The Russian Empire (Russian: Российская Империя, Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a former empire that stretched from Eastern Europe, across Northern Eurasia, and including parts of North America. Russia was an absolute monarchy, in which the Tsar (also known as the Emperor) had total control. The Empire collapsed into revolution in 1917, eventually solidifying into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Eurasia and the Alaskan Democratic Federative Republic in North America. Today the Russian Federation is regarded as a successor state to the Russian Empire (and the Soviet Union).