Geography
Did you know that Russia is the
biggest country in the world? It is almost as big as the United states and
Canada combined. The capital of Russia is Moscow, which is the biggest
country in Russia. As you can see on the map to the left, There are a lot of
neighboring countries. Some of them are: Poland, Norway, Finland, Ukraine,
China and many more. If you know those countries, then you know that Russia
in on the continent of Europe. Russia is in the northern hemisphere, which
means that the Artic Ocean is surrounding it. Much of Russia is covered by great
plains, but a large frozen tundra dominates the extreme north.
Forests cover much of western Russia. The low Ural
Mountains divide Russia's European side from it's Asian
regions. Sibera is mostly taiga (confier forests), with tundra
to the north, and steppe to the south.
Population
 Since Russia is
such a big country, a lot of people live in Russia. The country's
population is 147 million people. The growth rate is -0.3% That is a
lot of people! Man! That's a lot of people! The
most popular city, Moscow, has the biggest city population in all of
Russia with 10 million people living there. That is a lot of people!
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Climate
Russia's
climate varies considerably by region. Russian winters last from
November to March except in Sibera, where winter can last up to even
nine months!
Government
Russia is a federation of 21 autonomous republics and 49 oblasts, or
religions. The federal assembly has two houses, a 176- seat
Federation Council and the 450- seat State Duna.
Economy
Russians use
ruble as money. In the late 1990's about 6 rubles equaled up
to one American dollar. Also, about 4 rubles equals up to one Canadian
dollar. Russians have a lot of goods and services. They are:
Oil, coal, iron ore, timber, automotive, agricultural and
construction equipment.
Family Values
Russians
start school at the age of 6 or 7. Children learn writing,
reading and math. Also, children learn to speak a language.
Mostly, Russians choose to speak English. Russians go to
school six days a week. The school day ends around two
o'clock. Teachers give kids lots of homework. Russian teachers
give a number grade on tests and homework. 1-5. 5 being the
highest. In each grade, they take a big test. In eighth grade,
they take a test that will decide on which high school the
child will attend. In Russia, school ends at 11th grade. There
is no collaee in Russia. In some schools, there are classes
for talents. For ex: There are ballet classes in some schools.
Other things to do are: acting advanced language learning, or
music.
Idea of Beauty
In Russia,
people wear the same clothes as we do. But, on special holidays,
they wear clothes from long ago. They sew fancy patterns onto
their clothing. They sew it onto places such as cuffs, hems,
collars, etc. It is called oberegi. Some Russians believe that
the obegeri keeps away the evil spirits.
Russians do a lot of things with their hair. Girls wear large
bows in their hair or their babushkas (grandmas) tie a scarf
around their hair. That is how they thought of the name of the
scarf - babushka.
Useful Expressions:
In Russia, mostly
Russian is spoken. That is the main languae in Russia. Here are some
words in English and then translated into Russian. |
Food
Russians
like to eat. For breakfast, (Zavtrak) parents eat an open
sandwich with cheese, ham, or salami with a cup of tea.
Children eat boiled eggs, omelet, kasha- cooked geen or milk,
sugar, and butter. In Russia, staple food is considered bread,
(mostly rye), kasha (cooked grain) and rice with butter.
Russians can get food in many ways. The main ways are to grow
it or import it. Russians have a lot of crops. Some crops are
grains, potatoes and sugar beets.
Here is a
delicious Russian recipe that people love to cook and eat in
Russia
Beef
Stroganoff
17 oz (500g)
fillet of beef
Salt
Freshly ground
pepper
Pinch of paprika
1 small onion
1 oz (30g) butter
For Sauce
1 oz (30g) butter
1 oz (30g) flour
half pint (285ml)
stock
2 tablespoons of
tomato juice
Quarter pint (150ml)
sour cream
1. Cut the meat into strips
2. Season with salt, pepper and paprika, leave to stand in a
cool place for
60 minutes
3. When meat has been standing for 45 minutes, prepare the
sauce
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add in flour, brown
slightly
5. Add the stock and tomato juice, mix well until smooth
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes
7. Add butter to a frying pan, add the meat and onions and
brown
8. Add to sauce, stir in the cream, simmer for 10 minutes
Serve on a bed of white rice
Holidays and Festivals
There are a lot of
religions in Russia, so a lot of holidays are celebrated. One
holiday is Independence Day. It is celebrated on June 12th. On this
day in 1991, Russia broke away from the Soviet Union. Now they made
it a national holiday.
Another holiday is
Victory day. This holiday is celebrated on May 9th. It marks the end
of World War II (1939-1945). Russians remain silent for one minute.
This silence honors those who died in the war. After the minute of
silence, Russians dance and sing.
Fun and Recreation
People in
Russia like to play games. They play soccer all year round. It is
the most popular sport in all of Russia. In winter, Russians usually play ice hockey or they ice skate. In
northern Russia, people usually have reindeer sled races. In
southern Russia, it is warmer, so they usually go canoeing on the Amur
river. Everyone in Russia plays these games. (Even
children).
There are a lot of forms of
enteraiment in Russia. But
the main thing to do is play chess. In first grade, children learn
the basics of chess, so by high school, they can be masters.
Cultural
Arts:
There is a museum in Russia called the
Pushkin Museum of
fine arts. It is one of the most popular museums in all of Russia.
Saint Basils in Russia
 S.Dyer,
Deborah. russi078.jpg. 7/15/1975. Pics4Learning. 8 Jun 2003
<http://pics.tech4learning.com>
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Culture Walls 
Author:
Hello. My name is Christa. My family
comes from Poland and Germany, But mostly I am polish.