With the right foundation and a passion for travel, you can turn your love of travel into a rewarding career as a travel agent in Russia. The key is finding a supportive host agency, like Vincent Vacations, that provides the training, tools, and resources you need to build a successful leisure travel business.
In most cases, an independent travel agent in Russia will work with a host agency. A host agency provides resources to Russia travel agents, including access to booking systems & partner programs, marketing support and training. A host agency also provides agents with an IATA number, allowing them to earn commission on the travel they book. Some host agencies like Vincent Vacations, offer comprehensive training programs and ongoing support.
Join our award winning travel agency in Russia, where we provide the tools, training, and support you need to succeed. Our team of expert travel agents is dedicated to creating unforgettable travel experiences for our clients, and we are looking for motivated individuals to join us. Whether you are an experienced travel professional or new to the industry, we welcome you to explore the exciting opportunities we offer.
At our Russia based travel agency, we believe in empowering our travel agents with the knowledge and skills needed to excel. We provide comprehensive training programs that cover everything from industry basics to advanced booking systems and marketing strategies. Our ongoing support ensures you are never alone in your journey to success.
As part of our team, you'll have access to exclusive deals, industry resources, and cutting-edge technology. Our strong relationships with top travel suppliers mean you can offer your clients the best rates and packages available. Plus, our robust booking platform simplifies the process, allowing you to focus on what you do best – creating memorable travel experiences.
We understand the importance of work-life balance, which is why we offer flexible working arrangements. Whether you prefer to work from our Russia office or remotely, we provide the tools and support to help you succeed. Our collaborative and inclusive work culture ensures you feel valued and motivated every day.
Being based in Russia, gives us a unique advantage in understanding the local market. We pride ourselves on our deep connections within the community and our ability to provide personalized service to our clients. As a local travel agent, you’ll have the opportunity to leverage your knowledge of the Russia area to build a loyal client base and make a meaningful impact.
Reach out to us via our website here: become a travel agent. Our friendly team is here to answer any questions you may have and guide you through the application process.
Submit your application through our online portal. We are looking for individuals who are passionate, driven, and excited about the travel industry. Be sure to highlight your relevant experience and any unique skills that set you apart.
Once your application is reviewed, we will invite you for an interview. Successful candidates will join our dynamic team of travel professionals and embark on a rewarding career path with endless possibilities.
Don’t miss the chance to join a leading travel agency in Russia, where your passion for travel can transform into a successful career. Our supportive environment, extensive resources, and local expertise make us the perfect choice for aspiring travel agents. Apply today and start your journey with us!
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Categories: Achchen Lagoon
Achen Lagoon is located on the far eastern part of Russia, and is considered an inland body of running water. Visitors enjoy observing an abundance of bird life and spotting out the common puffins, horned puffins, and least auklets found near the lag...
Categories: Achen Lagoon
Categories: Alexandria Land
Categories: Anastasiya Bay
Arkhangelsk, is situated on the banks of the Northern Dvina, not far from the place where it flows into the White Sea. Founded in 1584 by Ivan the Terrible, the city has become a large cultural center of the North. Guests can visit any of a number of...
Categories: Arkhangel'sk Russia
Sitting at the delta of the Volga River in the Caspian Lowland is the city of Astrakhan. The city was founded in 1395 by Mongol leader Tamerlane, conquered by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1556, rebuilt and given industrial privileges by Catherine II in ...
Categories: Astrakhan
Atlasova is a small island that is made of just one gigantic volcano, called Alaid volcano island is named after Vladimir Atlasov, a 17th century Russian explorer who incorporated the nearby Kamchatka Peninsula into Russia. It is essentially the cone...
Categories: Atlasova Island
Categories: Bogoslaf Island
Categories: Bogoslov Island
Categories: Bukhta Anastasii
Categories: Bukhta Lavrova
Categories: Bukhta Natalii
Categories: Bukhta Petra
Categories: Bukhta Preobrazheniya
Categories: Bukhta Yuzhnaya Glubokaya
Categories: Cape Chelyuskin
Categories: Cape Kuyveveem
Cape Navarin is located northwest of the Bering Sea. It boasts of abundant seabird colonies. Cape Navarin is an excellent destination for wildlife sightings. Visitors can spot the Pacific walrus, spotted seals, humbacks, belugas, gray whales, and man...
Categories: Cape Navarin
Categories: Cape Severo-Zapadnyi
Categories: Cetate
Chapoma is a village located on the Kola Peninsula northwest of Russia and part of the Mumansk Oblast, a federal subject of Russia. The surrounding areas were explored in the 12th century by the Saami people who traded fur and herded sheep. Many earl...
Categories: Chapoma Village
Categories: Chegitum
Categories: Chegitun
Categories: Chukotka
Dezhneva Bay (Dezhnev Bay) is a bay located in the Bering Sea, and a port in Russia.
Categories: Dezhneva Bay
Categories: Dmitriy Laptev Strait
Categories: Dudinka
Categories: Dvorovaya Bay
Categories: Fedora Bay
Franz Josef Land is an archipelago located in the far north of the Russian Federation. The Land is situated in the Arctic Ocean to the north from Novaya Zemlya and to the east from Spitsbergen (Svalbard), and administratively it belongs to Arkhangels...
Categories: Franz Josef Land
Categories: Gabriela Bay
Categories: Golden Ring
On the banks of the Sheksna River in Goritsy sits the remains of the Nunnery of the Resurrection. Goritsky is also a great example of Russian rural life.
Categories: Goritsy
Categories: Great Arctic State Nature Reserve
Categories: Inchoun
Categories: Iona Island
Categories: Iony Island
Irkutsk is located 60km East of the world famous Lake Baikal. It is administrative centre of Irkutsk oblast (province) in the east-central Russia. The city lies along the Angara River at its confluence with the Irkut River. More than 750,000 people l...
Categories: Irkutsk
This beautiful tiny village is nestled in a wonderful green countryside. Stroll through the village visiting local families, tasting local food or even go fishing off of the shore. A walk in the nearby woods will also certainly calm your traveling ...
Categories: Irma
Categories: Izvestiy Tsik Islands
Also known as Old Prussia, Kaliningrad sits between Poland, Lithuania, and the Baltic Sea. Under Germany, it was named Kyonigsberg however after WWII, the town was renamed Kaliningrad. The town is navigable via the Pregolya River. When in Kaliningrad...
Categories: Kaliningrad
The Kamchatka (Kamchata) Peninsula is truly one of Russia's most spectacular and diverse regions. The region is made up of shores dipping into the Pacific Ocean, rugged mountain ridges, and volcanoes with volcanic peaks. The underground heat radi...
Categories: Kamchatka Peninsula
Categories: Kamenistaya Bay
Categories: Kanin Peninsula White Sea
Kazan is one of Russia's beautiful port cities famous for museums, theaters, restaurants, and magnificent views. The city is also home to several architecturally beautiful buildings including government buildings, monasteries, mosques,...
Categories: Kazan
Categories: Ketoy
Categories: Khabarovsk
Categories: Kirillov
Kizhi Island is home to one of the first open-air museums in Russia. Developed in the late 1940’s, Kizhi’s architectural ensemble now boasts 74 monuments in the collection. Here, wooden building have been constructed to provide a glimpse of centuri...
Categories: Kizhi Island
Categories: Klyuchevaya River
Categories: Kola Peninsula
Categories: Kolyuchin Island
Categories: Koni Peninsula
Although Korsakov and the Sakhalin District owe their existence to the less-than-glamorous industries of fishing, coal and oil, the typically Russian cities of this peninsula have always managed to sneak in a little fun, even during the height of Com...
Categories: Korsakov
Categories: Koryak Coast
Most of the Kuril Islands are densely vegetated with dark coniferous forests, grasslands, and an alpine zone. The area is rich with beautiful bays and snow-capped volcanoes whose alpine grasslands and forests are home to a rich variety...
Categories: Kuril Islands
Categories: Kuyveyem
Categories: Kuzino
For the Russian people Lake Baikal is a natural treasure. Located in Siberia near the Mongolian border, and surrounded by mountains, forests and wild rivers, Baikal is an immense and breathtaking area of physical beauty. Baikal holds twenty percent o...
Categories: Lake Baikal
Lake Ladoga is the largest freshwater lake in Europe. Visitors can also visit a 14th-century monastery built on Valaam Island in the north of the lake. The lake is a perfect destination for fishing, hiking, biking, rock climbing, and sailing. &n...
Categories: Lake Ladoga
The area around the lake has been inhabited since the early Stone Age. Petroglyphs have been found along its banks. Sailing is a popular activity on the lake. The UNESCO World Heritage site of Kizhi Pogost lies on one of the islands in the north...
Categories: Lake Onega
lake Rybinsk is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Recreational opportunities include hunting in the surrounding forests, boating on the expansive Rybinsk Sea and fishing along the islands, channels and bays that form along the waterway....
Categories: Lake Rybinsk
Categories: Lavrentiya Bay
Categories: Lavrova Bay
Categories: Listvyanka
Categories: Lovyshki Islands
Categories: Magadan
Categories: Malminskie Islands
Mandroga is located on the river Svir, which connects the Onega and Ladoga lakes. This beautiful waterfront village has been constructed in the traditional Russian wooden architectural style. The village is known for the vodka museum. Traditional spi...
Categories: Mandroga (Mandrogi)
Categories: Mod Bay
Categories: Morzhevaya Bay
Categories: Morzhovets Island
Categories: Morzovaya Bay
Moscow is the capital of Russia and its political, scientific, historical, architectural and business centre, from which power and might of the Russian state developed. Moscow is the barometer and nucleus of the changes sweeping through Russia. Nowhe...
Categories: Moscow
Life isn't easy in Murmansk. It's surrounded by tundra, pitch black for most of the winter, home to Russia's nuclear-powered ice-breakers and surrounded by municipal housing blocks. Little wonder that the town goes wild every March for the Festival o...
Categories: Murmansk Russia
Categories: Mys Dezhneva
Categories: Mys Ruddera
Categories: Natalia Bay
Categories: Neva River
Categories: New Siberian Islands
Categories: Nikel
Categories: Nikolskoe
Categories: Nikol'skoye
Nizhni Novogorod is among the largest and most urban cities in Russia. Although the city is known for its industrial prowess, it is also a historical and cultural center. Walking through the city you will find many old...
Categories: Nizhni Novogorod
Categories: Nokolsoye Village
Novaya Zemlya, is an archipelago in northwestern Russia, lying in the Arctic Ocean and separating the Barents and Kara seas.
Categories: Novaya Zemlya
Novgorod is known as "Russia's oldest city" and is located in northwest Russia, on the Volkhov River near the point where it leaves Lake Ilmen. Veliky Novgorod was a key point on the trade route that ran from the Baltic to the Mediterra...
Categories: Novgorod
This port city on the Black Sea is steeped in historical significance. In ancient times the city was a Greek colony specializing in grain trade and is mentioned the works of Strabo and Ptolemy. The city is fondly referred to by locals as the 'Hero Ci...
Categories: Novorossiysk Russia
Categories: Novosibirsk
Categories: October Revolution Island
Categories: Okhotsk
Categories: Olga Bay
An ancient city, Oryol, Russia, is known as the birthplace of 19th-century novelist and playwright Ivan Turgenev (author of Fathers and Sons and A Month in the Country) and 20th-century philosopher of culture and language Mikhail Bakhtin (author of R...
Categories: Orel
Categories: Ostrov Isachenko
Categories: Ostrov Uyedineniya
Categories: Ostrov Yttygran
Categories: Paramushiru Island
Categories: Pavel Bay
Categories: Penkigney Bay
Categories: Pereslavl-Zalesskiy
Categories: Peter the Great Bay
Categories: Petrov
Petrozavodsk is situated on Lake Onega, one of Europe’s largest lakes. Founded by Peter the Great in the early 1700’s, Petrozavodsk name is taken from “Petr” for Peter and “zavod” meaning ‘works’. Rich in iron ore, the area was developed for factorie...
Categories: Petrozavodsk
Categories: Pevek
Categories: Piltun Lagoon
Categories: Proliv Senyavina Hot Springs
Part of the Kuril Islands off the coast of Russia, this small island is known primarily for its birds and sea otters. You'll see common murres, cormorants, puffins and more.
Categories: Ptichi Island
Categories: Pyalitsa Village
Set on a plateau on the northern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains and 330 mi/530 km southeast of Volgograd, Pyatigorsk is the center of the best-known spa area in Russia. It has some of the nation's finest and most spectacular scenery, which you can ...
Categories: Pyatigorsk
Rostov-on-Don's role in the economic development of land and water trade established it as a center of mercantile success, as early as its founding in 1749. Verdant trees line the roads, and the Don River glides through town, as read in such Russian ...
Categories: Rostov-on-Don
Experience all of Russia's historical and cultural sites from a leisurely standpoint: a cruise. You'll see ancient monasteries, dense forests, serene lakes, old churches, riverfront villages and such cities as St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kizhi and more.
Categories: Russia River Cruising
Categories: Russky Island
Categories: Saint Lawrence Bay
Categories: Sakhalin
Samara is one of the major economic, industrial and cultural centers in Russia. It is a city that heavily populated, it is currently reported 1,164,000 people reside in the Russian territory. Samara hosted the European Union-Russia Summit in May of 2...
Categories: Samara
Saratov is in the Volga region in Russia. The population in the city stands at about 840,000. There is a variety of attractions and places to visit in the city including the Saratov circus, Spaceman embankment and the Trinity church on Museum square.
Categories: Saratov
Categories: Sea of Okhotsk
Sem Islands are located on the northeast region of Russia, Just east of northern Finland. Sem Islands in Russia are supplied by the US military intelligence.
Categories: Sem Islands
Categories: Sem' Ostrovov
Categories: Severnaya Zemlya
The Shantar Islands are a group of protected islands located on the western shore of the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia. The biggest isla...
Categories: Shantar Islands
Categories: Shelikhov Bay Paramushiru Island
Uljanovsk (Ulyanovsk) is located in the mid-eastern demographic of Russia. It was first founded by Tsar Alexey in 1648 as Simbirsk and besieged in the autumn of 1670 by Stepan Razin’s army. This historically rich destination is abundant in muse...
Categories: Simbirsk/Uljanovsk
Categories: Smolensk
With the Caucasus Mountains as its backdrop, the Black Sea town of Sochi is the jewel of the Russian Riviera. Sand and pebble beaches stretch nearly 20 miles along the Black Sea coast. With its subtropical climate, warm seas and adjoining trendy reso...
Categories: Sochi
The Solovetsky Islands (often referred to as Solovki) are six islands located in the forbidding waters of the White Sea in northern Russia, just 165km from the Arctic Circle. Known for their scenic beauty but difficult to access even today, the islan...
Categories: Solovetsky Islands
Categories: Sortavala
Categories: Srednego Island
Founded by Peter I in 1703, this beautiful city became the designated capital of Imperial Russia from 1712 to 1914. St. Petersburg was a gateway to the West and a distinctly European metropolis with Baroque and neo-classical mansions. The second-lar...
Categories: St. Petersburg
Starocherkassk is located in southern Russia, along the banks of the Don River. The town has an Old Russian feel to it, and it holds a great deal of historical value to be discovered. There are many memorials and cultural point of interest in Staroch...
Categories: Starocherkassk
Categories: Stavropol
Categories: Stolbovoy Island
Svir River is in northeastern Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It provides a waterway between two of the largest lakes in the area, Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga in Europe.
Categories: Svir River
Svir Stroy is a charming village with a population of around 1000 residents. It is located in the northwestern region of Russia, along the Svir River and only 150 miles east of St. Petersburg. The small village is well known for its picturesque...
Categories: Svir Stroy
Categories: Svirstroy
Categories: Talan Island
Categories: Teriberka Bay
Categories: Tintikun Lagoon
Categories: Trans-Siberia Railway
Founded as an industrial center, Tula, Russia, has a number of sites worth a day trip from Moscow, 110 mi/180 km to the north. Visit the 500-year-old Kremlin, the History of Arms Museum (http://www.arms-museum.tula.ru) and the Imperial Small Arms Fac...
Categories: Tula
Categories: Tver
Categories: Tymlat
Categories: Tyuleniy Island
Categories: Uelen
Categories: Ulan Ude
Categories: Ushakov Island
Categories: Ushki Bay
Categories: Utholok Peninsula
Categories: Utkholok Peninsula Kamchatka
Categories: Uznaya Bay
Categories: Velikiye-Luki
Categories: Verkhoturov Island
Categories: Vize Island
Vladivostok is capital of the Maritime Territory, in southeastern Russia, on Golden Horn Bay, an inlet of the Sea of Japan. Vladivostok is the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Russia's major Pacific seaport, and the main base of their Pacific...
Categories: Vladivostok
River Cruising
Categories: Volga River
Formerly the city of Stalingrad, the historic city of Volgograd is located on the beautiful river Volga. Visitors will find fascinating WWII memorials, and cultural museums about Russian life.
Categories: Volgograd
Once, the riverbanks of Vytegra were made striking by the Intercession Church, a structure built in the traditional wooden style by Northern carpenters in 1706. The design in these churches was often slightly bizarre, and the Intercession had 24 glea...
Categories: Vytegra
Categories: White Lake
Categories: White Sea
Categories: Wrangel Island
Categories: Yamskie Islands
Once a place of sacred initiation rites, the steep peaks and volcanic vents make Yankicha Island a magical, mystical place. The caldera has formed a pristine valley of green whose centerpiece is the serene lagoon, nearly isolated from the sea beyond ...
Categories: Yankicha Island
Categories: Yekaterinburg
Categories: Yeyrineyskaya Bay
Categories: Yttygran Island
Categories: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Categories: Zarya Peninsula
Categories: Zavyalov Island
Categories: Zayatskiy Island
Categories: Zupanova River
Russia is a country of contrasts—a vast territory rich in natural resources (especially oil and gas), where some are incredibly rich and millions of others live below the poverty line. That said, a rising urban middle class is steadily changing the makeup of post-Soviet Russia. When asked what they want for the future, many Russians speak of "having an easier life and being able to buy good things."
Their dreams of prosperity are fueled by foreign movies and television programs, a crop of extravagant Russian films and soap operas, commercials that seem to run nonstop and billboards on many a street corner advertising luxury goods. But, for many, even standard material goods remain out of reach. Although the economy is finally recovering from the devaluation of the ruble in the late 1990s, millions don't have access to the country's wealth, while others buy luxurious property abroad.
Today's Russia is often exhilarating and sometimes ominous. Everyday life goes on amid a jumble of trial-and-error capitalism, billboard politics, czar mania, slick gangster-hangout restaurants and posh nightclubs. Although the situation differs from that of the 1990s, when both careers and fabulous fortunes were made overnight (and lost as well), most Russians still rely on fortune and fate more than on law, state and order.
Some observers have suggested that 15%-20% of Russia's economy is controlled by organized crime. Add to the mix a religious revival: Hundreds of renovated Russian Orthodox churches are offering services in urban centers, and thousands of worshippers make pilgrimages to the country's numerous monasteries and other sacred places. Most religious interest still remains external, though: Most Russians go to church two to three times per year, or to celebrate a wedding or the birth of a child.
Late 2011 brought along a wave of civil protests against the parliamentary voting violations and the corrupted political system. So far, travelers haven't been affected directly by the country's turmoil or corruption, but conditions are changing so quickly that you should keep a close eye on the news.
Also be aware that, despite all the doors that have opened and the greater flow of information, there are still plenty of murky areas in Russia—sudden changes of rules, unexpected shortages and mysterious surcharges. Nevertheless, you'll find that the overall quality of hotels, restaurants and services—although wildly variable—is improving, many on par with western European institutions.
In any case, travelers should be flexible, tolerant and patient—and aware of risks. Russia can be both an enthralling adventure and a tiring ordeal. For those willing to endure the risks and inconveniences, Russia is simply a fascinating place—from the imperial beauty of Moscow and St. Petersburg to the bleakly romantic Siberian countryside.
Geography
Russia spans nine time zones. Its land ranges from the highest mountains in Europe to some of the lowest spots in the world, and from Arctic tundra to seemingly endless plains.
Russian territory contains plenty of water—the great Siberian rivers (Ob, Irtysh); the longest river in Europe, the Volga; and a number of lakes (including the largest freshwater lake in the world, Baikal).
Russia also has access to three oceans—Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific. Thousands of square miles/kilometers of untouched tundra and taiga are full of rare plants and animals. Almost two-fifths of the country's territory, however, is covered by permafrost, which makes both habitation and agriculture rather difficult.
History
The first recognizably Russian state, which began in Kyiv (now Ukraine) in the 10th century, prospered until Tartar invaders subjugated most of the Slavic lands in the 13th-15th centuries. The legacy left by the Tartars was unfortunate, at best: an enduring mistrust of foreigners and a tradition of harsh government. After the Tartar overlords were overthrown, the center of Russian expansionism moved to Moscow.
The Russian empire, founded in the mid-1500s by Ivan IV (widely known as "Ivan the Terrible" in the West) and modernized by Peter the Great in the early 1700s and by Catherine II in the late 1700s, lasted until the 1917 communist coup led by Lenin (born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) and Leon Trotsky. The communists then began more than 70 years of total domination of all aspects of society in the Soviet Union's 15 republics. Lenin's death in 1924 opened the door for Joseph Stalin's rise to power. That regime was notorious for mass executions and exiles, resulting in millions of deaths.
In 1941, Hitler invaded Russia, and the country suffered massive casualties during World War II, especially during the sieges of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in 1942-43 and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1941-44. The Cold War that followed led to the country's rapid industrialization, but corruption and dysfunction were commonplace, and the economy stagnated.
In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev began a series of reforms collectively known as Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring). The political democratization and economic reconstruction of the Soviet Union eventually led to the system's undoing. An attempted coup by hard-liners in August 1991 hastened the end. Fifteen independent countries arose from the ashes of the U.S.S.R. The trend toward further decentralization is represented in the extreme by the bitter battle for independence in the state of Chechnya.
Russia, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, moved in stops and starts toward democracy and a market economy. But Yeltsin's health problems and unpredictable behavior (he fired his government several times), combined with unbridled corruption and a discontented population, created an atmosphere of extreme uncertainty. Yeltsin resigned in 1999 after eight years in power.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took over, was formally elected president in May 2000 and reelected in 2004 for a second term lasting until May 2008. His administration was noted for trying to modernize the country's military, legal institutions and schools, but also for cracking down on the media and on provincial governors.
The Russian constitution originally barred Putin from running for a third consecutive presidential term. After Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential elections, Putin was nominated as Russia's prime minister. In 2012, Putin won the popular vote and was elected to a third presidential term, even though the Russian constitution limits presidents to two four-year terms.
In 2014, Russian forces overtook Crimea, which then voted in a referendum to join Russia. The U.S. and the European Union announced sanctions against Russia, and political tensions remain high.
Snapshot
Russia's main attractions include art, magnificent (and restored) cathedrals and monasteries, treasures and palaces of the czars, the performing arts, health spas, river cruises, historic sites, spectacular scenery, Siberia and Moscow's Kremlin.
Russia will appeal to travelers who have a sense of adventure and an open mind. Don't expect a relaxing vacation, and, unless you're in Moscow or St. Petersburg, don't expect deluxe accommodations—a trip through Russia requires determination, flexibility and plenty of patience.
Potpourri
The Hermitage in St. Petersburg has more than 360 rooms—to see them all, you would have to walk approximately 16 mi/25 km within the museum. Some of its paintings were confiscated from private German collections at the end of World War II and secretly stored within the museum for years. Degas' Place de la Concorde is a famous example.
There's a group of Russians that engages in a practice that goes beyond mere fortitude. It's called walrusing (winter swimming), and it involves swimming in water so cold you have to push aside the ice chunks to dive in.
A popular vacation spot for wealthy Russians is Zelyonaya Roscha (Green Grove), the Black Sea holiday home of Josef Stalin. Each night, one lucky guest can sleep in the former Soviet dictator's dacha (summer house).
The population in every region of the country has begun to decline, and the life expectancy of Russians is the lowest of any developed country in the world. Interestingly, the life expectancy difference between men and women is one of the largest in the world: around 62 years for men and 74 years for women. Various causes are suspected for the decline: poor standards of living, pollution, alcohol abuse, car accidents, the health-care crisis and increasing infertility.
Decades of neglect and indifference have left Russia with a staggering amount of environmental damage. Lake Karachai, located in the Urals, holds the title for the spot most contaminated by radiation on the Earth's surface.
Russia's population density is 22 people per sq mi/8.4 people per sq km, making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.
You'll see many more old women than old men in Russia. The turbulent events of the 20th century—World War II in particular—killed millions of Soviet citizens, many of them men.
It is said that Russia produces more books than the rest of the world combined, and that the average Russian reads three times as many books per year as the average U.S. citizen.
Museums and other attractions often have two fee scales: one for Russians and another, more expensive, for foreigners. Also be aware that ticket offices at museums usually close one hour before the museum—so be there at least an hour before closing time, or you won't be admitted.
Vodka may be the national drink of Russia, but tea (chai) is close as the second beverage of choice. From homes to offices, a tea break includes a small amount of tea extract (zavarka) poured from a small pot into the cup, topped off with boiling water from a kettle (or on a traditional, formal occasion, from a samovar). Russians traditionally drink hot tea with sugar or honey. Some people add a slice of lemon or a spoonful of jam (vareniye).