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On June 12th, the Russian people celebrate their national holiday – “Russia Day”. Celebrations on this occasion have been held since 1992, but over time they acquire greater importance and more profound meaning for Russians and their compatriots abroad. This day symbolises the centuries-old historic path of our Fatherland full of the tragic pages, great achievements and victories.

It’s one of the youngest national holidays. Twenty-six years ago, on June 12th, 1990, the First Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which declared the supremacy of the Russian Constitution and its laws.

So, June 12th was originally named “Russian Independence Day,” marking both the day when Russia declared its independence from the Soviet Union and the day when, exactly one year later, in 1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first president of the Russian Federation. However, the name was changed to “Russia Day” in 2002 when it became clear that most Russians did not understand from whom they had declared independence. Russia, as they see it, is simply a third incarnation of a state that has always been and the Russian people have always been autonomous since the Mongols were defeated in the 16th century. The idea that a country that had fought off both Hitler and Napoleon had been bound to the service of a foreign force was considered, understandably, ridiculous and a little offensive. By proclaiming June 12th “Russia Day”, President Vladimir Putin made a compromise. Russia has not celebrated the adoption of its Declaration of Sovereignty since 2002. Now Russia Day is a festival dedicated to the country in general. Despite its relatively young age, the holiday already accomplishes what most holidays are meant to accomplish: it reflects the culture’s relationship with its own past and present.

Russia Day is an effective microcosm for Russia as whole. Russia is a country unashamed of its past, and proud of its achievements and creativity. The history has repeatedly shown that the people of Russia due to their utmost moral fortitude, stamina and determination successfully passed through all the ordeals and trials which befell them.

They have made an enormous contribution to the progress of the modern civilisation, presented to the world with the greatest cultural monuments and masterpieces, developed the unique engineering, scientific and technological potential and experience, sharing it with the world, especially with developing countries.

The Russian government is pursuing a consistent policy of the country’s balanced development with an emphasis on promoting good governance and anti-corruption drive, strengthening the state and civil society active dialogue, increasing the quality of education and health care, law enforcement capacity to protect the law and human dignity.

Active steps are being taken to improve the investment climate, increase the financial system sustainability, accelerate import substitution and deoffshorisation.

The work is under way to implement the large-scale creative plans, including a number of major infrastructure projects, in particular, construction of cutting-edge nuclear power plants, new and most advanced space systems, the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway, which will run further through Kazakhstan to Beijing, modernisation of the Baykal-Amur Railroad, Trans-Siberian Railway, etc.

Special attention is on bringing up to the national standard of the social and physical infrastructure of Crimea which became a part of Russia in 2014, as well as turning it into a thriving oasis and one of the country’s key recreational centres.

On the world stage Russia remains a consistent advocate of promoting international relations based on equality, indivisible security, inadmissibility of double standards and supremacy of international law.

Here are some interesting facts about Russia:

Russian is the seventh country in the world in terms of population. It is home to about 145 million.

Russia is the only country in the world washed by 12 seas.

Lake Baikal in Siberia is the deepest lake in the world.

Lake Ladoga is the largest in Europe.

Ural mountains that divide Russia in the European and Asian parts are the oldest mountains in the world.

About 600 square kilometers of Altai are covered with more than 800 glaciers.

The legendary Trans-Siberian route passes through eight time zones in Russia, starting in Moscow and ending in Beijing, China. The length of the route is more than 9000 km.

The length of the nearest territory between Russia and America, which shares these two continents, is 4 km only.

Cities and towns of the “Golden Ring of Russia” are called an outstanding encyclopedia of ancient Russian architecture.

Russia is considered a European country, but 2/3 of the country is located in Asia.

Russian forests occupy 60% of the territory of country

The literacy rate in Russia is almost 99%.

The Moscow metro is probably the most beautiful in the world. The metro station “Revolution Square” in Moscow is decorated with 76 bronze statues of workers, peasants, soldiers, sailors and other proletarians of the Soviet Union.

– Ekaterinburg is listed in a Guinness Book of Records as the city with the largest consumption of mayonnaise per capita.

David Duchovny, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Spielberg, Natalie Portman, Mila Yovovoch, Winona Ryder and Sean Penn have Russian roots. Great-grandmother of actress Whoopi Goldberg came from Odessa.

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev spent a total of 803 days in the orbit, which is a world record.