Travel
Which are the most popular countries for tourists in the world? Name top 3
France (102 million tourists)
Spain (93 million tourists)
USA (72 million tourists)
Followed by Turkey and Italy
What is the longest river in the world? Where is it?
The river Nile in Egypt (6,695 km long) is the longest. It is followed by the Amazon in South America (6,575 km in length) and the Yangtse in China (6,300 km). The Yanisey and Ob-Irtysh are the longest rivers in Russia with 5,539 km and 5,410 km in length accordingly followed by the Amur (4,444 km) and Lena (4,400 km). The Volga River that passes through Russia is the longest river in Europe with its length of approximately 3,530 km.
Which are the oldest cities in the world?
Which is the most expensive city in the world?
Each year, Mercer, the consultancy focused on global economics, publishes its list of the most expensive cities in the world. Out of 226 cities in 2025 Singapore took the top position as the most expensive city in the world. Other top cities on the list are Hong Kong in Asia, Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland, Copenhagen in Denmark, New York and Los Angeles in the United States.
What kinds of sport are the most popular in the world? Name top 3
Football with 3.5 billion fans out of 8 billion world's population is the top sport followed by cricket (2.5 billion fans) and hockey (2 billion fans). In Russia, football and hockey are also the most popular, as well as figure skating and skiing being on top the list.
Which are the most visited cities by tourists in the world? Name top three
Bangkok (30 million tourists)
London (22 million tourists)
Hong Kong (21 million tourists)
Followed by Kuala Lumpur and Atlanta
Which is the highest mountain on Earth?
Mount Everest (8,849 m high) in Himalayas is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It is near the border with China and Nepal. K2, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen at 8,611 meters is the second-highest mountain on Earth and it is near the China-Pakistan border in the Karakoram range. Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe with 5,642 m above sea level. Elbrus has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanos - the highest in Eurasia.
Which are the oldest known civilizations? Name three of them
1. The Mesopotamian Civilization (3500 BC–500 BC) located in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Around 4000 B.C., the earliest phase of the Sumerian culture arose as the oldest civilization. 2. The Indus Valley Civilization (3300 BC–1900 BC) located in Northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India covering 1.25 million km. 3. The Ancient Egyptian Civilization (3150 BC–30 BC) in Egypt famous for its pyramids. Other ancient civilizations were Mayans, Incas, Aztecs in the Americas, Ancient China, Greece and Rome that we all know about. Ancient civilizations located in Russia include Arkaim (4800 years old) near Chelyabinsk, Yamnaya culture (IV-III milleniums BC) near Volgograd, Scythians (I millennium BC) in southern Russia and Ukraine.
Which are the largest religions in the world? Name top 3
Christianity - 2.38 billion followers
Islam - 1.9 billion followers
Hinduism - 1.16 billion followers
In Russia 71% are Orthodox Christians, 10% are Muslims.
Which are the oldest sports in the world? Name one of five
Wrestling is widely recognised as one of the oldest sports in the world. Ancient cave paintings in France, dating back around 15,000 years, show what appear to be wrestling matches. Running is the most fundamental sport. Historical evidence of competitive running dates back to ancient times. Archery is another of the world’s oldest sports. Evidence of early archery dates back to 10,000 BC. The sport was also prominent in ancient civilisations such as Egypt and China. Polo, gymnastics and swimming are also on the list.
Which are the most famous tourist attractions in the world? Name top 3
The Eiffel Tower
The Great Wall of China
The Taj Mahal
Also famous are the Statue of Liberty and Great Pyramids of Egypt
Which is the coldest place on Earth?
Antarctica with the lowest temperature recorded on August 10,2010 of 93.2 degrees C. It is also one the driest places on Earth, receiving about 20 mm of precipitation a year (snow). The second place is Denali or Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America located in Alaska with the lowest temperature of -73 but with wind it can be as low as -83.4. Klink weather station in Greenland recorded -69.6 in 1991 and Oymyakon in Russia -67.7 in 1933.
Sport
What sports do you like? How often do you do sport or excercise?
Who are the most famous composers in the world? Name at least 5
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi
Frederic Chopin
Pyotr Ilyich Chaikovsky
Joseph Haydn
TV
What kind of TV shows do you like watching? Why?
Which are the tallest buildings in the world? Name top 3
Burj Khalifa in Dubai (828 meters high)
Merdeka 118 in Malaysia (680 meters high)
Shanghai Tower in China (632 meters high)
Russia also has the tallest buildings in Europe Lakhta Tower (462 m) in St. Petersburg and Federation Tower (374 m) in Moscow City
Which is the driest place on Earth?
Dry Valleys in Antarctica with the average rainfall of 0. Arica in Chile is the driest city in the world surrounded by the Atakama desert, where they had no rain for over 500 years (average rainfall: 0.7mm a year). Al Khufrah is the driest spot in Africa, near Lybia, with 0.8mm of rainfall a year. The desert here is covered by sand dunes up to 300 meters high.
Next holiday
When and where are you going for your next holiday?
Which are the most well-known paintings in the world? Name at least 3 of top 10
The Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci is displayed in Louvre museum of Paris. The Last Supper is another famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci placed in the Santa Maria Delle Grazie Monastery in Milan. The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh is displayed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Scream painted by Edvard Munch shows a frightened person screaming and is housed in the National Gallery, Oslo, Norway. The Girl With a Pearl Earring called the "Dutch Mona Lisa" is a work of art by Johannes Vermeer on display in The Hague, Netherlands. Among the Russian people there are also such well-known paintings as Black Square by Kazimir Malevich, the Ninth Wave by Ivan Aivazovsky and The Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Ivan Kramskoy
Tomorrow
What are you doing tomorrow?
Which are the busiest airports in the world? Name top 3
Atlanta airport in the USA (108 million passengers)
Dubai airport in the UAE (95 million passengers)
Tokyo Haneda airport in Japan (91 million passengers a year)
Although Moscow is not mentioned, it could be in the list with its SVO airport (50 million), DME (35 million) and VKO (24 million)
What is the wettest place on Earth?
With an average annual rainfall of 11,871 millimeters, the town of Mawsynram in northeast India is Earth's wettest place. Besides India other top places for heavy rainfall are in Colombia, South America and Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Bergen in Norway is the wettest place in Europe with 8,8 mm of rainfall a day. The wettest city in Russia is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has on average 82,9mm rainfall for year.
Which are the oldest cities in the world? Name at least one of them
Damascus, Syria, often recognized as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, was established around 3000 BC. Nearby, Jericho in the West Bank of Palestine dates back to about 11,000 years ago. Further down the Nile, Faiyum, Egypt, founded around 4000 BC and Luxor are often considered as the oldest cities in the world. A coastal city in Lebanon, Byblos dates back to around 8000 BC. Susa in Iran dates back to 4400 BC and Plovdiv in Bulgaria to around 6000 BC. The oldest cities in Russia are Derbent dating back to the 6th century BC and Kerch to the 7th century BC, Veliky Novgorod to the 8th century AD.
Who are the best-selling authors of all time? Name top 3 of them
1. William Shakespeare, England ~ 4.0 billion copies
2. Agatha Christie, UK ~ 2.0 billion
3. Danielle Steel, USA ~ 1.0 billion
Top three best-selling authors in Russia are Fedor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Bulgakov and Alexander Pushkin.
Last film
What was the last film you saw? What was it about?