The World of Languages · Indo-European
Russian · русский
The most widely spoken Slavic language and a lingua franca across much of the former Soviet Union, written in Cyrillic.
- 133 million native speakers
- 210 million speakers in total
- Cyrillic script
- FSI Category III · 44 weeks
- Official in 5 countries
Where Russian is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Russia · РоссияOfficial language · 132M (94%)
- Ukraine · УкраинаOfficial language · 16M (46%)
- Kazakhstan · КазахстанOfficial language · 15M (72%)
- Poland · ПольшаWidely spoken · 7M (18%)
- Uzbekistan · УзбекистанWidely spoken · 5.1M (14%)
- Germany · ГерманияWidely spoken · 5M (6%)
- Kyrgyzstan · КиргизияOfficial language · 2.2M (36%)
- Lithuania · ЛитваWidely spoken · 2.1M (80%)
- Bulgaria · БолгарияWidely spoken · 1.6M (23%)
- Tajikistan · ТаджикистанWidely spoken · 1.2M (12%)
- Belarus · БеларусьOfficial language · 1.1M (12%)
- Israel · ИзраильWidely spoken · 1M (11%)
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 133 million
- Second-language (L2) speakers
- 77 million
- Total speakers
- 210 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia
Russian at a glance
Russian is an East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is the native language of the Russian people. Russian was the de facto (and de jure in its final years) official language of the former Soviet Union. It has remained an official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, has constitutional status as the language of inter-ethnic communication in Tajikistan, and is still used as a lingua franca in Ukraine, Moldova, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and to a lesser extent in the Baltic states and Israel.
From the Wikipedia article Russian language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in Russian
- русский
- Family
- Indo-EuropeanClassical Indo-EuropeanBalto-SlavicSlavicEast Slavic
- Writing system
- Cyrillic alphabet (33 letters)
- Direction
- Left to right
- Official in
- Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
rus· Glottologruss1263· Q7737 - Writing sample
Все люди рождаются свободными и равными в своем достоинстве и правах. Они наделены разумом и совестью и должны поступать в отношении друг друга в духе братства.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is Russian for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Russian in Category III: about 44 weeks (1100 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0).
The Russian script
Cyrillic alphabet (33 letters). Tap a character to hear it (your device reads the letter name or sound).
Standard letters from Unicode CLDR exemplar characters.
Useful Russian phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- оди́н odín
- два dva
- три tri
- четы́ре četýre
- пять pjatʹ
- шесть šestʹ
- семь semʹ
- во́семь vósemʹ
- де́вять dévjatʹ
- де́сять désjatʹ
Days of the week
- Mon понедельник
- Tue вторник
- Wed среда
- Thu четверг
- Fri пятница
- Sat суббота
- Sun воскресенье
Everyday words
- water вода́ vodá
- cat ко́шка kóška
- dog соба́ка sobáka
- coffee ко́фе kófe
- beer пи́во pívo
- bread хлеб xleb
- book кни́га kníga
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in Russian voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Standard Russian (Moscow-based)
Russia
“Akanye”: unstressed o sounds like a, so молоко (milk) is said “malakó”.
Northern Russian dialects
Arkhangelsk, Vologda
“Okanye”: unstressed o keeps its o sound, “molokó”.
Southern Russian dialects
Ryazan, Kursk, Voronezh
The letter г is often a soft fricative [ɣ], like in Ukrainian.
Russian outside Russia
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Baltic states, Israel, diaspora
Largely standard, with local loanwords and some regional intonation.
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables and false friends
тоска
toská
An aching, restless sadness or longing; Nabokov said no single English word renders it.
почемучка
pochemúchka
A child (or adult) who asks “why?” too often, from почему (why).
пошлость
póshlost'
Smug, pretentious vulgarity or banality, also famously discussed by Nabokov.
False friends for English speakers
| Russian | Looks like | Actually means |
|---|---|---|
| магазин magazín | magazine | shop |
| фамилия famíliya | family | surname |
| артист artíst | artist (painter) | performer, actor |
Curious facts
- Russian has six grammatical cases, so nouns change their endings depending on their role in the sentence.
- Stress is free and unpredictable, and it can move: рука́ (hand) but ру́ки (hands). Learner materials mark it with an accent.
- Russian has no articles (no “a” or “the”) and usually drops the verb “to be” in the present tense: “Я студент” = “I [am a] student”.
- Verbs come in aspect pairs: делать (to do, ongoing) vs сделать (to get it done).
- The letter ё is often written as plain е, so readers have to know where it belongs.
Famous Russian-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
Russian culture now
War and Peace
1869 literary work by Leo Tolstoy
Masha and the Bear
Russian animated TV series
Brother (1997 film)
1997 Russian film
Leviathan (2014 film)
Russian crime drama film
Kino (band)
Soviet rock band
Swan Lake
1877 ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Learn Russian on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with Russian courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know Russian?
Where to learn Russian
Learn Russian
LangMagic's guide to learning Russian.
LangMagicRussian Content Portal
Russian videos, with smooth progress from teachers' channels to native content.
LangMagicThe Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage Russian phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: Russian
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: Russian
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: Russian dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, Russian language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).