Here are some facts about Russia.
- Russia is the world’s largest country. It covers just over 17 million square km and accounts for almost 10 percent of the inhabited land on earth.
- It has borders with 14 other countries, and is only 80 km from the United States, across the Bering Strait. Russia spans 9 time zones and has a population of about 143 million.
- During the 16th and 17th centuries, Russia was ruled by powerful Tsars; it became an empire in 1721.
- The Russian Revolution of 1917 saw Lenin take power and the world’s first socialist country created.
- The Trans-Siberian Railway is one of the world’s longest train journeys. It stretches 9,289 km from Moscow to Vladivostok and the entire journey takes just over 6 days.
- Moscow, Russia’s capital has a population of about 12 million. It is one of the coldest cities in the world, as well as one of the fastest growing tourist destinations.
- Leningrad is Russia’s second city, designed by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. It has been named Petrograd and St. Petersburg during its history, and is home to the Hermitage, one of the world’s largest museums.
- The Moscow underground or metro is the 4th largest in the world, and one of the deepest. Its stations are decorated with marble walls, statues, chandeliers and high ceilings.
- Russia has about 100,000 rivers, including the 3,692 km Volga River, Europe’s longest.
- Lake Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake in the world, and contains about 20 percent of the world’s unfrozen fresh water.
- Famous Russian composers include Prokofiev, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky.
- Famous Russian writers include Chekhov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, whose War and Peace is one of the most well-known books of all-time.
- Russia is one of the largest oil producers, and has 20 percent of the world’s forests.
- It was the first country to put a man in to space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961.
