MOSCOW, June 11 (RIA Novosti) – Only 50% of Russian citizens know the correct name of the June 12 national holiday – the Day of Russia, according to a survey by the Levada Center independent pollster.
The survey, published on Monday, indicates that another 30% of Russians know this holiday by its previous name – the Day of Signing the Declaration of National Sovereignty, while 7% cannot name the holiday at all and 7% do not consider it a holiday.
The survey was conducted on May 23-27 in 45 Russian regions and involved 1,601 respondents. The margin of error is 3.4 percent.
The First Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation adopted the Declaration on Russia's National Sovereignty on June 12, 1990.
June 12 was proclaimed Russia's national holiday by the then Russian President Boris Yeltsin on June 2, 1994.
Originally named the Day of Signing the Declaration of National Sovereignty, the holiday was officially renamed to the Day of Russia in 2002.
Russia’s opposition and human rights activists plan to stage a rally in Moscow on June 12 this year, according to the opposition's Coordination Council.
