All the Russias is the standard English translation of a term which was used to refer either to the Russian Empire, or to the Russian-inhabitated lands of the Russian Empire. Tsars used the title "The Sovereign of all the Russias (alternatively "all Rus'"): the Great, the Little, and the White".

Early in Russian history, Byzantine hierarchs established their own names (in Greek) for the northern and southern parts of what was then ruled by Russians: Μεγάλη Ῥωσσία (Megálē Rhōssía, Great Russia

Great Russia

Great Russia is an obsolete name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and, later, Russia...

) and Μικρὰ Ῥωσσία (Mikrà Rhōssía, Russia Minor or Little Russia

Little Russia

Little Russia , sometimes Little or Lesser Rus’ , is a historical political and geographical term in the Russian language referring to most of the territory of modern-day Ukraine before the 20th century. It is similar to the Polish term Małopolska of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...

 ie. the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

). Ivan III adopted the title "Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

 of All the Russias" in 1480, reflecting and legitimising his various campaigns of conquest which greatly expanded his lands. The term White Russia

White Russia

White Russia or White Ruthenia is a name that has historically been applied to a part of the wider region of Ruthenia or Rus', most often to that which roughly corresponds to the eastern part of present-day Belarus including the cities of Polatsk, Vitsyebsk and Mahiliou. In English, the use of the...

 came into usage for the area now known in English as Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

. The title was re-used by Peter the Great and became standard for Russian rulers.