When people think of Russia, images of Moscow’s Kremlin and a winter wonderland perhaps come first to mind. But there’s so much to learn about this huge country (the largest in the world). Spanning into Europe and Asia and 11 different time zones, it’s a country of contrasts. Here are 12 things you didn’t know about Russia:
Trans-Siberian Railroad
The Trans-Siberian Railroad was constructed with the intention of fighting the economic challenges that Russia was facing at the time.
It has since become a symbol of pride for the people of Russia which is understandable. It’s a project that took a great deal of planning and hard work to take it from an idea to reality. The result is an impressive engineering achievement.
Fastest Trains
The fastest train system on earth can be found in the city of Moscow. The train system in Russia is very expansive, connecting far-reaching cities and neighbourhoods.
Every 90 seconds, a train pulls into the capital city, Moscow. Public transport is very tightly synchronized so getting around is rarely a problem. While half of Moscow’s population takes the train to work, the other half go by car and sit in huge rush-hour queues.
Billionaires
Those looking to mix and mingle with the super-rich would probably head to the likes of New York City. However while New York is home to 62 billionaires, the city of Moscow actually has 74 billionaires.
In total, they’re worth around $366 billion. Not only this, but they’re also younger on average than the billionaires of New York – by some 10 to 15 years. Most of Moscow’s billionaires made their fortunes from oil.
Caviar and Vodka
Russia pretty much invented caviar and theirs is thought to be the very best. It’s very common to see it at parties and events in Russia.
In fact, the US would send over their caviar to Russia just to have it labelled as ‘Russian Caviar’. Meanwhile vodka is at its finest when the bottle is bullet-proof. For a mere $1.5 million you can have such a bottle of Russo-Baltique vodka!
Lake Ladoga
Russia is home to the largest lake in the world which is not far north of St. Petersburg. The size of Arkansas, it measures a whopping 6400 square miles while its shorelines stretch some 1000 miles.
Its huge size means that it offers something for everyone. Every year, the Lake Ladoga challenge takes place. This involves 1200 miles of 4×4 driving through the various bogs and swamps surrounding the lake.
Language
Curiously, the articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ are nowhere to be found in the Russian language. So when it comes to Russians learning other languages, they may sometimes forget to place those articles before nouns and it’s also true in reverse.
Non-native speaker of Russian often find themselves having to pause and rewind remembering these articles don’t exist! Learning Russian involves the Cyrillic alphabet which is very different!
Nizhny Novgorod
Most tourists in Russia typically visit Moscow and St. Petersburg. Those tired of visiting the typical places can try Nizhny Novgorod. It’s an 800-year-old town located about six hours travel from Moscow. 
On the Volga and Oka rivers, it is famous for its commerce but is now leading the way in information technology. It’s also doing a great deal of research and development in various technological areas.
Education
While Russia may not have an education budget to rival that of the United States, educated is seen as very important and is highly respected.
Over 50% of adults in Russia hold their equivalent of a college degree, exceeding the 42% in the USA. Those who do business in Russia often find business cards being exchanged – complete with college degrees listed on the front!
Exports
Being such a vast country, Russia is able to export a large number of natural resources including minerals, metals, gems and more.
But there are a few exports that may surprise people. For example, Russia was the first country to produce sunflower seed oil in 1835 and is its second largest exporter. In fact, Russia has 15% of the sunflower seed oil in the world.
Russia’s Surface Area
Russia’s surface area is vast! Stretching some 17 million km2 – that’s a bigger surface area than Pluto!
A journey from Moscow’s eastern European side of Russia to Siberia via the country’s Trans-Siberian train gives a good impression of the vast scale. It spans an incredible seven time zones and almost 10,000 kilometres while the journey takes 8 days to complete.
Russia’s Time Zones
To say that Russia’s time zones are complicated is an understatement. Constant changing of zone boundaries make it difficult to keep up with exactly how many time zones the country has. 
At present there are 11 time zones which can make things like transport and communication more complex. All of the Russian train timetables follow Moscow time to avoid confusion. However airports do follow local time.
Russians Drink a lot of Tea
Russians drink more than 3 pounds of tea per person every year. In comparison, people in the US drink 0.5 pounds on average.
Needless to say, drinking tea in Russia is a cultural thing, no matter the weather. Tea is usually served black and served with snacks such as pastries or black bread. Tea drinking is a social activity so visitors to Russia can expect to be offered tea on many an occasion!
