RUSSIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

You can’t go anywhere without hearing about Russia in the news these days. And, well, they’ve pretty much been in our news and forethoughts quite a bit over the last 100-150 years, give or take. It’s like we have a frenemy relationship with them. If our countries had Facebook pages, our relationship status would be “It’s complicated.” However, I’ve been a huge fan of Russian literature and Russian classical music for a long time and have played around with learning Russian on Duolingo but have forgotten almost all of the Cyrillic I taught myself.

 

Russia is named after the medieval Slavic state, Rus. There were actually other states denoting the same name. The Kievan Rus, which was one of the largest of these, were made of these medieval Rus tribes along with Swedish warriors and merchants who relocated to the area. Most other languages base their word for Russia on the root “Rus” although there are a few outliers (Finnish, Estonian – you have some explaining to do). 

As the largest country by area, Russian is one of the few countries that span two continents (Europe and Asia) and 11 time zones. Its European neighbors include Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It also includes the exclave Kaliningrad situated between Lithuania and Poland. Its neighbors in Asia include Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, North Korea, and a maritime border with Japan and the US. Russia also touches a number of bodies of water: Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, Bearing Sea, East Siberian Sea, Kara Sea, and Barents Sea. Lake Baikal in Siberia is the deepest lake in the world. Although most of the country is known for its harsh winters, parts of its southern reaches can stay quite mild during the winters (which is why I thought Sochi was a weird decision for a Winter Olympics).

Although the Greeks and Romans visited the area since the 8^th century BC, the Rus and other Slavic tribes started moving into this area around the 7^th century. By the 10^th century, the Kievian Rus were one of the most flourishing tribal states throughout Europe. It was around this time when they adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantines. Unfortunately, they fell to the Mongols who were moving onto their turf. The Grand Duchy of Moscow emerged in its place but were still dealing with attacks from the Mongols and Tatars. In 1547, Ivan the Terrible was crowned as the first Tsar (“Caesar”). He was the one responsible for really expanding Russia’s territory. The Romanov Dynasty began in 1613. This was a time of continued uprisings and conflicts; the Cossacks, a semi-military self-governing group, rose to prominence and later aligned themselves with the Tsardom, helping the Russians explore Siberia. By the time Peter the Great (namesake of St. Petersburg) was in power, Russia was seen as a world power. Catherine the Great and Alexander I both greatly expanded Russia’s territories, and in 1820, Russian explorers first landed in Antarctica. Nicholas II, the last tsar, was made famous because his entire family was murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918 (the basis of the 1997 movie Anastasia). Russia entered WWI on the side of Serbia. Afterwards, it became a communist state at the influence of Vladimir Lenin. When Josef Stalin took over, he basically killed everyone who didn’t think like him and enacted an extreme form of state atheism. Although Russia tried to befriend Germany during the early part of WWII, Germany still invaded Russia and then it was on. Nikita Khrushchev tried to undo what Stalin put into place and encouraged the Russian Space Program, finally launching the Sputnik I in 1957. Mikhail Gorbachev tried to build on that, but high inflation left the economy in a rough place. In 1991, Russia broke up with itself, and 15 separate states were created. Boris Yeltsin was the first president voted in. The 1990s generally saw a period of corruption, economic instability, and lawlessness. Violent crime and criminal gangs were on the rise. Vladimir Putin became president in 2000 (although he switched positions with Dmitri Medvedev and became the PM in 2008, but then switched back in 2012). In 2014, Putin invaded Crimea and annexed it for Russia. 

Moscow is the largest city and capital of Russia. Located on the European side of the country, it has over 17 million people in its urban area. It has Ostankino Tower (the tallest skyscraper in Europe), and it’s also famous for sites such as the Kremlin (where the seat of government meets), the Red Square, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, and Gorky Park. Today, Moscow is a modern city with many museum, theatres, galleries, sports venues, world-class restaurants and entertainment, a center for commerce, and universities.

Russia has an upper-middle income mixed economy. They’re one of the most expensive countries to visit. And while things have become more stable over the past 15 years or so as far as unemployment rates and the average nominal salary, the middle class is slowly diminishing, feeling the effects of income inequality. Agriculturally, they are a huge producer of grains, meat, fish, and forest products. Science, technology, and space programs are also very much economic drivers in Russia.

Orthodox Christianity has been around Russia since about the 10^th century. However, many people in Slavic countries have double beliefs in Orthodox Christianity and one of the indigenous beliefs. During the communist years, a Marxist-Leninist form of forced atheism dominated. There is still a significant number of atheists in Russia (including those who adhere to a spiritualism but not necessarily religious). There are also smaller number of other Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and other religions in Russia.

There are actually about 100 languages spoken in Russia, with Russian being the most widely-spoken and the official language. Tatar and Ukrainian come in second and third. Russian is the second-most used language on the Internet (hi, hackers!), after English. It also serves as an official language on the International Space Station. There are also 35 other languages that are official languages in various regions of the country.

Siberia has always been a fascination for me. It’s so desolate. It’s always been the epitome of harshness. “I will dump you off in Siberia and leave you there.” “It feels like Siberia in this office.” (That second one could go both ways.) And there are some weird things out there. First of all, the people are so super healthy, they go swimming in bikinis and stuff down ice-fishing holes. I guess somehow they’re immune to hypothermia. But, cool. Pretty much the whole area is nothing but permafrost. And with global warming thawing a lot of it out, it’s releasing a lot of previously trapped methane. And that’s no bueno. Oh, and then there’s the Dalkdykan River that runs red. Probably from the blood of their enemies. Or iron deposits or something. Not to mention that some of the oldest human remains have been found in Siberia, even though the remains were unlike any they’ve ever found.  [Cue X-Files theme.]

Up next: art and literature

CHINA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

China is one of the most ancient places on earth, full of firsts and number ones. It’s the largest country by land situated entirely in Asia. It has the largest population in the entire world – at over 1.35 billion! It ties Russia with the most bordering countries at 14 (which are Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan). It was a key inventor of paper and printing, gunpowder, and the compass. They also developed bells, pottery and cookware, forks, chopsticks, daggers, lacquer, noodles, silk cultivation and processing, coffins, rice and soybean cultivation, acupuncture, the zodiac, hand grenades, banknotes, blast furnaces, Mahjong toothbrushes, cast iron, chemical warfare, crossbow, dominoes (my husband would be happy), exploding cannonballs, fishing reels, flamethrowers, tofu, domestication of goldfish, helicopter rotors, harnesses for horses, incense, inoculation of small pox, the junk (type of boat), kites, landmines, matches, natural gas as fuel, negative numbers in math (bet the banks loved that), oil wells, pig iron, playing cards, puppet theatres, fireworks, menus in restaurants, rockets, tangrams, tea cultivation,  chain drives, and toilet paper. (I don’t know if ALL of that was true or not whether they “invented” it, but perhaps it’s more accurate to say that these things were developed by the Chinese.) So, we have a lot to thank the ancient Chinese. It’s this ingenuity that has developed our world as it is today.

Chinese history is divided into dynasties, which is when a series of rulers come from the same family. For the most part, these dynasties start about 2850 BC and last until 1912, with some notable exceptions where different groups were warring, etc. In 1912, Sun Yat Sen (part of the Kuomintang) was named the head of the country and took control from that moment on, establishing the Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek forcibly took control of the established government in the late 1920s, and the Kuomintang under him moved the capital to Nanjing. In 1949, Mao Zedong pushed the country into the realms of communism, a philosophy that it still holds today. Mao Zedong was responsible for leading the Cultural Revolution, which was the push to get rid of capitalism; people were displaced and tortured, relics were destroyed, and cultural/religious sites were desecrated.  While China has opened itself up in certain ways with the rest of the world, censorship and oppression are still quite a common occurrence to ordinary Chinese.

The island of Taiwan (formerly “Formosa”) wants to be fully independent, but China has threatened to use military force if they make any actual formal declaration of independence. China considers them another province. Taiwan actually has one of the better economies in Asia and differs from China in the fact that it ranks highly in freedom of the press, health care, education, and human development.

Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas of the world. There are 7 million people living in 426 square miles. That’s like almost like forcing all of the residents of the Philadelphia, PA metro area to move into existing San Antonio, TX – no expansions, no San Antonio residents can leave, everyone just squeezes in and pretends they all enjoy it. Britain once had control of the island, and then signed a 99-year lease on it (with the exception of it being occupied by Japan during WWII), giving it back to the Chinese in 1997 when the lease was up. Hong Kong boasts one of the highest average IQ rates in the world, one of the longest life expectancies, one of the most traded currencies, highest per capital incomes, and ranks high in human development and quality of life. And yes, they do have a giant floating rubber duck in its harbor. 

Macau, along with Hong Kong, is also considered one of China’s special administrative areas. It also has a very high life expectancy and human development. The Portuguese actually had control of this area, so this is why you’ll find many Portuguese-speakers in Macau. The Portuguese handed this area over back to the Chinese in 1999. There's been a number of casinos going up in the past several years in Macau.

Tibet is a one of the western provinces in China that most people are at least familiar with by name because it’s made the news many times for wanting its independence as well. Tibetan Buddhism dominates the culture and lifestyle of Tibetans, and the have their own language that is very different from other Chinese provinces. Tibet was actually an autonomous region until the 1950s when they were forced to assimilate to “mainland” Chinese ways of life. There are several “free Tibet” groups out there in support of the autonomy and independence of Tibet.

Because China is such a large country, the landscape and climate varies greatly. The Gobi Desert covers part of China and Mongolia in the north and it can be quite cold in the northern regions near the Russian border. The southern areas of China are generally more subtropical and subject to seasonal monsoons. And this also causes China to have a fairly diverse flora and fauna. China is also famous for its bamboo forests and its pandas.

Over 70% of the people speak Mandarin Chinese, and the remaining 30% speak varieties of Chinese like Wu (Shanghaiese), Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Not all of these varieties are mutually intelligible with each other, but Mandarin is used as a lingua franca. China also has 56 ethnic groups living within its borders, with Han being the largest. In fact, Han Chinese is the largest single ethnic group in the world.

Taoism is probably the most widely adhered to religion in China, although a large number of Chinese people consider themselves non-religious. Buddhism does follow as a close second, but there are a number of other religions practiced in China, such as Christianity, Islam, Shamanism, and folk religions. Technically speaking, freedom of religion is on the books, but it remains subject to disagreement on the validity of this.

It almost seems that the US and China have a love-hate relationship. We do know a lot about China and its culture without having to do a lot of research. And a lot of this has entered our mainstream cultural as well. We have several Chinatowns across the country, as well as in other countries. Chopsticks, Chinese character tattoos, the Chinese film industry, the Great Wall, dragons, various martial arts (namely kung fu and ta’i chi), the zodiac, ping-pong tournaments, and Chinese food are something we’re all familiar with. But I’m hoping to find something new about this, something I didn’t know before. And I’m hoping that others will see China in a different light as well.

Up next: holidays and celebrations