Russia Fun Facts
| Vodka is not the most common drink in Russia – it is tea. |
| Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and takes up 20% of fresh running water on the planet. |
| Many of the fabulous churches in Russia were literally blown up by the Bolchevics BUT were restored after the fall of the Soviet Union. |
| The Tsars Gold Trans Mongolia rail journey that Goway offers from Beijing to Moscow travels 7,923 kilometers across 5 time zones. |
| Kalingrad is a somewhat forgotten part of Russia that is isolated/separated from the mainland by Lithuania and Poland and fringed by the Baltic coast. It is Russia’s smallest territory. |
| The Urals are the low lying mountain range that separates European Russia from the enormity of the Siberia and the Far East. |
| The Hermitage in St. Petersburg is one of the oldest (founded by Catherine the Great in 1764) and largest museums in the world. It is said that if one minute was spent viewing every piece of art for 8 hours every business day it will take more than 8 years to see them all. |
| Coassacks – Native Slavic people. |
| Gulag – System of administrative working camps (forced/slave). |
| Bolshevicks – an extreme faction of Russian Marxists. |
| Glasnost and Perestroika – these were policies of Michael Gorbachev for “openness” and “restructuring”. |
| Kremlin – a fortress. There are several in Russia, the best known being the one in Kazan and of course Moscow. |
| Lenin the Mummy – found in Red Square is world’s most famous mummy supposedly preserved by a secret method. |
| Hotel Moskva. The Four Seasons has been reconstructed. Originally the exterior of the infamous hotel was built from 2 designs approved by Stalin so as not to offend him. |
| World War II. America lost just over 400,000 soldiers and almost no civilians. Russia lost at least 11,000,000 soldiers as well as somewhere between 7M and 20 million civilians. |
| Stalin civilian death toll. Most historians settle on a total of 20M deaths under Stalin in labour camps. |
| Most families in Russia lost a relative in WWII or in Stalin’s labour camps. |
| A Faberge egg is a jeweled egg (possibly numbering as many as 69) created by the House of Faberge. Virtually all were manufactured between 1885 and 1917. The most famous are those made for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. Two planned for Easter 1917 were not delivered due to the Russian Revolution in which the Romanov Dynasty was overthrown and all the members of the imperial family executed. |
| Popular souvenirs are Russian Dolls. |
| Moscow’s area is 2,511km². It is the biggest city in Europe and is Europe’s largest city by a number of residents. Its permanent population (not counting temporary residents and visitors) is over 12 million people. |
| Moscow’s metro system is the busiest in Europe and the 6th longest in the world, with more than 317km of subway lines. It was originally created by Stalin as a “people’s museum” with many stations decorated with sculptures and art. |
| The US officially purchased Alaska from Russia in 1877 for only $7.2 million. Many people today think the Americans stole it |
| There is still no signed peace treaty between Russia and Japan as Russia has occupied the Kuril Islands since World War II |
| You really can see Russia from the US (Alaska). Two islands in the Bering Strait, Big Diomede in Russia and Little Diomede in the US are only two and a half miles from each other. As the water there freezes in winter you can walk from one island to the other |
Russia Travel Information
At Goway we believe that a well-informed traveller is a safer traveller. With this in mind, we have compiled an easy to navigate travel information section dedicated to Russia.
Learn about the history and culture of Russia, the must-try food and drink, and what to pack in your suitcase. Read about Russia's nature and wildlife, weather and geography, along with 'Country Quickfacts' compiled by our travel experts. Our globetrotting tips, as well as our visa and health information will help ensure you're properly prepared for a safe and enjoyable trip. The only way you could possibly learn more is by embarking on your journey and discovering Russia for yourself. Start exploring… book one of our Russia tours today!
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