Lately the world is being stirred up about the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, here the author will not discuss the war that is going on between the two countries. The unique thing that Russia has is an interesting conversation. Of course we all know that Russia is the largest country in the world with a population of 146,045,544 in 2022, as quoted from worldometers.info.
But do you know the unique and interesting facts behind the Russian state, summarized from Expacica and The Planetd, here are 11 unique and interesting facts:
1. Russia and the United States Only 4 km
Although Russia and the United States were ideologically opposed in the 20th century, Russia and the United States are only separated by only 4 km of sea water. In the middle of the Bering Strait, there are two islands called Diome Small and Diome Big. Small Diome Island is owned by the United States while the big Diome is owned by Russia. The island is on the International Date Line which means the big Diome is almost a day ahead.
2. The First Man To Go To Space Was Russia
In 1916 a famous cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin traveled into space. A cosmonaut is different from an astronaut, a cosmonaut is someone trained by the Russian Space Agency while an astronaut is someone trained by NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency or the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.
3. Russian women live 10 years longer
The life expectancy of Russian women can reach 78 years, while the average life expectancy of Russian men is 68 years. This is because in 2009 Russian men consumed more alcohol than women. Just as men consume as much as 18 liters of alcohol per year while women only 4 liters per year. However, this difference is slowly starting to change.
4. Russian Railways are the Longest in the World
The length of the railway line is 9,288 km which is famous for the Trans-Siberian railway. If you travel from Moscow to Vladivostock it will take about 6 days past the Ural Mountains and lots of forest and record-breaking Lake Baikal.
5. Russians Learn Not to Smile
This is because for Russian people smiling is a sign of weakness and does not show true feelings. They will only smile at people they know and care about, not like most cultures smile at strangers.
If you smile at a Russian on the street, don't expect him to smile back at you. Although there are some Russians who will smile and wave to you.
6. Russia Has 11 Time Zones
Russia is such a large country that it has 11 time zones apart. However, that does not mean that Russia has the most time zone differences because France has the most time zones. However, Russia's 11 time zones are enough to make jet lag even though traveling within their own country.
Those were 6 unique and interesting facts about Russia. Well, according to my friend, which fact is the most unique and makes my friend just realize it. I hope this information is useful.
7. Country with Big Forest
Geographically the territory of Russia is very large and most of it is Siberia. You could say Russia is 60% forest area. Half of the forest is completely uninhabited by humans. Russia has about 815 million hectares of forest, making it account for about 20 percent of the world's total forest area.
8. The World's 9th Most Populous
Launching from the Worldmater website, in 2022 Russia will have the ninth largest population in the world. The total population is 145,934,462 people. However, given the size and size of the country, the population density in Russia is relatively small.
9. There is the Coldest City in the World
The city of Oymyakon, located in the Yakutia region, Siberia, is one of the coldest inhabited cities in the world. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -77.8 degrees Celsius, while the average temperature from December to January was around -50 degrees Celsius.
The cause of extreme cold temperatures in the Yakutsk region cannot be separated from the influence of its geographical location. Yakutsk or the Sakha Republic is generally located 250 miles or 450 km beyond the circumference of the Arctic. This prevents sunlight from entering in the winter.
10. Has the World's Largest Museum
This country has the largest museum in the world called the Hermitage museum and there are more than three million works of art on display there. The State of Hermitage St. Museum Petersburg is the oldest and largest museum in the world. This museum occupies the Winter Palace of the Russian empire. This museum was inaugurated by Catherine II or also known as Catherine the Great.
She was the female emperor of Russia who reigned from 1762 to 1796. Hermitage St. Museum. Petersburg was opened to the public in 1852. The museum's collection is estimated at about three million works of art, dating from various eras, and housed in 350 rooms with a total length of 20 kilometers. The Hermitage also houses the largest collection of works by Rembrandt van Rijn, a Dutch painter who is one of the greatest painters in the history of European art, outside his homeland.
Among his 24 paintings include two of his famous masterpieces, such as The Return of the Prodigal Son and Flora. If a visitor spends one minute looking at each collection and returns to the Hermitage each day for the next eight hours, it would take the museum ten years to see all of the collections.
11. Free Education Facilities
The education system in Russia is very advanced, so it's no wonder that education is very easy to get at no cost. The education level system is almost the same as in Indonesia.
In Russia secondary school consists of 3 stages, the first is primary secondary school for 3 years, main secondary school for 6 years and special secondary school for 2 years. Many in special high schools they only focus on one subject such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and others.