2. Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than a ninth of the Earth's land area. Russia is also the ninth most populous nation with 142 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 9 time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's freshwater.

3. Russia is a great power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community, the OSCE, and is the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

4. Climate: The enormous size of Russia and the remoteness of many areas from the sea result in the dominance of the humid continental climate, which is prevalent in all parts of the country except for the tundra and the extreme southeast. Mountains in the south obstruct the flow of warm air masses from the Indian Ocean, while the plain of the west and north makes the country open to Arctic and Atlantic influences.

5. Flora & Fauna: From north to south the East European Plain, is clad sequentially in Arctic tundra, coniferous forest, mixed and broad-leaf forests, grassland, and semi-desert, as the changes in vegetation reflect the changes in climate. Siberia supports a similar sequence but largely is taiga. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves, known as "the lungs of Europe", second only to the Amazon Rainforest in the amount of carbon dioxide it absorbs. There are 266 mammal species and 780 bird species in Russia. A total of 415 animal species have been included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation as of 1997 and are now protected.

6. Language: Russia's 160 ethnic groups speak some 100 languages. According to the 2002 census, 142.6 million people speak Russian, followed by Tatar with 5.3 million and Ukrainian with 1.8 million speakers. Russian is the only official state language, but the Constitution gives the individual republics the right to make their native language co-official next to Russian.

7. Culture: It has a rich history and can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts, especially when it comes to literatureand philosophy, classical music and ballet, architecture and painting, cinema and animation, which all had considerable influence on the world culture. The country also has a rich material culture and a strong tradition in technology.

8. Religion: Russian Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in the country; approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians. However, the vast majority of Orthodox believers do not attend church on a regular basis. Estimates of the number of Muslims in Russia range from 7–9 to 15–20 million. Buddhism is traditional for three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva, and Kalmykia. Some residents of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, such as Yakutia and Chukotka, practice shamanist, pantheistic, and pagan rites, along with the major religions.

9. Russia is a keen sporting country, successful at a number of sports and continuously finishing in the top rankings at the Olympic games. During the Soviet era the team placed first in the total number of medals won at 14 of its 18 appearances; with these performances, the USSR was the dominant Olympic power of its era. Since the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 and continuing today, the Soviet and later Russian athletes never went below third place in the world (never below second until the most recent Olympics).

10. Tourism in Russia has seen rapid growth since the late Soviet times, first inner tourism and then international tourism as well. Rich cultural heritage and great natural variety place Russia among the most visited countries in the world. Major tourist routes in Russia include a travel around the Golden Ring of ancient cities, cruises on the big rivers like Volga, and long journeys on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway.

11. Russian cuisine derives its rich and varied character from the vast and multi-cultural expanse of Russia. Its foundations were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate. Russia's great expansions of territory, influence, and interest during the 16–18th centuries brought more refined foods and culinary techniques.

12. Prior to the nineteenth century, the seeds of the Russian literary tradition were sown by the poets, playwrights and writers as Gavrila Derzhavin, Denis Fonvizin, Alexander Sumarokov, NikolayKaramzin and Ivan Krylov. From around the 1830s Russian literature underwent an astounding golden age, beginning with the poet and novelist Alexander Pushkin and culminating in two of the greatest novelists in world literature, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and the short story writer and playwright Anton Chekhov.

13. Architecture: Russian architecture follows a tradition whose roots were established in the Eastern Slavic state of KievanRus'. After the fall of Kiev, Russian architectural history continued in the principalities of Vladimir-Suzdal, and Novgorod, and the succeeding states of Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the modern Russian Federation.

16. Throwing off the traditions of communist uniformity, Russia today becomes a nation of diversity and tremendous vitality. Cultural traditions of a great country have re-awakened with a newfound strength. Ancient architectural monuments and cathedrals neglected and ruined in Soviet times are being rebuilt and restored. Colorful markets hum with activity once again, and literature and the arts are quickly regaining their creative power.

17. A new Russia is in full bloom now. And international visitors are attracted more and more by this great country with honest and hospitable people, magnificent culture, ethnical and nature diversity, unbounded open lands, beautiful forests, mountains, lakes, beating pulses of bright and lively cities and calm rhythms of quite and measure living in remote country towns and villages. Thanks for watching. enjoy your stay… in Russia