Kievan Rus summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Kievan Rus.

Kievan Rus , First eastern Slavic state. It was founded by the Viking Oleg, ruler of Novgorod from c. 879, who seized Smolensk and Kiev (882), which became the capital of Kievan Rus. Extending his rule, Oleg united local Slavic and Finnish tribes, defeated the Khazars, and, in 911, arranged trade agreements with Constantinople. Kievan Rus peaked in the 10th and 11th centuries under Vladimir I and Yaroslav, becoming eastern Europe’s chief political and cultural centre. At Yaroslav’s death in 1054, his sons divided the empire into warring factions. The 13th-century Mongol conquest decisively ended its power.

Map showing the countries of Europe with national capitals and surrounding bodies of water, including the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.

Europe Summary

Europe, second smallest of the world’s continents, composed of the westward-projecting peninsulas of Eurasia (the great landmass that it shares with Asia) and occupying nearly one-fifteenth of the world’s total land area. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Atlantic