Original hand-painted watercolor by E.R. of the Russian Imperial flag with with double-headed eagle on a yellow field. Dated Brughes, September 6, 1916, it would have been painted in occupied Belgium. Text, in Russian, ends "Huzzah!"

Text, in Russian, ends Huzzah!

Other views: Larger, Back

The Russian Empire spanned from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. To the west, in Europe, it shared borders with the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. In the Caucasus Mountains, it abutted the Ottoman Empire and Persia. In northern Europe lay the semi-autonomous Duchy of Finland. Far to the east, joined to European Russia by a single rail line, lay the port of Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean.

Ocean access was limited. From the Baltic Sea ships had to pass through the straits of the Kattegat and Skaggerak to reach the North Sea Ocean. From the Black Sea, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits lay between the Mediterannean Sea and the open Atlantic. To the north, the port of Murmansk was icebound much of the year.

The Russian Empire is an empire in Europe.

More about The Russian Empire:

Statistics for Russian Empire (1)

Type	Statistic
Population	169,050,000