The United Nations(UN)’s Russian Language Day is annually observed across the globe on June 6th to create awareness about the history, culture and development of the Russian language. The day also aims to celebrate cultural diversity and multilingualism.
- 6th June marks the birth anniversary of Russian poet Aleksandr Sergeev Pushkin (A.S. Pushkin), the sun of Russian poetry, and the founder of the modern Russian literature.
- A.S. Pushkin was born on 26th May 1799(Julian calendar) which falls on 6th June in the Georgian calendar, in Moscow, Russia.
Every year, Russia celebrates June 6th as “Pushkin Day”.
Background:
i.On the eve of the International Mother Language Day (21st February 2010), the Department of Public Information (now Department of Global Communications) announced the launch of “Language Days at the United Nations”, a new initiative which aims to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity.
ii.Under the initiative, organisations under the UN across the globe were encouraged to celebrate 6 “Language Days” dedicated to the 6 official languages of the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
- The UN Russian Language Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010.
Note:
On 1st February 1946, UNGA resolution 2 (I) established Chinese, French, English, Russian and Spanish as official languages, and English and French as working languages.
About Russian:
i.Russian is the official language of the Russian Federation, the largest country in the world.
ii.It is the 8th most spoken language in the world with around 258 million Russian speakers mostly in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and North America, among other regions,
iii.There are around 155 million native Russian speakers in the world which is around 2.4% of the world’s population.
iv.Russian is called an “International Language of Space” and astronauts need to learn the language on the International Space Station(ISS). English and Russian are the official languages of ISS.
Other UN Language Days:
- French Language Day (20 March)
- Chinese Language Day (20 April)
- English Language Day (23 April)
- Spanish Language Day (23 April)
- Arabic Language Day (18 December)
