🛌🏼 🧔🏿 📂 Interesting facts about Russia. The biggest country in the world. Trans-Siberian Railway. Time Zones of Russia 👍🏽 ⏸️ 🎎

In the article we will talk about interesting facts about Russia. We learn about many interesting points that this country may surprise. There are many interesting aspects that not everyone knows about, but today we will share this information with you, after which Russia will be familiar to you as a long-read book.

Territory

To begin with, Russia is the largest country. It has a huge territory, which surpasses all other countries in area. Incredibly, the area of Russia exceeds 17 million square kilometers. Only in size, it is twice as large as Canada, which is in second place in terms of area in the world. In addition, Russia occupies a sixth of all land on the planet. It is curious that even if Antarctica became a state, the territory would still be in second place after Russia.

It is also curious to know that in the eighteenth century, Russia occupied the third largest empire in the world. Then the territory of the state began from Poland and ended with Alaska. The greatest growth was observed during the reign of the Romanovs. Then it was important that each monarch give his heir more territory than he received. But few know that Russia is twice the size of the United States, and when compared with other planets, it is approximately equal to Pluto. There are also many states that have a border with Russia, namely 16. Naturally, this border is the longest in the world.

Seas

The seas washing the coast of Russia only confirm its size and power. The country is washed by 12 seas, which belong to different basins of the oceans, namely the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic. The total area of the Russian water area is about 8 million square kilometers.

The seas of Russia have great potential. They have a huge number of geological reserves that provide the country with wealth. Especially a lot of useful resources in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Barents Sea. At the end of the last century, hydrocarbon reserves were discovered on the shelf of the Caspian Sea. Also in the Arctic found mineral deposits.

However, with regard to the development of coastal territories, they are in varying degrees of development. In each of them, urbanization processes take place in their own way. There are five main zones of urbanization, which are developing most dynamically. These are Makhachkala, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad and Novorossiysk. Nevertheless, St. Petersburg remains the leading center of Russia in this regard. As of 2017, half of the entire coastal population of the country lived here.

Trans-Siberian Railway

Russia is also known for its railway line, which connects the country's capital with the largest eastern cities. The length of the highway exceeds 2000 kilometers. This is the longest road in the world. In 2002, the electrification was completely completed on the railway. The highway connects the Urals, Siberia, the Far East and the European part of the country, it also gives the opportunity to exit to Europe and is surrounded by Pacific ports, exits to Asia.

The starting point of the highway is the Moscow-Passenger - Yaroslavskaya station. The final destination is Vladivostok. As for the throughput of the highway, it is equal to 100 million tons per year. On the fast train, the highway can be overcome in 6 days.

Construction began in 1891 with the filing of Alexander the Third, who signed a decree on the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Initially, the cost of construction was to be about 350 million rubles, but in the end it took several times more money. It is believed that from 1891 to 1916, the costs amounted to about one and a half billion rubles.

The movement along the line began in the fall of 1901. It is interesting that the state conducted construction exclusively at the expense of its own funds, without attracting foreign investors. At the initial stage of construction, about 10,000 people were involved in this business, but after a couple of years the number of participants exceeded 80,000.

Interestingly, despite the fact that Vladivostok is considered the terminal station, there are still more remote places on the branch from the capital, namely the Eastern Port and Cape Astafyeva. It is also curious that the longest train in the world Kharkov-Vladivostok passed the Trans-Siberian Railway and covered about 10,000 km per week.

Subway

The Moscow Metro is a rail public transport that is located not only in the city, but also in the region. Historically, this is the first largest metro in Russia and the USSR. In terms of intensity of use, it ranks sixth in the world, after cities such as Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Seoul.

The first line was opened in the spring of 1935. It started at the Sokolniki station and continued to the Park Kultury station. Already then there was a separate branch "Smolenskaya". To date, the subway system consists of 14 different lines and 222 stations. Moreover, 44 of them are considered objects of cultural heritage, another 40 are recognized as architectural monuments. By 2021, the authorities want to build another 29 stations, and increase the length of the line by 55 km. Today, the length of the Moscow metro is 379 km.

It is also curious that in terms of the number of passengers the metro is one of the most popular in the world. Again, it is second only to Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul, but this gap is insignificant.

This metro is interesting in that it has set many records. So, it is in the Moscow metro that the deepest station called “Victory Park” is located, the depth of which reaches 73 m. There is also a station which is located as close to the Earth’s surface as possible, namely Pechatniki. The distance to the earth is only 5 m. The longest station is Vorobevy Gory, the length of which is 282 m. But the most wide station is Partizanskaya. It is in Moscow that the longest escalator is located, the length of which is more than 126 m. There is also a station in the metro that is completely outside the city. It is called Myakinino and is located in Krasnogorsk. And also there is the only semi-underground station called Michurinsky Prospekt.

This metro is so impressive that it has been mentioned more than once in the literature. So, in 1933, a novel by Vladimir Voronkin was released, which talked about preparations for the construction of this grandiose project. The works of such Soviet writers as Ilf and Petrov are also devoted to him. As for modern literature, the most famous work is a series of post-apocalyptic novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky, which describes the life of people in the subway after a disaster. The metro is repeatedly mentioned not only in literature, but in music, cinema, video games.

Time

We should also talk about the time zones of Russia. To begin with, we note that there is a special federal law called “On the calculation of time”, according to which, since 2014, 11 time zones have been established in Russia. As you know, this is a record number of time zones in one country.

Now let's talk a little about history. In the period of the Russian Empire, time was determined using a mechanical clock and average solar time. On the railways used a single Petersburg time. When there was a boom in the construction of railways, the country switched to a standard time system. Russia officially adopted the international time zone system only in 1919. However, she did not immediately begin to act. Throughout the state, this system came into effect only after 5 years.

If you collect interesting facts about Russia, it will be interesting to know that between 1924 and 2011, official belts existed in Russia. Nevertheless, certain territories could live according to the time of the neighboring belt. Because of this, the principle of continuity of time zones of Russia was violated, because of which there were borders where time could fluctuate in a period of 2 hours. In autumn 2009, a decision was proposed to reduce the number of belts. However, many perceived this proposal with surprise, and the reaction was very controversial.

Glaciers

Glaciers of Russia fill many rivers. The largest of them are located on the islands of the Arctic Ocean. Their volume decreases annually due to a decrease in rainfall.

The largest glacier in Russia is considered to be the Bogdanovich glacier, whose area exceeds 30 square kilometers. It is interesting that in the number of glaciers and the area they occupy, the territory of Altai is inferior to the Caucasus. This is directly related to the amount of precipitation.

Plain

The West Siberian Plain is a territory located in the northern part of Asia. It occupies almost the entire western part, starting from Siberia, to the Ural Mountains and the Central Siberian plateau. The territory is partially limited by the Kara Sea. The shape of the plain resembles a trapezoid. The area exceeds 2.5 million square kilometers, which implies that the West Siberian Plain is the largest on earth.

Its dimensions are truly impressive. Interestingly, this is the most developed part of Siberia by people. It is on this territory that Omsk, Tomsk, Tyumen, and Novosibirsk regions are located, as well as a number of autonomous okrugs and regions. As for the surface of the plain, it is a low-lying plain territory with a slight gap in elevation. Nevertheless, the relief is very diverse, due to the peculiarities of the geological structure. At the heart of the plain lies the West Siberian plate, which is a very hard Paleozoic sediment. As for hydrography, the plain territory is located in the region of the West Siberian artesian basin. About 2,000 rivers flow here, the total length of which exceeds 250,000 km. The rivers are replenished mainly due to thawed snow and autumn rains. Precipitation is very uneven, and about 80% falls on the summer-spring period.

The Caspian

If you need interesting facts about Russia, pay attention to the ponds. We are talking about the Caspian Sea, whose area exceeds 170,000 square meters. Salt waters wash the shores of 5 countries, are the water border between Asia and Europe. In fact, it leads only in depth, and in terms of area it is only in second place.

However, if we consider freshwater reservoirs, the Caspian Sea is the largest in Eurasia. Incredibly, the waters of this sea are about 90% of all fresh water in the Russian Federation. The water here has long been considered the cleanest and most transparent. Naturally, water is considered healing. The Caspian Sea is often called the lake by the people. By the way, Ladoga is considered the second largest large Russian lake, with an area of 18,000 square kilometers. It is curious that about 35 rivers flow into it, and also the Neva begins from it.

Baikal

It is a lake of tectonic rock, which is located in the southern part of Siberia. This is the largest lake in Russia and in the world, as well as the largest concentration of fresh water. It is curious that the coastal territories are distinguished by a very unusual and diverse nature. Most of the animals that are here are endemic. Traditionally, Baikal is popularly called the sea. The lake is located almost in the heart of Asia, in the middle of the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia.

The surface area of the water exceeds 30,000 square kilometers, except for the islands. This is equal to the area of the Netherlands or Belgium. The coastline exceeds 2000 km. The lake is located in a hollow that is surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges. The depth of the lake reaches 1642 m. This mark was established in 1983 by researchers Leonid Kolotilo and A. Sulimov, who performed hydrographic work. Again, according to scientists, about 336 rivers flow into the Siberian Lake Baikal.

the largest lake in Russia and the world

However, modern estimates say that the number of tributaries ranges from 500 to 1100. The largest rivers that flow into Lake Baikal are the Turk, Snezhnaya, Goloustnoye, and Upper Angara. It is curious that only one Angara river flows from the lake. Separately, it is worth noting the properties of water in the lake. It has very few minerals and any organic impurities, but a lot of oxygen. It is believed that water purity is maintained mainly due to microscopic cancers that feed on any organic matter.

Ural mountains

They represent a huge mountain system, which is located between the West Siberian Plain, which we spoke about above, and the East European Plain. The length of the mountain ranges exceeds 2000 km, and the width in different areas ranges from 40 to 150 km. These are the oldest mountains in the world. The Urals are very often associated in historical sources with Hyperborean ridges.

Since the Tale of Bygone Years, the mountains have been called Siberian or Belt Mountains. As for the geological structure, it must be said that the mountain range was formed during the Paleozoic period, which was characterized by the active formation of mountains. It is believed that these mountains are slowly growing, and therefore they have low seismic activity. Depending on the territory, the ridge has several highest points. And yet the highest is in the polar Urals. This mountain is Narodnaya, whose height reaches 1895 m. On the territory there are a large number of lakes and rivers, as well as minerals.

If you are collecting interesting facts about Russia, then it is worth noting that out of 55 varieties of the most important minerals that were mined in the USSR, 48 are represented in the Urals.

Cold

Cold is the word that, in principle, can describe the whole of Russia. There are several areas where the temperature is incredibly low throughout the year. Residents of these areas face enormous difficulties. And the coldest city in Russia is Oymyakon, with a record temperature of -71 degrees.

Oymyakon is a small area in which no more than 500 people live. Moreover, it is considered the coldest zone on the planet, which is located at sea level. The maximum temperature was recorded in 1938. In principle, the average winter temperature is minus 55 degrees, and the average annual temperature is minus 15 degrees. In order for residents of the capital to get to this remote area, it will take 6 hours to travel by air, and then get about 1000 km on a road covered with snow.

In the middle of the last century, there was a military airport, which later began to serve ordinary residents. You can try to get to the village directly only in the summer, and then, it is not guaranteed that you will get there. The airport is an old log building that looks more like a worn shack. In the village there is absolutely no public transport, the population moves on a sleigh.

If you want to see something unusual, then you should definitely visit the coldest city in Russia. You will be surprised by the appearance of cheerful people who live in such conditions. Interestingly, students attend an educational institution at temperatures up to minus 60 degrees. If it drops below, then the students remain at home, because the ink just freezes.

Kalashnikov assault rifle

This is a weapon that was adopted in the USSR in 1949. It was designed 2 years before by Mikhail Kalashnikov. For almost half a century of the manufacture of these weapons, about 70 million copies of various models were produced.

It is curious that the Kalashnikov assault rifle is used in 50 foreign armed groups and armies. It is believed that the main competitor of these weapons is the American automatic rifle M16. Naturally, in the world more Kalashnikovs are located in Russia.

You must understand that the weapon is becoming obsolete and its shortcomings are becoming more pronounced. At the moment, the main disadvantage is a collapsible receiver, which does not allow you to mount modern sights. However, in 2011, work began on the modernization of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Already in 2012, a new model was created, which was distinguished by a fundamentally new construct and had amazing capabilities.