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According to Russians foreigners see Russia as an interesting country with strong power.

MOSCOW, October 8, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning the way that foreigners view Russia.

What is the image of Russia in the world? More than two-thirds of Russians think that foreigners see Russia as an interesting country (4.04 points). Russians also believe that Russia looks like a country with a strong power (3.92). Independence is one of Russia`s typical characteristics (3.79).

Respondents consider that residents of other countries perceive Russia as a state where responsive people live (3.81). Most of respondents are confident that Russia is perceived as a friendly (3.70) and hospitable state (3.74). Half of respondents also think that foreigners regard Russia as a tolerant country (3.49).

More than half of Russians think that the Russian state appears to be rich (average meaning of 3.71).  Russia is regarded as a thrifty (3.15) and an authoritarian (2.96) country or a country striving for excellence (2.95).

According to the survey data, foreigners think that spiritual values are more important for Russians than materialist values (3.39). Russians agree that a typical trait of Russians is improvidence (2.78).

People living in other countries are likely to think that Russians are stubborn (2.83) and have high self-assessment (3.18). Respondents think that foreigners describe Russians as being hard-working rather than lazy (3.07).

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on May 31 – June 1, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement.  The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%. 

What statement do you most agree with? Foreigners see Russia as …

(closed-ended question, one answer; INDEX ,1 to 5 scale, where 1 – fully disagree, 5 – fully agree)

An interesting country

4.04

A country with strong power

3.92

A responsive country

3.81

An independent country  

3.79

A hospitable country  

3.74

A rich country  

3.71

A friendly country  

3.70

A tolerant country  

3.49

A country striving for spiritual values

3.39

A country where people have high self-assessment

3.18

A practical country  

3.15

A country of people who work hard

3.07

An authoritarian country

2.96

A country striving for excellence

2.95

A stubborn country

2.83

A spendthrift country

2.7 

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!

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