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About Russia
The
Russian Federation, Russian ROSSIYA, or ROSSIYSKAYA FEDERATSIYA, is
a country that stretches over a boundless expanse of eastern Europe
and northern Asia.
Once the Republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (U.S.S.R.), Russia has been an independent country since the
dissolution of the union in December 1991. Under the Soviet system it
was called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (R.S.F.S.R.).
With an area over 6.5 million square miles, Russia
is the world's largest country. It covers almost twice the territory
of either the United States or China, ranks 6th in world population
and spans 11 time zones.
The great majority of the people are Russians
(81.5%) but there numerous other ethnic representations (Tatar 3.8%,
Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Byelorussian 0.8%, Moldavian
0.7%, other 8.1%).
The Russian language is the country's official
language and it is the most commonly spoken in business, government,
and education. Ethnic Russians speak their native tongue almost exclusively.
Some of the ethnic republics have declared official regional languages,
but millions of non-Russians have adopted Russian as their mother tongue.
The lifestyles of the Russian people rely heavily
on their income levels. For Russia's poor, life amounts to daily survival
and many people spend hours each day selling their belongings or other
goods on the street. The lifestyles of wealthier people have become
Westernized to a great extent; American-style products and pastimes
are popular, especially in the larger cities. Watching television and
videotapes is a popular form of entertainment and Russian television
now includes Western-style programs, such as game shows and soap operas.
Historically, the region of European Russia was
the heart of the expanding Russian state and suffered assaults ranging
from that of the Mongol hordes in the 13th century to the Nazi invasion
of World War II. Russia's historical heritage, together with it's vast
area and natural wealth, gave Russia a unique place of leadership among
the former Soviet republics.
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Its
brooding landscapes and the intricacies of the pre-Revolutionary
society inspired the literature and music of such giants of world
culture. Such as Aleksandr Pushkin, and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky,
while the 1917 October Revolution, and the changes it brought, were
echoed in the works of such distinguished figures as the novelists
Maksim Gorky, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky,
and the composers Dimitry Shostakovich and Sergey Prokofiev.
Some of the greatest museums in the world can be found in
the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
In Moscow, the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum houses
treasures of western European art, while the Tretyakov Gallery has
a bold collection of Russian art. In St. Petersburg, the Hermitage
is one of the great art museums of the world. And the Russian Museum
has a wonderful collection of Russian art.
In addition, in the suburbs outside St. Petersburg,
the former tsarist palaces at Pavlovsk, Pushkin, and Petrodvorets
have been restored as museums. They are popular destinations for
both Russian citizens and foreign visitors. |
Check out our links
page for more information and websites regarding Russian life and
culture!
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