Editing Russian Empire (1721–1917)

{{Infobox country|conventional_long_name=Russian Empire|native_name=Россійская Имперія|year_start=1721|year_end=1917|population_census=125,640,021|population_census_year=1897|capital=Saint Petersburg|largest_city=Saint Petersburg|official_languages=Russian|mode_of_production=Feudalism|government_type=Monarchy|area_km2=22,800,000|image_flag=Flag of Russia.svg|leader_title1=Last Emperor|leader_name1=Nicholas II}}
The '''Russian Empire''' was a semi-feudal monarchy that was proclaimed by [[Peter the Great|Peter I]] in 1721 and overthrown in the [[February Revolution]] in 1917. Throughout its entire existence, it was ruled by the same family, the Romanovs. The Russian Empire included the area of modern-day [[Russian Federation|Russia]], the future [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]], [[Republic of Finland|Finland]], [[Alaska]], and [[Poland]]. Most of the empire's territory later became part of the USSR, but Finland and Poland became independent and Alaska was sold to the [[United States of America|United States]] in 1867.

== Education ==
The male literacy rate was 1–12% for rural areas and 20–25% for urban areas.<ref>{{Citation|author=Boris N. Mironov|year=1991|title=The Development of Literacy in Russia and the USSR from the Tenth to the Twentieth Centuries|chapter=|section=|page=234|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=History of Education Quarterly|isbn=|doi=10.2307/368437|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> The literacy rate for women was even lower and girls could not go to school.<ref>{{Citation|author=Nicholas V. Riasanovsky|year=2005|title=Russian Identities: A Historical Survey|chapter=|section=|page=112–18|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref>