Russia

Eating and drinking together has high priority in Russia. Tradition, and the climate, have influenced the particularly fatty and rather sweet food, that is even today, still known as being typical Russian. Food that is poor in calories and rich in vitamins is not popular.

The Russian food is very different depending on what region you are in, many typical Russian dishes stem from a neighbouring country. For example many dishes containing pork originate from the Ukraine. Fruit and vegetables were imported from the Caucasian Republic, and many recipes have been adopted from there as well. The central asian and Caucasian Republic have added more flavour to the Russian cuisine by providing exotic spices and oriental lamb dishes. Most of the chicken dishes originate from the Georgian kitchen, and the Baltic Republic can be thanked for dishes containing game and fish, as well as heavy meals with bacon and ham, and delicious desserts. The Russian cuisine can be noted as being a Potpourri from the Russian Imperial times.

In typical Russian food you will find Borschtsch (soup made of red Beet), Beef Stroganoff (a caserole with fillet of beef), Blini (panecakes with salmon or caviar), Ikra (caviar) and Blintschi (sweet pancakes).

The most famous Russian drink is of course, Vodka. This is part of any celebration; be it for lunch, or in the evening for dinner. Of course the Russians also drink a lot of water with their Vodka. Tea and coffee are also part of every meal.

Russia – the land of the thinkers, the poets and the composers. At the moment in Russia different worlds are colliding, a change is taking place. Old traditions are being confronted by those from the Soviet Union as well as those from the modern world.

Composers such as Dmitri Schostakowitsch, Sergej Prokofjew, Sergej Rachmaninow and Igor Strawinski strongly influenced classical music in the 19th century. The premier of Tschaikowskys 'Swan Lake' took place in 1877 in the Moscow Bolschoi Theater. Other well known Balletts and Operas have also been priviledged enough to have had their first performance in this theater.

You will find the biggest collection of Russian art in the Tretjakow-Galerie in Moskau. Painters such as Wassily Kandinsky, Kasimir Malewitsch and Marc Chagalls have become famous throughout the world.

Russia has also produced some excellent writers and producers. One of the very first world classics was the film 'The Battleship Potemkin' from Sergej Eisenstein, that was filmed in 1925.

Russia is a country with a massive surface area. It stretches in the west from St. Petersburg over the Ural to Siberia and in the far east to the Bering strait. The total area encompasses over 17 million square kilometers and is almost 50 times bigger than Germany. Naturally with such a big land mass, the geography and climate of the land varies accordingly. The geographic 'pole of cold' is in Siberia (Ojmjakon), however in the south of Russia you can compare the temperature with that of Nizza. In Altai and in the north Caucasia you will find the highest mountains in the country - 5000 meters above sea level. The Lake of Baikal in Siberia is home to the biggest sweet water reservoir on this earth.

The country is currently going through a political and economic revolution. For more up to date information regarding the latest political situation please contact the Departement of foreign affairs: www.eda.admin.ch.

Russia offers various leisure time activities for visitors. Many of the Russians that live in the city, have a house in the country and spend their weekends there. Take a look at the history of Russia, visit the museums, an exhibition, or play a round of golf, go horse riding ...

The vikings came from the north and interbred with the Slavic folk. However in the south and on the Wolga many immigrants came from Asia.

At the turn of the 18th century, the Zar, Peter the Great, opened the country with its middle aged structure to the influence of the west of Europe and encouraged research and culture.

Demonstrations, restlessness and violence prevailed in the country. Russia fell more and more into the background, and Europe gained more power. The era of industrialisation swept over Moskau and St. Petersburg, but did not reach the provinces in the country, as a result the rest of Russia sunk in poverty.

Lenin was the founder of the first working and farmer class. He is recognised, along with Marx and Engels as the creater of Socialism.

The successor of Lenin was Josef Stalin. The industrialisation and the infrastructure, particularly in the asian part of the country, was encouraged and further developed, and farming was carried out collectively.

When the Germans attacked the Soviet Union during the Second World War, the Red Army lost millions of soldiers and when Leningrad was sieged, over one million civilians died of hunger. However, in Moskau, Stalingrad and Kursk, the Red Army defeated the German troups and finally took Berlin in May 1945. In total between 1941 and 1944 approx. 6-8 million people lost their lives in the Soviet Union, most of them were civilians. The Red Army also took over some Japanese areas in the far east.

Perestroika was introduced by the President of the Soviet Union, Michail Gorbatschow and lead to political and economic reforms in the Soviet Union and in Glasnost. The president also lead reforms to ensure more transparency in the political world and honesty towards the people of Russia. This was a turning point in the history of Russia, and since then the individual republics have been striving towards independence.

Shortly before the official ceremony to sign the Union Contract the conservative communists rose up against Gorbatschow to prevent this happening. As a consequence, the Russian President made a decision to disband the Soviet Union.

Under the leadership of Boris Jelzin sections of the Russian economy were privatised and democratic reforms were carried out. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful and lead to the callapse of the economy, high inflation and an unstable political system. According to the opinion of many Russians, the political and economic situation has improved since the election of Wladimir Putin in 2000. The high price of resources, tax reforms and capital flowing back into the economy has enabled this development.

The President Wladimir Putin has been successful in attaining more political and economical stability, this has been at the cost of freedom for the media and the people. He built his power by:
- He restricted the power of the Government in each region.
- He has restricted the freedom of the media.

Dmitri Medwedew was elected on 2. March 2008 as the successor of Wladimir Putin.