5 wierd things you didnt know about russia

1. In Russia, there are 9 million more
women than men. “Let’s go watch bears together.” According to a United Nations report, there are 86.8
men for every 100 women in Russia (across the
world, there are 101.8 men for every 100 women).
But there’s an interesting side note to this stat:
Russian newborn boys outnumber newborn girls
and men continue to outnumber women until the age of 31. But from age 32 on, women outnumber
men. The leading explanation for this: early
mortality among men. According to Russian Health
Minister Veronika Skvortsova, the biggest cause of
early mortality among Russian men is primarily
related to alcohol consumption. 2. There used to be a beard tax in Russia,
paid by anyone who had a beard. This beard alone may have cost hundreds of
dollars. The beard tax was created by Tsar Peter the Great,
in an attempt to modernize the country’s society.
According to the beard tax, all men (except
peasants and clergymen) had to pay 100 roubles
for a copper or silver “beard token” that had a
moustache and a beard engraved on to it – and then carry the token with them as proof of paying the
tax. Also engraved on the token: the words ‘the
beard is a useless burden.’ No surprise that many
hipsters in Russia did not think that Peter the Great
was great.
3. There are dozens of “closed cities” in
Russia that are closed to the outside world. If you see a “Do Not Enter” sign in Russia,
it’s best if you obeyed. Closed cities, in large part, existed to serve the
interests of the army or major research institutions
in the late 1940s. These cities were not included on
Soviet maps and were only designated by post
code. They were kept secret for long periods of
time. Today, many of them are no longer a secret, but they are likely surrounded by barbed wire and
protected by armed guards. Foreigners are strictly
prohibited from entering them.

4. In Russia, it is a finable offense to drive a
dirty car. This may not go over that well over there. Caveat to this one: there is some debate as to
whether or not you will actually get a ticket for
having a dirty car. There was a Lonely Planet forum
that dug deep in to this and many indicated that a
fine would be levied only if the the registration of
the vehicle was so dirty that it was illegible. But others made the strong point: you don’t want
Russian police pulling you over for anything – so
keep your car clean.
5. Speaking of Alaska, Russia sold it to the
U.S in 1867 And you won’t believe the deal they got on it,
either. The United States paid $7.2 million for the
country, which is still more than you can spend on a
plot of land. But get this, that’s less than 2 cents an
acre for all 600,000 square miles of the cold- snow-
covered state. Makes you wonder what’s so bad about it, considering Alaska probably still has better
weather than Russia.
6.In russia you might be paid your salary with vodka.it was recorded that in sept 23 1998 Teachers in part of western Siberia are being paid in
bottles of vodka, because the authorities have no
money to meet their wages bill. The teachers in the most populous Maima district of
the Altai republic are getting 15 bottles each. They
have not been paid their proper salaries since
February or March. An Itar-Tass news agency correspondent in the region
says the teachers reckon it is better to get the vodka –
which can be sold in local markets – than nothing at
all