Russia

One of my favorite pastimes while in class was reading a geography textbook. These days I often waste time reading such articles in new sites or wikipedia for a not-so-short break from papers. The culture, new people, countries and history always make me marvel and realize my ignorance. Here are some facts on Russia I found while reading some news.

"Russia has the largest known natural gas reserves in the world and is the world's second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia. Oil and gas accounted for about 60% of Russia's exports in 2005."

"Alcoholism is a major problem. Recent research published in the British medical magazine The Lancet reported half of all deaths in working-age men in Russia are caused by excessive drinking."

"Russia has what the World Health Organization describes as the biggest Aids epidemic in Europe, mainly from a rise in injected drug use that followed the social and economic upheavals of the 1990s."





source: BBC