RUSSIA

I have been doing some research on Russian Stuff and this is some of the stuff i have learned so far:

Land and Climate:

Russia is the largest country in the world at 6,592,734 square miles (nearly twice the size of the United States). Four of the Worlds largest rivers (Lena, Ob, Volga, and Yenisey) and the deepest freshwater lake (Baikal) are in Russia. Plains cover much of Russia, but a large frozen Tundra dominates the extreme North.  Forests Blanket western Russia. The low Ural Mountains divide Russia's European side from its Asian Regions. Russia's Climate Varies considerably by region... Winters last from October to April.Summers are HOT and HUMID! In my opinion the worst of both seasons!!

Language:

There is around 160 ethnic groups represented in Russia and 100 different languages used. But 142.6 million of the people in Russia only speak Russian, the next largest group of people (5.3 million) speak Tatar, then Ukrainian with approximately 1.8 million speakers.  The Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet, it has 33 letters 2 of which are silent when used, it complicated to learn because many of them look similar but are pronounced very differently from Roman (latin) letters.  It is one of the 6 official languages of the United Nations. Over a quarter of the worlds Scientific literature is published in Russian.

Food:

Russians eat with the fork in the left hand and a knife in the right, although many use only a fork. People keep their hands above the table, you are considered dishonest or to be hiding something if you do otherwise. Soup is common for Lunch and Dinner. When entertaining Russians put more food than they can eat on the table and may leave some on the plate to indicate there is an abundance in the house (whether its true or not). Guests can indicate they have eaten well by leaving a small amount of food on their plate. Russians generally don't go out to eat in Cafes or restaurants because the few that exist are fairly expensive.  Because Russia is mainly a Northern country with long lasting COLD winters... the food food should give much energy and warmth to survive during the winter time. Essential components of Russian Cuisine are the ones which provide More carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Fresh fruits and veggies are rarely used in food. The top five components of a Russian meal are potatoes, bread, eggs, Meat (especially beef), and butter. Other popular foods are Cabbage, milk, sour cream, mushrooms, lard, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, honey, sugar, salt, garlic, and onions.  Beef stroganov, Kiev style chicken, Potatoes with mushrooms, omelets, Saurkraut, and Borsch are very popular typical meals you will find around Russia.

Flag:

The flag consists of 3 equal-sized horizontal stripes. The top strip is white, the middle one is Blue and the bottom one is Red.  There is no official meaning of the Russian Flag but many Russian people believe that the white strip symbolizes generosity and frankness; the Blue strip symbolizes Loyalty, honesty, and Wisdom; The Red strip symbolizes Courage, Magnanimity.  The Current Russian flag was adopted on August 21, 1991 just before the country became an independent state and member of the United Nations. Most historians trace the origon of Russia's Flag to Peter the Great's visit in 1699. He went there to learn about shipbuilding and saw the need for Russia to have a naval flag too. He designed the Russian flag similar to the flag of the Netherlands, but with Russian colors. His design was used as a Russian Maritime flag for merchant ships in 1799 and was adopted as a civil flag in 1883. After the Russian revolution in 1917 the flag was replaced with one that had yellow emblems of the hammer and sickle on it because they were apart of the soviet union. When the soviet Union collapsed the flag was re-adopted. 

Religion:

Christianity is the main religion in Russia, with the Russian Orthodox Church claiming 15 to 20 percent of Russia's population. More then 10 percent of Russians are Muslim.  After the October revolution (1917), the communists discouraged ALL religious worship! Mikhail Gorbachev was the first soviet leader to officially tolerate - even support - religion. Though many Russians still claim no religion, the Russian Orthodox Church has rapidly regained influence spiritually and politically.  Churches other than the Russian Orthodox are allowed to operate if they register with authorities. Islamic and Jewish groups do not face those restrictions.

LDS Church in Russia:

In September 1989, church leaders authorized a United States Embassy worker in Russia to begin holding group meetings in his apartment. Four Months later, in January 1990 missionaries arrived in Leningrad. The first convert they Baptized also became the first full time missionary from Russia. In February 1990, a congregation was organized in Vyborg. By Mid-summer 1990, the Leningrad congregation had 25 members. In September 1990, the St Petersburg Congregation was recognized by the government and in October 1990 a religious freedom was passed. With Membership in Russia at 750 in February 1992, 2 other Russian missions were organized. Right now, Membership is approximately 20,276, there are 8 missions, and 126 congregations.

Thats all for now...I'm sure more about Russia will come later. Actually I guarantee more about Russia will come later!!

~Russia...Here I come!~