Facts about Russia

1. 08

   Approximately 110 million people speak Russian as a first language, making it the eighth most spoken native language worldwide.

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2. 07

   Vladimir Lenin's preserved body has been on public display in a mausoleum on Red Square since 1924, making it one of the world's longest continuous embalming efforts.

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3. 06

   Moscow's Metro system, opened in 1935, contains 241 stations across 416 kilometers of track, making it one of the world's busiest rapid transit networks serving over 9 million daily riders.

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4. 05

   During the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Soviet authorities evacuated 116,000 people from the surrounding region within 36 hours of the reactor explosion.

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5. 04

   Siberia contains approximately 25 percent of the world's remaining forests, making Russia a critical carbon sink in combating climate change.

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6. 03

   At 11.5 million square kilometers, Russia is the world's largest country by area, spanning eleven time zones across Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

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7. 02

   In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting Earth aboard Vostok 1 for 108 minutes.

   RussiaMay 14sharespacehistoryachievement
8. 01

   The Baikal Lake in Russia contains approximately 23 percent of the world's fresh surface water despite covering only 0.3 percent of global lake area.

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