From how one man saved us from nuclear war to A real-life two-headed Frankenstein dog, This list of 25 facts about Russia will help you get to know this fascinating country.
Fun Facts about Russia
1. Russia is a vast country that spans two continents, Europe and Asia, covering an impressive surface area of 17.13 million square kilometers. To put this in perspective, it’s larger than Pluto, the former planet, which has a surface area of only 16.7 million square kilometers.
2. With a total of 643 billion trees, covering 45 percent of its land area, Russia is home to one-fifth of the world’s trees, making it the country with the most trees on the planet.
3. Russia is richly endowed with natural resources valued at a staggering 77 trillion USD, making it one of the world’s wealthiest countries in terms of natural wealth.
4. Lake Baikal, a natural wonder in Russia, is the largest freshwater lake by volume on the planet, containing more water than all of the North American Great Lakes combined and holding 23% of the world’s freshwater reserves.
5. However, Russia also has Lake Karachay, known as the most radioactive lake on Earth. This small lake in the southern Ural Mountains of central Russia is so radioactive that standing near it for just 30 minutes can be lethal.
Surprising Facts about Russia
6. In Moscow, stray dogs ride the subway system and even get off at specific stops to search for food.
So apparently, not only Russians but also Russian dogs are built differently.
7. Russia is a very corrupt country. Transparency International’s 2013 Corruption Perception Index ranked it 127th out of 177 countries.
8. With a net worth of over $260 billion, Elon Musk is undeniably the richest man alive. However, Musk believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin deserves the title of “richest man.”
Read More: 25 Electrifying Facts about Elon Musk That Are Out Of This World
9. Moscow has the most billionaires per capita of any city, according to Forbes. Although Beijing, Hong Kong, and New York have more billionaires, their larger populations prevent them from topping the list.
10. Still, Apple is worth more than the entire Russian stock market.
Shocking Facts about Russia
11. If we asked you how far Russia is from the United States, you’d probably guess thousands of miles.
But It is just 2.4 miles (3.8km).
That’s because of two islands called Little Diomede and Big Diomede. The big one belongs to Russia and the small one to the United States.
Read More: 25 Lesser-known facts about the USA that you should know
12. Alaska was sold to the United States for pennies by Russia. Yes, you read that right.
In 1867, Russia sold Alaska, the largest state in the United States, for a total of $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre.
13. The longest railway in the world is in Russia. It has connecting branches in Mongolia and China, covering a distance of 9,289 kilometers (5,772 miles).
14. Ok, let’s talk about space now.
One of the most shocking facts about Russia is that the first person in space was a Russian. Yuri Gagarin became the first cosmonaut to travel into space in 1961. In his Vostok 1 spacecraft, he completed a 108-minute orbital flight.
But what’s the difference between a cosmonaut and an astronaut?
The answer is that there isn’t one; cosmonauts are trained at the Russian Space Agency. Astronauts, on the other hand, are trained at NASA or other countries’ space agencies.
15. The helicopter, Modern Television, Anesthesia, and Periodic table are some of the greatest Russian inventions.
Insane Facts about Russia
16. On September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov saved the world from a potential nuclear war by not retaliating when his command center’s nuclear early-warning radar system falsely showed that the US had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. If he had been wrong, he would have been executed for treason.
17. Russia has approximately 10 million more women than men, which was initially believed to be due to many men dying during wars.
18. Despite being 115 times larger than Bangladesh, Russia has a smaller population due to the gender imbalance.
19. Giving an even number of flowers to a woman in Russia is considered bad luck because it is associated with funerals.
20. Russia has an extensive network of pipelines that, if laid end to end, could circle the globe more than six times.
Dark Facts about Russia
21. You all know how hard the people of Russia and other parts of the Soviet Union had in the Second World War.
It’s thought that around 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians died in total, although the number can change depending on what study you’re reading.
When you consider that all US deaths related to the war totaled to about 400,000, you can really understand how bad the folks in the Soviet Union had it.
Refusing to fight in the Soviet Union or deserting as a soldier was often a literal death sentence.
It’s thought 212,400 people were executed after being accused of desertion.
22. A Russian named Vladimir Demikhov was a pioneer when it came to organ transplantation and was able to create a two-headed dog. Yes, you heard that right, he made a two-headed dog.
In the name of medical science, he did it many times.
One of his creations appeared in Life magazine, a story about an experiment with a stray German Shepherd named Brodyaga and a much smaller dog named Shavka.
Once the transplant was done, both heads could see and smell and even swallow, but they only lasted four days.
His best two-headed dog lived for a total of 29 days.
23. As you know, the Soviet Union was home to some of the world’s best scientists.
Those scientists were sometimes hired to work on certain secret military initiatives, and that didn’t always end well.
One of them we now call the “Biological Chernobyl.” But its more formal name is the Sverdlovsk anthrax leak.
In short, biological weapons were being tested at a Soviet military research facility but on one very dark day in 1979, some anthrax escaped through the vents. That got into people’s nostrils in the factory, and the wind blew it to villages nearby.
Soon people started feeling ill, some even had blue hands, but the people in charge said it was just a really bad case of food poisoning.
It’s thought 66 people died, but of course, the authorities tried to play the matter down until it was hiding the truth was impossible.
24. Even with all the horrors committed by Stalin back in the day, and we are talking mass torture, millions living in fear, and countless deaths, polls still show that right now, he is pretty popular.
The Moscow Times recently asked how this could be, citing a 2021 poll that said 56 percent of Russians think Stalin was a “great leader.”
25. One out of every four Russian men will die before reaching the age of 55, which is a concerning statistic in such a developed country.
As you’ll now see, there is a reason for this, something you might say is one of Russia’s most indomitable enemies, vodka.
Sure, a little bit of vodka doesn’t harm anyone. But when vodka starts being drunk like water, there’s a problem.
Some studies say vodka will end up being the cause of death for close to 40 percent of all Russian working men.
Moreover, Until 2011, beer was not considered an alcoholic beverage in Russia.
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had fun while reading 25 Interesting Russia facts.
And in case you’re interested in reading other articles:
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