The permanent population of the Russian Federation is about 146.3 million people, the ninth place in the world. The national composition of Russia is very diverse. 

Freedom of religion is guaranteed in Russia. The largest denominations in terms of the number of followers in Russia are: Orthodox (about 75%), Islam (about 5%), Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Buddhism – 1% each.

Moscow is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Every year, millions of tourists visit the capital to see the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral and Christ the Savior, Danilov and Novodevichy monasteries, the Bolshoi Theater and the Tretyakov Gallery and much more.
The name of the city is associated with the name of the Moskva River, which bore this name long before the settlement appeared.
The exact age of Moscow is not known. The most ancient archaeological finds on the territory of Moscow belong to the Stone Age. A significant number of settlements and other archaeological sites of later eras have been discovered within the city. From the end of the first millennium, Slavs settled in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Moscow: Vyatichi and Krivichi. Vyatichi formed the bulk of the original population of Moscow. Archaeological excavations carried out in the Kremlin area indicate that by the end of the 11th century a settlement already existed there.

The national flag of Russia is a rectangular panel of three equal horizontal stripes: the top is white, the middle is blue and the bottom is red.
January 20, 1705 is considered the birthday of the tricolor flag introduced in Russia by Peter the Great.
After the socialist revolution in Russia in 1917, during the years of the civil war (1918-1920), national symbols were divided. While the Bolsheviks made the state revolutionary red flag, the White Army fought against the Soviet regime under the Petrine white-blue-red banners. During the Soviet period, the Peter’s tricolor could only be found in museums. However, with the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of New Russia, it was decided to revive the traditional state symbols with a long history.
In the summer of 1990, the Minister for Foreign Economic Relations of the Russian government, Viktor Yaroshenko, proposed a return to the Petrine flag. On August 22, 1991, the parliament decided to return the tricolor flag and raise the white-azure-red flag over the White House.
August 22 is now the Day of the State Flag of the Russian Federation.

The State Emblem of Russia is an image of a golden double-headed eagle spreading its wings on a red heraldic shield. Above the eagle are three historical crowns of Peter the Great, in the paws of the eagle are the symbols of power – a scepter and orb, on his chest on a red shield – a horseman slaying a dragon with a spear.
The prototype of this coat of arms was established in the country half a millennium ago after the overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, the adoption by the Grand Duke Ivan III of the title “Sovereign of All Russia” and the proclamation of Moscow as the successor of Byzantium – the “Third Rome”. Ivan III, married to Sophia Paleolog, niece of the last Emperor of Constantinople, Constantine XI, adopted the Byzantine black double-headed eagle crowned with two crowns on a gold background as a coat of arms. Subsequently, the original drawing was repeatedly modified.
Today’s double-headed eagle was approved as the state emblem of Russia by President Boris Yeltsin’s decree of November 30, 1993 and the Federal Law approved by the State Duma of the Russian Federation on December 8, 2000.

As for temperatures, Siberia is considered the coldest region, where the “pole of cold” is located near the city of Verkhoyansk – the average January temperature here is about -51 ° C, and in February the thermometer sometimes drops to -68 ° C. On the Arctic coast, temperatures are not so low, however, due to the influence of the Arctic Ocean, it sometimes drops to -50 ° C. However, the same factors that cause low winter temperatures contribute to warm and sometimes hot summers in these regions: the average July temperature in Verkhoyansk is about 13 ° C , and sometimes summer temperatures reach 37 ° C. In the European part, the climate is more moderate, and on the Black Sea coast – mild. The average January temperature in Moscow ranges from -16°C to -9°C, the average July temperature is from 13°C to 23°C.

There are 9 time zones in Russia. Time is calculated from +2 hours GMT in Kaliningrad to +11 hours in Kamchatka and Chukotka. Time in Moscow and St. Petersburg is +3 h GMT

• Russia is the only country in the world washed by 12 seas
• Lake Baikal in Siberia is the deepest lake on Earth.
• The Ural Mountains, which divide Russia into European and Asian parts, are the oldest mountains in the world
• In Russia, there is the only hot spring rich in the beneficial properties of mineral waters in Essentuki and known for its hydrosulfide baths.
• The Metro of St. Petersburg is the deepest in the world – in St. Petersburg there are more bridges and canals than in Venice.