (remember that Bejing is in the summer of 08). And Russia is simply not ready. Besides - winter sports in the Alps? Can't think of any better backdrop!
140089
Russia is now a "democratic" federation, consisting of one main province, Russia, which covers most of Siberia to Moscow, and then some.  It also has a few smaller provinces within its federation, but most have been a part of Russia for the last few centuries and have been almost totally assimulated.  An instance where this is not the case, however, is Chechnya.  Chechnya is considered a Russian province, but muslims in Chechnya claim to be independent, so Russia sees itself as putting down an internal rebellion while the chechyans are repelling invaders from their point of view.  Russia currently has an electedparliament and elected executive, i'm unsure about the judicial branch, if there is one.
1185261
The Russians had Alaska by right of conquest, in effect.  They sold it (Seward's Folly) to the U.S., and no one else having a claim, the sale was valid.  The same argument can be raised on virtually any piece of land which has ever been conquered.
73484
Geographically?  Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure it's Russia.
741803
<<During the Soviet era, rumor persisted here that Alaska had not been sold at all, but was instead leased to the U.S. for a 99- or 150-year period -- a theory not backed up by any historical evidence.\n\nThe speculation was partly based on the fact that following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the communist government renounced all previous laws and international treaties concluded by the Czarist government, including the Alaska sale.>>
167053
considering that Alaska is a state in the US, I don't know how you can say that it was "stolen" from the US.\nMany people in Russia believe that it was "stolen" from them when it was sold to the US ("seward's folly") for $7,200,000, or 12.5 cents per acre.
593205
Russia is pretty big to list all kinds of rocks (minerals?) they have.\n\nBut - there's the whole alphabet soup of mineral samples, with pictures and locations where they were taken in Russia. Pick the ones you like.\n\nhttp://www.mineralogist.ru/shop/a/index.shtml\nhttp://minerals.krs.ru/expose.cgi?page=1
820370
I am sure they have an empire.  You just don't hear a lot about the planets involved in that empire in one show.  The Klingon empire has been slowly unveiled from the original Star Trek series to the Next Generation series and on.  It's even been revealed in the Star Trek movies as well.  Just watch Star Trek VI sometime.