Russia is truly an incredible country – it spreads across 11 time zones and it’s the largest country in the world. Few things known about Russia include vodka, it’s a freezing country, and the cold war, just to name a few. Although there are lots of tightly held secrets around Russia, there is still a lot to learn about this country. Now, it’s time to dive in and discover some mind-blowing facts about the biggest nation in the world.
Women Power
Although this country is ruled by a man, the men remain outnumbered. A published report in the year 2014 by Russia’s State Statistic Committee showed the number of women living in Russia was 10.5 million more than that of the men. Tatyana Moskalkova, who is a member of parliament mentioned that although there is an equal number of boys and girls at birth from the age of 30 upwards, males start passing away due to unfortunate incidents like war, car accidents, industrial trauma among other things.
Bodybuilding And Russia
Some very popular sports in the former Soviet Union include weightlifting and wrestling. Several Olympic champions have originated from this region. Powerlifting is also viewed as a popular sport, chose whether to believe it or not, these sports are not just for men. Russian women have been ruling the ring for ages while maintaining their femininity when it comes to lifting weights. Bodybuilders such as Julia Vins and Nadezhda Alexandrovna Yevstyukhina are some of the best-known names and Nadezhda Alexandrovna Yevstyukhina won gold medals in the 69kg category when she was only 17. Maryana Naumova was given the title of the youngest powerlifting world champion with 15 world records to her name and powerlifter, there is also Russian fitness icon Julia Vins.
The Lethal Icicles
Russia is renowned for its cold and freezing winters. Several historians often credit the unforgiving climatic condition for helping to make the jobs of invaders easier, especially those carried out by Napoleon’s armies and later by Hitler. The freezing temperatures tend to result in remarkably massive icicles. These icicles mostly hang from Moscow gutters, and they are so dangerously massive that even the pavements below are blocked off. If these icicles fall on a member of the public, they would presumably injure them. More than 150 individuals were wounded in St. Petersburg in 2010 owing to falling icicles.
Smile For A Reason
Russian citizens are generalized as not really friendly and not all that inclined to smile. The truth of the matter is that Russians save their smiles for when they mean them. There is a Russian proverb that says that “Laughter for no reason is a sign of foolishness,” which implies that if the occasion is not worth it, Russians will not smile. When a Russian smiles, it is more or less for formality’s sake and out of sincerity.
Up Until 2011, Beer Was Not Regarded As An Alcoholic Beverage
At the moment, we’re all aware of Russian’s love for alcohol, so it’s not really surprising that beer was not regarded as an alcoholic drink for years and years. Legally, this did not change until 2011. Up until the moment before the change in the law occurred, anything that had an alcohol content of less than 10 percent was regarded as a foodstuff. Even with all the new alcohol laws hitting the nation, beer sales are still up a whopping 30 percent! It looks like taking alcohol away from the Russians is going to be an uphill task.
If You Have A Beard, You Need To Pay Beard Tax
There is a bit of history to this and it’s pretty weird! In 1698, a few centuries ago, Emperor Peter 1 implemented a beard tax in Russia with the aim of enforcing a ban on the spotty look of long and hairy facial hair that many Russia wore. To wear a beard, Russian men will have to pay a tax and if these payments cannot be made by these men, the police in Russia will apply force and publicly shave all the men’s beards off. You might ask the reason for these? Well, the Emperor wanted Russian men to have a look more similar to those of western European models.
Former Planet Pluto Is Smaller Than Russia
There used to be a planet called Pluto once. Well, no longer! It’s still a fairly large mass of objects out in space, though, but it is not as big as Russia! Okay, this ex planet is actually smaller than one of the countries of our world. Russia, measured by landmass, is the biggest nation on Earth, reaching 17,098,322 square kilometers. That’s pretty big! By contrast, Pluto is only 16,647,940 square kilometers. That implies that Russia is more than 400,000 square kilometers larger than the solar system’s 10th largest mass. Awesome, huh?
There Are At Least 15 ‘Secret Cities’ In Russia
Russia is speculated to have at least 42 secret cities; there are several of such across the world. No one really knows the names of these cities or where they are located; they are officially confidential and kept a secret by the Russian government. Visiting these cities is not allowed and you won’t find them on the maps either, a large number of these cities were previous places of chemical, metallurgy, and military industry and are called ZATO which means closed administrative-territorial entities. Try not to venture to these places.
Russians Love Their Athletics
If you need to talk about a country with a very rich history of competing in sports, most especially winter sports, look no further, Russia is that country. The most popular sport in Russia will have to be soccer. Some favorite sports also include Ice Hockey, tennis, and athletics. A large number of Russian athletics have become regular household names from professional tennis players like Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova who are now established international superstars to long jumper Darya Klishina and Ice Hockey player Sergei Fedorov.
The Walruses With The Heart Of Ice
Despite the cold climate, Russia has many famous beaches. Besides the fortress of Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, there is a beach that is famous not only in the summer but also in the winter. In the winter, Russians who have placed their trust in the therapeutic effects of freezing water throng to this beach. These Russians are commonly known as “walruses “— these animals that can be found in the Arctic and have the ability to slow down their heartbeat in order to withstand freezing water temperature degrees.
