Russia, officially known as the Russian Federation, is the largest country in the world, spanning over 17 million square kilometers. It is located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, and shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and North Korea. The country has a rich history and culture, with influences from the Eastern Slavic, Turkic, Mongol, and Scandinavian cultures.
Russia has a diverse landscape, from the frozen tundra of Siberia to the warm beaches of the Black Sea. The country is also home to several famous landmarks, including the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin in Moscow, and Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world. The official language is Russian, and the currency is the Russian Ruble.
Throughout its history, Russia has been ruled by a variety of different leaders and governments. From the early days of the Tsars to the communist era under the Soviet Union, to the current semi-presidential republic, Russia has seen significant political and social change. The country has also played a major role in world events, from the World Wars to the Cold War and the current global political climate.
108 Russia Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- No lie: Burger Kings in Russia briefly launched a cryptocurrency named after what signature burger?
Answer: Whopper
- With over 35 million units sold since June 1, 1989, what puzzle game is the best-selling Game Boy video game of all-time and was the first video game played in space by Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr A. Serebrov in 1993?
Answer: Tetris
- Cadillac Fairview-sponsored athlete Natalie Spooner won hockey gold with Team Canada during the balmy 2014 Winter Olympics at what Black Sea resort?
Answer: Sochi
- Which transcontinental country (Europe and Asia) spans 11 time zones?
Answer: Russia
- Abaza is one of the 35 official languages of which enormous transcontinental country that spans Europe and Asia?
Answer: Russia
- They have names like Pelican, Rock Crystal, and Peter the Great: Richmond's Virginia Museum of Fine Art has the largest collection of what famous jeweled objects outside of Russia?
Answer: Faberge eggs
- The first Russian settlement was at Three Saints Bay, on what large Alaskan island? The island is the second largest in the U.S. and has an area slightly larger than Cyprus.
Answer: Kodiak
- Ding! What’s the last name of Russian psychologist, Ivan, whose conditioning experiments with salivating canines helped inform modern behavior therapy? Ding!
Answer: Pavlov
- Scholars have established that what composer of "The Nutcracker" and "Overture of 1812" was gay, although that fact is often disputed in his native Russia?
Answer: Tchaikovsky
- Since Soviet invasion at the end of World War II, the nations of Japan and the USSR (and later Russia) have disputed ownership of what archipelago between Hokkaido and the Kamchatka Peninsula
Answer: Kuril Islands
- TASS—or TACC, if you wanna get Cyrillic about it—is a federal news agency owned by the government of what ginormous country?
Answer: Russia / Russian Federation
- The Battle of the Three Emperors, also known as the Battle of Austerlitz, saw Austro-Russian forces defeated by an army led by which military and political leader in 1805?
Answer: Napoleon
- Mikhail Popkov, a Russian rapist and serial killer who tallied over 70 victims in the 1990s and 2000s, is known by what lycanthropic nickname, associating him indirectly with Team Jacob and Lon Chaney, Jr.?
Answer: The Werewolf
- In 2021, which crypto trading app founded by Changpeng Zhao was investigated for money laundering and sharing user data with Russia?
Answer: Binance
- The Direwolves in the "Game of Thrones" TV series were played by Northern Inuit Dogs, a breed which has been in development since the 1980s. These dogs carry the genes of German Shepherds, Malamutes, and which Russian sled dog breed?
Answer: Siberian Huskies
- After controversially having herself and her son Paul inoculated in 1768, Catherine the Great supported the idea of a widespread inoculation campaign throughout the Russian Empire against which disease?
Answer: Smallpox
- After being plucked off the streets of Moscow, a stray “Muttnik” named Laika “joined” the Russian space program. She didn’t survive the terrifying voyage, but in 1957 she made history when she became the first animal to orbit which planet?
Answer: Earth
- Samotolor Field and Romashkino Field are two of the largest oil fields in what expansive country?
Answer: Russia
- What is the name for the increasingly large body of water separating the Alaskan peninsula and the eastern shores of Russia? There was once a land bridge crossing this body of water.
Answer: Bering Strait
- Now serving life in prison, Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin had no defense for wanting to kill 64 people to match the number of spaces on the board for what game?
Answer: Chess
- What Alaska state holiday, observed on the last day of March, is named for the United States Secretary of State that negotiated the United States' purchase of Alaska from Russia?
Answer: Seward's Day
- Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake and the world’s deepest lake, is found in which country? The primary outflow of Lake Baikal is the Angara river.
Answer: Russia
- In 1908, the Tunguska object (likely an air-burst meteor) flattened over half a million acres (but caused no known casualties) in what country?
Answer: Russia
- What dessert, made up of ice cream, sponge cake, and meringue and placed briefly in a hot oven, was named in honor of a purchase the United States made from Russia in 1867?
Answer: Baked Alaska
- Traditionally, the word "caviar" only refers to roe from wild sturgeon in one of two seas that border Russia. Name either one of those caviar-rich seas.
Answer: Caspian Sea or Black Sea
- Most commonly associated with the Russian royal family, a series of jewelled items created by the House of Fabergé firm resemble, and thus are named for, which other naturally produced object?
Answer: Eggs
- In 1993, Russian scientists were able to confirm that some remains they had uncovered were members of the Romanov family (who were executed in 1918) by looking at DNA from several living relatives, including which member of the British Royal Family who died in 2021?
Answer: Prince Philip
Answer: BRICS
- Since 1993, Russia has technically been a democracy, but before that government was put in place the country was known by another name. What does U.S.S.R stand for?
Answer: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
- The massive flow of Russia's Druzhba pipeline gets fed by oil from Siberia, the Urals, and what caviar-rish, C.S. Lewis-approved sea?
Answer: Caspian Sea
- Founded by art collectors Raymond and Susan Johnson, TMORA is a non-profit museum in Minneapolis that is the only major institution in North America devoted entirely to art and culture from what massive nation's history?
Answer: Russia
- The German siege of the Russian city now known as Volgograd in 1942-1943 is widely considered the deadliest battle of World War II, and perhaps the deadliest of all time. What other name did Volgograd have at the time, by which the battle is typically known?
Answer: Stalingrad
- Although it started as a soft drinks company called Bravo, Bochkarev evolved into a brewery in the late 1980s and less than two decades later was purchased by Heineken. In what country was Bochkarev founded?
Answer: Russia
- In 1997, astronaut David Wolf became the first person to vote outside of the planet Earth when he was aboard what Russian space station?
Answer: Mir
- What “F” name is best known as the American inventor of the electronic television set, a rival for credit with the Russian Vladimir Zworykin? The American last name is the same as the elderly professor from the show “Futurama”.
Answer: Philo Farnsworth
- Ask C.S. Lewis! What sea is actually the world's largest lake, since it’s an inland body of water surrounded by Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan?
Answer: Caspian
- 2.5 cents per acre was the price paid by the United States to purchase Alaska from what country?
Answer: Russia
- The world's richest woman athlete at the time, what Russian-born tennis star was temporarily banned from the sport in March 2016 after testing positive for the recently banned substance meldonium?
Answer: Maria Sharapova
- There's an Erik Satie-themed bathroom in a Portland coffeehouse punnily named for what Russian composer of "Scherezade?"
Answer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Tina Fey once said, "I can see Russia from my house!" in a 2008 "Saturday Night Live" sketch while impersonating what then-governor of Alaska?
Answer: Sarah Palin
- Known primarily for his set of seven symphonies and widely regarded as the greatest composer from Finland, who is the 1865-born musician that helped Finland's national identity develop while it established independence from Russia?
Answer: Jean Sibelius
- Named for an island near St. Petersburg, Russia, what is the name of the programming language which Google announced in 2019 was its preferred language for Android app developers?
Answer: Kotlin
- What is is the "K" name of the traditional Finnish instrument belonging to the same Baltic family of instruments as the Russian "gusli"? The oldest iterations known had five or six horsehair strings.
Answer: Kantele
- What late 19th and early 20th century Russian psychologist famously proved that responses could be conditioned by association, such as a dog drooling at the sound of the bell that rang before it was fed? His “P” name has become vernacular for someone reacting to a seemingly neutral thing.
Answer: Ivan Pavlov
- What is the name of the offshore natural gas lines in Europe, that run underneath Russia on their way to Germany, with a name that sounds like it instead goes to countries in far Northern Europe?
Answer: Nord Stream
- Almost 80% of agricultural exports in Lithuania go to what bordering nation?
Answer: Russia
- What “L” Russian scientist and inventor devised an electrically powered incandescent light bulb with a tungsten filament in 1906, technically predating Thomas Edison?
Answer: Alexander Lodygin
- What dessert, popular in both New Zealand and Australia and named for a famous Russian dancer, is made from crisp meringue, whipped cream, and fresh fruit?
Answer: Pavlova
- What Russian-born actor played the titular King of Siam in “The King And I”, and chastised Moses as Ramses in “The Ten Commandments”, both in 1956? Later in life he played the villainous black-hatted cowboy robot in 1973’s “Westworld.”
Answer: Yul Brynner
- Citing an inability to guarantee delivery, on March 1, 2022, Nike made online purchases unavailable in what aggressor nation?
Answer: Russia
- Wassily Kandinsky was a turn of the 20th Century Russian painter, primarily known as one of the founders of what “A” art movement, art that does not attempt to capture external reality, but instead uses unique variations of shapes and forms?
Answer: Abstract Art
- Which term is used for a form of government where just a few powerful people are running the show? (Hint: A historical example might be Sparta, while Russia could be a more modern example.)
Answer: Oligarchy
- What Russian city of 300,000 people, which lies only 67 kilometers from the country's border with Norway, is by far the largest city in the world that lies above the Arctic Circle?
Answer: Murmansk
- What Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood is considered one of the country's best examples of traditional Russian architecture?
Answer: St. Theodosius
- Gazprom might well be the largest natural gas company in the world according to 2019 data. At the very least, it’s definitely the largest company (by sales, with revenue topping $120,000,000,000) in which country?
Answer: Russia
- In 2013, which country introduced the United States oil industry to Plasma-Pulse technology?
Answer: Russia
- Charoite is a rare, lavender gem that’s only found in what country that spans Eastern Europe to Northern Asia?
Answer: Russia
- At an April 21 football match, Arsenal fans displayed a banner in support of Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist currently being detained by what nation?
Answer: Russia
- Dave Malloy's hit 2012 music Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 is based on Part 8 of what famously thick Russian novel?
Answer: War and Peace
- In 1927, an early CCTV system was created by Russian physicist Leon Theremin. It was subsequently installed in the courtyard of what complex to monitor visitors coming and going?
Answer: Kremlin
- Which rig located off the coast of Russia and Japan near Sakhalin Island is the largest oil platform in the world as of 2023, weighing over 42,000 tons?
Answer: Berkut
- What form of the mineral chrysoberyl changes color from green in natural daylight and red in incandescent light? The stone was named after the Czar of Russia who was assassinated in 1881.
Answer: Alexandrite
- What sea is bordered on three sides by Russia (the Kamchatka Peninsula, Kiril Islands, and Sakhalin island) and on the south by Hokkaido in Japan?
Answer: Sea of Okhotsk
- In September 2023, billionaire Elon Musk confirmed controversial reports that he had limited the services of what satellite system in Crimea, preventing a Ukrainian attack on Russian fleet forces?
Answer: Starlink
- When he signed a treaty with Russia to buy land in 1867, he got mocked by members Congress because they felt like he had just paid a cool (very cool) $7 million for a “polar bear garden.” His purchase of what state became known as Seward’s Folly?
Answer: Alaska
- Which Russian psychologist main theory comprises of concepts such as culture-specific tools, private speech, and the zone of proximal development?
Answer: Lev Vygotsky
- Whose fish owl native to China, Japan, and Russian Far East is also known as Keptupa blakistoni, and is the biggest (living) species of owl?
Answer: Blakiston’s
- A 2000s movement to increase methodological diversity in the field of political science took its name from what period of reform in the Soviet Union during the 1980s, whose name is a Russian word meaning "Restructuring?"
Answer: Perestroika
- Though no actual wolverines were harmed during the mission, the U.S. military operation to capture Saddam Hussein was given the name of what 1984 action flick about Russia invading the U.S.?
Answer: Red Dawn
- Russia has a 231 mile long border with “A” nation, whose capital is Baku?
Answer: Azerbaijan
- When he invented the VS-300 in 1939, Russian-American inventor Igor Sikorsky created the first viable instance of what mode of transportation?
Answer: Helicopter
- What six-letter acronym names the precise and easily-moved-around rocket-launching system supplied by the U.S. to Ukraine, used with great success against Russia in the ongoing war?
Answer: HIMARS
- On February 7, 2022, President Joe Biden vowed that what Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline will be blocked if Russia continues aggression against Ukraine?
Answer: Nord Stream
- "Korobeiniki," a folk song about a peddler and a girl haggling over the price of goods, is best known outside Russia as the theme music for what video game?
Answer: Tetris
- Following the 1990 abolition of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the President of Russia position was established the following year. Who became Russia’s first president in 1991?
Answer: Boris Yeltsin
- The U.S.-owned Little Diomede Island lies just 2.4 miles away from Big Diomede Island, on the other side of the international border with what nation?
Answer: Russia
- San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen took Jack Kerouac’s phrase for his group of friends and added a Russian suffix to it. So goes the origin for what term for the members of a 1950s social movement focused on an anti-materialistic lifestyle?
Answer: Beatnik
- Coming from the Russian “to think”, what is the four-letter name of the legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia?
Answer: Duma
- What movie, based on a TV show from the 1980's, features Denzel Washington as a Boston intelligence officer who protects a teenager from the Russian mafia?
Answer: The Equalizer
- Aeroflot is the flag carrier (national airline) and largest airline in what country?
Answer: Russia
- What fermented milk drink gets its name from the grains that resemble its texture? It got its start in Russia before becoming more popular as a digestive aid around the world.
Answer: Kefir
- Looking to stimulate a stagnant Soviet economy in the '80s, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced what P-word political movement that's just Russian for "reconstruction" or "restructuring"?
Answer: Perestroika
- What form of stout is higher in alcohol, darker in color, and more complex in flavor than a regular stout? It was first created in 18th century England for export to the court of Russian empress Catherine the Great.
Answer: Imperial
- Establishing the end of the Soviet-Polish War on March 18, 1921 between the Russian & Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics and Poland, the Peace of Riga treaty was signed in what country?
Answer: Latvia
- The official languages of the United Nations are comprised of Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and what sixth language?
Answer: Russian
- What did the Aleut word "Aleyska" mean, which in the form "Alaska" was proposed by William Seward and his colleagues when the territory changed hands from Russia to the U.S. and was adopted in 1867 as the territory's name?
Answer: Great Land
- You’d have to submerge more than 5,000 feet down to reach the bottom of Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world. It’s also known as the Galapagos of what Eastern European and North Asian country?
Answer: Russia
- You don't have to be Captain Kirk, but you do need about $35 million, to get a condo in the Federation Tower overlooking what chilly capital city?
Answer: Moscow
- France’s national men’s soccer team walked away from what host country with the namesake championship trophy in the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
Answer: Russia
- What 20th-century Russian psychologist developed his theory of the zone of proximal development, or ZPD, where the ability of a novice to accomplish something is compared to what can be accomplished by someone with more specific knowledge?
Answer: Lev Vygotsky
- Famous for their hit “All the things she said” in the early 2000s, pop duo tATu hail from which country found in Europe?
Answer: Russia
- As measured by area, Russia is the largest country in Europe. What country is the second largest?
Answer: Ukraine
- Alaska is typically considered the seventh-largest country subdivision in the world by area. Two of the larger subdivisions are found in Russia and two in Australia. Name either of the other countries with a subdivision larger than Alaska.
Answer: Canada (Nunavut) or Denmark (Greenland)
- "Seward's Folly" was the contemporaneous nickname for The Alaska Purchase in 1867, which was technically a treaty with the Russian Empire later signed by what president?
Answer: Andrew Johnson
- What is the two-word ursine name of the Russian cyber espionage group, also known as APT28, thought to be operating since the 2000s
Answer: Fancy Bear
- Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in the Caucasus Range, is the highest mountain in Europe and in what European nation? The nation is also home to Mount Narodnaya and Lake Baikal.
Answer: Russia
- The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, the Pokrovsky Cathedral, and the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed are the alternate names for what famous Russian landmark located in Moscow’s Red Square?
Answer: St. Basil’s Cathedral
- With origins in 18th century Russia, what piece of fitness equipment has features including the handle, window, corners and horns?
Answer: Kettlebell
- What American painter of Russian descent is known for painting symmetrical rectangular blocks of color?
Answer: Mark Rothko
- Boris Goosinov is a Russian-born snow goose in a series of movies about (and named after) which Alaskan husky who led the team of sled dogs on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome?
Answer: Balto
- Based on a tale from Russian folklore, "The Firebird" is a 1910 ballet with music by what Russian composer also known for "The Rite of Spring?"
Answer: Igor Stravinsky
- Viewers often think the opening music to “Survivor” is just a bunch of nonsense words. However, the lyrics to the theme (which is called “Ancient Voices”) are based on a folk song from which country?
Answer: Russia
- What tsar ruled Russia at the time U.S. Secretary of State William Seward and Russian envoy Baron Edouard de Stoeckl signed the Treaty of Cession, ceding Alaska to the U.S.?
Answer: Alexander II
- On October 18, 1867, the Russian flag was officially lowered and the U.S. flag raised at the governor's house on what "hill" in Fort Sitka?
Answer: Castle Hill
- If you have the means, Alexandrite makes a pretty "great" gift and was originally mined in what continent-straddling nation?
Answer: Russia
- The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867, after Russia initially offered to which European country and was turned down? The area of territory for this country would have increased by 11,000 times if they bought Alaska.
Answer: Liechtenstein
- By what name deriving from the Russian for “swift” is the breed of dog previously known as the Russian Wolfhound, it having been bred in Russia coursing and hunting, now known?
Answer: Borzoi
- If you want to travel but don’t want to have to deal with layovers or switching modes of transport, how about taking the longest trip without having to change trains in the world? The roughly 7-day trek goes from Russia to what Asian country?
Answer: North Korea
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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