Russia flag

Courtesy of Anastasia991 from postcrossing forum

The flag of Russia is a tricolour flag of three equal horizontal fields, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The flag was first used as an ensign for Russian merchant and war[citation needed] ships and only became official in 1896. The flag continued to be used by the Russian Provisional Government even after the Tsar was toppled in the February Revolution and was not replaced until the October Revolution which established a Bolshevik government. From that time period, a red flag charged with communist symbols was favoured over the tricolour. It was not until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the tricolour was brought back as the official flag of the new Russian Federation. The modern era flag underwent a slight change in 1993 and has been official since 2000.

Russia map

Courtesy of Ambivalence from postcrossing official

Courtesy of mad_madchen from postcrossing forum

Russia (Russian: Россия), also officially known as the Russian Federation, is a state in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the United States by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 sq. km (10,610,162 sq. miles), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than a ninth of the Earth's land area. Russia is also the ninth most populous nation with 142 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 9 time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.