SuzdalSuzdal (Суздаль, ˈsuzdəlj) is a town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located on the Kamenka River, north of the city of Vladimir. Vladimir is the administrative center of the surrounding oblast. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 9,286. Suzdal is one of the oldest Russian towns. In the 12th century, it became the capital of the principality, while Moscow was merely one of its subordinate settlements.
Barents SeaThe Barents Sea (ˈbærənts , also USˈbɑːrənts ; Barentshavet, ˈbɑ̀ːrn̩tsˌhɑːvə; Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters. It was known earlier among Russians as the Northern Sea, Pomorsky Sea or Murman Sea ("Norse Sea"); the current name of the sea is after the historical Dutch navigator Willem Barentsz. The Barents Sea is a rather shallow shelf sea, with an average depth of , and it is an important site for both fishing and hydrocarbon exploration.
TverTver (Тверь, tvjerj) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is situated where three rivers meet, splitting the town into northern and southern parts by the Volga, and divided again into quarters by the Tvertsa River, which splits the left (northern) bank into east and west halves, and the Tmaka River which does the same along the southern bank.
PskovPskov (Псков; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia. During the Middle Ages, it served as the capital of the Pskov Republic and was a trading post of the Hanseatic League before it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow and became an important border fortress in the Tsardom of Russia.
Rus' peopleThe Rus' (Роусь; Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian: Русь; Old Norse: Garðar; Greek: Ῥῶς, Rhos) were a people in early medieval eastern Europe. The scholarly consensus holds that they were originally Norsemen, mainly originating from present-day Sweden, who settled and ruled along the river-routes between the Baltic and the Black Seas from around the 8th to 11th centuries AD. In the 9th century, they formed the state of Kievan Rusʹ, where the ruling Norsemen along with local Finnic tribes gradually assimilated into the East Slavic population, with Old East Slavic becoming the common spoken language.
Volkhov (river)The Volkhov (Во́лхов) is a river in Novgorodsky and Chudovsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Kirishsky and Volkhovsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia. It connects Lake Ilmen and Lake Ladoga and forms part of the basin of the Neva. The length of the river is , and the area of its drainage basin is . The city of Veliky Novgorod, the towns of Kirishi, Volkhov and Novaya Ladoga, and the historically important village of Staraya Ladoga are located along the Volkhov.
Tver OblastTver Oblast (Tverskaya oblast; Tverin alue) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was known as Kalinin Oblast (Кали́нинская о́бласть). Population: Tver Oblast is a region of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno. Much of the remaining area is occupied by the Valdai Hills, where the Volga, the Western Dvina, and the Dnieper have their source. Tver Oblast is one of the tourist regions of Russia with a modern tourist infrastructure.
SwedenSweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridgetunnel across the Öresund. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.
Volga trade routeIn the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea and the Sasanian Empire, via the Volga River. The Rus used this route to trade with Muslim countries on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, sometimes penetrating as far as Baghdad. The powerful Volga Bulgars (cousins of today's Balkan Bulgarians) formed a seminomadic confederation and traded through the Volga river with Viking people of Rus' and Scandinavia (Swedes, Danes, Norwegians) and with the southern Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) Furthermore, Volga Bulgaria, with its two cities Bulgar and Suvar east of what is today Moscow, traded with Russians and the fur-selling Ugrians.
SwedesSwedes (svenskar) are an ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, in particular Finland where they are an officially recognized minority, with a substantial diaspora in other countries, especially the United States. The English term "Swede" has been attested in English since the late 16th century and is of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin.