Russia

Russia (Russian: Россия, Rossiya) is the world's largest country, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia boasts a rich history and culture, as well as a wealth of natural attractions for those willing to head off the beaten path. Many of Russia's attractions for visitors lie in the hard-to-reach stretches of the planet's most remote lands. The best known sights are in and around the nation's principal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Moscow offers important historical sites including Red Square, the Kremlin, St Basil's Cathedral, and its beautiful underground metro system, while visitors flock to St. Petersburg for the Hermitage Museum, the stately Mariinsky Theatre and its world class resident ballet troupe, and the opulent palaces of the Tsars in its suburbs. The Golden Ring of Russia is a collection of ancient cities northeast of Moscow that feature unique monuments of Russian architecture of the 12th–18th centuries, including kremlins, monasteries, cathedrals, and churches. For the more adventurous, the Trans-Siberian Railway is the world's great rail journey, stretching over 9000 km from Moscow to Vladivostok. Beyond the urban centers, Russia's vast wilderness offers extraordinary experiences, from the pristine wilderness of the Kamchatka Peninsula with its active volcanoes and abundant wildlife, to the crystal-clear waters of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest and most capacious lake. The country's diverse landscapes span some eleven time zones, encompassing everything from the coniferous taiga of Siberia to the subtropical beaches of the Black Sea coast. Russia's sheer scale means that even well-traveled visitors often discover that they've only scratched the surface of what this vast nation has to offer.