Let’s Learn About Russia

1. Let’s Learn About Russia

2. Where is Russia?

3. Political map of Russia

4. Physical map of Russia

5. Russian nature zones

6. Russian natural recourses

7. Why is Russia Important? • Economics: • Russia is the 12th-largest market in world, with the third-largest foreign currency reserves. And the country's role in world markets is only growing. • Russia is a big player in commodity trading, the country boasts a volatile but increasingly attractive stock exchange, and it is open to foreign investment -- even in state-owned industries. • Cultural: • There are over 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples in Russia • Russian cuisine widely uses fish, poultry, mushrooms, berries, and honey. Crops of rye, wheat and barley provide the ingredients for various breads, pancakes and cereals, as well as for kvass, beer and vodka drinks. Black bread is rather popular in Russia, compared to the rest of the world

8. Why is Russia Important? • Politics: • In such post-Soviet regions in particular, Russia has a unique capacity to contribute to peaceful resolution of territorial disputes by facilitating trade and economic engagement with and between former adversaries, and acting as a peacekeeper once a final settlement is reached. • Geography: • With more than one-tenth of the world's total landmass, vast freshwater and ocean resources, plus deposits of nearly every element on the periodic table, Russia is an indispensable partner in the responsible stewardship of the global environment. • The country's borders span across Europe, Central and East Asia, and the Arctic

9. Why is Russia Important? • History: • In prehistoric times the vast steppes of Southern Russia were home to tribes of nomadic pastoralists. • Under Peter the Great, Russia was proclaimed an Empire in 1721 and became recognized as a world power. • On the Baltic Sea Peter founded a new capital called Saint Petersburg, later known as Russia's "Window to Europe". Peter the Great's reforms brought considerable Western European cultural influences to Russia.

10. Why learning Russian is important? • When you have free time it’s always useful to learn some words in foreign language. • More than 300 million people speak Slavic languages. • Russian literature has amazing world-famous literary works. • Russian life and culture is different from Western. • Russia is attractive for its natural resources. • Travelling to Russia brings new cultural experiences. • Scientific and technological potential. • U.S.-Russia relationshipestablished on 24 October 1809.

11. Russian Alphabet

12. Facts About Russia • The population of Russia is 143,700,000. • The money used is the Ruble. • The language spoken is Russian. • The people are called Russians.

13. Current Russian Leadership Coat of Arms President Vladimir Putin Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev

14. Russia, the largest country in the world, It stretches over 6,000 miles from the Baltic Sea to the North Pacific.

15. Let’s visit some important cities in Russia. • Moscow

16. The Kremlin Moscowis the capital and largest city in Russia.

17. St. Basil’s Cathedral • St. Basil’s Cathedral is a beautiful building in Moscow’s Red Square. • Because of its many towers it almost looks like a fairy-tale castle or gingerbread house. • The “onion dome” shape is found often in Russian church architecture.

18. St. Petersburg

19. Irkutsk, in Siberia

20. Lake Baykal *It is the deepest lake in the World. * It is 6,365 feet deep. Caspian Sea • It has characteristics common to both seas and lakes. • It is not freshwater. • It is one of the world's smallestseas • It is also one of the world’s largest lakes. • It is 152,085 square feet.

21. Famous Sights in Russia • The Hermitage Museum Stalingrad Battle memorial • The Peter and Paul Fortress Baykal Lake • Kizhy wooden church The Valley of Geyzers

22. Famous Palaces • Peterhof – Peter the Great’s Palace • Pushkino - Queen Catherine’s Palace

23. Russia is famous for… • Russian bear • First space satellite • Russian nesting dolls • Ballet • Kalashnikov rifle • Natural gas • Orthodox Churches • Fur hat

24. Fabergé Eggs Long ago, the Russian empire was ruled by a succession of czars. During this time it was a tradition to give special eggs as gifts. A Jeweler named Peter Fabergé created beautiful eggs for the czars to give to their wives and mothers. The eggs, were decorated with gold, silver, and gemstones. Only 43 of the original 53 eggs still exist today, each valued at over a million dollars!! Easter EggThese are a traditional craft in Ukraine, with a history of thousands of years. Patterns are drawn on the egg with wax, which then protects the covered areas from the dye. By repeating this process with different colors of dye, a multi-colored pattern is built up. Finally, the wax is removed to reveal the colors that were covered up at each stage.

25. What Russian Kids Do • Russian children love ice skating, sledding and playing ice hockey in the winter and swimming and soccer in the summer.

26. Traditional Russian Food Vatrushki (Cheesecake) Okroshka (Cold vegetable soup) Vareniki (Dumplings) Pelmeni (Meat dumplings) Bliny (Pancakes) Rassolnik (Meat and pickles soup)

27. Some Famous Russians • Alexander Pushkin – famous Russian writer • Anna Pavlova- world-famous ballerina • Yuri Gagarin - first man in space • Mikhail Gorbachev – first President of the Soviet Union who made the country more free and democratic • Valentina Tereshkova – first woman in space • Peter Tchaikovsky - a composer who wrote the music for The Nutcracker • Sergey Brin- Co-founder of GoogleInc.

28. Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) • 1st Russian composer to gain world wide honors. • He wrote symphonies, operas, piano solos, and ballets. • He is best known for his ballets: Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. *Famous theater located in Moscow. *It has produced some of the world’s greatest dancers *It is known as one of the world’s greatest ballet companies. The Bolshoi Theatre

29. Baba Yaga • Russian children enjoy stories. • A familiar character in many Russian folktale is a witch called Baba Yaga.

30. Count in Russian Matryoshka(ma-tree-OSH-ka) 1 - ah-DEEN 2 - dva 3 - tree 4 - chih – TEE - reh 5 - p’yaht’ 6 - sheyst 7 - seeaym 8 - VO - seeaym 9 - DEH-veht 10 - DEH-seht • A popular toy in Russia is a nesting doll called Matryoshka. • The grandfathers carved them out of wood for the grandmothers or babushkas to use to tell stories to their grandchildren.