Quiz on Russia

What is the capital of Russia?

• Saint Petersburg
• Moscow ✓ (Correct answer)
• Kazan
• Novosibirsk

Source: Saint Petersburg was Russia's capital for two centuries, but the Bolsheviks moved it back to Moscow in 1918.

What is the official currency of Russia?

• Hryvnia
• Zloty
• Ruble ✓ (Correct answer)
• Lev

Source: The ruble is one of the world's oldest currencies, in continuous use since the 13th century.

Who wrote the epic novel War and Peace?

• Anton Chekhov
• Alexander Pushkin
• Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Leo Tolstoy ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Tolstoy's War and Peace runs over 1,200 pages and features more than 500 characters.

Who became the first human to travel into space?

• Yuri Gagarin ✓ (Correct answer)
• Alexei Leonov
• Valentina Tereshkova
• Neil Armstrong

Source: Gagarin orbited Earth in 1961, and his entire history-making flight lasted just 108 minutes.

Russian wooden dolls that stack one inside another are correctly called what?

• Matryoshka ✓ (Correct answer)
• Babushka
• Balalaika
• Kokoshnik

Source: Despite the nickname 'babushka dolls,' the correct term is matryoshka, and the first set only appeared in 1890.

Which classic video game was created on a Soviet computer in 1984?

• Pong
• Tetris ✓ (Correct answer)
• Pac-Man
• Snake

Source: Tetris was coded by Alexey Pajitnov, and the Cold War sparked a fierce international battle over its rights.

Which alphabet is used to write the Russian language?

• Latin
• Greek
• Cyrillic ✓ (Correct answer)
• Glagolitic

Source: The Cyrillic script is named after Saint Cyril and is used by over 250 million people today.

Which animal is the traditional national symbol of Russia?

• Siberian tiger
• Eagle
• Bear ✓ (Correct answer)
• Wolf

Source: The bear has symbolized Russia for centuries, though its official coat of arms actually shows a double-headed eagle.

Which vegetable gives the soup borscht its deep red color?

• Tomato
• Beetroot ✓ (Correct answer)
• Red cabbage
• Paprika

Source: Beetroot gives borscht its ruby hue, and the dish is shared across Russia, Ukraine and Poland alike.

Who composed the ballet The Nutcracker?

• Igor Stravinsky
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
• Sergei Prokofiev
• Pyotr Tchaikovsky ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Tchaikovsky disliked his own Nutcracker score, yet it became a Christmas staple worldwide.

Who led the Bolsheviks during Russia's 1917 October Revolution?

• Vladimir Lenin ✓ (Correct answer)
• Leon Trotsky
• Joseph Stalin
• Karl Marx

Source: Lenin's embalmed body has been on public display in a Red Square mausoleum since 1924.

Which Russian lake is the deepest on Earth?

• Lake Baikal ✓ (Correct answer)
• Lake Ladoga
• Lake Onega
• Caspian Sea

Source: Lake Baikal holds about 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh water, more than all the Great Lakes combined.

Which Russian ruler founded the city of Saint Petersburg?

• Ivan the Terrible
• Peter the Great ✓ (Correct answer)
• Catherine the Great
• Alexander II

Source: Peter the Great built the city from scratch on a swamp to give Russia a 'window to Europe.'

The Trans-Siberian Railway ends at which far-eastern Russian city?

• Novosibirsk
• Yekaterinburg
• Irkutsk
• Vladivostok ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: The line runs nearly 9,300 km to Vladivostok, taking about seven days to ride end to end.

Which river, the longest in Europe, flows through western Russia?

• Don
• Dnieper
• Volga ✓ (Correct answer)
• Oka

Source: The Volga stretches 3,530 km and is so beloved that Russians call it 'Mother Volga.'

Across how many time zones does Russia stretch?

• Seven
• Nine
• Eleven ✓ (Correct answer)
• Twenty-four

Source: Russia spans 11 time zones, so when it's morning in Moscow it's already evening in Kamchatka.

Which Russian firm is the world's largest natural gas producer?

• Lukoil
• Rosneft
• Novatek
• Gazprom ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Gazprom is the world's largest gas company and once supplied roughly a third of Europe's gas.

Who was the last tsar of Russia?

• Alexander III
• Nicholas II ✓ (Correct answer)
• Peter III
• Nicholas I

Source: Nicholas II abdicated in 1917, ending more than three centuries of Romanov rule.

Which mountain range traditionally separates Europe from Asia?

• Ural Mountains ✓ (Correct answer)
• Caucasus Mountains
• Altai Mountains
• Carpathian Mountains

Source: The Urals mark the conventional divide between the two continents, running north to south through Russia.

Which 1942-43 battle marked the turning point of World War II's Eastern Front?

• Battle of Kursk
• Siege of Leningrad
• Battle of Moscow
• Battle of Stalingrad ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Stalingrad cost nearly two million casualties and shattered Germany's advance into the Soviet Union.