ABSTRACT
Modern Russia and the former Soviet Union possess rich natural resources, but much of this wealth, such as oil, natural gas, and other abundant minerals, was exploited only recently. During the Soviet period, school textbooks were printed in over fifty languages, and today a wide variety of religions and cultures coexist within the borders of Russia and the other post-Soviet states. Geographic and demographic factors influenced the development of society in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Kievan Rus' emerged in the late 800s or early 900s. In Kievan Rus', the fundamental characteristics of Russian culture and religion took root. The single most important event in the history of Kievan Rus' was its official adoption of Christianity in 988. However important political, economic, and commercial causes were to the Kievan Rus' demise, in the end, external factors played the decisive role. Kievan Rus' left a powerful legacy on which much of the subsequent Russian and Ukrainian civilizations were built.
