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Arkhangelsk, two gigapixel spherical panorama. The eve of the White Nights, Angle embankment of the Northern Dvina and st. Shubin
Arkhangelsk (Russian: Архáнгельск; IPA: [ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk]), sometimes Archangel, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, in the north of European Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea. The city spreads for over 40 kilometers (25 mi) along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its delta. Arkhangelsk was the chief seaport of medieval Russia until 1703. A 1,133-kilometer (704 mi) long railway goes from Arkhangelsk to Moscow via Vologda and Yaroslavl. The city is also served by the Talagi Airport and a smaller Vaskovo Airport. Population: 348,783 (2010 Census); 356,051 (2002 Census); 415,921 (1989 Census).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkhangelsk
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Just in case you mistakenly heard that it was all ice and snow in Russia, take a peek at the Big Bikini Exposition. This is right on the river Moskva in Moscow!Moscow has been the capital of Russia for almost its entire history. The exception is during the period of the Russian Empire, which lasted from 1721 until the Russian Revolution 1917. For these two centuries the capital was St. Petersburg. The Russian Empire was the second largest contiguous Empire in world memory; only the Mongol Empire had been greater.Check out what's happening north of Mongolia these days, in ChitaAlthough you may not have heard of Sochi, on the Black Sea, they're building up quickly and hope to host the 2014 Olympics.Other periods of Russian history include the Tsardom of Russia, from Ivan IV to Peter the Great, and the Grand Duchy (14th-16th centuries).The earliest period of Russian history was ruled by the Novgorod Republic and Kievan Rus, which was the first Russian state dating back to 800AD in Kiev.Modern Russia remains one of the world's superpowers. They launched the earth's second satellite, called Sputnik 1, and were the first country to put a human being into orbit around earth. (The first one is called the Moon.)After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia became a federal republic of 83 states.Text by Steve Smith.
