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| | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Russia |
 | | The boundaries of Russia are: on the north, the Arctic Ocean; on the west, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic Sea, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Rumania; on the south, the Black Sea, Turkey, Persia, the Caspian Sea; Afghanistan, and China; on the east, the Pacific Ocean. |
 | | The greatest increase in the population is given by the region of New Russia, that of the Baltic, and the Province of Moscow. |
 | | This marriage was concluded by Paul II and Cardinal Bessarion, and served as the pretext for the tsars to declare themselves heirs of the Byzantine basileis, to take as their arms the two-headed eagle, and to assume the rôle of defenders and champions of the Orthodox Church. |
| www.newadvent.org /cathen/13231c.htm (19233 words) |
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