The borders of Russia changed through military conquests and by ideological and political unions from the 16th century.
Tsarist Russia
The formal end to Tatar rule over Russia was the defeat of the Tatars at the Great Stand on the Ugra River in 1480. Ivan III () and Vasili III () had consolidated the centralized Russian state following the annexations of the Novgorod Republic in 1478, Tver in 1485, the Pskov Republic in 1510, Volokolamsk in 1513, Ryazan in 1521, and Novgorod-Seversk in 1522.Allen F. Chew, An Atlas of Russian History: Eleven Centuries of Changing Borders (2nd ed. 1967). pp 14–43.
Brian L. Davies suggests that Moscow's ultimate advantage was the comparative absence of restraints on its ability to command resources for war.
1550–1618: Down the Volga
There were numerous Russo-Kazan wars, usually involving rival claimants for the throne of the Khanate of Kazan on the Middle Volga, and Moscow intervening in Kazan's internal wars of succession in order to uphold the dynastic interests of the Crimean Khan. It was not until 1519 that Moscow attempted to put its own claimant on the throne rather than backing the Crimean candidate, for which the Crimean Tatars punished the Muscovites with a devastating campaign in 1521, after which Moscow relented, recognised the Crimean claimant, and resumed its tribute to the Crimean Khanate.
Expansion into Asia and the Caucasus
After the Romanovs came to power, Russian expansion continued for centuries; by the end of the 19th century, the Russian Empire reached from the Baltic Sea, to the Black Sea, to the Pacific Ocean, and for some time included colonies in the Americas (1732–1867) and an unofficial colony in Africa (1889) in present-day Djibouti.John Channon, The Penguin historical atlas of Russia (1995) pp 8–12, 44–75.
The first stage from 1582 to 1650 resulted in northeastern expansion from the Urals to the Pacific. Geographical expeditions mapped much of Siberia. The second stage from 1785 to 1830 looked South to the areas between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The key areas were Armenia and Georgia, with some better penetration of the Ottoman Empire, and Persia. By 1829, Russia controlled all of the Caucasus as shown in the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829. The third era, 1850 to 1860, was a brief interlude jumping to the east coast, annexing the region from the Amur River to Manchuria. The fourth era, 1865 to 1885 incorporated Turkestan, and the northern approaches to India, sparking British fears of a threat to India in the Great Game.Brian Catchpole, A map history of Russia (1983) pp 6–31.Allen F. Chew, An Atlas of Russian History: Eleven Centuries of Changing Borders (2nd ed. 1967)
Historian Michael Khodarkovsky describes Tsarist Russia as a "hybrid empire" that combined elements of continental and colonial empires. According to Kazakh scholar Kereihan Amanzholov, Russian colonialism had "no essential difference with the colonialist policies of Britain, France, and other European powers". Qing China defeated Russia in the early Sino-Russian border conflicts, although the Russian Empire later acquired Outer Manchuria in the Amur Annexation through the 1858 Treaty of Aigun from China. During the Boxer Rebellion, the Russian Empire invaded Manchuria in 1900, and the Blagoveshchensk massacre occurred against Chinese residents on the Russian side of the border.
Table of changes Changes in territory to the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, from 1547 to 1905, listed chronologically: YearTsarTerritory takenTaken from/byBackgroundMap1552Ivan the TerribleKhanate of KazanKhanate of KazanRusso-Kazan Wars1556Ivan the TerribleAstrakhan KhanateAstrakhan KhanateRussian control of the Volga trade route1562Ivan the TerribleNevelGrand Duchy of LithuaniaLivonian War1563Ivan the TerriblePolotsk and VelizhGrand Duchy of LithuaniaLivonian War1566Ivan the TerribleUsvyatyGrand Duchy of LithuaniaLivonian War1580Ivan the TerribleLoss of UsvyatyPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthLivonian War1582Ivan the TerribleLoss of Polotsk and VelizhPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthLivonian War1585Feodor I of RussiaSevskPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth1598Feodor I of RussiaKhanate of SibirKhanate of SibirConquest of the Khanate of Sibir1582 – 1778VariousSiberiaIndigenous peopleRussian conquest of Siberia1617Time of TroublesLoss of Ingria and Kexholm CountySwedenIngrian War1618Time of TroublesLoss of Severia, Smolensk region, Sebezh and NevelPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthRusso-Polish War (1609-1618)1634Michael I of RussiaTown of SerpeyskPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthSmolensk War1644Michael I of RussiaTown of TrubchevskPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth1667Alexis of RussiaSmolensk, Left-bank Ukraine, Kiev (temporary), Zaporizhzhia (condominium with Poland)Polish–Lithuanian CommonwealthRusso-Polish War (1654–1667)1681Feodor III of RussiaQasim Khanate Qasim KhanateDeath of Queen Fatima Soltan1686Peter the GreatGain of Kiev and ZaporizhzhiaPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthUnion with Poland against Ottoman Empire (Great Turkish War)1700Peter the Great Gain of Azov (temporary) Ottoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1686-1700) (During the Great Turkish War)1711Peter the GreatLoss of AzovOttoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1710-1711)1721Peter the GreatLivonia, Estonia, Ingria, and KareliaSwedenGreat Northern War1723Peter the GreatDerbent, Baku, Shirvan, Gilan, Mazandaran, and AstarabadGuarded Domains of IranRusso-Persian War (1722–1723)1732Anna of RussiaLoss of Derbent, Baku, Shirvan, Gilan, Mazandaran, and AstarabadGuarded Domains of IranRusso-Turkish War (1735–1739)1739Anna of RussiaRegain of AzovOttoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1735-1739)1743Elizabeth of RussiaSouth-western KareliaSwedenRusso-Swedish War (1741–1743)1758Elizabeth of RussiaSambia, Lithuania Minor, NatangiaKingdom of PrussiaSeven Years' War1762Peter IIILoss of Sambia, Lithuania Minor, NatangiaCiesielski, p. 168Kingdom of PrussiaMiracle of the House of Brandenburg1771Catherine the GreatKalmyk KhanateKalmyk Khanateexodus of the Kalmyks to Dzungaria1772Catherine the GreatInflanty Voivodeship and parts of historic White Ruthenia (modern eastern Belarus, and Nevel, Rudnya, Sebezh, Shumyachi, Usvyaty, Velizh)Polish–Lithuanian CommonwealthFirst Partition of Poland1774Catherine the GreatSouthern Bug and KarbadinoOttoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1768–1774)1783Catherine the GreatCrimean KhanateOttoman EmpireAnnexation of the vassal state1792Catherine the GreatYedisanOttoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1787–1792)1793Catherine the GreatRight-bank Ukraine, most of Podolia, eastern Volhynia and BelarusPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthSecond Partition of Poland1795Catherine the GreatCourland, Semigalia, Samogitia, Kaunas, Vilnius, western Polesie and VolhyniaPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthThird Partition of Poland1799Paul I of RussiaAlaskaIndigenous peopleRussian America1801Alexander I of RussiaEastern GeorgiaKingdom of Kartli-KakhetiAnnexation of Georgia1807Alexander I of RussiaBiałystokKingdom of PrussiaNapoleonic Wars1809Alexander I of RussiaTarnopol Austrian EmpireWar of the Fifth CoalitionGrand Duchy of Finland SwedenFinnish War1810Alexander I of RussiaWestern GeorgiaKingdom of ImeretiAnnexation of Georgia1812Alexander I of RussiaLoss of Lithuania (temporary)General Confederation of the Kingdom of PolandFrench invasion of Russia1812Alexander I of RussiaBessarabia (Moldova)Ottoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1806–1812)1813Alexander I of RussiaDuchy of Warsaw (Under occupation) FranceNapoleonic Wars1813Alexander I of RussiaGeorgia, Dagestan, parts of northern Azerbaijan, and parts of northern Armenia Sublime State of PersiaRusso-Persian War (1804–1813)1815Alexander I of Russia Congress Poland Duchy of WarsawNapoleonic WarsLoss of Tarnopol Austrian Empire1828Nicholas I of RussiaIğdır Province, rest of northern Azerbaijan, and Armenia Sublime State of PersiaRusso-Persian War (1826–1828)1829Nicholas l of RussiaDanube Delta, Anapa, Novorossiysk, Poti, Akhaltsikhe and AkhalkalakiOttoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1828-1829)1856Alexander II of Russia Loss of Danube Delta and Southern Bessarabia Principality of Moldavia (Ottoman Empire)Crimean War1858Alexander II of RussiaNorth of the Amur RiverQing Empire (China)Second Opium War1859Alexander II of RussiaCaucasian ImamateCaucasian ImamateCaucasian War1860Alexander II of RussiaEast of the Ussuri RiverQing Empire (China)Second Opium War1730–1863gradualKazakhstanLesser Horde, Middle Horde, Great HordeIncorporation of the Kazakh Khanate1864Alexander II of RussiaCircassiaCircassiansCaucasian War1866Alexander II of RussiaUzbekistanEmirate of BukharaRussian conquest of Bukhara1867Alexander II of RussiaLoss of AlaskaUnited States of AmericaAlaska Purchase1873Alexander II of RussiaNorth TurkmenistanKhanate of KhivaKhivan campaign of 18731875Alexander II of RussiaSakhalinEmpire of Japanborder settlement with Japan1876Alexander II of RussiaKyrgyzstan and West TajikistanKhanate of KokandAnnexation of the vassal state1878Alexander II of RussiaRegain of Southern Bessarabia Ottoman EmpireRusso-Turkish War (1877–1878)Kars Oblast and Batum Oblast 1885Alexander III of RussiaSouth TurkmenistanTurkmensTurkmen campaign1895Alexander III of RussiaEast Tajikistansparsely populatedExploration of the Pamir plateau1905Nicholas II of RussiaLoss of South SakhalinEmpire of JapanRusso-Japanese War
Russian SFSR and Soviet Union After the October Revolution of November 1917, Poland and Finland became independent from Russia and remained so thereafter. The Russian Empire ceased to exist, and the Russian SFSR, 1917–1991, was established on much of its territory. Its area of effective direct control varied greatly during the Russian Civil War of 1917 to 1922. Eventually the revolutionary Bolshevik government regained control of most of the former Eurasian lands of the Russian Empire, and in 1922 joined the Russian SFSR to Belarus, Transcaucasia, and Ukraine as the four constituent republics of a new state, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which lasted until December 1991. In the Caucasus, in 1921, the Kars Oblast and southern Batum Oblast (gained by the Russian Empire in 1878) were ceded back to Turkey by the Treaty of Kars.
Territories of the former Russian Empire that permanently or temporarily became independent: Alash Autonomy, 1917–1920 Republic of Aras, 1918–1919 First Republic of Armenia, 1918–1920 Republic of Mountainous Armenia, 1921 Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, 1918–1920 Balagad state, 1919–1926 Belarusian Democratic Republic, 1918–1919 Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia, 1919 Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, 1917–1920 North Caucasian Emirate, 1919–1920 Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus, 1918–1919 Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, 1918 Centrocaspian Dictatorship, 1918 Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1918), 1918 Crimean People's Republic, 1917–1918 Don Republic, 1918–1920 Eastern Okraina, 1920 Far Eastern Republic, 1920–1922 Republic of Finland, 1917–present Kingdom of Finland (1918), 1918–1919 Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 North Ingria, 1919–1920 Kuban People's Republic, 1918–1920 Republic of Latvia, 1919–1940 Kingdom of Lithuania (1918), 1918 Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–1919) Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia, 1919–1920 Republic of Central Lithuania, 1920–1922 Moldavian Democratic Republic, 1917–1918 Second Polish Republic 1918–1939 Russian Republic, 1917–1918 Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1917–1991, co-founder of the Soviet Union in December 1922 Russian State (1918–1920) Ukrainian People's Republic, 1917–1921 Ukrainian State, 1918