31 Facts About Russia

Russia is the world's largest country. It is twice the size of the United States and even larger than the surface area of Pluto!

The Moscow Kremlin is the world's largest mediaeval fortified complex. It also houses the Kremlin's largest church bell and military cannon.

The Metro in St. Petersburg is the world's deepest subway system. It has an average depth of 100 metres!

The Trans-Siberian Railway is the world's longest railway system, crossing eight time zones. They built it over a 25-year period with exorbitant costs, desperate struggle, and enduring hardships.

Baikal is the world's largest and deepest lake! 

Oymyakon is the world's coldest place.

St. Petersburg is the northernmost city, with a population of over one million people.

Murmansk is the Polar region's largest city.

Volga is Europe's largest river, and Elbrus is Europe's highest mountain.

Permafrost covers 65% of Russia's land area.

Siberia takes up 77% of Russia! The climate is extremely cold, and the winters are extremely long! Siberia is vast, sparsely populated, underdeveloped, and naturally harsh. Siberia is home to only 25% of Russians.

St. Petersburg, like Venice, is a city of bridges and channels! More than 60 different channels connect the city to 42 small islands, which are connected by 500 bridges and 20 unique drawbridges.

St. Petersburg is well-known for its magnificent architecture. The city centre, like Paris and Rome, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

St. Peterburg is well-known for its incredible culture, opera, theatres, and the incredible Hermitage museum, which houses over 3 million exhibits. It is guarded by a special army of spoiled cats!

For more than 300 years, Russia was an Empire.

Because of their familiarity with a vast country and its harsh nature, Russians became some of the world's greatest explorers. During the 800-day expedition to the South, they discovered Antarctica.

St. Petersburg serves as Russia's modern cultural capital. There are over 2000 libraries, 200 museums, and 100 theatres in the city.

The Hermitage is one of the world's largest and oldest museums, with over 3 million fascinating exhibits.

Slavery did not exist in Russia. Never. BUT. Serfdom existed in Russia until 1861; it was a special status enjoyed by many peasants, similar to slavery.

Serfdom was finally abolished in 1861. At the time, Russia had approximately 23 million peasants who belonged to landowners and approximately 29 million free peasants who belonged to the government.

In Russia, people drink a lot of hot tea. They can consume 5-10 cups of tea per day. People usually drink black tea with sugar, but many now prefer green tea or black tea without sugar.

People are very welcoming, so they are always willing to assist you whether you are from America or Albania.

Russians were the first to set foot in space. It was Yuri Gagarin, who is well-known in Russia. The first flight was made in a rush to beat America. It was extremely dangerous because some emergency systems did not function properly. Gagrin had three messages ready in case of a successful flight, mission failure, or landing on another country's territory. Because the mission was classified, no one knew about it until the next day. Lenin monuments can still be found in every town's or city's central square. The main street of a typical Russian town is Lenin Street. Lenin is always proudly extending his hand, indicating a bright future. In Russia, there are at least 7,000 Lenin monuments.

Lenin died in 1924, so he has only served as a symbol of communism for the last century! He was only the country's leader for six years, despite the USSR's existence for over 70 years.

During WWII, at least 20 million Russians were killed, and Hitler was defeated.

Russia is home to one of the world's most active volcanoes... Klyuchevskaya Sopka. It has exploded on a regular basis over the last 7000 years. It is located on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is Europe's highest active volcano.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle. The Russian AK-47 is the world's most popular military rifle. Since 1947, over 100 million AK-47s have been manufactured. It's simple, inexpensive, and rough (like our UAZ 452).

Russia is a country full of churches; they can be found everywhere. Suzdal, for example, has one church for every 200 people.

Following numerous meetings in the 2010s, the government devised a plan to control the population and profit from it. It is now illegal to criticise the government, even on the internet.

Meetings with more than three people are prohibited unless approved by the government.

There are still 20 million Russians who do not have access to basic sanitation. They live in odd wooden cabins with holes in the floor and frequently leaning walls.