Peter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov (9 June [O.S.

30 May] 1672 – 8 February [O.S.

28 January] 1725) rules Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May [O.S.

27 April] 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V. He carries out a policy of modernization and expansion that transforms the Tsardom of Russia into a 3-billion acre Russian Empire, a major European power.