25 Insane Things You Might Not Know About Russia

Posted by , Updated on November 17, 2023

With the crisis in Ukraine recently, Russia has been in the news quite a bit. As Winston Churchill once said though, Russia is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. Read on to find out 25 insane things you didn’t know about Russia!

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25

Rich people in Moscow buy ambulances and use them to drive around because the traffic is so bad

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24

Russian McDonald's carry the McShrimp, something that allegedly cannot be found anywhere else

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23

Russia's surface area is bigger than Pluto's surface area

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22

It spans 9 contiguous time zones which is more than any other country

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21

Roughly 9 million people ride the Moscow metro every day. That is more than New York and London combined

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20

Everyone thinks America has a high homicide rate (4.7 per 100,000), but Russia's is twice as high (9.7 per 100,000)

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19

On average Russians drink 6.3 shots of liquor per week while Americans drink 3.3

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18

Russians also consume about 6 times as much tea as Americans

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17

Lake Baikal holds one fifth of the world's fresh water

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16

64% of journalist deaths in Russia since 1992 have been murders

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15

Russia is actually rated the 5th deadliest country on Earth to be a journalist

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14

In 1867 Russia sold Alaska to the United States for less than 2 cents an acre

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13

Siberia accounts for 77% of the country

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12

At the nearest point, Russia and the United States are less than 4 km apart

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11

There are over half a million alcohol related deaths in Russia every year

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10

World War II has actually not completely ended yet. Due to a dispute over the Kuril Islands, Russia and Japan still haven't signed a peace treaty and therefore they remain at war

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9

During Peter the Great's reign there was a beard tax which anyone with a beard had to pay

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8

25% of Russian men die before reaching the age of 55 compared with only 1% in the United States.

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7

Officials believe this is related to Vodka consumption. The average Russian consumes 18 liters of alcohol annually which is over two times what experts consider dangerous.

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6

Driving around with a dirty car is a criminal offense

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5

It is believed that Russia has at least 15 "secret cities" with unknown names and locations

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4

During times of high inflation or economic recession, people are sometimes paid in Vodka

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3

The mayor of a city called Megion in Siberia actually banned excuses

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2

Russia has 8400 nuclear warheads which is more than any other nation

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1

Apple is worth more than the entire Russian stock market

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