Russia stands out as the first place on our planet in terms of dimensions: it is the largest country in the world, located halfway between Europe and Asia. In the impressive territory it occupies, it has room to hold numerous data that would leave you amazed at least impressionable. Do you want to know some of the most incredible curiosities of Russia ? You are in the right place.
To open your mouth, we will tell you that this country has extraordinary features and records. Did you know that there is the longest train line in the world? It is the one that allows the Trans-Siberian railway to circulate, connecting Russia with Mongolia, China and, in short, with some of the most powerful Asian countries. Keep reading to discover more curiosities of Russia !
50 amazing Russian curiosities
1. The first of the curiosities of Russia that will already hallucinate you In Russia there was a tendency among millionaires to move in taxis disguised as ambulances on the outside. Of course, they were equipped with furniture and high-end appliances inside. A journey in these original designed vehicles to get rid of traffic It costs more than $ 200 an hour.
2. Surely accustomed to Russian vodka, the inhabitants of this country did not think that beer was an alcoholic beverage, at least not officially. This changed in 2011, the result of the increasing consumption of beer over vodka and the need to apply taxes on the drink that is definitely alcoholic.
3. First McDonald's workers received classes on "how to smile to customers". As you read it, in the decade of the '90s, when the first McDonald's was inaugurated in the former Soviet Union, Russian workers received classes on how to smile at customers, since the "American smile" it did not finish arising to them of spontaneous form.
4. Until 2016 Russia was home to the largest McDonald's in the world. Who could ever imagine that Moscow would have the largest McDondald's in the world , after the difficult process of adaptation to the smiling way of working of this brand?
5. A quarter of the male population dies before 55 due to their addiction to Russian vodka. According to one investigation , which was carried out with 151,000 Russian men and in which their consumption patterns were studied, the 25% of the Russian male population that consumes more than three bottles of half a liter of vodka a week, dies before reaching 55 years of age due to his addiction to alcohol.
6. At the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, which holds the national treasure of Russia, there are cats acting as guardians, protecting the prized works of art and valuable objects that houses the rodents. It's as if they worked in this place.
These cats are very appreciated by the employees of the museum and they have been doing this task since the eighteenth century, when the place was still a palace.
The cats are very well cared for and have a kitchen dedicated to preparing their food, a small hospital to lay them and several caretakers.
7. This is one of the curiosities of Russia What's more impact He Lake Karachay, Located in the Ural mountains, it is considered to be the most polluted place in the world, as it was used as a landfill of radioactive material between 1951 and 1990. In fact, experts say that just one hour of exposure standing on the shore of the lake, is enough to kill a person because of the high dose of radiation it emits.
8. In 2007, the inhabitants of the small town of Pudinskoye, in Siberia, saw orange and smelling snow fell from the sky . The researchers found that the snow contained four times the normal amounts of iron, acids and nitrates. Although the exact cause of this phenomenon has not been established, everything suggests that the contamination of the numerous industries that operate in the region was responsible.
9. In the city of Kubinka of Russia is the Patriot-Park, a military-themed park in which its visitors can drive in military vehicles and use weapons of war such as machine guns or assault rifles. The objective is to instill patriotism and military courage to youth.
10. This is one of those curiosities of Russia it's good to know. There are a total of 44 Russian cities that have been declared as "Closed cities" . That is, they do not allow any foreigner to go inside. They were founded at the time of the Soviet Union with the aim of housing nuclear arsenals and facilities.
Currently, around 1 and a half million people live in these cities, called "ZATO" (closed territorial administrative entities), which are surrounded by barbed wire, besides being protected by armed guards. Even to get out of them you need a special document from the authorities
11. Valentina Vassilyeva holds the Guinness record of the greatest number of children with 69 babies Among those that stand out 27 multiple births : six pairs of twins, seven groups of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.
12. How will you intuit the Russian language It is officially Russian, although so are the languages of the former Soviet Republics and other languages. Between these languages they emphasize: the Belarusian, the Moldavian, the Georgian , Estonian, Armenian and Azeri, among others.
13. In Russia, the number of women exceeds that of men by 10 million. Demographic studies have indicated that this great difference began with the World War I and it did not stop growing when more conflicts arrived, especially during World War II. Russia is recovering, but there is still a long way to go until the amounts are somewhat even.
14. Tetris was invented ... by a Russian! This is also one of the curiosities of Russia unexpected The computer engineer Alekséi Pázhitnov was responsible for so many hours of fun playing Tetris. He currently resides in the USA. and is the owner of the company The Tetris Company together with Henk Rogers. We owe Russia the video game Tetris !
15. Russian traditions include popular legends such as Baba Yaga . This is an old woman who lives in the woods, has the legs of a chicken and is often surrounded by skulls and bones. He can become extremely cruel and loves to eat human flesh, usually children.
If you want to know more about her, read: Baba Yagá, the witch of the Russian forests.
16. In the territory of Russia you will find the coldest city in the world, specifically in the Republic of Sakha, one of the Russian federal districts, located very close to the Arctic Circle. The name of this frozen metropolis is Yakutsk In this city temperatures of -52 ºC are reached. When this happens, of course, all activities are interrupted.
Discover how the existence of the inhabitants of the coldest city in the world. Learn more about life in Yakutsk at -50ºC.
17. As in other Eastern European countries, in Russia the married or married ring is worn on the ring finger of the right hand, unlike other countries that traditionally choose the left.
18. It is one of the curiosities of Russia to take into account if you do not want to screw up. When you buy flowers from someone Russian or in Russia, you never give them an odd number of flowers. It is considered an ill-mannered act and a sign of bad luck, because a bouquet of flowers with an odd number of them is typical of funerals, so that romanticism or good intention are in the background.
19. Siberia occupies more than half of the country. He 77% of the Russian area is occupied by Siberia .
20. They have the largest lake in the world. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world.
21. Only Lake Baikal accounts for between 22% and 23% of all fresh water on the Earth's surface. 22. Russia is the largest country in the world, in terms of area.
23. Thus, Russia occupies more than 1/9 of the terrestrial territory of the planet. Wow!
24. Another of the curiosities of Russia is that it is halfway between Europe and Asia, but on which continent is there more of Russia? In Asia. 3 quarters of its territory lie on the Asian continent. Surprisingly and despite the difference, only a little more than 20% of Russians live in the Asian part of the country.
25. Did you know that there are more billionaires in Moscow than practically no other city? Only New York, which has 82, and Hong Kong, which has 75.
26. In Moscow there was a restaurant where you were served by identical twin brothers, dressed exactly the same. It was called Twin Stars and was, at the very least, a rarity.
27. The Cathedral of San Basilio has a slightly macabre legend behind its construction. It is said that after Postnik Yakovlev designed it, Ivan The Terrible was so impressed to see it, that he decided to blind it so that he could not create anything similar in the world, which could be compared to the cathedral.
28. Another curiosity about Russia is that it has more time zones than any other country in the world. He has 9, although before 2010 he had 11.
29. As we told you at the beginning of this post, this country has the longest train line in the world. It is the Trans-Siberian and practically crosses all of Russia. In total, if you covered it all, you would travel for 152 hours (without stopping) and you would travel along 9200 kilometers.
30. Vladimir Putin saved a whole television crew from being attacked by a Siberian tiger. Later it was learned that everything was ready and was part of a plan to promote the image of the politician.
31. Russia is the country with the most borders with different countries. Adjacent to 14: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, China, Ukraine. Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Mongolia and North Korea.
32. If you want to get an idea of the size of Russia, in terms of square kilometers it is almost as big as Pluto. It occupies 17 square kilometers, compared to Pluto's 17.6 square kilometers. Brutal!
33. Russia and Japan have not yet signed the peace treaty that ended the Second World War due to the conflict in the Kuril Islands.
34. The first satellite in the world was Sputnik and it belonged to the Soviet Union. It was launched in 1957.
35. In Russia, the oldest existing plant was germinated from 32,000-year-old seeds. Awesome!
36. In 2016, Russia was the largest oil producer in the world, surpassing Saudi Arabia and the USA. UU Will it stay like this?
37. The St. Petersburg metro is the deepest in the world.
38. Another of the curiosities of Russia is that if you get to a place, try not to fit your hands with someone, as a greeting, under the door. They consider that doing this is a bad omen that implies that there will soon be discussions.
39. The lowest point of Russia is the Caspian Sea, located 28 meters below sea level.
40. The highest point of Russia is Mount Elbrús, 5633 meters above sea level.
41. Russian is one of the 5 most spoken languages in the world.
42. This country currently has 12 active volcanoes. The Klyuchevskaya Sopka, located on the Kamchatka Peninsula, has erupted strongly up to 50 times in the last 270 years.
43. The Hotel Astoria in St. Petersburg is the place where Hitler planned to hold a great celebration when he conquered the city (at that time it was called Leningrad). Still today the restaurant is a place of great quality.
44. Subbotnik is the day when the citizens of the Russian metropolis carry out voluntary cleaning and maintenance of their streets.
45. In winter, the icicles that hang from the roofs of the city of Moscow are so huge that they are very dangerous. Therefore, they cordon off the area in which they will fall to prevent anyone from being hurt, as they could kill.
46. If you see a bronze statue in the Ploshchad Revolutsii metro station, you will surely be struck by the bright nose of the sculpted dog. It's like that because they say it's good luck to touch her, so many people they pass by caress her nose, waiting for good fortune to accompany them.
47. There is a traditional soup called "khodolets" is delicious and is made from chicken legs.
48. The word vodka comes from the term "voda", which means water, although they could not be more different drinks.
49. They say that the Moscow metro is the most beautiful in the world. Judge yourself.
50. Did you know that Mikhail Gorbachev recorded a CD of romantic ballads?
Other Curiosities of Asia | By Countries
If you liked to know the most amazing curiosities of Russia, you may want to explore the curiosities of Asia , focused on their countries. Explore the following Asian countries and their most amazing face! Do not miss them!
- Curiosities of the Philippines
- Curiosities of Georgia
- Curiosities of Jordan
- Curiosities of Turkey
- Curiosities of China
- Curiosities of Japan
- Curiosities of North Korea
- Curiosities of South Korea
- Curiosities of Mongolia
- Curiosities of Thailand
- Curiosities of India
- Curiosities of Nepal
What do you think about the curiosities of Russia? Did you associate legend characters from their folklore such as Baba Yaga? Did you know that it was a country of such gigantic dimensions that it could be compared to Pluto? We hope that all this curious data of the country with the coldest city in the world have interested you. If you know more amazing information about Russia, do not hesitate to leave us a comment and we will expand this list. We will be happy to read you!
Image: Marina Perevezentseva