Russian Culture

Rick Cappiello - EDU 365 - Dr. Spatt

Background information

At 6.59 million square miles, Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more

than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the world's ninth most

populous nation with 143 million people as of 2012.

(United States: 3.79 million square miles and with around 315 million people)

 According to the Constitution of Russia,

The country is a federation and semi-presidential republic. The President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is

the head of government.  

The Russian Federation is fundamentally structured as a multi-party representative democracy. The federal

government is composed of three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

 

Capital: Moscow Population: 11.5

million

Member of the Soviet Union until

1991.

• Russia's 160 ethnic groups speak some 100 languages.

• Estimated that 80-90% of the population speaks

Russian.

• Russia shares land borders with 14 countries:

Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus,

Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and

North Korea.

• Russia shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the

U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait.

Extending across the whole of northern Asia, Russia spans nine time zones and

incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms.

Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas

globally.  

Russia has the world's largest forest reserves. Its lakes contain approximately

one-quarter of the world's liquid fresh water.

 5th largest producer of Renewable Energy

Military

Russia is 6th least peaceful country according to the Global Peace Index

 The military has over 1 million personnel on active duty;

it is mandatory for all male citizens aged 18–27 to be drafted for

a year of service in Armed Forces. 

Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world and is the only country apart from the U.S. with

a modern strategic bomber force.Their tank force is the largest in the world.

The country has a large and fully indigenous arms industry, producing most of its own military equipment with only few types of weapons imported. Russia is the

world's top supplier of arms, a spot it has held since 2001, accounting for around 30% of worldwide weapons

sales and exporting weapons to about 80 countries.

ReligionOrthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism are

Russia's traditional religions. 

The Russian Orthodox Church was the country's state religion prior to the Revolution. It remains the largest religious body in the country. Estimates on how many believers the church has fluctuate widely in different sources. Attending mass on

a regular basis is not very prevalent.

St. Basil’s Cathedral (1561) Russian Orthodox church in Red Square in Moscow

EducationRussia has a free

education system, this is guaranteed for all citizens by

the Constitution.

Educational Equality

In contrast to here in the United States where every child regardless of their ability receives

an adequate education, Russia has a long history of exclusively educating the most

promising students. Children with disabilities are not a priority unlike here in America. Many

times, they end up in orphanages.

Since 1990 the 11-year school education has been introduced.

Education in state-owned secondary schools is free.

University level education is also free, with exceptions.

The Government allocates funding to pay the tuition fees for an established number of

students for each state institution. In higher education institutions, students are paid a small stipend and provided with

free housing if they are from out of town.

Education and Social Status

Education plays a crucial role in determining social status in Russia. People who leave

school after eight years generally can find only unskilled jobs. Even those who

complete secondary education may rise no higher than skilled labor or low-level white-

collar work. A college or university education is necessary for most

professional and bureaucratic positions and appears to be highly desirable for a position

of political power.

Healthcare

• The Russian Constitution guarantees free, universal health care for all its citizens.

• As of 2009, the average life expectancy in Russia was 62.77 years for males and 74.67 years for females. The biggest factor contributing to the relatively low life expectancy for males is a high mortality rate among working-age males. Deaths mostly occur because of preventable causes such as alcohol poisoning, smoking, traffic accidents, and violent crime).

Sports• Combining the total medals of

Soviet Union and Russia, the country is second among all nations by number of gold medals.

• Although ice hockey was only introduced during the Soviet era, the national team managed to win gold at almost all the Olympics and World Championships they contested.

• Recently Russia won the 2008, 2009 and the 2012 IIHF World Championships, overtaking Canada as the world's top ranked ice hockey team

• The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) was founded in 2008; it is seen as a rival to the National Hockey League (NHL).

Holidays

There are seven public holidays in

Russia.Russian New Year

traditions resemble those of the Western Christmas, with New Year Trees and gifts,

and “Ded Moroz” playing the same

role as Santa Claus.  

 Orthodox Christmas falls on January 7th, because Russian Orthodox Church still follows the Julian

calendar and all Orthodox holidays are 13 days after Western ones. Another two major Christian holidays

are Easter and Trinity Sunday.

SCIENCE

Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev invented the Periodic table, the main framework of

modern chemistry.

Aleksandr Butlerov was one of the creators of the theory of chemical structure, playing a

central role in organic chemistry. 

In 1957 the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched.

In 1961 Yury Gagarin successfully made the first human trip into space

 Russia is the largest satellite launcher and the

only provider of transport for space tourism services.

Russian students

Good students, high achieving.In Russia, student’s grades are posted in an area within

the school for all of the student body to see.   

Simple GreetingsЗдравствуйте! (Stra-stwoots-ya) Hello!

Что нового? (Sto-No-Vi-Va) What's new?До свидания! (Desity-Donya) Good-bye!

Where do they live?Areas with the highest percentage of people

claiming Russian ancestry are:

Roslyn Estates, 18.60% Hewlett Harbor, 18.40%

East Hills, 18.00%Lake Success, 15.60%

Woodbury, 15.50%Jericho, 15.30%

Great Neck 14.80%Roslyn Harbor, 14.60%

Lido Beach, 14.50%Woodmere, 14.30%Chappaqua, 11.30

Wesley Hills, 11.00%Atlantic Beach, 10.90%,

Brookville, 10.80%Sands Point, 10.70%Plainview, 10.20%

South Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay,

and Bensonhurst have a strong Russian population as well.

References

 Dianina, Katia (2012). The Firebird of the national imaginary: The myth of Russian culture and its discontents. Journal of European Studies, September 2012; vol. 42: pp. 223-244 Ladykowska, A. (2012). The Role of Religious Higher Education in the Training of Teachers of Russian 'Orthodox Culture'1. European Journal Of Education, 47(1), 92-103. doi:10.1111/j. 1465-3435.2011.01510.x Trickett, E. J., & Birman, D. (2005). Acculturation, School Context, and School Outcomes:

Adaptation of Refugee Adolescents from the Former Soviet Union. Psychology In The Schools, 42(1), 27-38. doi:10.1002/pits.20024 The Russian Students Day. www.russian-moscow.com. (n.d.). Learn Russian Language in Moscow Russian Language School | Ruslanguage. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://www.russian- moscow.com/russian/russia/students-day/ The Desperate Situation of Children with Disabilities in Russian Institutions. Disability World web- zine. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://www.disabilityworld.org/01-03_02/children/ russia.shtml Russia - Education. Country Studies. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://countrystudies.us/russia/ 52.htm Russian Greetings - Say Hello in Russian. (n.d.). Learn Russian Language - Beginning to Advanced Russian. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://masterrussian.com/blday_greeting.s