During the Kiev period, which was from 972-1054 AD, Kievan Rus had few defining aspects with regards to the land itself, seeing as the land itself was relatively small. However, it did indeed have certain aspects that made it a good place for trading. It had a few south-flowing rivers, such as the Dneiper, the Volga and the Western Dvina, that linked the Baltic with the Blacks Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Medit

In the Kievan Rus period, most of the country’s land was in what is now Western Russia, so most of their influence came from Europe. European influence caused major changes in Kievan Rus’s history. In 980 AD Vladimir I made Orthodox Christianity the official relgion of Kievan Rus. This strong connection between church and state would play a large role in Russia’s future by creating a lot of support for future rulers. It also created a cohesive state of mind amongst the people because they now all had something in common.

Being surrounded by many other countries was good for making decisions to keep the whole country happy and for making allies, but if Kievan Rus made enemies, they were open to attacks coming from all sides. Between 972 and 1054 AD Kievan Rus suffered many attacks on all sides from other tribes and nations. Kievan Rus was attacked by the Pechenegs and the Polovstians in the south and the nomad Turkic tribes in the East. Kievan Rus was often under foreign rule because they could not have possibly defended themselves on all sides from the many attacks they suffered.

The balance that Kievan Rus had between urban and suburban areas forced its rulers to take into account the requirements and wishes of every walk of life. As Kievan Rus expanded and gained more and more territory, this fact would not remain true. The balance between suburban and urban areas would not longer remain constant. This would cause problems because certain resolutions would either leave out the small group of urban people, or a very large and very angry group of

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