"of censorship. It was the first time a show has been pulled in such a way since the collapse of the Soviet Union, sparking rumours about the motivation behind it. Today the Bolshoi Ballet remains one of the world's foremost ballet companies, in addition to being one of the largest, with approximately 220 dancers. The word ""bolshoi"" means ""big"" or ""grand"" in Russian. The company operates on a hierarchical system, similar to those used by other leading European ballet companies, with senior dancers ranked as principals, and descending in order of importance through lead soloist, first soloist, soloist and finally,"
"Great Russia Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' (, , , , , ), is an obsolete name formerly applied to the territories of ""Russia proper"", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and later Russia. This was the land to which the ethnic Russians were native and where the ethnogenesis of (Great) Russians took place. The name is said to have come from the Greek , used by Byzantines for the northern part of the lands of Rus'. From 1654–1721, Russian Tsars adopted the word - their official title included the wording (literal translation): ""The Sovereign of all Rus':"
"Great Russian language Great Russian language (Russian: Великорусский язык, ""Velikorusskiy yazyk"") is a name given in the 19th century to the Russian language as opposed to the other two major East Slavic languages: Belarusian and Ukrainian. For instance, Vladimir Dal's monumental dictionary of the Russian language is titled ""Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language"". In 19th-century Imperial Russia, many scholars did not distinguish between the East Slavic languages spoken within the borders of the Russian Empire. The East Slavic languages were claimed to be mutually intelligible, a position since called into question. The Great Russian or just Russian"
"() – Greater Rus’) and ( – Lesser or Little Rus’), respectively. Initially ""Little"" or ""Lesser"" meant the smaller part, as after the division of the united Rus' metropolis (ecclesiastical province) into two parts in 1305, a new southwestern metropolis in the land of Halych-Volynia consisted of only 6 of the 19 former eparchies. Later it lost its ecclesiastical meaning and became a fully geographic name. In the seventeenth century the term ""Malorossiya"" was introduced into Russian. In English the term is often translated ""Little Russia"" or ""Little Rus’,"" depending on the context. The first recorded usage of the term"
"a synonym of ""Paraceratherium"", ""Indricotherium"", the biggest land mammal ever to live. Indrik In the Dove Book and Russian folklore, the Indrik-Beast (Russian: Индрик-зверь, transliteration: ""Indrik zver' "") is a fabulous beast, the king of all animals, who lives on a mountain known as ""The Holy Mountain"" where no other foot may tread. When it stirs, the Earth trembles. The word ""Indrik"" is a distorted version of the Russian word ""edinorog"" (unicorn)."" The Indrik is described as a gigantic bull with legs of a deer, the head of a horse and an enormous horn in its snout, making it vaguely"
"the Great, the Little, and the White"". Similarly, the terms Great Russian language (, ) and Great Russians (, ) were employed by ethnographers and linguists in the 19th century, but have since fallen out of use. However, the area became, together with the Volga-Ural region, North Caucasus and Siberia, the Russian SFSR, while Little Russia and White Russia became the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR respectively. Great Russia Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' (, , , , , ), is an obsolete name formerly applied to the territories of ""Russia proper"", the land that formed the core of"
"(, ""Megálē Rhōssía"") and Little Rus' (, ""Mikrà Rhōssía""). The terms were geographic in nature; the Byzantines used them to distinguish between the jurisdictions of the metropolitanates of Moscow and of Halych; ""Little"" (or ""Inner"") referred to the region closer to Byzantium, Galicia; ""Greater"" (or ""Outer"") to the regions further away and more remote, Muscovy. In the Russian language, the word ""Russian"" (, ""Russkiy"") is a single adjective to the word Rus' (). In the period of the Russian Empire, from the 17th century to the 20th century, the word ""Russian"" often referred to the All-Russian (East Slav) peoples, as"
"Russian language specifically — evolved into the Byzantine-influenced form, ""Rossiya"" (Russia is (""Rhōssía"") in Greek). In 1547, Ivan IV assumed the title of “Tsar and Grand Duke of all Rus'” (Царь и Великий князь всея Руси) and was crowned on 16 January, thereby turning the Grand Duchy of Moscow into Tsardom of Russia, or ""the Great Russian Tsardom"", as it was called in the coronation document, by Constantinople Patriarch Jeremiah II and in numerous official texts, but the state partly remained referred to as ""Moscovia"" () throughout Europe, predominantly in its Catholic part, though this Latin term was never used"
"Ispolin The ispolin (; pronounced , plural исполини ""ispolini"") is a legendary giant in Bulgarian mythology. While the appearance of the ispolin varied according to the myth and region, ispolini were believed to have inhabited the Earth before humans and to have been considerably taller. ""Ispolin"" with the meaning of ""giant"" appears in Rus' Old Church Slavonic texts as early as the 11th century. Russian linguist Max Vasmer believes the word's etymology is tied to ""spali"", a name for the defeated Goths inhabiting what is today southern Russia. The word appears as ""Spalaei"" in 1st-century Ancient Roman author Pliny the"
"Callistus I of Constantinople in 1361 created two metropolitan sees with their own names (in Greek) for the northern and southern parts: respectively, (""Megálē Rhōssía"", Great Russia) in Vladimir and Kiev and (""Mikrà Rhōssía"", Russia Minor or Little Russia) with the centers in Galich (Halych) and Novgorodok (Navahrudak). In the 14th-16th centuries most Russian principalities were united under the power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, once a part of Vladimir-Suzdal, and formed a large state. While the oldest endonyms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow used in its documents were ""Rus""' () and the ""Russian land"" (), a new"
"Grand Župan Grand, Great or Chief Župan ( Grand Prince, , , ""zoupanos megas"") is the English rendering of a South Slavic title which relate etymologically to ""Župan"" (originally a ""pater familias"", later the tribal chief of a unit called župa) like a Russian Grand Prince to a Knyaz (rendered as ""Prince"" or ""Duke"" depending on administration). A decorated silver cup with a Medieval Greek inscription attests to the use of the title in 9th-century Bulgaria. The inscription refers to a certain Sivin, who appears to have held that position at the time of Kniaz Boris I (852–889). Sivin was"
"Great Soviet Encyclopedia The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GSE; , БСЭ, ""Bolshaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya"") is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published by the Soviet state from 1926 to 1990, and again since 2002 by Russia (under the name ""Bolshaya Rossiyskaya entsiklopediya"" or ""Great Russian Encyclopedia""). The GSE claimed to be ""the first Marxist-Leninist general-purpose encyclopedia"". The idea of the ""Great Soviet Encyclopedia"" emerged in 1923 on the initiative of Otto Schmidt, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In early 1924 Schmidt worked with a group which included Mikhail Pokrovsky, (rector of the Institute of Red Professors), Nikolai Meshcheryakov"
"Russia's imperial era. The title """", its use finally formalized by Alexander III, then belonged to children and male-line grandchildren of the emperors of Russia. The daughters and paternal granddaughters of the emperors used a different version of the title (, ""Velikie knyazhna"") from females who obtained it as the consorts of Russian ""grand princes"" (, ""Velikie knjagini""). In modern times a Russian Grand Duke or Grand Duchess is styled ""Imperial Highness"". The title grand prince was also used for the heir apparent to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Grand prince The title grand prince or great prince (, Greek:"
"people are referred to as ""tzigane"". The largest ethnic group of Romani people in Russia are the Ruska Roma. They are also the largest group in Belarus. They are adherents of the Russian Orthodox faith. They came to Russia in the 18th century from Poland, and their language includes Polish, German, and Russian words. The Ruska Roma were nomadic horse traders and singers. They traveled during the summer and stayed in cottages of Russian peasants during the winter. They paid for their lodging with money, or with the work of their horses. In 1812, when Napoleon I invaded Russia, the"
"white letters. One of the variants of the flag of Pashtunistan features the takbir. Takbir The Takbīr (, ), also transliterated ""Tekbir"" or ""Takbeer"", is the Arabic phrase """" (), usually translated as ""God is [the] greatest"". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression, used in various contexts by Muslims; in formal prayer, in the call for prayer (adhān), as an informal expression of faith, in times of distress or joy, or to express resolute determination or defiance. The form ' is the nominative of ""Allah"", meaning ""God"". In the context of Islam, it is the proper name of the"
"""Kommersant"" newspaper. In December 2008, he was voted the greatest Russian in the ""Name of Russia"" television poll. Alexander Nevsky St. Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40 and 1240–56 and 1258-1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–63) during some of the most difficult times in Kievan Rus' history. Commonly regarded as a key figure of medieval Rus', St. Alexander – the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest – rose to legendary status on account of his military victories over German and Swedish invaders"
"responsible for overseeing the compliance of the federal subjects with the federal laws. Russia is the largest country in the world; its total area is . It lies between latitudes 41° and 82° N, and longitudes 19° E and 169° W. Russia's territorial expansion was achieved largely in the late 16th century under the Cossack Yermak Timofeyevich during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, at a time when competing city-states in the western regions of Russia had banded together to form one country. Yermak mustered an army and pushed eastward where he conquered nearly all the lands once belonging to"
"(emperor). The last sovereign to reign whose highest title was ""grand prince"" was Ivan IV of Moscow in the 16th century, until he assumed the rank of Tsar of Russia. When Ivan IV's pre-tsarist title is referred to in English, however, it is usually as ""grand duke"". ""Velikiy knjaz"" is also a Russian courtesy title for members of the family of the Russian tsar (from the 17th century), although those grand princes were not sovereigns. Grand Prince, used in the Slavic and Baltic languages, was the title of a medieval monarch who headed a more-or-less loose confederation whose constituent parts"
"Great erected in front of his palace in Kiev in 980, when he came to the throne. The name is also mentioned in the Hypatian Codex, as well as in the medieval Russian epic ""The Tale of Igor's Campaign"". The Proto-Slavic reconstruction is *dadjьbogъ, and is composed of *dadjь, imperative of the verb *dati ""to give"", and the noun *bogъ ""god"". The original meaning of ""Dažbog"" would thus, according to Dubenskij, Ognovskij and Niderle, be ""giving god"", ""god-giver, ""god-donor"". Morphologically this word is an old compound, that is particularly interesting because it retains the old meaning of the Proto-Slavic *bogъ"
"35 volumes was released by 2017. Publication of the ""Great Russian Encyclopedia"" is overseen by the Russian Academy of Sciences, and funded by the Government of the Russian Federation. The encyclopedia is now found in libraries and schools throughout the CIS. Additionally, the 1980s editions remain in widespread use, particularly as references in scientific and mathematical research. Great Soviet Encyclopedia The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GSE; , БСЭ, ""Bolshaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya"") is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published by the Soviet state from 1926 to 1990, and again since 2002 by Russia (under the name ""Bolshaya Rossiyskaya entsiklopediya"" or ""Great"
"most powerful men to hold the post, from 1880 to 1905. The General Procurator (Procurator General) and the Chief Procurator were major supervisory positions in the Russian Governing Senate, which functioned from 1711 to 1917, with their meaning changing over time. Eventually Chief Procurator became the title of the head of a department of the Senate. Procurator (Russia) The Procurator (, ""prokuror"") was an office initially established in 1722 by Peter the Great, the first Emperor of the Russian Empire, as part of reforms to bring the Russian Orthodox Church more directly under his control. The Russian word also has"
"Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language The Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language (), commonly known as Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary (), is a major explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. It contains about 200,000 words and 30,000 proverbs. It was collected, edited and published by academician Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl (; 1801–1872), one of the most prominent Russian language lexicographers and folklore collectors of the 19th century. ""Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary"" of the Great Russian language was the only substantial dictionary printed repeatedly (1935, 1955) in the Soviet Union in compliance with the old rules of spelling and"
"is Royal Highness (HRH). The title of grand duke borne under the Russian Empire by children and grandchildren of its rulers was a non-sovereign honorific, unrelated to any grand duchy, to which was attached the style of Imperial Highness (HIH). Ranking, internationally, no higher than the members of other reigning dynasties whose head held the title of emperor, the usage was an historical anomaly, persisting from the elevation of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy to the tsardom and, later, empire of All Russia, until its collapse in 1917. In several Balto-Slavic languages (such as Russian, Lithuanian, for example), the term"
"Sakhalin Sakhalin ( or ; ; , ""Karafuto"") is a large Russian island in the North Pacific Ocean, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. Sakhalin, which is about one third the size of Honshu, is just off the east coast of Russia, and just north of Japan. The island's population was 497,973 as of the 2010 census, made up of mostly ethnic Russians and a smaller Korean community. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Ainu, Oroks and Nivkhs. Sakhalin was claimed by both Russia and"
"""Поредити бабе и жабе"" (comparing grandmothers and toads), or the Romanian ""baba şi mitraliera"" (the grandmother and the machine gun); ""vaca şi izmenele"" (the cow and the longjohns); or ""țiganul şi carioca"" (the gypsy and the marker), or the Welsh ""mor wahanol â mêl a menyn"" (as different as honey and butter), while some languages compare dissimilar properties of dissimilar items. For example, an equivalent Danish idiom, ""Hvad er højest, Rundetårn eller et tordenskrald?"" means ""What is highest, the Round Tower or a thunderclap?"", referring to the size of the former and the sound of the latter. In Russian, the"
"Takbir The Takbīr (, ), also transliterated ""Tekbir"" or ""Takbeer"", is the Arabic phrase """" (), usually translated as ""God is [the] greatest"". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression, used in various contexts by Muslims; in formal prayer, in the call for prayer (adhān), as an informal expression of faith, in times of distress or joy, or to express resolute determination or defiance. The form ' is the nominative of ""Allah"", meaning ""God"". In the context of Islam, it is the proper name of the Abrahamic god. The form ' is the elative of the adjective ', meaning ""great"","
"more dangerous for the microbiotic fauna, as it would boil the living species, plus disturb the entire structure of water layers of the lake. Additionally, hot-water drilling would have required more power than the Russian expedition could have generated at their remote camp. However, the water samples obtained by the Russian team were heavily contaminated with drilling fluid, so they reported in May 2017 that it was impossible at this time to obtain reliable data on the real chemical and biological composition of the lake water. Lake Vostok Lake Vostok (, ""Ozero Vostok"", lit. ""Lake East"") is the largest of"
"Russian conquest of Siberia, leading up to the ground-changing reign of Peter the Great, who took power in 1689 and transformed the Tsardom into a major European power. During the Great Northern War, he implemented substantial reforms and proclaimed the Russian Empire (, ""Rossiyskaya imperiya"") after victory over Sweden in 1721. While the oldest endonyms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow used in its documents were ""Rus""' () and the ""Russian land"" (), a new form of its name, ""Rusia"" or ""Russia"", appeared and became common in the 15th century. In the 1480s Russian state scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail"
"Great, who received the lands in 1766 for reasons unknown, that estate subsequently being sold off by his descendants. The other is that the name ""speaks for itself"" (i.e., it is derived from the Russian verb """", ""to torture""), named for a church courtyard with a large iron cross used to torture and execute people. A viable historical explanation is that Pytalovo is Russified Latvian for ""Pietālava"" (Latvian ""pie Tālavas"", or Latgalian ""pī Tuolavas""), meaning ""near Tālava"", with Tālava being the name of an ancient Latvian feudal state. Russophones comprised the majority of the population in a number of parishes"
"Her Russian title (""Velikaya Knyazhna"" Великая Княжна) is most precisely translated as ""Grand Princess"", meaning that Olga, as an ""imperial highness"", was higher in rank than other princesses in Europe who were ""royal highnesses"". However, ""Grand Duchess"" is the usual English translation. Olga's friends and family generally called her simply Olga Nikolaevna or nicknamed her ""Olishka"", ""Olenka"" or ""Olya"". Among her godparents was her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. Olga was most often paired with her sister Tatiana. The two girls shared a room, dressed alike, and were known as ""The Big Pair"". From her earliest years she was known for her"
"Great Russian Encyclopedia The Great Russian Encyclopedia (GRE; , БРЭ, transliterated as ""Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya"" or academically as ""Bolšaja rossijskaja enciklopedija"") is a universal Russian encyclopedia, completed in 36 volumes, published since 2004 by ""Great Russian Encyclopedia, JSC"" (, transliterated as ""Bolshaya Rossiyskaya Entsiklopediya PAO""). It is released under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) after President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree №1156 in 2002. The complete edition was released by 2017. The chief editor of the encyclopedia is Yury Osipov, the president of the RAS. The editorial board has more than 80 RAS members, including"
"describe the part of old Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had been populated mostly by early Christianized Slavs, as opposed to Black Ruthenia, which was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts. The latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я, ""Russia"") first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled ""the Tsar of All the Russias"", as ""Russia"" or the ""Russian Empire"" was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White. This asserted that the territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian;"
"Tsar was ill with typhoid, the little girl covered a miniature portrait of him with kisses every night. Maria's siblings were Grand Duchess Olga of Russia, Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia, and Tsarevich Alexei of Russia. Maria's Russian title (""Velikaya Knyazhna"" Великая Княжна) is most precisely translated as ""Grand Princess"", meaning that Maria, as an ""Imperial Highness"" was higher in rank than other Princesses in Europe who were ""Royal Highnesses"". ""Grand Duchess"" is the most widely used English translation of the title. However, in keeping with her parents' desire to raise Maria and her siblings"