Russia in the past decades was shut off from the rest of the world with no information available about it. By the time the Soviet Union fell, the country was once again open to the rest of the world. Even after the barriers have been taken off and Russia is not secluded anymore, there is still a cloud of mystery that surrounds Russia. Here is a list of things that would definitely surprise you about the mysterious land of Russia.

Russia’s First McDonald’s

January 31, 1990, would definitely go down as one of the most important days in Russian history. The first Mcdonald’s was opened this day, warming Russian hearts everywhere. It is located in Moscow, right in Pushkin Square. Since this was undoubtedly a completely new thing for the then called Soviet Union, you can imagine the amount of crowd it attracted. Thousands of people came to feast on the newly opened fast food joint.

Bear Addicts

If you look around the  Kronotsky Nature Reserve in South Kamchatka you will notice that the bears here have a little problem. These brown bears have actually gotten addicted to kerosene and gas barrels made for aviation fuel and also in generators and helicopters. People have seen bears lurking around these helicopters just to get a whiff of kerosene that they drop on the forest floor as they take off.

The Cats At The Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage is certainly a special museum compared to the other ones in Russia and the world. The St. Petersburg museum actually has over 70 cats living in it. They serve as protectors of all the artifacts from rodents that come inside the museum. This is actually a longstanding tradition that dates back to the 1700s during the time of Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter, The Great, the founder of St. Petersburg.

Saint Basil’s Cathedral

In Europe, you get to see the most beautiful cathedrals that cannot be compared to any other in the world. Even from a picture, you can see just how incredible Saint Basil’s Cathedral is. Postnik Yakovlev had built this fascinating architecture in 1561. There were rumors of Ivan, The Terrible, blinding Postnik after he was done. His reason was he did not want anyone else to replicate this structure’s beauty.

Fighting Low Population

To tackle Russia’s low populations, back in 2003, the government issued a holiday that aimed to conceive new babies so that their population grows. This holiday is rightfully called Day of Conception and happens annually on September 12th. This holiday has ended up raising the birthing rates of the month of June. Women who give birth in June would even receive cars, money and household appliances.

World’s Longest Railway

You should not be too shocked to learn that the largest railroad in the world happens to be located in the largest country in the world. This is the Trans-Siberian railway. It travels through the entire country and goes from the European side of Russia to the Asian Pacific coast of the country. The full ride amounts to approximately 152 hours and 27 minutes.

Women Rule Russia

While Russian men are considered macho and manly, it is the women who actually run things. You would be surprised to learn that approximately 11 million more women are there in Russia as compared to men. The life expectancy is 75 years for women as well while for men it is considerably lower. It is known that Russian females enjoy more freedom than others around the world.

Subbotnik: The Day When Everyone Cleans

Just think of how clean and wonderful the world would be if every member of a community agrees to join in on a massive cleaning activity. This idea is actually being executed in Russia. Subbotnik is a day in Russia when residents of a location join forces to clean up the city. This was something that originated during the Russian Revolution and is still continued till date.