Russia
Updated: Sep 18, 2022
Country Name
Russia, or officially the Russian Federation.
Location
Russia is a transcontinental country that lies in Asia and the European continent. Russia occupies 77% of its land area in Asia and 23% in Europe. Russia is the world's biggest country. European Russia is the western part of the Russian Federation, which is located in Eastern Europe, Northern Asia is known as Asian Russia or Siberia.
Russia is bordered by 14 countries, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, and Ukraine.
It also shares maritime borders with Japan, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States of America.
Capital
Moscow.
Reason for Naming
Russia gets its name from Rus, a medieval empire dominated by East Slavs. However, in subsequent history, this proper name grew more prominent, and the nation was commonly referred to by its residents as "усска емл" (Russkaja zemlja), which may be rendered as "Russian Land" or "Land of Rus."
Ruthenia was an ancient Latin variant of the word Rus', usually attributed to the western and southern districts of Rus' that bordered Catholic Europe. The country's present name, осси (Rossija), is derived from the Byzantine Greek appellation of the Rus' in Modern Greek.
Russian citizens are commonly called "Russians" in English and rossiyane in Russian.
Two Russian terms are usually translated into English as "Russians." The first is russkiye, which means "citizens of Russia, regardless of ethnicity," and the second is rossiyane, which means "citizens of Russia, regardless of ethnicity."
(Translations into other languages frequently fail to distinguish between these two groupings.)
Flag
The Russian flag was approved as the national flag in August 1991, shortly before the country gained independence and membership in the United Nations on December 26, 1991.
The Russian flag's colors are influenced by the Dutch flag, which is red, white, and blue. The flag has three equal horizontal fields: white on top, blue in the middle, and red on the bottom.:
The White color represents nobility and honesty;
and the sky-Blue represents loyalty, honesty, irreproachability, and purity;
and the Red represents courage, self-sacrifice, generosity, and love.
Flag Facts:
- The flags of Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Serbia are nearly identical; these flags have three horizontal stripes of red, blue, and white, but the distinction is in the coat of arms; additionally, the Russian flag lacks any emblems, while the color of the Serbian flag is upside down.
- The flags of Slovenia and Slovakia are the most similar to the Russian flag, with the primary differences being that they are longer and incorporate their respective country's coat of arms into the design.
- The first Russian flag is thought to have been used around 1668. There have been other variations since then.
- Russia's president uses a different flag with the same tricolor pattern and the coat of arms in the center. Since 1994, this flag has been in use.
- On August 22, Russia observes National Flag Day.
Language
Even though Russian is the official language, more than 100 minority languages are spoken in Russia today.
Many ethnic groups in Russia speak their native language, with Russian as their first or second language. Along with Russian, 35 more languages are deemed official in various areas of Russia.
Religion
Religion in Russia is varied, with the Russian Orthodox faith being the most generally practiced, but with a considerable minority of non-religious people and members of other religions.
A religious freedom statute enacted in 1997 protects and respects "Islam Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and other religions."
Currency
Russian ruble (₽).
Time Zone
Russia has 11 time zones
+02:00 GMT up to +12:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Russia is a federal republic.