There are many hypotheses about the origin of the name of the country Russia. The word itself is relatively new, it appeared around the 17th century. The word "Rus" was derived.
Hypotheses of the origin of the word "Rus"
There are several hypotheses about the origin of the word "Rus". They differ from each other, but each has its own rationale.
The Slavic hypothesis says that in the VIII-IX centuries. there was a tribe among the Eastern Slavs, which inhabited the middle course of the Dnieper: from Kiev and along the river Ros to its tributary Rossava. At the mouth of the Ros was the city of Kinsfolk. Yaropolk fled to this city from his brother Vladimir the Saint. When the Vikings raided these places, they began to call the land Rus.
According to the Sarmatian hypothesis, it was believed that the Rus were direct descendants of the Sarmatian tribes of the Roxolans and Rosomans. From these names, over time, the word Rus appeared. Mikhail Lomonosov also adhered to this theory.
The Swedish hypothesis proposes a theory that from the 6th to the 9th centuries, Northwestern Russia was inhabited by Finnish tribes. The Swedes, who visited these lands in the Norman and Varangian guise, called the Finnish tribes Ruotsi, Roots, Rotsi.
There is also a military hypothesis, according to which, when the Old Russian state was just emerging, the military estate was called "Rus". Later, “Rus” began to be called the form of government, and then the whole people.
The origin of the word "Russia"
Konstantin Porphyrogenitus in his works "On Ceremonies" was the first to use the word "Russia". The Byzantine Greeks pronounced Rus as Russia. The term "Russia" was used back in the time of Ivan III, but at that time it did not receive its official status.
First there was the Grand Duchy of Moscow, headed by Ivan III. On January 16, 1547, after Prince Ivan IV accepted the title of tsar, the Russian kingdom was proclaimed, and in the Byzantine style it was called the Russian kingdom. It is not known why the name Russian kingdom, and not Russian or Russia, took root, perhaps the Ros River influenced the name change, or perhaps it was simply much easier for Russians to pronounce the word "Russia" due to the peculiarities of articulation.
"Russian kingdom" was the official name of present-day Russia until 1721. In 1721, Peter I proclaimed the Russian Empire. During his reign, the term "Russia" was finally consolidated. The coins of Peter I were engraved with "Tsar Peter Alekseevich, Sovereign of All Russia."
Actually, at present, the name "Russia" does not go beyond the borders of Russia itself and other East Slavic countries, since Russia sounds like "Russia" in Greek and Latin, and "Russia" is pronounced in English. Theories about the origin of the name still continue to emerge.
