‘Vodka’ is a russian word. It kind of, sort of, means “little water”, but needs to be understood in a russian context. ‘Voda’ means water, and whatever word you place -ka at the end of, is a endearing term, often used towards children, or other well liked ‘lesser’ companions. If you had a little sister called Lisa, you could call her Liska to show affection. In extension, this leads to Vodka being small and well liked water. Further interpretations include “the water of life”, which is interesting, as it shares this interpretation with Whisky, Aquavit and Eau de Vie.
The fact that all these terms have similar interpretations is very interesting, but it does have a common origin, as distillation in many ways can be seen as a reduction of something else to its very essence or core or spirit. Therefore the word spirit. Therefore the term the Water of Life? Maybe.
Anyways. Russia makes Vodka. So does Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and shitloads of other countries.
In its most basic form, vodka is about purity, and should not have any other taste/smell than the alcohol itself. Therefore, the better vodkas are often distilled four or more times, and filtered four or more times, through different methods. This can be pouring it through sand, coal, or chemically cleansed, passed through electrolytes or black magic. Most vodkas utilize a continuous Coffey still for larger batches and higher volume, though pot stills have been used for some. The jury is still out whether pot still brings any qualities to the vodka you actually want, as the purity is the main point for most.
Vodka and its purity therefore lends itself well to adding taste. Which leads to the tradition of flavoured vodkas, that you find in most vodka producing vicinities; in poland cinnamon is common enough, lemon is common all over, as well as a plethora of other flavors added, chemically or naturally infused. You can check out the Absolut range for an idea of this phenomenon, as well as the Smirnoff range. Also, have a sip of Zubrowka, that is infused with Bison Grass, to feel that polish cinnamon thing.
By studying peoples drinking habits, some very interesting theses have been made. This includes the Alcohol Belts of Europe, a term you should totally google.