ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Territorial evolution of Russia

Russia is a country that has changed many times over the years. It has changed its shape and size, as countries around it have grown or disappeared. To understand the territorial evolution of Russia, imagine a kid playing with play doh. At first, the kid has a ball of play doh.As they shape the play doh, they form different shapes. Russia's territorial evolution is like this. Over the centuries, borders shifted as surrounding countries changed, and Russia grew and shrank. For example, at one point, it stretched all the way to Alaska, but then it gave up that land. At its largest, it was huge, but then it lost some land and stopped growing. So that's how the territorial evolution of Russia can be understood.