Ten things you didn't know about Russia

[Curt F. Woolhiser]

On the subject of "multicultural Russia," one might mention the fact that
Christianity was not the first major world religion to attain official status
within the territory of what is today the Russian Federation. It was preceded by
Judaism (adopted by the Turkic-speaking Khazars in the late 8th-early 9th
century), and by Islam, which became the dominant religion of the Volga
Bulgars -- who are believed to have played an important role in the
ethnogenesis of the Kazan Tatars -- in the early 10th century.
      Russia today has the largest number of Muslims of any "European" country
(estimates range from between 14 to 22 million), and this segment of the
population is growing rapidly, due both to high birthrates among groups
originating
in the North Caucasus and immigration of Muslim ethnic groups from the "Near
Abroad." This is, by the way, the reason that Russia, along with
Bosnia-Hercegovina,
was recently granted observer status in the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference, an
organization of states with Muslim majorities
(http://www.oic-oci.org/oicnew/page_detail.asp?p_id=52). Some analysts  even go
so far as to argue that if current demographic trends continue, barring
significant religious/cultural identity shifts among traditionally Muslim ethnic
groups, the Russian Federation could become a Muslim majority country by the
latter part
of the 21st century!
     And here's another interesting fact about Russia's ethnically non-Russian
regions: the title of the oldest city in the Russian Federation is held by
Derbent, Dagestan, which supposedly dates back some 5,000 years as an urban
center.


Curt Woolhiser

===============================
Curt Woolhiser
Preceptor in Slavic Languages
Department of Slavic Languages
and Literatures
Harvard University
12 Quincy St., Barker Center
Cambridge, MA 02138-3879 USA

Tel. (617) 495-3528
Fax (617) 496-4466
email: cwoolhis at fas.harvard.edu
================================

Quoting ameliede at EARTHLINK.NET:

> At 02:04 AM 3/19/2008, you wrote:
> >The Russian Empire (just like today's Russian Federation) was a multi-ethnic
> >and multi-religious country. A synagogue, Protestant and Catholic churches
> >did not make Tsarskoe Selo "international" - native subjects of the Empire
> >were probably the people who mainly attended them.
> >
> >Felix Corley
>
> No doubt...
> Maybe I should have said "multi-national".  But wasn't 19th Cent.
> Russia called
> in the west "prisonhouse of nations"?
> Jules Levin
>
>
>
>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >
> >I read somewhere that Tsarskoe Selo, around the turn of the last century,
> >was the first fully electrified city in the world.  It was a
> >middle-class suburb
> >with a commuter train taking people into St Pete for white collar jobs.
> >It was international in character, with a synagogue, protestant churches,
> >and
> >a Catholic church, I believe.
> >
> >Jules Levin
>
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