Understanding something about the geopolitical background of Russia will help you with your genealogical research because you will recognize the events that led to the creation of the various records and understand the background of the people who live there. Russia’s history began with the East Slavs sometime between the 3rd and 8th Centuries A.D. They were ruled by the Vikings and their descendants. In 988, Vladimir, a Viking descendant, accepted Christianity. The Russian people were unable to unite under one administration, so, during the 13th Century; the Mongols came from the east and overran most of the southern and eastern areas of what is now Russia. They were there until the early 1500s. Peter the Great was one of the early Russian tsars. He significantly impacted Russian genealogy by initiating church record keeping around 1722. When Lenin took over in 1917, civil registration began. During tsarist times, there were guberniyas, which means provinces. Guberniyas were eliminated during the Russian revolution and divided into oblasts. The former republics of the Soviet Union which are now independent include the Baltic Areas, the Caucuses, and the Central Asian Republics. Russia was made up of more than one land area. The Baltic Areas consist of Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and the Ukraine. The Caucuses are made up of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The Central Asian Republics include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Russian Empire and the Russian Federation have the same flags, but they do not represent the same land areas. The Soviet Union at one time covered the areas of both the empire and the federation. In chronological order, the time periods covered are the Russian Empire from 1721 to 1917, the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1991 and the Russian Federation from 1991 to the present. To learn more about places in Russia, it is helpful to use gazetteers. Gazetteers provide the following information: Descriptions of the locality. Administrative units or jurisdictions. ‐Parish, civil registration office, military district, post office, and code. Alternative spellings. Map coordinates. Industries. Proximity to other localities. The following gazetteers cover either all of the Russian Empire/Soviet Union or a designated part. For additional gazetteers, search the Family History Library Catalog under the country or a division thereof, such as the province (gubernia/oblast/voblast) or district (uyezd/raion/rajon). Title: Списки населенных мест Российской Имперiй Translation: List of populated places of the Russian Empire Call number: FHL INTL Fiche 6002224, 419 fiche Language: Russian Covers: 41 gubernias Title: Russisches geographisches Namenbuch Translation: Gazetteer of the Russian Empire Call number: FHL Book 947 E5r 11 vols. + map Language: Russian Text: German Covers: European part of Russian Empire, except western Baltic States Title: Official Standard Names for U.S.S.R. Call number: FHL Book 947 E5u 7vols. FHL INTL Fiche: 6001801‐6001807 Language: English Covers: Entire Soviet Union Title: Українська РСР, админстративно-територіальний поділ Translation: Ukrainian S.S.R., administrative‐territorial divisions Call number: FHL INTL Book 947.7 Language: Ukrainian Covers: Ukraine Title: Административно-территориальное устройство БССР Translation: Administrative‐territorial divisions of BSSR (Belarus) Call number: FHL INTL Book 947.8 E5a 2vols. Language: Russian Covers: Belarus Title: Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia Call number: FHL INTL Book 943 86 E5L Language: English Covers: Galicia, Austro‐Hungarian Province Title: Where Once We Walked Call number: FHL INTL 940 E5ms Language: English Covers: Jewish communities in Eastern Europe