Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world. It stretches across two continents, Europe and Asia. Russia is so big that it has 11 time zones. It has frozen tundra, thick forests, and some of the coldest places on Earth.

Land and People

About 144 million people live in Russia. The capital is Moscow. Russia has the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal, and vast forests called taiga. Siberia in the east is one of the coldest and most remote places on the planet.

Drawing of ancient herders who lived on the wide grassy plains.
Drawing of ancient herders who lived on the wide grassy plains. (Map created from DEMIS Mapserver, which are public domain. Koba-chan. Drawing: рдкрд╛рдЯрд▓рд┐рдкреБрддреНрд░ (talk) , reference: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6457/eaat7487 / Wikimedia Commons)

Culture and Fun Facts

Russians enjoy ballet, classical music, and ice hockey. Matryoshka dolls are painted wooden nesting dolls that fit inside each other. Borscht soup and blini pancakes are popular foods. Russia sent the first person into space in 1961.

Fun Facts

  • Russia is so large that it spans 11 different time zones.
  • Lake Baikal in Russia is the deepest and oldest lake in the world.
  • Russia sent the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into outer space in 1961.

Did You Know?

Lake Baikal in Russia holds about 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water. It is the deepest lake on Earth at over 5,300 feet deep. It is also the oldest lake, at about 25 million years old. Many of its animals are found nowhere else.