Forty-one percent of Russians think that the world's general view of Russia is positive, and 36% think it is negative. News and discussions in the media about complications in Russia's relations with other countries have no effect on the distribution

The issue of stability is actively discussed in Russian today, both by the media and politicians. We asked respondents how they understand the word "stability" in terms of society, and also in terms of the country as a whole. The

Russian public health care institutions today provide services only to holders of mandatory health insurance policies, which is a fact known to all Russians (94% of Russians "know" and 5% "have heard" about that). Almost all adult Russians (96%) have

Estonia's decision to move the monument to a Soviet soldier from Tallinn's Tonismagi Square to a war cemetery is currently rated number-one news in Russia, according to a recent POF poll. As many as 28% of Russians view it as

The percentage of Russians stating an inclination to take part in protests and demonstrations re-mains the same as three years ago: today 28% of Russians surveyed (17% in Moscow) say they would take part in a protest. The percentage of

Demographic analysts say Russia's birthrate is falling as the age of new mothers is rising. Russians seem to have different ideas about this issue. Although most respondents (79%) acknowledge that the birthrate is low, only half (52%) believe that it

Today, less than a year before the next parliamentary elections, 12% of Russians expressed a positive attitude towards Yabloko, and 37% gave negative responses (among respondents with higher education, 20% and 40% respectively). Eleven percent of Russians believe that Yabloko's

Seventy-six percent of Russians believe that life expectancy in Russia is lower than in developed countries, while 11% think it is the same and just 3% suggest that Russians live longer than people in developed countries. Nearly half of the

According to a recent POF poll, the overwhelming majority of Russians (76%) approve of the idea to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. On the other hand, 17% feel indifferent about it, 3% disapprove of it and 4% had

According to our poll data, beggars represent a widespread phenomenon in Russia. Only 16% of respondents say they have not seen any beggars in public places in the last two or three years, while 82% have (often: 58%, rarely: 24%).

Love is in the air as Valentine's Day approaches. We have often asked our respondents about their love experiences1 or how they define true love.2 This year we asked them about jealousy. Over one-third (37%) of those surveyed insist that

Doctors are human and make mistakes just like the rest of us. The difference is that their mistakes can mean the difference between health and illness, and sometimes between life and death. According to a recent poll, 42% of Russians

As part of traditional surveys conducted at the end of every year, we asked Russians to evaluate the state of the national economy and their own well-being for 2006 and voice their expectations for the year to come. Thirty-four percent

The overwhelming majority of elderly and middle-aged Russians have generally favorable recollections of Leonid Brezhnev and his time, according to the results of our latest poll. On the whole, sixty-one percent of respondents believe Brezhnev's era was good for the

What does 'patriotism' mean to Russians today, and what criteria do they use when acknowledging someone as a patriot? The results of the POF's last poll provide some insight into this matter. In their answers to the open-ended question: "What

Incertitude towards the future was a predominant feeling in Russia of the 1990s. Radical social changes, economic and political instability, unpredictable government, general disorientation and misunderstanding of new, unfamiliar and constantly changing rules of the game caused a sense of

As our latest poll shows, more than one-quarter of Russians (27%) don't drink alcohol at all and one-third (32%) drink it only several times a year. One has to bear in mind, however, that 14% of the population drink alcoholic

According to the latest opinion poll, forty-eight of Russians live where they were born. Muscovites are the most settled population of all: 68% of them call Moscow their native city. In megapolises, small cities and villages, indigenous inhabitants account for