Facing the dwindling of the population, in 2005 the governor of Ulyanovsk declared September 12th as "Day of Conception." Couples are granted a half day off work on that day, and if they get a baby 9 months later, they will receive a prize - car, cash or home appliances. And well, believe it or not, the birth rate in June tripled itself since then.

Being so close to Alaska, Russia got the idea to build underground tunnels that connect the two and save billions in shipping costs. The project, called TKM-World Link, will cost $65 billion and once finished, will have a big place in the history of engineering.

The legend has it that after architect Postnik Yakovlev finished the Saint Basil's Cathedral, Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible blinded him so he could never build anything as beautiful again. This church is located in the Red Square in Moscow and now serve as a museum. It is shaped as a flame of a bonfire rising into the sky, and it is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

In 1980s, during the cold war, the Swedish Navy was troubled with unusual underwater sounds, instantly connecting them with Russian submarines. The conflict escalated between the two countries until it was discovered that the sounds were actually coming from fish.

In a race between Russia and the U.S. there were many casualties, especially during the decades of the cold war. Both countries wanted to be better than the other, and to be the first to put a man in Space. In 1959 Russia had a success with Sputnik, and in 1961 with the first manned flight with Yuri Gagarin. However, that success came with the loss of Cosmonauts that died during flight tests and accidents during launches. They are known as the Lost Cosmonauts, and all of their records were erased.

Siberia is a big part of Russia, and home to many animals, including Siberian roe deer and Siberian tiger, the biggest cat in the world. The Russian bear is the symbol of Russia since the 16th century and represents Russia's might and power.

Chess, a game that requires careful thought and strategy, has been popular in Russia for centuries. In 1584, Tsar Ivan IV have died while playing the game. In 1934, more than 500,000 Russians registered to the state chess program. Today, half of the top 20 chess players in the world are from Russia.

Representing Russia at competitions like Miss World and Miss Universe is considered a big deal among Russian girls. Some of the beautiful contestants that Russia introduced to the world were, safe to say, women of many trades: a power engineer, a police officer, a global economics student, a cybernetic systems student, ballroom dancers, and more.

In 1985, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to introduce a massive anti-alcohol campaign to Russia. That campaign had a few good results but it was cancelled when the USSR fell apart. Russian's favourite drink is vodka but lots of Russians drink "samogon," a homemade liquor with alcohol levels higher than vodka, and often high on toxic ingredients as well.

Russia has the leading number of reported murdered every year. In 2012, for example, Russia had a murder rate of 9.2 per 100,000 population.

The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is one of the greatest museums in the world. It contains artwork of some of the most famous artists in history such as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, El Greco, Rembrandt, Matisse and many others. The museum employs skilled people to take care of the artwork, but a few employees take care of a surprising "exhibit" - the Hermitage Cats. The cat's purpose is to roam through the museum galleries and keep the place mouse free. The museum has a press secretary dedicated to the cats, and three people that work as cats’ caretakers. Nowadays the cats live in the basement, and during the summer they can be seen at the near square.

There is a restaurant in Moscow called Twin Stars and all of the staff are pairs of twins. The twins have to wear identical close while at work. The owner of the restaurant, Alexei Khodorkovsky, got the idea for the weird concept from the 1964 surreal Soviet film Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors.

Russia's subway system is very important to people, but also for the suburban dogs. According to Dr. Andrey Poyarkov, a Russian biologist, around 500 homeless dogs either live or use subway stations in Russia. They use the subway to come to the city in order to find food, and in the evening, they use it to go back to suburbs.

In 1917, on the night of October 25th, Russia's provisional government was arrested by the Bolsheviks. At that moment, 2:10 am, Russia became a communist country. Honoring this part of history, there is a special clock in the White Dining Room in the Hermitage Palace that has been stopped at 2:10 am and hasn't start working again for over 100 years.

Quite a few women have managed to take important roles in Russia's politics, regardless the fact that Russia is considered to be a conservative country. One of these women is Ukrainian born Natalia Poklonskaya. Poklonskaya, the former prosecutor of Ukraine is now Deputy of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Federal Assembly.

Russia's national drink is Vodka, one of the most famous alcoholic drinks in the world. Every year around 23,000 people die of alcohol poisoning, which is the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the world.

Red Square, "Krasnaya ploshchad" in Russian, is a city square located in Moscow and unlike what many people think, it has nothing to do with communism. The word "Krasnaya" means beautiful and describes the beauty of the square that was built to serve as Moscow's main marketplace. The Red Square is located between the Kremlin, the official residence of President of Russia, and the historic merchant quarter Kitai-gorod. The Kremlin and Red Square were both recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1990.

All around Russia there are secret cities that not many people know about. Those cities are not on maps and visiting them is strictly prohibited. Many of them are formerly used for chemical and military industry. These cities are called ZATO, meaning "closed administrative-territorial entities."

Hare Island, by the north bank of the Neva River is the home of Peter and Paul Fortress. During the 18th and 19th century the area was hit by a few big floods that drowned many of the original habitat of the island - hares. There is a legend that says that one hare managed to get to safety by hiding in the boot of Peter the Great, and the names of the island comes from that story. Nowadays, a memorial statue that honors the hare is found near the bridge that connects the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The first helicopter was invented by French inventor Etienne Oehmichen in 1924 but only travelled one kilometre. However, dating back to 1910, Russian inventor Igor Sikorsky tried to build his own helicopter. By 1940, Sikorsky's VS-300 had become the model for all other helicopters. The Russian inventor also designed the first military helicopter.

Russia is known for her athletes. Sport is really important, especially competitive one. Professional tennis players Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova became international superstars, ice hockey player Sergei Fedorov made quite an impact in his sport, and pole vaulter world record holder is Yelena Isinbayeva who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-times World Champion. Many gold medals are won in Russia's favorite gymnastics. Every Olympics, Russia is among the countries with the most medal winners.

Bodybuilding and powerlifting are popular sports, among both men and women in Russia. Some of the best women known for being bodybuilders are Nadezhda Alexandrovna Yevstyukhina, who won a gold medal when she was only 17 and Maryana Naumova, the youngest powerlifting world champion in history.

Russian tradition has a lot of superstitions, some of which are associated with gifts: if a gift includes flowers, it has to be an odd number of them. The even numbers are only used at funerals.

Russia has the largest reserves of natural gas in the world, and it is the biggest exporter of it. 259,913 kilometers is the length of pipelines Russia uses to export the gas. In fact, Russian pipelines can circle the planet around six times.

One of the weirdest things in Russian history must be the implementation of beard tax. In 1698, Emperor Peter I implemented this unusual tax in order to get Russian men to look more like the Western European men. Men had to pay a tax if they wanted to grow a beard and if they didn't pay, they were publicly shaved by the Russian police.

Lake Karachay is the most polluted place on the entire planet, and it is located in Russia. Being a country that is known for its petrochemical companies and nuclear facilities, Russia has a big problem with pollution. And the levels of pollution in this lake can literally kill a person within the hour.

Originally constructed in Prussia, the world-famous chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf was located in Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg. During the Second World War, it was dismantled and taken to Königsberg, Germany, to be rebuilt. A reconstruction was installed in Catherine Palace and stayed there between 1979 and 2003. The original room covered more than 55 square meters (590 sq. ft) and contained over 6 tons (13,000 lb.) of amber. The true location of that room remains a mystery until today.

Weirdly enough, many Russian bears are addicted to sniffing jet fuel. They have developed a strong addiction to the kerosene and gasoline in jet fuel, and that addiction can force them to stalk power generators and helicopters to find the fuel and sniff it for minutes. Then they will lie down and pass out from it.

Moscow and St. Petersburg are the two most popular touristic destinations in Russia. thousands of tourists come to these cities on daily basis. Russia charges tourists more than its residents: To visit the Hermitage Museum, for example, tourists would have to pay 400 Rubles, while the ticket price for Russians is 350; The Peterhof Palace will charge 550 Rubles for foreigners to visit, and only 400 for Russians.

There is no "the" or "a" in the Russian language, used as a native language by over 260 million people. That puts Russian as the largest native spoken language and the 8th most spoken language in the world.

Until 2011, Russia didn't consider beer to be an alcoholic drink because it has less than 10% alcohol.

Once a part of the armed forces' winter uniform, the Ushanka is a fashionable "ear flap hat" that is usually identified with Soviet Russia. The fur cap is made for Russian cold winter and freezing winds, but to seem tough, the ear flaps can be tied behind the head.

Believe it or not, Moscow has a Cat Theatre with over 200 cats employed as the theatre actors. Couple of years ago the Cat Theatre celebrated its 25th anniversary. It takes two and a half years to work on each production.

Russians are known to love their alcohol. An empty glass usually means that the person is ready for another drink, and without any question, the glass is filled again. If you are in Russia and are done with drinking, just keep your glass half full.

In 1990, during the opening day of the world's largest McDonald's in Moscow, over 30,000 people were served, automatically setting a world record. Some people waited in line for over 6 hours to have a taste of the world's best-known burger. Moscow got the permission to build a McDonald's in 1988.

Russia is the biggest country in the world, taking about one-tenth of the land on earth. The Volga River is the longest in Europe and Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, containing almost 20% of the world's freshwater supply.

Russia did pretty incredible things during WWII. The Russian army single-handedly defended the eastern front from the Germans and helped the world defeat Hitler. However, that came at a great cost. Russia lost over 30 million of their own, which was nearly 14% of their entire population at the time.

Russia is known for its notorious winters - that actually saved the country from invasion a few times through history. Napoleon's army was defeated by the great Russian winter. During the second World War, Hitler's army shared the same faith. The frigid temperatures lead to really large icicles that can injure people. In 2010, over 150 people were injured in St. Petersburg alone, due to the falling of this ice daggers.

Some Russians believe that freezing water has the therapeutic effects on the body, so they go to the beach in wintertime. They are called "Walruses," like the arctic animal.

Commissioned to compose the music for Alexandre Duma's adaptation of Ernst Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse Kingת" Russian composer Tchaikovsky made history by composing a piece that would become one of the most famous ballets of all time.

In 2014, Russia's State Statistic Committee published a fascinating fact that there were 10.5 million women more than men in Russia. The problem isn't that more baby girls are born every year. As a matter of fact, the number of baby boys and baby girls is pretty much equal. The problem comes later in life when men start losing their lives due to stress, drinking problems and car accidents.

During the televised "Kitchen Debate" between Vice President Richard Nixon and Premier of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev in 1959, the two politicians shared some of the political views, but also shared a Pepsi. Soft drinks were practically nonexistent in Russia at the time, and in the U.S., it was all about Coca-Cola. Today, Russia is Pepsi's second largest market in the world.

Video clips from Russian's dash cams are among the most watched online. From weird accidents to even weirder fights in the middle of the highway, you can see pretty much everything. The purpose of these dash cams is protection from fraud. Many people in Russia will stage accidents involving feigned injury to get money, so many use this camera to prevent that from happening.

84 of the world's richest people live in Moscow. Their wealth combined, totals over 366 billion dollars. That money mainly comes from gas and petrochemical companies, and from metallurgy. Just for comparison, New York has 62 billionaires with a combined wealth of 280 billion.