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The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian: Pоссiйская Имперiя, Modern Russian: Российская империя, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union. It was one of the largest empires the world has seen. At one point in 1866, it streched throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. At the beginning of the 19th century the only other empire to match its size was the British Empire.