Russians

The term Russians may refer to the largest ethnic group in Russia native to Eastern Europe, but is may also denote the people of the multi-ethnic Russian state. The Russian word for the former meaning is русские (russkiye), for the second meaning it is россияне (rossiyane). The Russian language is the most spoken Slavic language; Orthodox Christianity has been the majority religion of the Russians since the formation of a Russian identity in the Middle Ages. They are the largest Slavic nation and the largest European nation.