Russia, the largest country in the world, it stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia, occupies one-tenth of all the land on Earth. It has coasts on three oceans (the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic). The Russian landscape varies from desert to frozen coastline, tall mountains to giant marshes. Russia was the preeminent republic of U.S.S.R. (The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) Russia became an independent country after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.