History of serfdom process, referred to as "second serfdom" or "export-led serfdom", persisted until the mid-19th century and became very repressive and substantially limited serfs' rights. Before the 1861 abolition of serfdom in Russia, a landowner's estate was often measured by the number of "souls" he owned, a practice made famous by Gogol's 1842 novel "Dead Souls". Many of these countries abolished serfdom during the Napoleonic invasions of the early 19th century. Serfdom remained in force in most of Russia until the Emancipation reform of 1861, enacted on February 19, 1861, though in the Russian-controlled Baltic provinces it had been abolished at the
Gambling in Russia Gambling in Russia Gambling in Russia is legal in only four regional subject areas, and in 2009 was made illegal in all other areas of Russia. In 2009, gambling was banned almost everywhere in Russia. The only exceptions are four specially arranged zones in the Altai, Krasnodar, Kaliningrad, and Primorsky regions. Gambling has been a major policy problem for the Russian government since the early 21st century. The problem was the rapidly increasing number of slot machines and gambling houses, including casinos, spreading all over the country. This caused a little concern for the government. According to city officials, after