Russia seems to have a rather bad reputation in the English-speaking world. According to Pew Research Centre (2015), the median for opinions about Russia worldwide is rather unfavourable than favourable (51 to 30).
Let’s see why people may see Russia as a bad place to live.
Research on Russia’s Reputation in The World
Pew Research Centre (PRC) conducted a study to find out what people think about other countries in spring 2015 in their Global Attitudes Survey.
The results are presented here graphically. Opinion of Russia is largely unfavourable, experts concluded. 26 out of 39 countries have a rather negative opinion about Russia.
Countries with the most negative views about Russia:
- Poland
- Jordan
- Israel
- Germany
- France
- Japan
- Italy
- UK
- Spain
- Turkey
Countries with the most positive view on Russia:
- Vietnam
- China
- Ghana
- Ethiopia
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Nigeria
- India
- Burkina Faso
As you can see, western countries seem to have rather unfavourable opinion about Russia. African and Asian countries are more positive.
In 2011 49% of Americans were thinking positively about Russia; in 2015 this number dropped to 22%, according to PRC.
Why Russia and Russians Have a Bad Reputation?
The reasons for that are largely political. In the recent years after Russia’s takeover of Crimea attitudes towards the largest country in the world cooled down. Some even talk about the new cold war.
Main points for Russia’s poor reputation:
- Russia’s anti-gay laws got a lot of scrutiny in press although this is not what concerns most regular local citizens. However, this is what gets discussed a lot online and in the media.
- Since recently Hollywood movies again use Russians as antagonists. The image of Russia in these movies is usually very bleak, dark, and depressing. Many foreigners believe Russia to be a cold country with lots of snow. (They don’t even know that it may be quite hot in summer.)
- Russians indeed do not smile to strangers. This makes visitors to the country feel unwelcome. But that’s because of the old adage: Smiling without a reason is the sign of mental disability. Only a fool smiles without a reason. When Russians have a reason, they smile and laugh a lot.
- Russians have low respect for laws and rules. They may be some of the worst drivers in the world. Watch Russian car crash videos on YouTube, you will understand.
- Russian economics got badly hit lately with low prices for oil and gas. However, that’s not reflected in the external image of the country but on its internal situation.
- Corruption is widely admitted to be a problem in Russia.
- Some post-Soviet countries and the former Eastern European block countries are in strong opposition to Russia, especially in the Baltic region (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia). There is a lot of grievances coming from Soviet times. After the situation with Ukraine, small European countries have concerns about their own safety.
Is Russia’s negative reputation justified? Russians believe that their country is great and it’s ahead on many fronts. The level life today is definitely better than during Soviet times, when people were mostly happy and content.
But let’s not forget that Soviet Union collapsed already 24 years ago. Life in the west changed since then dramatically, too. Russia today has the same modern conveniences as any western country; it’s just the question whether people can afford them or not.
Moscow, Russia: Life isn’t too bad.
Is Russia a Bad Place To Live?
Geographically, Russia is the largest country on the planet.
It can be awfully cold in winter in Russia.
- It’s nearly twice the size of the second largest country, Canada. (USA is the third.)
- It covers 9 times zones (until recently there were 11 time zones, they joined some of them to simplify the management).
- But most of its territory is in the colder regions, many of which are uninhabitable.
So, talking about a place to live, there is a lot of locations to choose from, some are prettier or more awful than others. The quality of life largely depends on where precisely you are situated.
- Bigger cities offer better lifestyle.
- Smaller locations, villages, regional towns are rougher and life is harder.
Personally, I don’t like cold. I lived in Russia for nearly 30 years and I don’t miss the snow a single bit. Where I used to live, Yekaterinburg in the Urals, on the boundary between Europe and Asia, it could be up to -35C (-31F) in winter.
That’s pretty freezing. I don’t understand why anyone would be living in such a weather. Although in summer temperatures could reach +35C (95F).
But lots of people live in the areas with 4 seasons. So, cold winters are not the reason to say that Russia is a bad place to live.
Moscow and St. Petersburg have sizable expat communities, largely due to Russia’s low personal income tax. To pay 13% personal tax, a foreigner needs to spend in the country 183 days or more. If they reside there but spend less than 183 days, then they have to pay 30% tax on income, 15% on dividends.
Tax benefits are the main reason why some foreigners choose to live in Russia. The other reason is low cost of living. A westerner with a modest income, such as pension, can afford a better lifestyle in a Russian city than in his home country.
Cultural environment is diverse and exciting, and if you are not concerned about politics, life there could be not too bad.
Many Russians genuinely believe they wouldn’t be able to live anywhere else. They think their country has far superior facilities and values. Russians believe that they are deeper, kinder, and more understanding than western people.
So, is Russia bad? Of course, like every country it has its own awful and wonderful things.
To say that Russia is a bad country would be inaccurate. Its citizens lovingly call it, Mother Russia, and have the greatest respect to their motherland. They may have complaints about the government but I haven’t seen a nation who would be absolutely happy with their leaders.
I would certainly recommend you to visit Russia and make your own mind. Go to Moscow, St. Petersburg, take a river cruise, ride a long-distance train. Chat to locals. You will see the side of the country that you never knew existed.
Is it Paris? No, it’s Moscow, Russia.
The famous Kremlin in Moscow.
And, of course, the best thing in Russia — the Russian women! In summer they look stunning.
Read also:
- My First Trip To Russia: Russian Girls vs. Western Girls, Family Values, Relationships, and Love (by Luca Lampariello)
- Russia: Prospects of Economic Growth Delayed Until 2017
- Russia, Ukraine Are in Top 10 World’s Worst Economies
- What Russian and Ukrainian Women Mean by Bad Habits
It’s all true about the econonic hardships in Russia today, but you also have to cinsider Russian mentality. Notwithstanding the crisis, Russian people still think they are living in a great empire country and they always have their own opinion of the interational matters. Nobody likes strong opponents – thus the bad reputation. It’s like “I’m going to do it my way.” “Oh, you Russian barbarian bear!”
It’s extremely sad to see such bad but truthful statistics. But I can tell you my story, how my friend and I went for a week to Ibiza to have some fun. Our neighbours in hotel were two funny guys from London. They were so exited to meet some Russian girls that at the day of leaving they admitted to be so wrong about Russia in many ways. Now they know that people here are kind and friendly and there are definitely no bears walking through the streets!
Here is how Denmark deals with bad reputation, maybe Russia should do the same? 🙂
I saw a lot of people who used to think of Russia as a bad place to live. But they changed their opinion after they had a chance to know the country better. I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t be delighted with Russia after visiting it. People shouldn’t trust stereotypes and prejudices. Russia definitely has more pros, than cons.
Soviet Union was a great place to live, too! 🙂
I am not actually kidding, I am serious.
People were happy in Soviet Union. They thought they were extremely lucky to be born in absolutely the best country of the world. I thought so when I was at school; that’s how propaganda works. Russia has a new wave of patriotism right now, especially among young people who haven’t lived during the times of the USSR.
But I agree that westerners have too many stereotypes about Russia; many don’t even know it’s hot there in summer.
Monkeys in the zoo are also happy when they get a banana. Russians had no idea how isolated and how backward they were until the door opened and they saw they missed a couple of hundred years of progress
Bogdan Miltchev,
Are you actually comparing Russians with monkeys in the zoo? 😮
It’s sad to see and to hear such truthful but bad things about my native country… Some economical facts have not a big positive side. However if we are talking about weather conditions they are really great! If you are used to ignore cold weather- OK it’s your choice but in this case you’ll never know how awesome is to feel the whole “strength” of Russian winter and to have 4 completely different season. You’ll never be bored with such unpredictable weather!))
I think it’s all true. Our country has big problems with the economy, corruption. It’s very sad that many people suffer from this and they can’t influence the situation. The state does not care about people and thinks only about making money. Unfortunately, it happens in all countries
Since when did Poland count as “western”? Notice how the country which knows Russia best, due to closeness, hates it the most… The Russian people are fine. Stupid and fanatical, of course, like ordinary people in all countries where it serves the interests of the elite to keep the people stupid and fanatical (USA, China, Saudi Arabia, etc). It’s the rulers who are the problem and always have been the problem and always will be. Lucky to live on the Soviet Union, eh? Did your grandparents ever talk about the “good old days” of the 1930’s during the purges? Everything… Read more »
I’m from Russia but I don’t think that it’s the best country in the world. However, I tried to live in Europe and realized that I’d better live in Russia. My experience corresponds with the thought that Russian people don’t like laws. For me, European laws are too strict. It is good for ecology that they recycle but it’s too troublesome. I’ve seen long lists that mentioned where you should put different types of trash and it’s so difficult. European taxes and bills are also scary; I had to forget about long showers there. And of course I should’ve been… Read more »
“Go to Moscow, St. Petersburg, take a river cruise, ride a long-distance train. Chat to locals. You will see the side of the country that you never knew existed.” I visited Russia(Moscow, St. Petersburg & Nizhny) with one of my friend last summer. We did chat with locals and find them very helping. We where invited by a lady working in Nizhny shopping mall for having tea, I met some of the most caring people in Nizhny. No doubt all the cities are completely different from each other. I could notice a huge family life though like India. The cab… Read more »
Russians have no clue today or even historically about democracy the way it exists in the West. 90% of Russia was peasants owned by the local landlords until the Russian revolution. Thus the difference between Russian people and the Western world. Russian not only tolerate, they adore and need a tyrant: a Czar, party leader, now Putin. People in the west don’t. Russia is stuck in medieval times and needs to evolve in the modern world. That is not to say there are not good and educated and worldly Russian. Those in my mind are exceptions though.
As a college student in America, I once had a Russian professor. He grew up in the Soviet Union. He lectured us about cooperation, coercion, and game theory. He tried to teach us that dictatorship may be preferable to democracy because it is more bureaucratically efficient. Dictatorship also requires less effort from the populace. Very unusual to hear a college professor promote these ideas, but the more I learn about Russians the more I understand this is simply how they think.
Your comment reflects my experience perfectly.