Russia: The Russian Federation

Russia, also officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia.It is a federal semi-presidential republic. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the world's ninth most populous nation with nearly 144 million people as of 2015.Extending across the entirety of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. It's capital and largest city is Moscow. The currency is Russian ruble (RUB).

Some interesting facts are:

1. Russia has a surface area of 17 million km2, compared with 16.6 million km2 for Pluto.

2. Russia's pipelines, including condensate, gas, liquid petroleum gas, oil water, and refined products, are 259,913 kilometers long. The earth meanwhile is 40,075 kilometers in circumference.

3. Russia has 695 tonnes of highly enriched uranium (HEU), the most of any country in the world. The U.S. has the world's second largest stockpile at 604 tonnes.

4. At 1,163 trillion cubic feet, Russia has the world's second largest natural gas reserves. An Olympic size swimming pool reportedly has a volume of 88,000 cubic feet.

5. The Park Pobedy (Victory Park) station is probably the deepest of Moscow's subway system, going 85 meters underground. And Vykhino is the busiest station in the Moscow Metro.

6. Russians drink 6.3 shots of liquor a week on average, compared with 3.3 in the U.S. But South Korea tops the list with 13.7 shots of liquor per week.

7. Russia's 20 richest people have a combined net worth of over $227 billion which is larger than Pakistan's GDP.

8. Russia's Lake Baikal holds one-fifth of the world's fresh water.

For more interesting facts visit:
http://interestingthings.info/facts/10-interesting-things-know-russia.html

Some beautiful places are:

For tourism detail visit: 

http://www.visitrussia.org.uk/

Mongolia: Land of the Horse

If you are a horse lover do visit Mongolia.

Mongolia is a landlocked country in east-central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and also the largest city.
In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, and his grandson Kublai Khan conquered China to establish the Yuan Dynasty. After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th centuries, Tibetan Buddhism began to spread in Mongolia and it has been accelerated by the unwavering support of Qing government after Mongolia had been incorporated by the Qing dynasty. In 1900s, almost half of the adult male population were Buddhist monks. The currency is Tögrög (MNT).

Some interesting facts about Mongolia are:

1) Mongolia stands an average of 5,800 feet above sea level.

2) Despite its landlocked status, Mongolia has many salt lakes. Mongolian lakes and rivers contain more than fifty unique fish species.

3) Mongolia has the oldest National Park in the world. Lying just South of Ulaanbaatar the Bogd Khan National Park dates its origin to 1778 — it predates Yellowstone by over 100 years. Established by the Mongolian government in 1778, it was originally chartered by Ming Dynasty officials in the 1500s as an area to be kept off limits to extractive uses, protected for its beauty and sacred nature.

4) The Gobi Desert, the largest in Asia and the fifth largest in the world, is in Mongolia. The Gobi was once a sea and now filled with marine fossils. Roy Chapman Andrews made the first discovery of dinosaur eggs in the Gobi. His exploits inspired the creation of Indiana Jones. Many dinosaur fossils still lie exposed.

5) The three most popular sports are horse racing, archery, and Mongolian wrestling.

6) Animals native to Mongolia include:

a) Snow leopards: quarter of the world’s population of snow leopards live in Mongolia.

b) The two-humped camel: survives temperatures from minus to plus fifty degrees Celsius!

c) The Mongolian Takhi horse is the last wild horse in the world. Mongolians do not name their horses; they refer to them by color.

d) Eagles which are kept as pets by nomads. The Kazakh minority hunt with them.

7) When walking down a street in a Mongolian town or city if you accidentally bump into a person or brush past them, don’t be surprised if the other person reaches for your hand. Go ahead and shake their hand or even just touch it to apologize and express that it was indeed an accident and not intentional. The same gesture applies if your leg accidentally hits someone else’s under the table.

8)  In a country where distances are far and communication can be difficult, it is important to maintain a sense of community. People living in the Mongolian countryside will always have a bowl of warm, salty milk tea ready for visitors.

9) A 131-foot statue of Genghis Khan sits just outside Ulan Bator and is the world’s tallest statue of a horse.

10) In the 1920s, fossilised dinosaur remains were found in the Gobi Desert, along with the first dinosaur eggs. Many dinosaur fossils still lie exposed today, so keep an eye on the ground as well as the stunning landscape!

Some beautiful places are:

For more tourism detail visit:

http://mongoliantourism.gov.mn/

Thailand Or Siam: Land of The Free

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the center of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. It's capital is Bangkok and currency is Baht (THB).

Siamese cats are native to Thailand.

It is illegal to leave your house without underwear on.

It is World's largest exporter of rice.

Around 90% of Thai people are Buddhist.

It is illegal to step on any Thai currency.

The Garuda is the national and royal symbol of Thailand.

Thailand is the only country in south-east Asia that hasn't been colonized by Europeans.

Some beautiful places are:

For tourism details visit:
ww.tourismthailand.org

Malaysia: Bolehland Or Food Paradise of South East Asia

Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometers separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo). Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines.

The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. In 2010 the population was 28.33 million, with 22.6 million living in Peninsular Malaysia. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics. It is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Currency is Ringgit (MYR).

Some interesting facts are:
1. The word ringgit means "jagged" in Malay, and originally referred to the seperated edges of Spanish silver dollars widely circulated in the region.

2. The largest cave chamber in the world is the Sarawak Chamber in Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, which can easily accommodate a Boeing 747-200.

3. Malaysia has 65,877 km of highway. This is more than the Earth's circumference of 40,075 km.

4. Nasi Kandar, a dish unique to Malaysia and brought my the imgrating Indian Muslims, is the favourite food of many Malaysians. The best is in Penang and everyone has their favourite dishes. Among the top raned outlets are the Kampong Melayu Flats in Air Hitam, Line Clear in Penang Road and opposite the market in Jelutung.

5. The Bintangor  trees, found only in Sarawak, is believed to contain properties that could help fight the virus that causes AIDS.

6. At 421 metres high, the Kuala Lumpur Tower is the fourth tallest in the world and tallest in Southeast Asia.

7. The Penang Bridge is the third longest in Asia at 13.7 km.

8. The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers, are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur. Height is 452 m. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)'s official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers in the world replacing the World Trade Center in New York.

For more facts visit:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/malaysia
http://501amazingmalaysiafacts.blogspot.in/

Some beautiful places are:

For tourism details visit:
http://www.tourism.gov.my/en/in