22 August: Flag Day, Russia

Today is Flag Day in Russia. Here are 10 things you might not know about Russia:

1. Russia is the largest country in the world. It covers more than an eighth of the world's inhabited land area and spans nine time zones. Its total area is 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi). This makes Russia larger than Pluto which has an area of 16.6 square kilometres.
2. It's hardly surprising, then, that Russia is home to the world's longest railway. It stretches 9200km or 5700 miles between the capital, Moscow and Vladivostock on the Pacific coast. It crosses eight time zones, visits 87 towns and cities and crosses 16 rivers. The entire journey takes 152 hours and 27 minutes.
3. One of the rivers it crosses is the Volga, the longest river in Russia and indeed in Europe, at 3,692 km (2,294 mi) long. The name of the river translates literally as "wetness". Europe's highest mountain is in Russia, too - it's Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 m (18,510 ft); also there is Eurasia's highest active volcano, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, (4,750 m/15,584 ft) and the world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal. There is also a mountain in Russia which is made almost entirely of Iron.
4. Moscow has more billionaires than any other city in the world. At time of writing there are 74 of them, beating New York by just three.
5. Russians are very superstitious. Russian superstitions include never giving flowers as a gift, especially an even number because that is associated with funerals; never shaking hands in a doorway as that will lead to arguments; rubbing a Dog's paw with your left hand brings Money; and that the first to enter a brand new house would die - they get around that one by sending a Cat in first as it has nine lives and can afford to lose one! If the cat refused to go in, that was such a bad omen that they would have to tear down the house and re-build it somewhere else.
6. There is a village in Russia, Suzdal, which despite having an area of 15 square kilometers, has 53 churches.
7. A famous symbol of Russia are the wooden nesting dolls - the correct name for them is matryoshka doll. The world literally means "little matron". The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin, designed by Sergey Malyutin" a folk crafts painter. His design won an award at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 and their popularity skyrocketed from there.
8. The current flag of Russia is three horizontal fields of white, blue and red. Initially an ensign for Russian merchant ships, it was adopted as the official flag of the Tsardom of Russia in 1696. After the revolution in 1917, the Soviet flag took its place, until 1991 when it was re-adopted as the flag of the Russian Federation.
9. Russia is suspected to have at least 15 secret cities. These “closed cities” are officially classified by the Russian government with their names and location currently unknown. They appear on no maps, no road signs will direct you to them, and visits from foreigners are strictly prohibited.
10. The Russian word for dog is "saboka". The name of the Star Wars character Chewbacca derives from this word.