One evening several years ago we were sitting around with a mix of people, and we were all talking. First, it was a bit of politics. This was 2016, for some context - shortly after the US presidential election. After politics, the conversation shifted to travel and where everybody was thinking of going next. And then it got pretty specific: Where in Europe have we all traveled? I shared where I had gone, and then places where Kade and I had been together. We brought up our trip to Russia in 2007. Kade, in fact, said it with enthusiasm. "Russia!" As soon as she did, somebody blurted out in a dismissive way, "Russia's not in Europe!" Interesting. This person had a PhD. After letting a few seconds pass, I asked, "You sure about that?" I corrected them, in a playful, polite way. I stayed with the facts. It dawned on me, in that instant, and then later upon reflection: So many people were upset that Donald Trump had just been elected president, and believed the prevailing opinion (true or not) that Russia was responsible for that outcome, it had short-circuited some brains (not all, folks), causing normally pretty rational people to become irrational in ways. In this case, even basic geography was getting hammered. Could have been an innocent mix-up, or just a fact they didn't know. Possible. But then my correction was met with a little resistance. Somebody even said, "I wouldn't go there!" That would have been a separate issue and topic to explore. But damn. Imagine then, if I had shared some positive thoughts on Putin - or even just some basic facts about him - how quickly the temp would have gone up. Raw emotion. Our lizard brains. Funny how all that works, and how "group think" can take over, and how easily we fall into that, and even perhaps defend it. We all are susceptible to this. Don't think you aren't! The moment you do is the moment you become an idiot in some fashion. Coming from my background, I know it first-hand. What I have learned, though, as I have aged and thought about things, it's not just the far right (in the US) that gets loony, it's the far-left. I have met some very nice people on the far-left in US politics - intelligent on so many matters - who are as certain and sure as I ever was. Very little critical thinking exists. It's my group vs. your group. Something to think about. That experience I had - encountering opposition, even to harmless geography - showed how emotions can trump (no pun intended) common sense, rationality and even science. We have a long way to go to be as smart and sophisticated as we think we are.
Biggest country by land area in Europe (by far) - Russia
Most populated country in Europe - Russia
European Russian (just it) is 40% of the total size of all of Europe.
Another fact: Russia is also in Asia. Its Asian land mass is by far largest in all of Asia, dwarfing China by almost 4,000,000 (km2).
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