The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian: Россійская Имперія, Modern Russian: Российская Империя, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) is a state that have existed since 1721. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia. It is the second largest contiguous empire the world had seen, surpassed only by the Mongol Empire. At one point in 1866, it stretched from eastern Europe, across Asia, and into North America. Since the beginning of the 19th century, Russia is the largest country in the world, extending from the Arctic Ocean to the north to the Black Sea on the south, from the Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean on the east. Across this vast realm are scattered the Emperor's 196.4 million subjects, the sixth largest population of the world, but still represented a great disparity in eco