Soviet Union

When looking at the dominant forms of government in the past century, countries with autocratic regimes were in the majority for the longest time. A downward trend in autocracies only began after the end of the Second World War, accelerated by the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Since then, the two variants of government have been in a neck-and-neck race and were almost equally split in 2022.

Russia has been commemorating Yuri Gagarin's achievements to mark the 60th anniversary of his historic space flight. On April 12, 1961, Gagarin launched in the Vostok 1 spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome and orbited around the Earth for 108 minutes before safely landing in Southeastern Russia. The flight was a triumph for the Soviet Union, illustrated its technological prowess and kicked off the space age.