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)
Capital: Moscow
Population: 11.5 million
Member of the Soviet
Union until 1991.
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.
• 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.
Religion
Orthodox 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
Education
Russia 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 stateowned 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 Greetings
Здравствуйте! (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.russianmoscow.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