On June 12, 1990, Russia declared its sovereignty. In June 1991, Yeltsin was elected President of Russia. In August 1991 he led the resistance against the coup of conservative communist leaders. After its failure, the activities of the CPSU and the Russian CP were banned. When the new union treaty favored by Gorbachev for the… Read More »
Architecture The influence of the Byzantine culture caused an upswing in urban planning. The type of cross-domed church was adopted by Byzantium, after which Byzantine masters built the first churches in the Kievan Rus, such as the Savior Cathedral in Chernigov (1036), the Sophia cathedrals in Kiev (1037 to around 1100), in Polotsk (1044-66) and… Read More »
According to iamhigher, 73% (2008) of the population lives in cities; the rest in rural villages, which are experiencing a progressive abandonment: it is estimated that over a tenth of the 160,000 villages surveyed in Russia are now completely uninhabited, while an even greater share is inhabited almost exclusively by elderly people. The phenomenon mainly… Read More »