Russia (Alternative Russia)

The Russian Federal Republic, alternatively known as simply Russia, is a transcontinental country in Europe and Asia. It is known for being the largest country in the world.

The current incarnation of Russia was created from the remnants of the Soviet Union in December 1991. It was modelled off the systems of the United States, which Russia has a “friendly rivalry” with.

Though Russia is not part of the European Union, it is part of the Schengen Agreement, meaning Russia has open borders with all EU states it borders.

Russia is one of the best countries for LGBT rights (gay marriage was legalized in 1996, and transgender rights were recognized in 2004), the first country to legalize marijuana (in 2002), and has the highest legal minimum wage (25 Rubles per hour), as well as, especially after the increasing police brutality towards people of colour in the US after the end of the Cold War, being a major destination for immigration from other countries.

The Russian currency is the Ruble (₽), which is a popular reserve currency, though it is subject to extreme deflation (a widescreen TV which would cost thousands of US dollars, costs just 10 Rubles).

Recently, Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Caucasia, and will return to host the 2022 Winter Games in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Russia consists of 19 states and several overseas territories. Its mainland has land borders with Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, West Ukraine, East Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, East Turkestan, Mongolia, and Manchukuo, as well as maritime borders with Japan, North Korea, and Canada.

States

 * 1) Muscovy is the most populous state, as Moscow, the capital and largest city, is located here.
 * 2) Caucasiaseems to be a highly-separatist state, but referendums to leave Russia have resulted in the same thing as the many referendums for Quebec to leave Canada, or Scotland to leave Britain.
 * 3) Siberia is the largest state, but is also the least populated, due to poor weather conditions. The Russian government highly encourages emigration from Siberia to western Canada (especially the Russian-speaking provinces of Alaska, Yukon, and Novayarus), or the Pacific Northwest region of the US.
 * 4) Belarus was formerly known as Byelorussian SSR during the Soviet period, and is quite culturally similar to Muscovy.
 * 5) Kazakhstan was formerly known as Kazakh SSR during the Soviet period. Along with the other states with English names ending in “-stan”, it is stereotyped as culturally backwards, much like the Southeastern region of the United States.
 * 6) Kyrgyzstan was formerly known as Kirghiz SSR during the Soviet period.
 * 7) Tajikistan was formerly known as Tajik SSR during the Soviet period.
 * 8) Turkmenistan was formerly known as Turkmen SSR during the Soviet period. Recently, due to the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan, many Afghan refugees have crossed the border to here.
 * 9) Uzbekistan was formerly known as Uzbek SSR during the Soviet period.
 * 10) Karakalpakstan was split off from Uzbekistan after a referendum in 2002.
 * 11) Tuva is pretty much culturally part of Mongolia, and was claimed by Mongolia as rightful territory until quite recently. It used to be the Tuvan SSR in the Soviet period.
 * 12) Karelia is pretty much Scandinavian, and also speaks Finnish and Swedish along with Russian. In the Soviet era, it was called the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
 * 13) Armenia was formerly known as Armenian SSR during the Soviet period. They do NOT want you to deny the Armenian Genocide, and that’s why Russia and Turkey have poor relations.
 * 14) Azerbaijan was formerly known as Azeri SSR during the Soviet period.
 * 15) Nagorno-Karabakh was created as a “kludge” to resolve a border dispute between the Armenian and Azeri state governments, and is pretty much an extension of Armenia.
 * 16) Georgia was formerly known as Georgian SSR during the Soviet period. There is also an US state called Georgia, which leads to confusion.
 * 17) Novorossiya joined the RFR in 2015, after the struggling Ukraine split into two; EU-backed West Ukraine and Russian-backed East Ukraine. Before that happened, two of the counties in eastern Ukraine, with more Russian-speakers than Ukrainian-speakers, decided to leave Ukraine and join Russia.
 * 18) Crimea is another recent addition, having joined around the same time as Novorossiya.
 * 19) The Jewish Autonomous Republic used to be the Jewish Autonomous Oblast within Siberia, but was given state status in 1998 after a referendum. It’s essentially a Jewish ethnostate, even more so than Israel, where everyone speaks Hebrew or Yiddish, and Russian is a second language at best.

Overseas territories
(TBA)