At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia, which for several centuries was actively expanding its borders, reached enormous proportions - more than 19 million square kilometers, that is, about 1/6 of the land of the globe. Its borders extended from the Pacific coast in the east to Polish lands along the Vistula River in the west, from the Pamir mountains in the south to the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
According to the census, at the beginning of 1900, 128, 924, 289 people lived in the empire (72.5% of them were Russians). The population of St. Petersburg and Moscow exceeded 1 million people. Our country had the highest birth rate in Europe, but also the highest mortality rate.
People settled on the territory of Russia is extremely uneven, depending on the natural and historical characteristics of the regions. At the same time, more than 80% of the state’s inhabitants lived in villages and engaged in agriculture. A wide variety of cultures were cultivated on the vast territory of the country. Wheat, rye and oats grew in the European part, orchards and vineyards - in Bessarabia, Crimea, cotton and silk - in Central Asia.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was an active mining of minerals, primarily coal and iron ore. The increase in coal and ore production was associated with a rapid industrial expansion. They began to pay more attention to oil production (Russia soon came to first place in the world in this direction). Along with the old industrial regions - the Ural, Central and North-West - new, coal-metallurgical South and oil Baku took shape. The growth of production allowed the Russian Empire to abandon the import of metal. The output of machine-building enterprises has tripled. The development of railways contributed to the strengthening of the economy.
Foreign investment in the country exceeded Russian cash investments. Thanks to the process of concentration of production, as well as banking capital in Russia, monopolistic enterprises arose in a short time. However, at the same time, labor efficiency was still low. Russian workers remained the lowest paid in Europe, thanks to which they were easily influenced by revolutionary agitation. In addition, society was dissatisfied with the bureaucratic system in the state.
