Russia - Definition

n 1: a former communist country in eastern Europe and northern
Asia; established in 1922; included Russia and 14 other
soviet socialist republics (Ukraine and Byelorussia and
others); officially dissolved 31 December 1991 [syn:
Soviet Union, Russia, Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, USSR]
2: formerly the largest Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR
occupying eastern Europe and northern Asia [syn: Soviet
Russia, Russia, Russian Soviet Federated Socialist
Republic]
3: a former empire in eastern Europe and northern Asia created
in the 14th century with Moscow as the capital; powerful in
the 17th and 18th centuries under Peter the Great and
Catherine the Great when Saint Petersburg was the capital;
overthrown by revolution in 1917
4: a federation in northeastern Europe and northern Asia;
formerly Soviet Russia; since 1991 an independent state [syn:
Russia, Russian Federation]