Russia's Culture and Demographics

Russia

• Tyler A. McClellan

Brother Brittan

Russia has not always been what it is today. It began as many small settlements that came together to form an empire, many languages and minority languages are spoken, many religions practiced, and it is number nine in terms of world population. The religious customs of the Russian culture are not the same as American religious customs but very similar. Their meet and greet is very much the same but diverse all at the same time. A meet and greet is where you either meet someone that you have never met before or you meet an old friend.

“Early Russia was not exactly ‘Russia,’ but a collection of cities that gradually coalesced into an empire “(ucsf.edu, 2015). Along with the many small settlements of migrating people were small kingdoms looking for more new uncharted and unclaimed land to expand their empires and territories. A settlement that was slightly larger than the rest probably by a different name was established; this larger settlement, now called Moscow, later became the capital of Russia. These small settlements and empires that came together to form one giant democracy that is called led to a more modern and civilized form of living; this was the start in which came to form the modern country that we now know as Russia today. When the country was first established they were a country with a dictatorship form of government that ruled over its people with brute force. But now the people are allowed to voice their opinion and get a say in everything making modern Russia a well established democracy.

Even though Russian is the official spoken language of Russia there are also many minority languages that are spoken as well as a total of three major languages. “About 100 others are used across the country” (rt.com, 2015). Russian is obviously the most widely known and spoken language in Russia; as it is the official language of Russia. It is estimated that 81% of the people that live in Russia speak Russian. The second major language spoken in Russia is Ukrainian and it is the secondary language as far as the total percentage of people that speak it at a total of 3%. And last but not least is the language Tartar. It is the third and smallest major language. But it is the most widely spoken minority language in Russia as far as minority languages at a total percent of 3.8% or more. Minority languages include but are not limited to: Chuvash, Bashkir, Belarusian, Moldavian, and other various languages 8.1%.

Russia’s ethnic makeup is very vast and unique. The last census stated that there was more than 100 ethnicities within Russia. The Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians), who account for about 85 percent of Russia’s population” (countrystudies.us, 2015). Some of the ethnic percentages are almost the same when they are compared to the linguistic percentages and statistics. Native Russians make up the largest part of the country’s population at 81.5%, while Ukrainian is at 3%, and Tartar 3%. In addition to the ethnicities listed, the minority ethnicities include: Chuvash1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Belarusian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, and other various ethnicities 8.1%. There are many religions that are practiced in Russia the main ones are Russian orthodox at 70%, Ukrainian at a total of 3%, and other various religions ranging anywhere from 16%-25% of the total population of Russia. The Russian religion and the religious customs are very different from the western way of doing things, as is their view on the rest of the world and other things such as their country and way of doing business with associates. The first time two Russian men meet for the very first time they start off with a vise grip like hand shake that is very, very firm and look each other in the eye. When two very close Russian male friends meet they pat each other on the back and they may possibly hug one another as well. When two Russian woman meet for the very first time they too shake hands bus it is not as aggressive and intense as when two Russian men meet for the first time; But when two Russian women meet and they are very close friends they kiss each other very lightly on the cheeks starting with the left then the right cheek and then the left again. Russians take a great amount of pride in their country and think it is great and everyone else in the world should view it and feel the same way that they feel about their country as well. One last thing that is interesting about the Russian culture is that all names are patronymic this means that the name is passed down from generation to generation.

Russia comes in position number nine as far as world population at an approximate total number of 142,470,272 people that live in Russia. The top three largest cities located in the country in terms of population are as follows in descending order: Moscow is not just the capital city of Russia it is also the largest city with a total of 10,381,222 people, Saint Petersburg 5,028,000 there are inhabitants, and finally the third and smallest city out of the top three is Novosibirsk with a total of 1,419,007 people that live here. “The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation” (themoneyconverter.com, 2015). One American United States dollar currency roughly equals just over Sixty one and one half Russian Rubles. To be exact 1 USD equals 61.54 Russian Rubbles.

Russia is a very large country with an extensive history and a massive population. It began as many small settlements of people looking to expand their territories that came together to form present day Russia. These people influenced each other in various ways and that is why there are so many different languages spoken, religions practiced, and ethnic groups within Russia. All of these factors come together and intermingle to make the large country we now call Russia.

Bibliography:

ucsf.edu (2015) A Brief History of Russia Retrieved on February 25 from: http://missinglink.ucsf.edu/lm/russia_guide/historyofrussia.htm

kwintessential.co.uk (2014) Russia – Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette Retrieved on February 25 from: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/russia-country-profile.html

rt.com (2015) Basic facts about Russia: Language Retrieved on February 25 from: http://russiapedia.rt.com/basic-facts-about-russia/language/

geonames.org (2015) Russia – Largest Cities Retrieved on February 25 from: http://www.geonames.org/RU/largest-cities-in-russia.html

aneki.com (2014) Top 100 Most Populous Countries Retrieved on February 25 from: http://www.aneki.com/top_100_populous.html

countrystudies.us (2015) Ethnic Composition Retrieved on February 25 from: http://countrystudies.us/russia/32.htm

themoneyconverter.com (2015) Convert Russian Rouble to United States Dollar | RUB to USD Retrieved on February 25 from: http://themoneyconverter.com/RUB/USD.aspx