How do you know Russia?

There are many who love and many who fear… There are many who appreciate it and many who criticize it… But the common point is that Russia has always been one of the most curious countries in the world. For most foreigners, what is known about Russia is sometimes just as superficial. This opens the door to prejudices, misconceptions and, to put it in contemporary terms, stereotypes.

Here are some of them and the “truths” compiled by Georgi Manayev:

1. The most popular Russian name is Ivan: Ivan is not originally Russian, nor is it the most popular name. Ivan is an old Jewish name (Yohanan). The most common male names in Russia are Alexander, Sergey and Dmitri.
2. Beer is not considered alcohol in Russia: Contrary to popular belief, beer has been classified as an alcoholic beverage in Russia since 2011.
3. Russians always call each other “comrade”: This Soviet-era adjective is not common at all. It is usually used jokingly.
4. All Russians are communists: No, not all Russians were communists, even in the strongest years of the Soviet Union. Even in the best of times, the party membership did not reach 20 million.
5. Russia is very cold and it snows all the time: Russia is a country that spans too large a geographical area to be placed in a specific climate pattern. It is divided into four climatic zones, with temperatures ranging from -41 to +41.
6. Russians can easily understand other Slavic languages: Some partly yes (Ukrainian), some no (Polish, Czech). Just like Turks understand Azerbaijani easily, Kazakh very little.
7. Russia is a poor country: Russia is one of the countries with an unfair distribution of income, but as a whole it is not a poor country. Russia is the 12th largest economy in the world.
8. In Russia, the shelves in stores are empty: This perestroika-era belief is absolutely false. Russia today is a country of abundant consumption.
9. Every Russian has some connection with the mafia: The average Russian has little more trouble with the law than unpaid utility bills and traffic fines.
10. Bears roam the streets of Russia: No. It’s only “big news” if there are bears in Siberia or in some remote towns that rarely venture into the city in search of food in winter.
11. Russians have a mysterious spirit: The concept of the Russian soul, “created” by nineteenth-century literati, makes Russians feel special and gives them color, but it is doubtful that it sheds light on any mysteries about the country.
12. All Russians are monitored by the KGB: It’s been almost 30 years since the KGB was disbanded, renamed the FSB, but the overall system remains. The paranoia that “everyone is being watched” is unfounded, of course, but the secret services still have more control over life in Russia than in Western democracies.
13. Russians love dacha: True. If Khrushchev’s land reform in the late 1950s had not opened up the possibility for Russians to own a dacha, the Soviet Union might have collapsed much earlier. One could say that dachas “saved the lives” of Russian citizens, both economically and in terms of the possibilities of creating private space. However, it should be noted that the dacha culture dates back to before the USSR.
14. The roads in Russia are terrible: Partly true. That’s why they say in Russian: “We have two problems: years (darogi) and fools (duraik)”.
15. Russians are superstitious: Yes. For a country and society that sent the first man into space and has come so far in science and technology, there are more superstitions than one would expect.
16. All drivers in Russia have in-car cameras: Almost completely true.
17. The best hackers come from Russia: As a country with a strong mathematical tradition, Russia is also good at communication technologies. And, yes, combined with an adventurous spirit, it is true that many good hackers come out of Russia and the former Soviet republics.
18. Corruption is rampant in Russia: Suffice it to say that there are four times as many Russians as Europeans who say they bribe government officials to do their jobs.
19. Russians drink a lot of vodka: Contrary to popular belief, Russia ranks 6th in the world in terms of alcohol consumption, not 1st.
20. Russia is full of babushkas: Indeed, there are one and a half times more old women in Russia than old men.

Source: www.turkrus.com