The 5 most shocking curiosities about Russia and its culture

Russia is the largest country in the world. Its large area reaches 17.1 million square kilometers, which are divided between the European continent and the Asian continent, but much of it is not populated.

Some of the things that everyone knows about Russia is the cold weather, its large production of Vodka and the large number of brown bears that inhabit its lands. However, this country and its culture has many more interesting facts. Here are five shocking curiosities about this country and its culture.

Russia's most shocking curiosities

There are about 60 secret cities: While most people know that Russia was closed during Soviet times, today there are still some cities that are hidden. These cities, where normal families live, are prohibited for foreigners and even if a natural person from Russia wants to visit their relatives, they must ask for a special permit.

In Russia, there are more women than men: In the Russian Federation, the number of women is much greater than that of men, reaching 11 million above. This fact means that there are currently 86.8 men for every 100 women and to find their better half they have to find a foreign partner.

There are bears “addicted” to kerosene: The Kronotsky Nature Reserve in southern Kamchatka has more than 700 brown bears, considered the largest in the world. Many of these specimens have been in contact with discarded kerosene boats, and seeing one on its way, running towards it to sniff its smoke and thus observe the effects that it produces.

There are more than 1 million people with HIV: Russia is one of the countries in the world with more people with HIV. According to some research, it is believed that around 2.3% of the population was infected because of injectable drugs while the vast majority were infected by contact with their partner. Given this crisis situation, the government decided to increase sex education and improve access to health resources.

You can be arrested for being gay: Since 2013, the Russian government with Vladimir Putin in command, prohibited homosexual propaganda claiming that same-sex relationships were unnatural and illegal under the country's legislation. As a consequence, gay people in Russia can be arrested by the police.