Geography Now! RUSSIA

everyone we've reached Russia the big guy you've probably heard of him for this episode I really wanted a real Russian to co-host with me one guy immediately popped up say hi to mr. Mike born and raised in Russia in childhood speaks the language knows the culture this dude is my go to Russia guy a quick disclosure I've lived here in the States three times longer than I've lived in Russia that said where I falter this is a pre-emptive apology well thank you Mike either way uh it was either you or that Demetri guy down my street the crackhead see how slim our options were you're the best I got [Music] now everyone I'm your host Barb's here with Mike Russia is a big country that everyone has heard of big unique and above all it's a country many of you guys have been waiting for on this channel and this is gonna be a pretty big episode we're gonna cover as much as we can without rushing into it privyet stew inves naruse key episode now as we all know by land area Russia is the largest country on earth the country is so big it's difficult to even get an accurate two-dimensional flat cut out of the nation due to the width of their land straddling a spherical mark on Earth's surface and with lots of space comes lots of interesting geographical anomalies Russia is so big that it has about 1/8 of all inhabited land on earth and almost the same amount of surface area as the entire planet of Pluto Russia is a transcontinental country that straddles both Eastern Europe and northern Asia in a larger landmass known as Eurasia it is often understood that the European part of Russia were about 77% of the population lives is everything west of the Ural Mountains and the remaining 23% live on the east side at about 66 hundred miles or 9,000 kilometers east to west the country covers 11 time zones and the longest border in the world with 14 different countries yes even North Korea at the very narrow try point with China in addition they recognize two more disputed areas that they bordered North Ossetia and Abkhazia as countries even though the international community recognizes these areas as part of Georgia also the country has military bases in nine countries abroad including the breakaway state of Transnistria in Moldova keep in mind the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan the world's first and largest space launching facility is actually leased out to Russia until 2050 and acts as like a Russian exclave the country is divided into 85 federal subjects to avoid are disputed and all are divided further into six categories the 46 Oblast sore provinces these are the most common subjects with direct control from the central government keep in mind the westernmost point of Russia is actually in this detached exclave known as the colon and Grad Oblast then you have the 22 republics these are nominally autonomous areas that have the right to their own Constitution and language alongside with Russian as many of them are inhabited by ethnic minorities with their own cultures then you have the nine cries or territories which are basically just Oblast but with a historical tied to being frontier regions many of which are sparsely populated you have the four autonomous okrugs or districts which are like little sister areas that have a certain level of autonomy but are still subordinate to a certain Oblast these two Oh PLAs are in charge of these three or Krug's whereas the Chukotka autonomous okrug is the only one not subject to any Oblast or cry then you have one strange unit known as the Jewish autonomous Oblast which was kind of like a deliberately created entity that was supposed to be a new home for Russia's Jewish population even though today less than 1% of the population is Jewish but it's still called the Jewish autonomous Oblast and finally you have the three federal cities the two largest ones Moscow the capital of the country and st. Petersburg as well as the controversial disputed Sevastopol located on the controversial Crimean Peninsula that is claimed by Ukraine and Russia claims as the Crimean Republic this is a tricky subject we'll talk about later in short these three cities kind of operate as their own regions and are not subject to any Oblast coup and that was just the administrative division section we didn't even get into all the other weird stuff like how this guy wants to revive the house of Romanov and possibly buy land in the balkans for a micronation or how the California independent Republic actually has an embassy in Moscow or how they once had sovereignty over Alaska for over a hundred years known as Russian America and was like ah I got a piece of America are you doing settlers um not so good oh man this war against the Ottomans that's costing me a fortune I need money whoa there's a gold rush on the west coast in California let's all go now the Americans and the British Canadians might get closer and try to take over it will cost more to defend my American territory that I don't even pay any attention to maybe I should just sell it hey UK you interested I've called quite enough Arctic tundra think I'm quite all right USA all that frozen useless land you better sell it to me for cheap and that's how they sold it for only 7.2 million which by today's inflation rates would be equivalent to about 130 million or about 2 cents per acre for what it's worth though Russia kind of got its general land territory we know today from the conquests mostly from Cossacks that ended in the late 17th century led by this dude what is a Cossack well long story short it's kind of like this ah I'm so sick of this pent-up aggression I should get out of this town and get in a fight or something hey you're an intrepid guy with a death wish who probably wouldn't mind maybe dying how would you like to go out and get paid to do that for my country how just like go out make alliances with the locals or I don't know kill them just get me more land it's an adventure like like a mercenary or something let's not call it that but something like that and that's basically how Russia grew from this to this in any case there's a lot more to the Russian scene than just political divisions the capital and largest city is Moscow where nearly a tenth of the entire population lives it is the largest European city and as of 2020 is one of the top 20 largest cities by city proper on earth with over 13 million people here of course you can find the three biggest and busiest airports otherwise st. Petersburg the second largest city has the fourth busiest airport just a skip away st. Petersburg does hold the largest shipping port to the port of st. Petersburg right on the coast of the Gulf of Finland the country has thousands of islands and islets office coasts mostly situated in the Arctic but the largest one Sakhalin located in the Pacific going up you see these two little guys here the diamond islands yep the big one on the Left belongs to Russia and the small one to the right belongs to the USA and they sit right on the International Dateline effectively meaning that even though they are only about 2 miles apart big Diomede Island is an entire day ahead of little Diomede Island speaking of which they have about 23,000 miles of coastline fifth longest in the world mostly in the Arctic giving them the largest EEZ claim over the Arctic sea the country has a few territorial disputes in Asia you have the Kuril Islands in the East with Japan or both claim ownership over these islands just off the coast of Hokkaido and the Caspian Sea Kazakhstan claims these three islands that are currently under Russian control and finally you have the most notable dispute that has made all the international head recently Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula in the shortest way to summarize in 2014 Russian troops took over and essentially the entire area was annexed by Russia following a controversial referendum as most people there are Russian and voted to secede themselves back to Russia to this day the international community does not recognize this referendum as legitimate but the area is still de facto run by Russia this means that even further than Crimea the entire Sea of Azov is also disputed otherwise if you look at the population density map of Russia most people east of the Urals actually live close to the famed trans-siberian railroad the longest rail line in the world that traverses the entire country effectively giving them access to other nations like Mongolia China and even further as North Korea travel gets even more complicated the further north or east you go to this day there are no main highways that reach the furthest eastern subject that your quota autonomous approve and anyone wishing to go there must fly or probably take an uncharted boat from the other coastal areas along the Pacific that was a lot of information so let's just skip over to the list of notable places some of the top places you guys the Russian geography suggested we mentioned in the video include places like dog offs City of the Dead Lenin's Mausoleum is my love of Kremlin the Moscow Metro stations temple of all religions tsar bell the Duster s key theatre the vodka museum in st. Petersburg Hotel Ukraine uh Bolshoi Zavadsky Island maze Freud's dream Museum whale bone alley the so volca monastery an army base and gulag mulan judea snow graphic museum the mummified remains of this guy the most famous statue probably being the worker and co-host woman they've even have the tallest statue of a woman in the world there are of course so many churches mostly Orthodox so many amusement and theme parks and mica the most top famous places would probably be the Red Square st. Basil's Cathedral the Winter Palace and peterhof all right well that was a lot of heavy information Russia is no joke when it comes to contrast much like the landscape which brings us to now when it comes to the physical makeup Russia is kind of like an ice cream shop I mean yes most of the country experience is cold and freezing temperatures but being the largest country on Earth area wise means you're gonna have a lot of different physical regions so it's kind of like different flavors of cold right what do you think Mike yeah for one the country starting in the West begins with the flat and relatively lush European Plain from there you have the Caucasus Mountains in the southwest where you can find the highest point the tallest point in Europe Mount Elbrus just a skip away you find the Volga River Delta the largest Delta in Europe fed by the Volga River the Caucasus and Ural Mountains together make up the boundaries of what is considered European Russia and from there Asia begins with this massive area known as Siberia divided into the West Siberian Plain where the mighty old river flows the North Siberian lowland and the central Siberian plateau just south along the border of Mongolia you have the Sion and abloomnova mountains where you can find the largest lake of Russia and the deepest in the world Lake Baikal which by the way has some of the only freshwater seals on earth it is fed by a tributary on the longest river of Russia the Lena which flows northward into the Arctic from there you have all these other mountain ranges that shield the Colima lowland and finally you reach the highly volcanic Pacific coast with the Koryak and Kamchatka ranges that extend with an archipelago southward all sitting on the Ring of Fire in fact the Kamchatka and disputed Kuril Islands have more volcanoes out of anywhere else in the country at about 200 about 60 of which are still active the three most active and continuously erupting ones being kareem ski ki Zeeman and she village keep in mind up north the Arctic Ocean is actually divided into five separate seas on the Russian side the Chukchi the East Siberian the Laptev Cara and Barrens sea and here you can also find the northernmost point of Russia's domain the Franz Josef land islands they are right above Nova zemlya which has the largest glacier in Europe and also the site where the largest atom bomb ever was dropped fun fact amidst all this land about 60% of it is classified as being part of the Siberian taiga or taiga forests which are forest situated in colder climates with deciduous trees like oak birch and spruce this is the largest forested area on earth yes even bigger than the Amazon much of the south of Russia is classified under the steppe region zone or massive expanses of grassy land with few trees ideal for agriculture with moderate temperature and sunshine and moisture otherwise the further north you go the less hospitable the conditions get and you reach the Tundra's and cold deserts where very few people dare to live but many resources are locked away such as the numerous oil and natural gas reserves hidden in the interior and offshore sites in Siberia and the Arctic Russia actually has the largest natural gas reserves in the world making them the largest natural gas exporter and the largest oil producer in the world most of these petroleum resources are managed by state-owned companies like Gazprom Lukoil and Ross Neff lots of land and lots of stuff happening in it Russia's economy ranks as the 11th largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2020 back to resources though agriculture and Russia is kind of limited only about 0.1% of the 1 billion acres of arable land is used for permanent agriculture and they only have a short 2 to 4 month harvest season this is due to much of the area covered in full or semi-permanent production one thing it does produce though are these interesting geological formations known as pingos which implode into massive craters which fill up into ponds making the landscape the most triple phobic triggering region on earth wait for me all the strange cold water and wind erosion is also the reason why Russia has incredibly distinct remote rock formations found all over along the taiga and steppe regions this means almost all farming happens in the southern areas of Russia where the climate is slightly warmer and accommodating nevertheless even with the limited industry Russia still ranks number one in producing certain crops such as buck wheat barley oats sugar beet currant gooseberries and raspberries in addition they are the largest palladium and diamond producer in the world when you think of Russia immediately you think of coal I mean they do have the coldest inhabited town on earth but Russia actually has the largest temperature range on earth recorded as well the town of very high yawns can go from 37 degrees in summer to negative 68 in winter making a 105 degree difference technically the fringes of the Caspian Sea in the south are also considered semi-arid desert zones making them some of the warmest regions in all of Russia and some of the surrounding landscapes you could swear were in northern Africa or the Middle East the sand dunes and camels and speaking of camels animals the country has over 260 mammal species and nearly 800 bird species animals you may have heard of such as the Siberian tiger Asiatic bears Eurasian Lynx in the tundra regions you can also find polar bears reindeer walruses narwhals arctic foxes in the warmer areas you have Wolverines as well as that strange Saiga antelope with its weird elongated nose of course it wouldn't be Russia without the national animal the Eurasian brown bear so yeah Russia it has deserts and it can be over a hundred degrees imploding permafrost and active volcano is constantly erupting as we speak and finally to finish all of this segment off food now of course due to the vast wide domain and numerous ethnic groups found in Russia the country has an enormous range of regional cuisines one common theme you'll notice is that Russians tend to pickle a lot of their vegetables since the harvest season is short and crops are not available in the colder months anyway just add a dollop of sour cream to your soups take a shot of vodka and bam you're in the Russian zone some of the more widely known and popular dishes you guys the Russian geography suggested stroganoff brilliantly chicken Kiev galoot see lots of different types of rye bread many types of pure ghee they have their own way of doing ice cream and meringue desserts caviar is a big deal in Russia especially from sturgeons many soups were a big soup and salad culture you have things like she borscht Solanco gosh anyway salads include vinaigrette I leave yeah and they celebrated on New Year's and they eat it on you it's it's not a party unless that salads involved they also took it from the Belgians or something right no there was a Belgian guy who worked in a Russian restaurant and then one of his sous chefs ended up stealing the recipe stole from the Belgians New Year's got it now we could go on and on but it would take forever because Russia has over 180 recognized ethnic groups which each have their own distinct culture speaking of which I think that just about the right time to transition to in regards to Russian people feel that the stay of ski once said it's frightening to see how free a Russian man's spirit is how strong his will being a Russian carries a powerful meaning to the Russian people it's a title of honor and pride many of them take the country is made up of about 143 million people it is the most populous nation in Europe and as of 2020 the ninth largest country and population on earth about 80% of the country identifies as ethnically Russian and the remaining 20% come from one of the 180 or so ethnic minorities found throughout the country the largest one being the tatars at about 3.7 percent and Ukrainians at about 1.4 percent from there you have everything else from the bashkirs chuvash Corellian and so on keep in mind many of these minority groups are East and Central Asian in their heritage like the accout and Tuvan and Altai peoples whom speak Turkic or mongolic based languages and are not Caucasian like the majority of people that identify as Russian they use the Russian ruble as their currency they use the types of CNF plug outlets and they drive on the right side of the road Russian of course is the national language however the republics are allowed to have their own co official languages as well when speaking of which Russian cursive is like the most mind-blowing sight to see now with Russia you have a lot of backstory but the best way to probably start off is by understanding the Slavs in Europe there are three main powerhouse ethno-linguistic groups they're Germanic the Latin and the Slavic Slavs are the largest one and Russians make up the highest population of slobs the roots are documented from Roman times and they have spread all throughout Eastern central and southern Europe with the exception of a few outliers like Poland and Croatia the majority of Slavs in the world have a background in Orthodox Christianity which was kind of like a further stem thing from the Byzantine Empire if you don't know what any of that stuff is basically in like the fourth century Europe was like oh no I'm dying the Germanic people keep attacking I'm losing money and nobody wants to claim Caesar as divine help me my predominantly Hellenistic Greek influence subjects to the east good luck I'm doing my own thing I also made my own capital and I'm ditching that polytheistic stuff for Christianity and then in the 11th century it was like so what's your problem why do you want to split up well besides the secondary dogmas we disagree on we mostly don't like your practices we don't think the Pope has any authority over the church yeah but you guys have patriarchs yeah but that's not the same thing those are like regional managers also you guys have way too many creepy statues we believe priests should be allowed to marry and we kind of like growing out our beards well yeah well at least we play actual musical instruments during Mass there's a lot more that goes into it but getting into the theological discrepancies between the two would take forever to explain in any case less than half of the population of Russia actually adheres to the faith and about thirty percent of the country identifies as either spiritual but not religious or unaffiliated agnostic or atheist aside from all that it is important to note that not everybody in Russia is Slavic or Orthodox I already made a video explaining about these so we don't really have to talk too much about it just watch the video but basically you have everything from the Turkic mongolic Circassian your ally and even Inuit peoples in the Far North East Arctic legions they even have the westernmost Buddhist community on earth in kaamika interesting but you didn't know that now compared to the rest of Europe Russia does have a high birthrate and immigration rate nonetheless they also have a relatively high death rate especially amongst men in fact today women outnumber men in Russia at a one 2.84 ratio yeah there's a lot more women in Russia the competition amongst women is kind of visible you explained it's not uncommon to see women dressing up in full presentation mode with heels and nails done even just to go to the store to pick up milk to dive further into the social dynamic you have to kind of understand Russia has gone through a lot of eras throughout its history basically they've had kingdoms invasions expansions Wars empires unions and most notable era the 20th century communist era the word has an almost ubiquitous connotation with the country of Russia this is why you hear a lot of those distinct Soviet communist era words and phrases used in media like proletariat to bourgeoisie means of labor comrade they were the first nation to extensively kick off and implement the political ideology constitutionally after the October Revolution and furthermore they spread it abroad I mean that's kind of what the whole Warsaw Pact and Eastern Bloc things were during the Cold War and it goes even further than that all right we just destroyed those Nazis awesome job man you know Russia it was really cool working with you you're all right yes muy drew quite pleasure destroying real enemy well I guess my European friends and I should help Germany set up a free mark system privatize their corporate policy and stimulate the cash flow through competitiveness to get them back on their feet no me and my friends will help set up collective system that mobilizes and encourages proletariat to function efficiently by state regulations with no independent red tape loopholes oh is this really happening dah I believe it is I take East you take West and in the 50s it was like I influenced North you influenced south and in the 70s I support North I support South and so on which begs the question what exactly is communism although there are many schools of thought and varying definitions in the shortest way of summarizing communism is a philosophical political social and economic ideology and movement to derive much from the writings of Karl Marx the ideal ultimate goal is to establish a common ownership and means of production by the people and the state or in the simplest form you don't technically own anything everyone technically owns everything on paper but the state gets first dibs and distributes what it deems as most efficient technically kind of but not it's weird it's weird anyhoo after the fall of the Soviet Union in 91 they changed their system of operation legislatively on paper Russia classifies itself as a federal dominant party semi-presidential constitutional republic with an emphasis on a heavily state-run economic model and Russian conservatism as a popular ideology this party United Russia holds about three-quarters of the seats in the Federal Assembly and it's semi-presidential because the president is head of state whereas the Prime Minister is head of government however it's a lot more complex than that Mike what would you say so this is a country that is notoriously known for changing the rules as they play the game I sort of see it as an oligarchy okay so that being said let's highlight some notable cultural traits and accomplishments that Russians are known for for one Russians were pioneers in the space race and kicked off the age of space exploration here's my buddy Destin from smarter every day talking about it all right Paul if you're gonna talk about Russia you've got to talk about aerospace engineering because they are impressive it all started back in the day when a Russian visionary named co-con ski came up with this momentum balance for rockets which came to be known as rocket equation back in the early days of spaceflight the Soviet Union kicked off the space race by launching Sputnik the first satellite in space moved forward through the space race Yuri Gagarin the first human in space that was a really big deal fast forward to today and you realize that Russia and the United States are not just collaborating there's a full-on partnership between the two nations no matter what political situations going on on the ground these engineers NASA and the Russian aerospace industry they've been working together to make human space exploration possible the international space station one of the most amazing things ever made by humans has been a platform for persistent human presence in space since the late 1990s I love this thing also the Russian Soyuz spacecraft developed in the early 70s has proven itself to be the workhorse of human spaceflight this stuff is awesome thanks for letting me say that if you're doing a video about Russia you have to talk about Rockets because Russians are good at rockets why don't you have a segment for each country about the Rockets that are like you're I know how you edit you're gonna cut me off now there's you can have it and aside from the space race there are many discoveries and inventions attributed to Russian innovators here's just a few of them that we will put on a full screen montage they even invented the game Tetris in fact their theme song is a Russian folk song called Kadena Kakashi sit sea perch ah ah this dude mental have also created the earliest form of the periodic table and some elements are actually named after Russians and Russian places including the guy himself they're also the pioneers of stem cell research and numerous surgical procedures like heart and lung transplants even amongst the diverse Republic areas there are some Universal Russian customs and traits that transcend regional boundaries all Russians take holidays and festivals very seriously and enjoy their times of celebration Christmas was effectively brought up to new year's and instead of Santa Claus they have Detmar wars basically translates to grandfather Frost later iterations give them a little sidekicks new rich cup otherwise all over you have other festivals celebrated like these Women's Day is a huge one it's a common misconception that Russians are genetically acclimated to the cold explain we just handle the cold better because we bunt a lot better but you guys do have that like banya sauna culture and you guys jump into the ice water a lot right oh yeah in addition Russians are known for excelling in a range of sports most notably ice hockey wrestling figure skating engine nastic s-- they have consistently ranked high in the Olympics and ranked the number one medal winners twice for the winter seasons of 1994 in 2014 where they hosted in Sochi which has a stream of following controversies chess is a huge part of their culture the game of cold logic rewards cunning and has always spoken to the Russian some of the top chess players in the world have come from Russia the 1830 throw mantis era was sort of seen as like the Golden Age of Russian writing some of the top notable authors like Dostoevsky Tolstoy Chekhov given the honor of prestige of Russian literature Russians have an incredibly long rolodex of folk music that dates back centuries and many Native Instruments are still used to this day like the Bionic Wardian the virile flute strings like the dom gras goose li and the most famous of all of them the triangle-shaped balalaika every region has their own style of dance but the most internationally well known styles probably being the troika and three shotgun Russians know how to put on a show the world renowned Russian ballet has been operating since the late 17th century and everyone knows that Russians are some of the best circus performers in the world excelling in acts like juggling acrobatics contortion Russia has many artists spanning across a wide spectrum of genres movements and styles Russia also has a history of animation it wasn't until 1935 that SIU's mph in Russia's largest animation studio was started we all grew up on this new pagai g spark when anoche militia subbaraj your zoom on yet otherwise what are some last-minute things you would like to tell us about what it means to be Russian Mike without trying to be dismissive Russians kind of like to fetishize their own suffering it's like Russians don't live they survive on other things it's considered weird to smile at people you don't know why is that we don't trust you never give a knife as a gift it's seen as a severing of ties Russians are a very hospitable folk many will invite you into their homes and will display either sadness or offense if you refuse once you've made it in they will often bribe you to stay with things like tea conversation booze in Russia middle names are not chosen by their parents you are born with one it is your paternal name so my father's name is Yuri therefore my middle name is UD Beach and that applies to women as well absolutely okay women you get a male name for your middle name alright with that said here's a brief condensed history of Russia early disperse Slavic tribes the ruse unifies them the key Evan routes Vladimir the great Mongols invade Ivan the Great and the terrible House of Romanov begins Peter the Great Catherine the Great Crimean War serfdom abolished Alaska sold to the u.s. russo-japanese war World War one rise of the Soviet Union with Lenin's Bolsheviks royal Romanov family is deposed as depicted by that incredibly accurate cartoon communism Lenin dies his body is weirdly involved in putting display but okay Stalin dictator years World War two Germany breaks agreement and tries to invade Russia big mistake cold war begins nuclear arms race and space race with the USA Cuban Missile Crisis Summer Olympics in Moscow Gorbachev reforms and wins a Nobel Peace Prize Boris Yeltsin wins first popular presidential election fall of Soviet Union and Chechnya unsuccessfully tries to break away Putin voted in for the first time serves two terms then after a brief hiatus voted in a third time business and digital era boost Russia's economy Georgia Russia war Russian troops take over Crimea controversial referendum and here we are today there's a lot more we could have expounded on but there isn't enough time so if you'd like to add anything please write in the comments in any case we've already mentioned some famous Russians in this episode but here's a list of some more notable Russians historic and modern some of the most famous authors include people like these but the most famous ones might be Alexander Solzhenitsyn Vladimir Nabokov Nikolai Gogol a lot of famous actors and directors but some of the top ones being people like lotta human OVA anatoly papanov vladimir vysotsky and ramiro enough anton yelchin alla pugacheva valley suit conveys ribbon Chekhov statesman and war heroes like Alexander Nevsky Georgy Zhukov Mikhail Kutuzov valentina Tereshkova Vassili Zaitsev alexander pokryshkin tons of athletes like these laugh Yasha on the coreboot Irina Ruth Nina and there's a lot more please add them in the comments if we missed any yeah those are just my favorites as you can see Russia is not just a country but almost like its own world in itself and speaking of the world that brings us to now with Russia diplomacy has played a very unique role throughout the past few centuries even before Cold War times as a transcontinental nation they've always had kind of their hands in both European and Asian affairs but it doesn't really stop there for Africa seven countries had governments that were actually influenced by Marxist ideologies brought in partially by Russians during Cold War times these countries developed the closest ties diplomatically with Russia it also explains why the flags of Angola and Mozambique have images inspired off the former Soviet hammer and sickle emblem in Asia things go all the way back to the era of expansion when Russia was conquering lands east of the Urals today four countries in Asia are categorically classified as either constitutionally communist or led by a communist party primarily influenced by what was back then communist Russia they are China North Korea or the DPRK Vietnam and Lao Russia is one of the few countries that had ties to North Korea after the Korean War as they influence certain aspects of their jiu zhai ideology and even during the most isolated years russian still had relatively easier access to north korean travel and business during war times russia also played a pretty strong role in the influence of various sides in Lao Cambodia and Vietnam today Vietnam is one of the favourite hot spots for Russian tourists in Southeast Asia with China relations are generally amicable although in the 50s there was the massive sino-soviet split in which China was like look Russia it's cool you introduced the concepts but we're gonna run communism our own Chinese way and we don't need you to chime in anymore nonetheless today China is one of their closest allies and biggest trading partners which is interesting because with India relations have been relatively good after the indo-pak war in which Russia has sided with India against Pakistan who is an ally with China and today Goa is a huge hot spot for Russian tourists as well either way all three are members of the BRICS countries which also include Brazil and South Africa five emerging world regional powers that have agreements on things like mutual benefit and development Cuba and Venezuela are probably the best Latin American friends Cuba being the only country in the Americas that fully adopted communism and played an important role in the Cold War tensions with Venezuela it's a little complicated under the Chavez years Russia was closed with trade and military cooperation but after his death Russia vied to support the succeeding Maduro presidency which was seen as invalid by many across the world and from there things got even more complicated amidst the protests and Russia vowed to support Maduro side even more if military action was quire the USA is like the forbidden friends shaking hands together with both fingers crossed behind their backs politically everything has to be incredibly strategic and not all the rules apply when they play after the Cold War ended in 1991 relations warmed significantly but then the u.s. involvement in Central and Eastern Europe made Russia distrustful again especially with in 1999 NATO interventions in the Balkans from there it's a back and forth ping-pong game all set up missiles in Poland I'll build a base in Venezuela I'll flirt with Ukraine I'll give asylum to Snowden and so on as people though the Russians and Americans actually get along pretty well the USA has the fourth largest population of Russians in diaspora and many famous Americans have Russian ancestry when Americans meet a Russian they might curiously ask questions about what being Russian is like but at the end of the day they enjoy the same drunken shenanigans Ukraine is kind of like the best frenemies with Russia they have the largest population of Russians outside of Russia at over 8 million and it is incredibly complicated putting all the controversial areas aside like Crimea and Donetsk Ukrainians and Russians may not always get along on paper but they have an incredibly long history and they understand each other very well it's even more interesting when a Ukrainian and Russian marry each other when it comes to their best friends however most of you guys the Russian geography was mentioned three countries Belarus Kazakhstan and Serbia Serbia in essence is kind of seen as like Russia jr. with a little Balkan spice both were once communist powers in their own right both follow the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity both right in the Cyrillic alphabet with few differences both are opposed to the whole Kosovo thing and Russians are welcomed with open arms in Serbia Serbians even sometimes say they are one of the 300 million referencing the entire Russian global population domestically and abroad Kazakhstan and Belarus have always had close ties and the Russian language is even co-official in their countries and both were former USSR states Kazakhstan has a second largest population of Russians abroad at over 3.6 million and they are kind of seen as like the breadbasket country to Russia as their environment is more suitable for agriculture many food supplies come to Russia from Kazakhstan Belarus is like Russia's girlfriend who takes many cues from her boyfriends lifestyle the heads of state even play hockey together the majority of Belarusians actually speak Russian instead of their native tongue Belarusian this in return however has kind of prompted a sort of re Belarus if occasionally period for the country and they are now trying to reclaim their roots instead of just imitating Russia nonetheless Belarus will always be one of Russia's biggest cheerleaders in conclusion Mike I think you should take this Russia is an old and contradictory country it's beautiful but scarred eloquent and clumsy cunning and simple its people are proud but damaged resilient and defensive Russians are unique but numerous and if you should be so lucky to meet one you'd be hard-pressed to forget them stay tuned Rwanda is coming up next hey guys art here with me just remember a we got jug if you know t-shirts and merch going on we even have these new Jim sacks that I just launched on these are awesome feel free to support us on patreon at patreon.com slash geography now or just subscribe to this channel tell your friends about it that's how you can support as well I work out because I'm insecure that's

Channel: Geography Now

Views: 3,406,274

Rating: 4.8767967 out of 5

Keywords: Geography, facts, info, cool, education, learning, countries, history, class, lesson, funny, travel, Russia, Moscow, Europe

Id: K8zAbdYx9SU

Length: 32min 54sec (1974 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 15 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/marahovsky]

Saw this video yesterday. The guys made a great work.

[u/omenosu]

Ooh, i'm russian and try to learn eanglish, that man speak so fast! It was so difficult to understand them.

It was good video, i think then some politicized and superficially but anyway good.

Thx you for place this video here!

[u/Mixa_N00b_]

I was soooo happy when he said that we (Serbia 🇷🇸) were one of Russias best friends. I can tell you, when he does the Serbian episode, Russia is going to be our BEST friend

[u/red_hooves]

That's a nice video (even if it has some facts wrong), though I wouldn't recommend it for learning Russian. The "I know Russian" guy on the right made some obvious mistakes, and the stresses are definitely his weak point.

If you want to learn Russian properly - study the natives who live there, not the ones who used to live there.

[u/negazets]

This guy uploads video of his current trip to Russia from west to east, so you may get some ideas and inspirations from there: https://www.youtube.com/user/tourist2townie/videos

[u/Bisphosphorus]

Thanks for sharing this!

[u/dragos1234577]

Love Russian

[u/[deleted]]

Also he’s hot

[u/gusser86]

Always welcome comrade!