Russia is a unique country with its unique history, culture, with distinctive political, economic and social systems. You have probably heard a lot about Russian severe winters, rich mineral resources, Russian ballet, and Siberian bears. But these are TOP 26 interesting facts about Russia that you might not know, so please let us share it with you.

Population: 142,8 mln

Political life facts

• The following countries in Europe were members of the former USSR along with Russia: Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine; member countries from Asia were: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
• 35 political parties are registered in Russian Federation.
• Russia takes part in 73 international organizations practice.
• Russian Federation is a member of United Nations Organization (UNO). It is a moderator of UNO meeting this year.
• Russian government type is federation. Russian Federation consists of 48 oblasts, 21 republics, 9 autonomous okrugs, 7 krays, 2 federal cities, and 1 autonomous oblast.
• Moscow is a capital of Russia. It is expensive world cities list leader.

Communications There are 24,4 mln internet users in Russia today (FOM: Public Opinion Foundation Data, 2006).

There are 141,1 mln cellular networks users in Russia (Ministry for communications and informatization of the Russian Federation, 2006).

Economical facts

• Ruble is the monetary unit of Russia. There are ruble tickets of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000, 5000 rubles. Also there are coins of 1, 2, 5 rubles and 1, 5, 10 and 50 kopecks.
• Ruble is the only legal meaning of payment on the entire territory of the Russian Federation. According to Russian laws, it's illegal to pay for services and goods in foreign currency, except authorized retail establishments. You can change foreign currency into rubles in banks or at special exchange offices.
• ATM or Credit Card Advance machines accept PLUS or Cirrus ATM networks, Visa, EuroCard/MasterCard. American Express debit/credit cards are not accepted. Depending on a Russian bank that maintains a cash machine, you may be charged 1 - 4% fee in overcharges. Important: you will need to present your passport for any currency operation at exchange offices.
• Russian Gold and Currency Reserve is about 265,7 billion dollars. It is 5th World Gold and Currency Reserve.
• One great thing about Russia is that all shops are opened even on Sunday. The food shops are usually opened from 8.00 to 20.00 except on sundays from 8.00 to 18.00, however many of them are opened 24 hours a day, even in small villages. Big department stores, clothing stores, supermarkets are opened all week long from 9.00-10.00 to 9.00-10.00. State institutions, offices, companies are usually opened from 9.00 or 10.00 to 18.00 or 19.00 and do not work on Saturday, Sundays and public holidays.
• Most banks are opened 9.00 to 17.00 Monday to Friday, some are opened on Saturday as well. The major banks, such as Sberbank, AlfaBank, Guta Bank are opened Monday to Friday 9.00 to 20.00, and 10.00 to 18.00 on Saturdays. Self-service ATMs operate 24 hours a day usually.
• There are many currency exchange offices in the big cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg) working until late night and sometimes 24 hours a day.
• Russian railways path length is about 85000 km. Russian roads path length is about 871000 km.