The Russian Federation is the largest republic of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It occupies an area about one and four-fifths of the size of the United States and occupies most of eastern Europe and north Asia. Russia stretches from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, the Altai, and Sayan Mountains, and the Amur and Ussuri Rivers in the south. It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the northwest, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania in the west, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the southwest, and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and North Korea along the southern border.

Crossing Siberia during the winter is a cold and dangerous trip, but the scenery was beautiful!