160+ Russia Trivia Questions and Answers

Russia is famous as the largest country by landmass in the world. With an area of 6.5 million square kilometers, Russia is 1.8 times larger than the United States and slightly larger than Pluto. Russia is the top exporter of oil and natural gas. Unbelievably, Russia’s oil and gas pipeline could wrap around the Earth 6 times.

The country is ranked 4th as the largest consumer of alcohol per capita in the world after Moldova, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Even though moderate consumption of alcohol is advised, records show about 40,000 people die from alcohol poisoning every year. 90% of alcohol intake is by males. 1 out of 5 Russian males succumbs to death due to alcohol-related complications.

Russia Facts Trivia Questions and Answers

Russia boasts the most extended railway infrastructure in the world. Interestingly, you must spend around one week on the train to travel the whole Russian Trans-Siberian Railroad. Russia is also home to the massive Lake Baikal, the deepest lake and most significant body of freshwater in the world.

Explore the following series of Russia trivia questions and answers to jog your mind.

1. A cathedral built between 1554 and 1560 for Ivan the Terrible, to which the saint is the Russian Orthodox church in Moscow dedicated.

Saint basil

 

2. A Russian space program’s name meant East. What was it?

Vostok

 

3. Which Russian Choreographer moved to the USA and became a founder member of the school of American Ballet?

Balanchine

 

4. Name the Russian composer who wrote Peter & the Wolf?

Sergei Prokofiev

 

5. Which  Russian chemist founded our modern periodic table?

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev

 

6. A Russian abstract movement originated by Malevich c. 1913. It was characterized by flat geometric shapes on plain backgrounds and emphasized the spiritual qualities of pure form.

Suprematism

 

7. Which meat dish was named after a 19th Century Russian Count?

Beef Stroganoff

 

8. Nene-kona in Russia, what do we call it?

Pepsi-Cola

 

9. Which is Europe’s largest country after Russia?

Ukraine

 

10. According to a 2012 report by Forbes, what country counts 96 billionaires among its citizens, second only to the U.S?

Russia

 

11. Which country does one associate with the following foods or drinks ‘Kvass?

Russia

 

12. Who described Russia as A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery, inside an Enigma?

 

13. On July 12, 2000, Russia launched a rocket into space bearing the corporate logo of what company?

 

14. Who has the most US banknotes?

Russia

 

15. After Russia, what is the largest country in the world by land area?

Canada

 

16. Who is regarded as the most influential monarch of the Russian Romanov Dynasty?

Peter I

 

17. Which country was the first to abolish capital punishment in 1826?

Russia/ Siberia

 

18. Who is the president of Russia?

 

19. Radical Russian Marxists are known as?

Bolsheviks

 

20. Which artist born in Russia in 1887, painted a self Portrait with seven fingers Birthday and Bouquet with flying lovers?

Marc Chagall

 

21. Who ruled France during the Franco-Prussian War?

Napoleon III

 

22. Artist Marc Chegal died in 1985 in which country was he born?

Russia

 

23. Who sang the theme song from Russia with Love?

Matte Munroe

 

24. What language speakers were shot in Russia and Germany 1930?

Esperanto

 

25. Who was the first premier of Russia and served from 1917 to 1924?

Nikolai

 

26. Russia has one but the US has at least six-what?

Places called Moscow

 

27. Who was the jeweler to the Russian Court’s famous Easter eggs?

Faberge

 

28. What were the Russian atrocities against the Jews called?

Pogroms

 

29. Who was the Russian Foreign Minister from 1957 to 1985?

Gromyko

 

30. Brand name was translated as Bite the wax tadpole in Russian?

 

31. With over 20% of the world’s forest, what nation has more forest land than any other?

Russia

 

32. Russian triangular musical instrument is called?

Balalaika

 

33. What well-known Russian author was also a doctor?

Anton Chekov

 

34. In Czarist Russia it was illegal to do what?

Smoke

 

35. What was the pre-war German name for the Baltic city which is now Russian and called Kaliningrad?

Konigsberg

 

36. Tartuffo in Spain, kartoffel in Germany and Russia what is?

Potato

 

37. What was Alaska before 1867?

Russian America

 

38. After the U.S and Russia, what is the only country to have launched a person into space aboard its own rocket?

China

 

39. The first Russian satellite was launched in which year?

1957

 

40. What type of Animal is a Borzoi?

A dog the Russian Wolfhound

 

41. In Russia by law the homeless must be where after 10:00 PM?

At home

 

42. What name in Russian is equivalent to skylab?

Salyut

 

43. What soup would be on the menu in Poland or Russia?

Borscht

 

44. A beef dish named after a 19th-century Russian diplomat?

Stroganoff

 

45. What Russian writer was deported from the Soviet Union in 1974?

Alexander

 

46. The Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, was exiled three times and eventually assassinated in which country?

Mexico

 

47. What Russian revolutionary founded Pravda?

Leon Trotsky

 

48. Canada is the second largest country in the world after?

Russia

 

49. Which Russian physiologist went to the dogs to write conditioned reflexes?

Ivan Pavlov

50. The state Duma is the lower house of assembly in the parliament of which country?

Russia

 

51. In Russia the national product is called Soldatsky. What is it?

Bread

 

52. What Russian City was formerly known as St Petersburg, then Petrograd, and until 1918 was the capital of the country?

Leningrad

 

53. The _____Revolution began in 1905 on Bloody Sunday when troops fired at demonstrators?

Russian

 

54. Name the company purveyor of Vodka to the Imperial Russian Court (1886-1917)?

Smirnoff

 

55. Tia Maria-Vodka and Coke make what cocktail?

Black Russian

 

56. What is the name given to the large Russian utensil for making tea?

Samovar

 

57. In what year did Russian Computers programmer Alexi Pachitnov design & program the video game Tetris?

1985

 

58. What 19th-century war between Russia and England, Turkey, Britain and France was named for a peninsula in the black sea?

 

59. What is the national airline of Russia?

Maya Island Air

 

60. If James Bond was to dial 007 he would be using the dialing code for which country?

Russia

 

61. What is the name of the Russian National Ballet?

The Kirov Ballet

 

62. What cocktail is made from vodka and Kahlua?

Black Russian

 

63. In which country is Europe’s highest mountain Mt Elbrus?

Russia

 

64. What is the name for Russian beet soup?

Borscht

 

65. What national anthem is the patriotic Song?

Russia

 

66. If you drove in a straight line from Moscow to Madrid how many countries would you drive in altogether?

8

 

67. What is the largest soviet republic?

Russian Republic

 

68. What country invented high octane gasoline in 1930?

Russia

 

69. What is the letter of the Russian alphabet?

A

 

70. In which country were Lada cars manufactured?

Russia

 

71. Which country was once known as the breakfast of Russia?

Ukraine

 

72. What is the 3 Stringed Russian instrument called with the triangular body?

Balalaika

 

73. In 1939 which countries invaded Poland?

Germany –Russia

 

74. Which country was the setting for doctor Zhivago?

Russia

 

75. What is a Gopak?

A Russian dance

 

76. Mckinley, what US secretary of state bought Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars?

Seward

 

77. Which country would you go to find Pervy Shag?

Russia

 

78. The average height of the Ural Mountains is?

5,000-6,000

 

79. What game of chance is physically the most demanding for the loser?

Russian Roulette

 

80. World’s deepest lake is _______.

Lake Baikal

 

81. The Russian Empire ranges from the Pacific Ocean to the ________________.

Baltic Sea

 

82. Can you tell Kyiv is the capital of which country today?

Ukraine

 

83. In 1979 who was revealed to be the fourth Russian spy in the Burgess, Maclean, and Philby affair?

Anthony Blunt

 

84. What daughter of Czar Nicholas II said to have escaped death in the Russian revolution?

Anastasia

 

85. The city Vladivostok is also called _________.

Lord of the East

 

86. The second most spoken language in Russia is?

Tatar

 

87. Can you name Russian cities that are the farthest North?

St.Petersburg

 

88. Name the American pilot shot down over Russia in 1960?

Fransis Garry Powers

 

89. Russia’s major religion today is?

Orthodox Christianity

 

90. Canada’s day is celebrated on?

12th June

 

91. What did Wiliam Seward buy from Russia in 1867?

Alaska

 

92. The longest river in Russia is?

Lena

 

93. Europe’s longest river is?

 

94. The currency of Russia is?

Ruble

 

95. The first Czar of Russia was?

Ivan the Terrible

 

96. Siberia covers?

5 square miles

 

97. The earliest name for the city now known as Volgograd is?

Tsaritsyn

 

98. The population of Russia is approximate?

146.7 million

 

99. The fish that is featured under a fur coat in this famous Russian dish.

Herring

100. The cold war started and ended in?

1940-1991

 

101. Today most Russians live in?

Northern European Plain

 

102. The number of republics are?

21

 

103. Can you name the river that flows through the city once known as Petrograd?

Neva

 

104. What is the major problem of rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean in Siberia?

Freezing/flooding

 

105. The national flower of Russia is?

Chamomile

 

106. Which of the following men was head of the NKVD (immediate predecessor to the KGB)?

Lavrenti Beria

 

107. What Politburo member was killed on December 1, 1934?

Sergei Kirov

 

108. Which city has the largest population?

Novosibirsk, Russia

 

109. Which city contains the Lavra, an ancient Orthodox monastery of caves?

Kiev

 

110. Which General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union served first?

Yuri Andropov

 

111. Which Tsars was assassinated?

Alexander II

 

112. What prominent former Soviet official was murdered in Mexico City?

Trotsky

 

113. Which term is a cossack leadership title?

Hetman

 

114. In which of these cities can you most easily find horse meat served?

Almaty

 

115. Name a popular salad in FSU?

Olivier

 

116. Which is one of the most-visited museums in St. Petersburg?

Hermitage

 

117. Which 19th-century Russian writer was killed in a duel in Pyatigorsk, Russia?

Lermontov

 

118. What was the name of the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth?

Sputnik 1

 

119. What year did the United States and the Russian Federation begin to build the International Space Station?

2000

 

120. What was the first Earth Artifact to “impact” the moon?

The coat of Arms of the Soviet Union

 

121. The Russian abbreviation for USSR is CCCP.  What do these letters sound like?

SSSR

 

122. What year did Alexander 3rd come to the throne?

1881

 

123. What is the Russian word for an astronaut?

Cosmonaut

 

124. The Russians named one of their longest-lasting space stations MIR.  What does MIR mean in English?

Peace

 

125. What was the name of the first man in space?

Yury Gagarin

 

126. Name the first joint mission between the United States and the Soviet Union?

Apollo-Soyuz

 

127. Which animal species was the first to be launched into orbit around the Earth?

A dog

 

128. What was the name of the first woman in space?

Valentina Tereshkova

 

129. What had Alexander 3rd believed had made Russia weak?

Ideas from the West

 

130. Why was the Minister of the Interior given the power to nominate peasants to join the Zemstva?

Ensure government that loyalty went all the way to the bottom

 

131. How would Alexander 3rd discover his opponents?

Secret police

 

132. Alexander brought in Russification, what was it?

Repressed his opponents, undid the reforms of his father, restored Russia’s position internationally, and reinforce national identity

 

133. What could the Zemstva (local councils) no longer do?

Raise taxes without permission

 

134. How did Alexander 3rd use the church to his advantage?

The church preached the loyalty and obedience to Tsar and used confessions as evidence

 

135. How had the Tsar’s reforms affected education?

Governmental approval of any new syllabuses Universities could no longer appoint their own professors

 

136. After the death of Kolchak, remaining anti-Bolshevik forces in Siberia were led by General Semyonov, a tough Mongolian who had been raised in the wilds of Siberia. Which assertion about him is UNTRUE?

Foreign diplomats found dealing with his mistress helped reign him in

 

137. Woodrow Wilson’s Railroad commission consisted of about 800 American railroad engineers under Ben O. Johnson, sent to Russia to keep the railroads running during the Russian Civil War. Which of these assertions is UNTRUE?

The average age of the US engineers was 63

 

138. During the Russian Civil War armored trains known as “bronepoezd” were widely used. Which of the following assertions is UNTRUE about them?

The weight of armor gave them a top speed of 25 miles per hour

 

139. Which of the following assertions about Marxist Aleksandra Kollontai is UNTRUE?

She led the defense of Volgograd in 1918

 

140. About an hour after a bloody battle that had seen the Red Army of the Bolsheviks and the Black Army of the Anarchists exterminate the last White Army in the Crimea almost down to the last man, what reward did the Bolsheviks give to their exhausted anarchist allies?

The Red Army massacred them too

 

141. During the Russian Civil War in Siberia, where did the US keep Harris, their Consul General and diplomatic mission?

On a train

 

142. How big was Kolchak’s fleet?

One small, armed riverboat

 

143. During the Russian Civil War, Bolshevik Nikolai Krylenko remodeled the Russian Legal System. This, based on his belief that the single most important piece of evidence in any trial or tribunal was what?

A confession, no matter how it is beaten out of the accused

 

144. According to papers stored at the Head Office of Rolls Royce in Derby, before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, who was the last Russian to buy one of their cars after the Bolshevik Revolution?

Vladimir Ilich Lenin

 

145. Between 1918 and 1921, civil war raged in Russia. What tribal Russians were the famous defenders of the old regime?

Cossacks

 

146. In what Russian city were the Czar and his family executed?

Ekaterinburg

 

147. After being overthrown by the Bolsheviks, what became of the previous Russian leader, Aleksandr Kerensky?

He dressed up as a nurse to sneak out the country

 

148. Who was the last Czar of Russia?

Nicholas II

 

149. What Marxist leader overthrew the post-Czar Russian government?

Lenin

150. This person exercised considerable, not to say undue, influence on the Czar’s wife Alexandra, especially when he was away. Who was it?

Rasputin

 

151. Who initially headed the first Russian government after the abdication of the Czar?

Prince Lvov

 

152. What were the revolutionary communists in Russia known as?

Bolsheviks

 

153. The initial worker’s protests that began the revolution occured in March of 1917. What were these protests called?

The February Revolution

 

154. Between 1918 and 1921, civil war raged in Russia. What tribal Russians were the famous defenders of the old regime?

Cossacks

 

155. What were the large farms organized by the communists called?

Collectives

 

156. What colors were used to describe the competing armies during the Russian civil war?

White and Red

 

157. What was the last name of the Tsarist dynasty which ruled Russia for over 300 years?

Romanov

 

158. Which Government did the first ruler after Tsar Nicholas II belong to?

Provisional

 

159. Who succeeded Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in 1917 as head of the administration?

Prince Lvov

 

160. Which political party was responsible for the Russian October Revolution of 1917?

Bolshevik

 

161. Who in the course of two or three years after Lenin’s death in 1924 became leader of the USSR?

Stalin

 

162. What was the “upper” class of peasants called who hated the term and the methods of collectivization?

Kulaks

 

 

 

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