The Bolsheviks abolished the old Christian tradition of celebrating Christ's birth and instead introduced a lavish secular celebration for New Year. But what was Christmas like before the 1917 Revolution?

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How many ETHNIC groups live in Russia?​

The world’s largest country has a wealth of ethnic diversity. But how many ethnic groups and peoples live there and who they actually are is a question that even its own citizens won’t be able to give a ready answer to. Millions of people in Russia call themselves “Russian nationals” and they certainly are - but without regarding themselves as ethnically Russian. A “Russian national” is a matter of citizenship; as for ethnic self-identification, things can look much more complicated.

According to the 2010 census, there are as many as 193 ethnic groups living in Russia. It sounds like a very high number, doesn’t it? And yet, Russia is not even in the top 50 countries with a high degree of ethnic diversity and it is considered to be quite homogeneous in terms of the ratio of ethnic minorities per capita (the world’s 20 most diverse countries are all located in Africa). Out of a population of 137 million who indicated their nationality at the time (the total population of Russia was 143 million), 80.1 percent of its citizens are ethnically Russian and all the rest add up to 19.1 percent.

   Read more of this article at the following link:   https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/334417-how-many-ethnic-groups​