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Information About RussiaInformation About
Russia
Russian holidays present a motley picture — new
and old, official and unofficial, professional and private,
religious and secular. All occasions warrant a celebration. We
describe here only a few principal holidays, in chronological order.
• The New Year is first on the calendar and in popularity. Many
celebrate it twice, on January 1 and 14 (which conesponds to January
1 in the Julian calendar, used in Russia before 1918.
• Next is February 23, Day, known until recently as Soviet Army Day,
popularly viewed as holiday for all men and closely followed by its
female counter-part, Women's Day, March 8, when women receive
flowers, presents and are toasted by men.
• Mayday, until recently officially termed International Workers'
Solidarity Day, is now known as Spring and Labour Day. On some
years, it occurs on or close to with Russian Orthodox Easter, so
some people celebrate in church while some attend customary
demonstrations.
• Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9 to commemorate the millions
fallen in World War II. Flowers and wreaths are laid on wartime
graves on this day, and veterans come out into the streets wearing
their military orders and medals. Alas, there are fewer of them with
every passing year.
• June 12 is Russia's Independence Day, which commemorates the
adoption in 1991 of the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Russian
Federation.
• November 4 - Day of the National Unity is the newest Russian
holiday.
• Church feasts have been reborn. Easter is celebrated nationwide,
as of old, and Christmas became a day off. Muslims, Jews and
Buddhists also celebrate their feasts without fear of secular
authorities.
 As
a state symbol two-headed eagle first appeared in Russia, those
times Moscovia, in the XV-th century. It came from Visantium with
Sophia Paleolog, member of the last Visantium Emperor dynasty, who
became the wife of Ivan III, the Great Duke of Moscow. Two-headed
eagle remained the symbol of Russian Monarchy and Russian State for
more than four hundred years, till the October Revolution of 1917,
and regained it's status in 1993 according to the order of President
Boris Yeltsin of November 30, 1993. There are different
interpretations of this symbol. The most common version says that
two heads of the eagle symbolize that Russia consists of two part -
European and Asian, and they are of equal importance for the
country. The State insignia survived some changes during the
pre-revolutionary history of Russia, though these changes were not
too much significant. When the old Rurick dynasty ended in the XVII-th
century and Romanovs came to power, the two-headed eagle remained as
the symbol of Russia, though three crowns were added above the
eagle. They were to embody the unity of three nations - Russian,
Ukrainian and Belorussian.
The existing three-color Russian national flag was adopted by the
Order of President Boris Yeltsin of December 11, 1993, replacing
it's Soviet-time red-blue predecessor. According to the
Constitution, 'The national flag of the Russian Federation consists
of three equal horizontal stripes - white, blue and red'.
This is the third time this three-color flag becomes the national
symbol. The first to use it was Peter the Great, who on January 20,
1705 ordered to hoist this flag as a trade one on all Russian ships
on Moscow, Volga and Dvina rivers. In those times the lower red
stripe symbolized the Earth, the blue stripe - the sky, and the
upper white stripe meant the world of God. At the same time,
according to the Russian tradition, white color meant nobility, blue
- honesty, red - courage and love.
But it still had to come through a tough competition with a
black-yellow-white Emperor's banner, which was proclaimed the
Russian national flag by the order of Alexander II, issued on June
11, 1858. For 25 years the red-blue-white flag was used, as in the
XVIII-th century, only as a trade streamer. But after Alexander II
was killed, the new Emperor, Alexander III, reconsidered the matter.
Before the Coronation ceremony the Interior Minister, Count Tolstoy,
produced to the Emperor both flags, and Alexander chose the
red-blue-white one. So, this banner regained the status of the
national flag and preserved it till the October Revolution of 1917.
After the Revolution it was replaced by the Soviet Red Banner.
Russian Federation, as the part of the USSR, got it's own flag,
which was, however, very much alike - red with a thin blue vertical
stripe, and gold star, hammer and sickle in the upper left corner.
Only 76 years later the old three color flag became again the
national flag of the Russian Federation.
Later, in the XIX-th century, the three stripes on the flag were
thought to embody the commonwealth of three Slavonic nations -
Russian, Ukranian and Belorussian. Beginning from the middle of the
century the three-color flag gradually acquire functions of the
national symbol. In 1856 during the Paris Congress, while the peace
treaty about the end of the Crimea war was being negotiated, the
red-blue-white banner was used as the national flag of the Russian
Empire.
The National Anthem is one of the official state symbols of
the Russian Federation. The lyrics and music of the national anthem
create a ceremonial composition intended as a symbol of state unity.
The Anthem’s words reflect feelings of patriotism and respect for
the country’s history and its system of government. The National
Anthem can be performed by an orchestra or choir, separately or
jointly, or using other vocal and instrumental media. Audio and
video recordings can also be made and used in performing the Anthem,
as can television and radio broadcasts. The National Anthem must be
performed in strict accordance with the approved music and text.
When the National Anthem is performed at official occasions, the
audience is expected to stand and men must remove their hats. If the
National Anthem is played while the State Flag is being raised, the
audience faces the flag. The new National Anthem of the Russian
Federation was first officially performed on December 30, 2000, at a
state reception in the Great Kremlin Palace.
Libraries & Museums
Russia has over 50,000 state public libraries (39,000 of these
rural) in total possession of over a billion books, and the stock is
steadily growing. Every general-educational school and the majority
of offices and large factories have libraries of their own. Close to
1,500 museums cover practically all fields of knowledge-historical ,
ethnographic, memorial, of folk crafts, fine and applied arts,
theatre, music, natural sciences, technology, and many others.
Museums-reserves have lately come into the foreground. Twenty
open-air ethnographic museums present folk architecture, arts and
everyday life. All museum collections, with a total exceeding fifty
million items of historical, scientific and artistic value, comprise
Russia's invaluable museum fund, its precious national treasure.
Theater & Art
The reforms removed all fetters from the stage. Despite all the
problems of contemporary Russian life, the number of theatres is
growing. Up to fifty new companies have appeared in 1993-1994. All
told, Russia has 413 companies, with drama accounting for over half.
Since 1989 local budgets have financed theatres to encourage
provincial theatre. There are 31 languages of acting in our
multi-ethnic country. Some ethnic companies are top-notch, and
worthy rivals of Moscow theatres. In 1974, a team of Moscow artists
opposing officially encouraged practices for the first time threw a
public challenge to the powers-that-be with an impromptu shaw on a
strip of waste land in Belyaevo, a distant suburb. The police
literally razed it to the ground with orders to bulldoze the
pictures. Later, some non-conformistworks found their way abroad.
Things have now changed beyond recognition. The new Artists' Union
Charter, adopted in 1993, proclaims freedom of creativity, high
professionalism and humane goals among its basic principles. The
union arranges exhibitions for its 13,000 members, and helps them
with Picture sales in its many salons. Private galleries are also
burgeoning throughout the country. Moscow alone has over a hundred.
Folk Art
Today, folk art in Russia survives in two basic forms - handicrafts
practiced on a broad scale and works of art created by gifted
persons working at home. Articles fashioned from marble, glass,
ceramics, metal, or ornamental textiles have really become part of
our lives, adding a touch of beauty and hannony to our daily
existence. The most popular handicrafts in present-day Russia are:
wood carving and painting (Bogorodskoe, Khotkovo, Abramtsevo-Kudrino)-
the Golden Khokhloma; artistic ceramics (Gzhel); clay toys (Dymkovo,
Kargopol, Filimonovo, Abashevo); acquer painting (Fedoskino, Palekh,
Mstera, Kholui); decorative tray painting (Zhostovo, Troitskoe);
artistic metalworking (Veliky Ustiug silver, Rostov enamel, Kazakovo
filigree)- bone carving (Kholmogoli, Tobolsk, Chukotka, Khotkovo);
artistic stone working (Tyva carved sculpture)- lace making (Vologda,
Vyatka, Yelets) - embroidery, golden thread needlework, pattern
weaving and rug making. Whatever kind of folk art is looked at, it
reflects the richness and diversity of the nation's soul and the
splendor of the works crafted by its hands.
Russian Cuisine
Original and varied, Russian cuisine is famous for exotic soups,
cabbage schi and solyanka, which is made of assorted meats. Russians
are great lovers of pelmeni, small Siberian meat pies boiled in
broth. Every housewife of any experience has her own recipes for
pies, pickles, and sauerkraut. Even more varied is the choice of
recipes for mushrooms, one of the most abundant and nourishing gifts
of our woods. They are fried, pickled, salted, boiled and what not.
"No dinner without bread," goes the Russian saying. Wheat loaves
have dozens of varieties. As to rye bread, Russians eat more of it
than any nation in the world--a peculiarity of the Russian diet. As
the Russian custom has it, a festive table isn't worth this name
without a bottle of vodka. Russians are traditionally hearty
drinkers:as good whiskey shall come from Scotland, and port from
Portugal, so Russian wheat vodka is the world's best. We have an
amazing variety to offer, from the clear, colorless Moskovskaya and
Stolichnaya to all kinds of bitters with herbs and spices. Of our
folk soft drinks, kvass is the best-known. Made of brown bread or
malted rye flour, it goes down best on a sultry summer day. If you
add it to chopped-up meat and vegetables, you get okroshka, an
exquisite cold soup.
Russia has close to ninety officially registered
television companies, 25,000 newspapers, over 1,500 radio programmes
and 400 news agencies—over half of them independent, the rest
entitled to full or partial government financing. The Mass Media
Act, passed in December 1991, regulates their activities. Judging by
opinion polls, 82 per cent of the Russian public see television as
the principal information source, and prefer it to the press. Radio
comes next with 24 per cent. The total number of subscriptions to
publications exceeded 61~5 million in 1994, with newspapers
accounting for 43.8 million. 78 per cent of Russians are regular
readers of local periodicals whose total circulation accounts for
25.2 million copies, while that of national papers is 18.1 million
copies.
The weekly Argumenty i Fakty leads the national press, with 36 per
cent of the polled readership, and is the most popular among people
with college and university degrees and those in managerial
occupations. Moskovsky Komsomolets, a Moscow daily, is second in
popularity, with a huge number of subscribers and sells like
hotcakes on the newsstands. The youth weekly AIDS-lnfo and the daily
Trud (Labour), a favourite with trade union bosses and blue collar
workers, come after these two. The respectable daily Izvestia (News)
is a pronounced preference in cultural, research and business
circles, 35 out of a hundred political activist pollees are also its
regular readers. Of the Russian dailies, Nezavisimaya Gazeta,
Commersant Daily, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Rossiiskaya Gazeta and
Pravda are also popular among political leaders, as are the weeklies
Finansovaya Gazeta and Moscow News.
Opinion polls highlight the most popular TV programmes-"Wonderfield
Quiz," "Topic," with its social and political charge, news
programmes, and foreign serials. The Mir (World) interstate
television and radio company, established in the middle of 1992, is
jointly sponsored by Russia, Armenia, Tajikistan, BelaNs, Moldova,
Kyrgyzstan and some other Commonwealth countries. Mayak (Beam), a
round-the-clock radio station, which broadcasts news every thirty
minutes, is most popular. Private radio stations—Europe Plus, Radio
101, M Radio, Moscow Echo, Radio Nadezhda (Hope), Nostalgie and
others also have huge audience. They broadcast information, the
analysis of the most important events and music. The new radio
station Auto-Radio telling the audience about the situation in the
Moscow traffic and about everything connected with cars has rapidly
gained popularity.
ITAR-TASS and RIA Novosti, the two national news agencies, are
followed by private and joint-stock agencies: Interfax, Postfactum,
and IMA-PRESS. The Russian Information Agency "Novosti" (former APN)
has 50 offices in foreign states, seventeen in the CIS countries and
receives information from correspondents and stringers from about 40
cities in Russia. The agency daily transmits up to 150 telegraph
communications to almost 500 subscribers. More than 3,000
subscribers receive thematical bulletins covering the reforms in
Russia, its economy, science, culture, international life and so on.
An illustrated "Russia" magazine and Russian press digest,
"Sputnik," are circulated in Russia and abroad. RIA Novosti has its
own news analysis service, a television company, a photoservice, and
a radio station.
 Russian science and technology are famous due to many achievements.
On the top of the list there are: the invention of radio by A. Popov,
the creation of the Periodical table of elements by D. Mendeleev,
formulation of the principals of the interplanetary space flights on
multistage rockets by K. Tsiolkovskiy, achievements of Russian space
program lead by S. Korolev that include first unmanned space flight
of "Sputnik" and first manned space flight of Yu. Gagarin, invention
of laser by N. Basov and Yu. Prokhorov as well and many other
discoveries.
There are around 4000 organizations in Russia involved in research
and development with almost one million personnel. Half of those
people are doing scientific research. It is coordinated by Ministry
of industry, science and technologies, where strategy and basic
priorities of research and development are being formulated.
Fundamental scientific research is concentrated in Russian Academy
of Sciences, which now includes hundreds of institutes specializing
in all major scientific disciplines such as mathematics, physics,
chemistry, biology, astronomy, Earth sciences etc.
The applied science and technology is mainly done in Institutions
and Design Bureaus belonging to different Russian Ministers. They
are involved in research and development in nuclear energy (Ministry
of atomic energy), space exploration (Russian aviation and space
agency), defense (Ministry of defense), telecommunications (Ministry
of communications) and so on.
Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences is the community of the top ranking
Russian scientists and principal coordinating body for basic
research in natural and social sciences, technology and production
in Russia. It is composed of more than 350 research institutions.
Outstanding Russian scientists are elected to the Academy, where
membership is of three types - academicians, corresponding members
and foreign members. The Academy is also involved in post graduate
training of students and in publicizing scientific achievements and
knowledge. It maintains ties with many international scientific
institutions and collaborates as well with foreign academies.
Founded in St. Petersburg in 1724 by Peter the Great the Academy was
than opened in 1725 by his widow Catherine I, as the Academy of
sciences and arts. Later known under various names it got its
present name in 1925. In its early decades foreign scholars notably
the Swiss mathematicians Leonard Euler and Daniel Bernoulli worked
in the Academy. The first Russian member in the Academy was Mikhail
Lomonosov, scientist and poet, who was elected in 1742 and
contributed extensively to many branches of science. The Academy's
highest prize, the Lomonosov Medal, bears his name.
Under the tsars, Academy was headed by the Court members and
controlled a relatively small number of institutions. After 1917 the
Academy started to elect its president and expanded its activities
while many new scientific institutions arose throughout the Soviet
Union. By 1934, when it was transferred from Leningrad (now St.
Petersburg) to Moscow, it embraced 25 institutes. Before the
disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Academy directed more
than 260 institutions including laboratories, naval institutes,
observatories, research stations, scientific societies and branches,
that were spread throughout the republics of former Soviet Union.
Russian Academy is proud of it's members awarded with the Nobel
prize, who are: Ivan Pavlov, Nikolai Semenov, Igor Tamm, Pavel
Cherenkov, Ilya Frank, Lev Landau, Nikolai Basov, Alexander
Prokhorov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Leonid
Kantorovich, Andrey Sakharov, Pyotr Kapitsa, Zhorez Alfyorov.
Russian Academy of Sciences celebrated its 275 jubilee few years
ago. Still it is the leading force of the Russian science keeping
its best traditions, thus maintaining a high level of the
scientific, technological, educational and spiritual potential of
the country.
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