Geography
  • Russia is a transcontinental country, extending halfway around the northern hemisphere and covering much of eastern and north-eastern Europe and the entire of northern Asia.
  • Russia covers 1/7th of the total land of our planet and neighbors more countries than any other country on earth.
  • Ladoga Lake is the largest lake in Europe. Its area makes 7104.3 sq miles with an average depth is 51 m, the largest depth being up to 230 m.
  • Russia is the only State in the world, on the territory of which there are 12 seas.
  • The closest point between Russia and America is only 2.48548 m long.
  • The way from Moscow to Chicago is closer than from Chicago to Rio-de-Janeiro.

    • Population
  • In terms of population, Russia is the ninth largest country in the world, even though it's the world's biggest country.
  • Moscow is the biggest city in Europe with a population of 10.5 million. Statistics say that the Moscow population is expecting to be 16 million by 2020.
  • Moscow actually has more billionaires living in the area than any other city in the world. Moscow beats New York City's statistic by three, with a total of about 75 billionaires.
    • Culture
  • There are 221 museums, 2,000 libraries, more than 80 theaters, 100 concert organizations, 45 galleries, 62 cinemas and 80 club establishments of culture in St. Petersburg.
  • The Russian State Library is the biggest in Europe and second in the World after Library of Congress in the USA. The Russian State Library is located in Moscow and was founded in 1862.
  • Russians celebrate new year 2 times a year (1st of January and Orthodox Stule New Year 14th of January).
  • The intellectual level of Russian people is considered up to 99%. There are more than 600 universities in the country.
    • Habits
  • Russians never shake hands over a doorway, they believe it leads to arguments.
  • Hospitality plays a significant role in the Russian mentality and character, once you make friends with Russian people you will surely value this unique feature of the so-called "Wide Russian Soul".
  • Many Russian people prefer to spend their holidays and free time in the summer houses outside the cities which are called dacha.
  • In Russia men never give an even amount of flowers to a lady it is a bad luck and is associated with funerals.
  • Russians usually wear a wedding ring on the right hand.
    • Language
  • Russian language does not include a word for 'the' or 'a' which is good because these often lead to confusion in other languages.
  • Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet instead of the Latin and is one of the 5 most spoken languages in the world.
  • To change a sentence into a general question, one doesn't have to change anything, but intonation, i.e. "Ты дома." (you are at home) vs "Ты дома?" (Are you at home?).