The Moscow Manege is a large oblong building which gives its name to the vast Manege Square, which was cleared in the 1930s and lies adjacent to the more famous Red Square. A manège is an indoor riding academy. read more…
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, born on 26 May 1799, was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. read more…
Lake Baikal is a rift lake in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between the Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast. Lake Baikal is the largest (by volume) freshwater lake in the world, containing roughly 20% of the world’s unfrozen surface fresh water, and at 1,642 m (5,387 ft), the deepest. It is also among the clearest of all lakes, and thought to be the world’s oldest lake at 25 million years. It is the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area. With 23,615.39 cubic kilometres (5,700 cubic miles) of fresh water, it contains more water than that of all the Great Lakes combined. read more…
Novosibirsk is Russia’s third-largest city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,700 (2010 Census preliminary results). It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District. Rapid growth and industrialization were the reasons behind Novosibirsk’s nickname: the “Chicago of Siberia”. The city is located in the southwestern portion of the federal district and occupies an area of 477.2 square kilometres (184.2 sq mi). The city stands on the banks of the Ob River in the West Siberian Plain. To the south of the city lies the Ukok Plateau, which forms part of the Golden Mountains of Altai UNESCO World Heritage Site. read more…
Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative center of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies to the southeast of the European part of Russia, on the Don River, 32 kilometers (20 mi) from the Sea of Azov. The southwestern suburbs of the city abut the Don River delta. Th population is at 1.1 million. read more…
Arkhangelsk, sometimes Archangel, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, in the north of Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea. The city spreads for over 40 kilometers (25 mi) along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its delta. Arkhangelsk was the chief seaport of medieval Russia until 1703. A 1,133-kilometer (704 mi) long railway goes from Arkhangelsk to Moscow via Vologda and Yaroslavl. The city is also served by the Talagi Airport and a smaller Vaskovo Airport. The population is at 349,000. read more…
Kyzyl is the capital city of the Tuva Republic in southern Siberia. The name of the city means “red” in Tuvan (as well as in many other Turkic languages) with a population of 110,000. The population of Tuva is at 308,000. Forests, mountains, and steppe make up a large part of the geography. Tos-Bulak is the area of open fields and mineral springs which lies immediately south of Kyzyl. It is the location of the Naadam festival (15 August), the Tuvan Republic Day, where various competitions such as horseriding and khuresh (wrestling) are held. read more…
The king crab is native to the Bering Sea, north Pacific Ocean, around the Kamchatka Peninsula and neighbouring Alaskan waters. It was introduced artificially by Soviet Union‘s Joseph Stalin into the Murmansk Fjord, Barents Sea, during the 1960s to provide new, valuable catch for Soviet fishermen. The average temperature of the water for general survival of the crab is between 39°F (4°C) and 50°F (10°C). The crabs prefer to be in the lower temperatures but can continue a stable life cycle in the warmer temperatures. The depth at which it can live has a lot to do with what stage of their life cycle they are in; newly born crabs stay in the more shallow waters where there is plenty of food and protection for them to survive. read more…
