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Moscow is the capital and largest city of
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, standing on the
Moskva River The Moskva (, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About southeast of Moscow, at the cit ...
in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents within the city limits, over 19.1 million residents in the urban area, and over 21.5 million residents in its metropolitan area. The city covers an area of , while the urban area covers , and the metropolitan area covers over . Moscow is among the world's largest cities, being the most populous city entirely in Europe, the largest urban and
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
in Europe, and the largest city by land area on the European continent. First documented in 1147, Moscow became the capital of the Grand Principality of Moscow, which led the unification of the Russian lands in the 15th century and became the center of a unified state. Following the proclamation of the
Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...
in 1547, Moscow remained the political and economic center for most of its history. During the reign of
Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
, the Russian capital was moved to the newly founded city of
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
in 1712, leading to a decline in Moscow's importance throughout the imperial period. Following the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
and the establishment of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
, the capital was moved back to Moscow in 1918. The city later became the political center of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and experienced significant population growth throughout the Soviet period. In the aftermath of the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
, Moscow remained the capital city of the newly reconstituted Russian Federation and has experienced continued growth. The northernmost and coldest
megacity A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report defines megacities as urban a ...
in the world, Moscow is governed as a
federal city The term federal city is a title for certain cities in Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and several national capitals. Germany In Germany, the former West German capital Bonn has been designated with the title of federal city (''Bundesstadt''), ma ...
, where it serves as the political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
. Moscow has one of the world's largest urban economies. Moscow has the second-highest number of billionaires of any city (tied with
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
). The
Moscow International Business Center The Moscow International Business Center (MIBC), also known as Moscow-City, is an under-construction commercial development in Moscow, the capital of Russia. The project occupies an area of 60 hectares, and is located just east of the Third Rin ...
is one of the largest
financial center A financial centre (financial center in American English) or financial hub is a location with a significant concentration of commerce in financial services. The commercial activity that takes place in a financial centre may include banking, ...
s in the world and features the majority of Europe's tallest skyscrapers. Moscow was the host city of the
1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...
and one of the host cities of the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
. The city contains several UNESCO
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
s and is known for its display of
Russian architecture The architecture of Russia refers to the architecture of modern Russia as well as the architecture of both the original Kievan Rus', the Russian principalities, and Imperial Russia. Due to the geographical size of modern and Imperial Russia, i ...
, particularly in areas such as
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...
and buildings such as
Saint Basil's Cathedral The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed (), known in English as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia. The building, now a museum, is officially known as ...
and the
Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...
, the latter of which is the seat of power of the
Government of Russia The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...
. Moscow is home to Russian companies in different industries and is served by a comprehensive transit network, which includes four international airports, ten railway terminals, a
tram system A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include seg ...
, a monorail system, and the
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...
, which is the busiest metro system in Europe and one of the largest
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
systems in the world. The city has over 40 percent of its territory covered by greenery, making it one of the greenest cities in the world.


Etymology

The city's name is thought to be derived from the
Moskva River The Moskva (, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About southeast of Moscow, at the cit ...
. Theories of the origin of the name of the river have been proposed. The most linguistically well-grounded and widely accepted is from the Proto-Balto-Slavic root *''mŭzg''-/''muzg''- from the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
*'- "wet", so the name ''Moskva'' might signify a river at a wetland or marsh. Its
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
s include , "pool, puddle", and "to wash", "to drown", "to dip, immerse". In many Slavic countries Moskov is a surname, most common in Russia,
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and
North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
. Additionally, there are similarly named places in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
like
Mozgawa Mozgawa is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Pińczów, within Pińczów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately south of Pińczów and south of the regional capital Kielce Kielce ( ...
. According to a
Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic languages, Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in ...
hypothesis, the Merya and
Muroma The Volga Finns are a historical group of peoples living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzyas, Erzya and the Mokshas, Moksha (commonly grouped together as Mordvins) ...
people, who were among the pre-Slavic tribes which inhabited the area, called the river ''Mustajoki'' "Black river", and the name of the river derives from this term. Other theories, having little or no scientific basis, are rejected by linguists. The Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *, *, hence it was one of a few Slavic ''ū''-stem nouns. As with other nouns of that declension, it had been undergoing a morphological transformation at the early stage of the development of the language, as a result, the first written references in the 12th century were , (
accusative case In grammar, the accusative case ( abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: "me", "him", "he ...
), , (
locative case In grammar, the locative case ( ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. In languages using it, the locative case may perform a function which in English would be expressed with such prepositions as "in", "on", "at", and ...
), , (
genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...
). From the latter forms came the modern Russian form , , which is a result of morphological generalization with the numerous Slavic ''ā''-stem nouns. The form ''Moskovĭ'' has left traces in other languages, including ; ; ; ; and . Moscow has acquired
epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
s, such as the " third Rome". Moscow is one of twelve Hero Cities. The
demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...
for a Moscow resident is rendered as ''Muscovite'' in English.


History


Prehistory

The site of modern-day Moscow has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Among the earliest finds are relics of the Lyalovo culture, which experts assign to the
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period. They confirm that the first inhabitants of the area were hunters and gatherers. Around 950 AD, two Slavic tribes,
Vyatichi The Vyatichs or more properly Vyatichi or Viatichi () were a tribe of Early East Slavs who inhabited regions around the Oka River, Oka, Moskva River, Moskva and Don (river), Don rivers. The Vyatichi had for a long time no princes, but the soci ...
and Krivichi, settled here. The Vyatichi may have formed the majority of Moscow's indigenous population.


Early history (1147–1263)

Moscow is first mentioned in chronicles under the year 1147, as part of the principality of Rostov-Suzdal, which emerged from the disintegration of
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
. It was referred to as a meeting place of
Yuri Dolgorukiy Yuri I Vladimirovich (; ; c. 1099 – 15 May 1157), commonly known as Yuri Dolgorukiy (, ) or the Long Arm, was a Monomakhovichi prince of Rostov and Suzdal, acquiring the name ''Suzdalia'' during his reign. Noted for successfully curbing t ...
and Sviatoslav Olgovich. At the time, it was a minor town on the western border of the principality. The importance of Moscow greatly increased during the second half of the 12th century, and it was converted into a fortified ''gorod'' (stronghold) in the 1150s, with the first walls of the
Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...
being built. During the Mongol invasions of 1237–1238, Moscow was sacked following the destruction of
Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...
. The first prince of Moscow was Daniel, the youngest son of
Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263). ...
, and in 1263, he was given Moscow as an '' otchina'' (hereditary land), where he established a local branch of
Rurikid The Rurik dynasty, also known as the Rurikid or Riurikid dynasty, as well as simply Rurikids or Riurikids, was a noble lineage allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself at Novgorod in the ...
princes. Two chronicles refer to Mikhail Khorobrit as "Mikhail of Moscow" in the mid-13th century, but Daniel is generally considered to be the first prince of Moscow. On Mikhail's death in 1248, if it is assumed that an
appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...
principality was created, Moscow reverted as an escheat to the grand prince of Vladimir. Until 1271, the principality was ruled by the governors of Daniel's uncle Yaroslav, who was given
Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...
as an appanage. Daniel himself is first mentioned in chronicles under the year 1282 as taking part in a feudal war between his two older brothers.


Grand Principality (1263–1547)

By the turn of the century, Moscow was one of the leading principalities within
Vladimir-Suzdal The Principality of Suzdal, from 1157 the Grand Principality of Vladimir, commonly known as Vladimir-Suzdal, or simply Suzdalia, was a medieval principality that was established during the disintegration of Kievan Rus'. In historiography, the ...
, alongside
Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...
. On the right bank of the Moskva River, at a distance of from the Kremlin, Daniel founded the first monastery with the wooden church of St. Daniel-Stylite, which is now the
Danilov Monastery Danilov Monastery (also ''Svyato-Danilov Monastery'' or ''Holy Danilov Monastery''; ) is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. Since 1983, it has functioned as the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox church and the o ...
. Following Daniel's death in 1303, the territory of the principality had almost tripled in size, encompassing the entire Moskva River along with its
tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
, which allowed Moscow to become self-sufficient. The principality was also provided with an excellent river network that facilitated trade. Daniel's descendants struggled with the princes of Tver for succession to the grand principality.
Yury Jury, Jurij, Iurii, Iouri, Yury, Yuri, Youri, Yurii, Yuriy or Yurij is the Slavic (, or , or , or ) form of the masculine given name George; it is derived directly from the Greek form Georgios and related to Polish Jerzy, Czech Jiří, and Slo ...
won recognition from the Mongol khan as the grand prince in 1318, but he lost the title four years later. Ivan I recovered the grand princely throne from Tver after proving himself to be a loyal servant of the khan. Ivan collected the tribute to the khan of the
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
from dependent Russian princes and he used the funds he acquired to develop Moscow. The metropolitan of the Russian Church also found an ally in Ivan and moved his seat from the nominal capital of Vladimir to Moscow. The foundation of Moscow's first stone church, the Dormition Cathedral, was laid in 1326, and the metropolitan chose to be buried there – an act that would cement Moscow's status as the spiritual center of Russian Orthodoxy. Masonry building continued in the following years with the construction of additional stone churches. The limestone walls and towers of the Kremlin were built in 1366–1368. A distinct architectural school emerged in the late 14th century. The khan of the Golden Horde initially backed Moscow in an effort to halt the eastward expansion of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
, but he continued to meddle in Moscow's relations with other Russian princes to prevent it from becoming too strong. In 1353, the Black Death spread from northwestern Russia to Moscow, causing the deaths of Simeon of Moscow, his sons, and the metropolitan. The ruling family of Moscow remained small as a result and a new vertical pattern of princely succession from father to son was defined. During the reign of
Dmitry Donskoy Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (; 12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389) was Prince of Moscow from 1359 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1363 until his death. He was the heir of Ivan II. He was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol ...
, the Moscow principality greatly expanded in size. In 1380, Dmitry led a united Russian army to an important victory over the Mongols in the
Battle of Kulikovo The Battle of Kulikovo () was fought between the forces of Mamai, a powerful Mongol military commander of the Golden Horde, and Russian forces led by Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry of Moscow. The battle took place on 8 September 1380, at Ku ...
, which greatly increased Moscow's prestige and solidified the status of its rulers as the military leaders of the nation. Following his death in 1389, the thrones of Vladimir and Moscow were permanently united. During the reign of Vasily II, a civil war broke out after Yury of Zvenigorod challenged the succession of his nephew in 1425. Moscow switched hands numerous times, and Yury's son, Dmitry Shemyaka, continued to offer resistance until his appanage center of Galich was captured in 1450. In ecclesiastical matters, Vasily disapproved of the
Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...
, leading him to arrest the metropolitan upon his return in 1441 for having it signed. Seven years later, a council of Russian bishops elected their own metropolitan, which amounted to a declaration of
autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...
by the Russian Church. The
fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
in 1453 was viewed by the Russians as divine punishment for
apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...
, and in 1492, Moscow was called an imperial city for the first time by the Russian metropolitan. During the reign of Ivan III, nearly all of the Russian states were united with Moscow and the foundations for a centralized state were laid. His defeat of the Tatars in 1480 also traditionally marks the end of Tatar suzerainty. Ivan did his utmost to make his capital a worthy successor to Constantinople, and he had the Kremlin reconstructed after inviting architects from
Renaissance Italy The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
, including Petrus Antonius Solarius, who designed the new Kremlin wall and its towers, and
Marco Ruffo Marco Ruffo (), also known as Marco Fryazin (), was an Italian architect active in Moscow in the 15th century. The Fryazin title originates from the old Russian word ''фрязь'' (fryaz), derived from ''frank'', that was used to denote people ...
who designed the new palace for the prince. The Kremlin walls as they now appear are those designed by Solarius, completed in 1495. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was built in 1505–1508 and augmented to its present height in 1600. A trading settlement, or ''posad'', grew up to the east of the Kremlin, in the area known as ''Zaradye''. In the time of Ivan III, the
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...
, originally named the Hollow Field, appeared. Ivan's son Vasily III continued the expansion of the Muscovite state and annexed the remaining Russian territories. His reign also saw the continued development of the doctrine of Moscow as the " third Rome". In 1508–1516, the Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin (Novy) arranged for the construction of a moat in front of the eastern wall, which would connect the Moskva and Neglinnaya and be filled with water from Neglinnaya. Known as the Alevizov moat and with a length of , width of , and depth of was lined with limestone and, in 1533, fenced on both sides with low, cogged-brick walls.


Tsardom (1547–1721)

In 1547,
Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...
was crowned in Moscow as not only the grand prince, but also the first tsar of all Russia. In the 16th and 17th centuries, three circular defenses were built: Kitay-gorod, the White City and the Earthen City. However, in 1547, fires destroyed much of the town, and in 1571 the
Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
captured Moscow, burning everything except the Kremlin. The annals record that only 30,000 of 200,000 inhabitants survived. The
Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
attacked again in 1591, but were held back by new walls, built between 1584 and 1591 by a craftsman named Fyodor Kon. In 1592, an outer earth rampart with 50 towers was erected around the city, including an area on the right bank of the Moscow River. As an outermost line of defense, a chain of strongly fortified monasteries was established beyond the ramparts to the south and east, principally the
Novodevichy Convent Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery (), is probably the best-known cloister of Moscow. Its name, sometimes translated as the ''New Maidens' Monastery'', was devised to differ from the Ascension Convent, Old Maidens ...
and Donskoy, Danilov, Simonov, Novospasskiy, and Andronikov monasteries, most of which now house museums. From its ramparts, the city became poetically known as ''Bielokamennaya'', the "White-Walled". The city's limits as marked by the ramparts, are now marked by the Garden Ring. Three square gates existed on the east side of the Kremlin wall, which in the 17th century, were known as Konstantino-Eleninsky, Spassky, Nikolsky (after the icons of Constantine and Helen, the Saviour and St. Nicholas that hung over them). The last two were directly opposite the Red Square, while the Konstantino-Elenensky gate was located behind Saint Basil's Cathedral. The Russian famine of 1601–1603 killed perhaps 100,000 in Moscow. Between 1610 and 1612, troops of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
occupied Moscow, as its ruler Sigismund III tried to take the Russian throne. In 1612,
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
and other Russian cities led by prince
Dmitry Pozharsky Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky ( rus, Дми́трий Миха́йлович Пожа́рский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ pɐˈʐarskʲɪj; 17 October 1577 – 30 April 1642) was a Tsardom of Russia, Russian prince known for his ...
and
Kuzma Minin Kuzma Minin (), full name Kuzma Minich Zakhariev-Sukhoruky (; – May 21, 1616), was a Russian merchant who, together with Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, formed the popular uprising in Nizhny Novgorod against the Polish–Lithuanian occupation of Mosc ...
rose against the Polish occupants, besieged the Kremlin, and expelled them. In 1613, the
Zemsky Sobor The ''Zemsky Sobor'' ( rus, зе́мский собо́р, p=ˈzʲemskʲɪj sɐˈbor, t=assembly of the land) was a parliament of the Tsardom of Russia's estates of the realm active during the 16th and 17th centuries. The assembly represented ...
elected Michael Romanov aa tsar, establishing the Romanov dynasty. The 17th century saw several risings, such as the liberation of Moscow from the Polish–Lithuanian invaders (1612), the Salt Riot (1648), the Copper Riot (1662), and the
Moscow uprising of 1682 The Moscow uprising of 1682, also known as the Streltsy uprising of 1682 (), was an Rebellion, uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments that resulted in supreme power devolving on Sophia Alekseyevna, the daughter of the late Tsar Alexis I of Russ ...
. During the first half of the 17th century, the population doubled from 100,000 to 200,000, and it expanded beyond its ramparts in the latter part of the century. In the middle of the 17th century, 20% of Moscow suburb's inhabitants were from the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
, being driven from their homeland by the Muscovite invaders. By 1682, there were 692 households established north of the ramparts, by
Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
and
Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...
abducted from their hometowns in the course of the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667. These new outskirts became known as the ''Meshchanskaya
sloboda A sloboda was a type of settlement in the history of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for 'freedom' and may be loosely translated as 'free settlement'.
'', after Ruthenian ''meshchane'' "town people". The term ''meshchane'' acquired pejorative connotations in 18th-century Russia and today means "petty bourgeois" or "narrow-minded philistine". The entire city of the late 17th century are contained within what is today Moscow's
Central Administrative Okrug Central Administrative Okrug, or Tsentralny Administrativny Okrug (, ''Tsentralny administrativny okrug''), is one of the administrative divisions of Moscow, twelve administrative okrugs of Moscow, Russia. Population: . It is the core of the city ...
. Numerous disasters befell the city. The plague epidemics ravaged Moscow in 1570–1571, 1592 and 1654–1656. The plague killed upwards of 80% of the people in 1654–55. Fires burned out much of the wooden city in 1626 and 1648. In 1712,
Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
moved his government to the newly built
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
on the Baltic coast.


Empire (1721–1917)

After losing the status as capital, the population at first decreased, from 200,000 in the 17th century to 130,000 in 1750. But after 1750, the population grew tenfold over the remaining duration of the Russian Empire, reaching 1.8 million by 1915. The 1770–1772 Russian plague killed up to 100,000 people in Moscow. By 1700, the building of cobbled roads had begun. In 1730, permanent street lights were introduced, and by 1867 many streets had a gaslight. In 1883, near the Prechistinskiye Gates, arc lamps were installed. In 1741 Moscow was surrounded by a barricade long, the Kamer-Kollezhskiy barrier, with 16 gates at which customs tolls were collected. Its line is traced today by several streets called ''val'' ("ramparts"). In the early 19th century, the Arch of Konstantino-Elenensky gate was paved with bricks, but the Spassky Gate was the main front gate of the Kremlin and used for royal entrances. From this gate, wooden and stone bridges stretched across the moat. Books were sold on this bridge and stone platforms were built nearby for guns – "raskats". The Tsar Cannon was located on the platform of the
Lobnoye mesto Lobnoye mesto () is a 13-meter-long stone platform situated in the Red Square in Moscow in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral. Its name is derived from the Russian words for 'forehead' () and 'place' (). In Old Russian meant 'a steep river bank ...
. The road connecting Moscow with St. Petersburg, now the M10 highway, was completed in 1746, its Moscow end following the old
Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...
road, which had existed since the 16th century. It became known as '' Peterburskoye Schosse'' after it was paved in the 1780s. Petrovsky Palace was built in 1776–1780 by
Matvey Kazakov Matvey Fyodorovich Kazakov (; 1738 – 7 November 1812) was a Russian Neoclassicism, Neoclassical architect. Kazakov was one of the most influential Muscovite architects during the reign of Catherine II of Russia, Catherine II, completing numerou ...
. Between 1781 and 1804 the Mytischinskiy water pipe (the first in Russia) was built. When
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
invaded Russia in 1812, the Muscovites were evacuated. The Moscow fire was principally the effect of Russian sabotage. Napoleon's ''
Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...
'' was forced to retreat and nearly annihilated by the devastating Russian winter. In 1813, following the destruction during the French occupation, a ''Commission for the Construction of the City of Moscow'' was established. It launched a great program of rebuilding, including a partial replanning of the centre. Among many buildings constructed, or reconstructed, was the Grand Kremlin Palace and the
Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin ArmouryOfficially called the "Armoury Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armoury Palace", the "Moscow Armoury", the "Armoury Museum", and the "Moscow Armoury Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. () is one of ...
, the
Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...
, the
Moscow Manege The Moscow Manege (, ) is an oblong building along the west side of Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, Manege Square, which was cleared in the 1930s and lies adjacent to Red Square. It is the site of Moscow Design Museum since 2012. Designed by Spani ...
(Riding School), and the
Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...
. The Arbat Street had been in existence since at least the 15th century, but it was developed into a prestigious area during the 18th century. It was destroyed in the fire of 1812 and was rebuilt completely in the early 19th century.
Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
was established in 1755. Its main building was reconstructed after the 1812 fire by
Domenico Giliardi Domenico Gilardi (; 1785–1845) was a Swiss Italians, Swiss Italian architect who worked primarily in Moscow, Russia in Neoclassicism, Neoclassicist style. He was one of the key architects charged with rebuilding the city after the Fire of Mosco ...
. The '' Moskovskiye Vedomosti'' newspaper appeared from 1756, originally in weekly intervals, and from 1859 as a daily newspaper. In the 1830s, general Alexander Bashilov planned the first regular grid of city streets north from Petrovsky Palace. Khodynka field south of the highway was used for military training. Smolensky Rail station (forerunner of Belorussky Rail Terminal) was inaugurated in 1870. Sokolniki Park, in the 18th century the home of the tsar's falconers well outside Moscow, became contiguous with the expanding city in the later 19th century and was developed into a public municipal park in 1878. The suburban
Savyolovsky Rail Terminal Savyolovsky station (, ''Savyolovsky vokzal''), alternatively spelled ''Savyolovskiy'', ''Savelovsky'' or ''Savelovskiy'', is one of the ten main Train station, railway stations in the Maryina roshcha District of Moscow. It serves suburban direc ...
was built in 1902. In January 1905, the institution of the City Governor, or
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
, was officially introduced, and Alexander Adrianov became Moscow's first official mayor. When
Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...
came to power in 1762, the city's filth and the smell of sewage were depicted by observers as a symptom of disorderly lifestyles of lower-class Russians recently arrived from the farms. Elites called for improved sanitation, which became part of Catherine's plans for increasing control over social life. National political and military successes from 1812 through 1855 calmed the critics and validated efforts to produce a more enlightened and stable society. There was less discussion about the poor conditions of public health. However, in the wake of Russia's failures in the Crimean War in 1855–56, confidence in the ability of the state to maintain order in the slums eroded, and demands for improved public health put it back on the agenda. In 1903 the Moskvoretskaya water supply was completed.


Soviet period (1917–1991)

In November 1917, upon learning of the uprising in Petrograd, Moscow's
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
began their uprising. On 2 November (15), 1917, after heavy fighting, Soviet power was established in Moscow.
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
, fearing invasion, moved the capital back to Moscow on 12 March 1918. The Kremlin once again became the seat of power, political centre of the new state. With the change in values imposed by communist ideology, the tradition of preserving cultural heritage was broken. Independent preservation societies, even those that defended only secular landmarks, were disbanded by the end of the 1920s. A new anti-religious campaign, launched in 1929, coincided with the collectivization of peasants; the destruction of churches in the cities peaked around 1932. In 1937 letters were written to the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...
to rename Moscow to "Stalindar" or "Stalinodar". Stalin rejected this suggestion. During World War II, the Soviet State Committee of Defence and the General Staff of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
were located in Moscow. In 1941, 16 divisions of the national volunteers (more than 160,000 people), 25 battalions, and 4 engineering regiments were formed among the Muscovites. Between October 1941 and January 1942, the German
Army Group Centre Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...
was stopped at the outskirts of the city, then driven off in the
Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
. Many factories were evacuated, together with much of the government, and from 20 October the city was declared to be in a siege. Its remaining inhabitants built and manned antitank defenses, while the city was bombarded from the air. On 1 May 1944, a medal "For the defence of Moscow" and in 1947 another medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow" was instituted. German and Soviet casualties during the battle have been debated, as sources provide different estimates. Total casualties between 30 September 1941, and 7 January 1942, are estimated to be between 248,000 and 400,000 for the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
and between 650,000 and 1,280,000 for the Red Army. During the postwar years, there was a housing crisis, solved by the invention of high-rise apartments. There are over 11,000 of these standardised and prefabricated apartment blocks, housing most of Moscow's population, making it by far the city with the most high-rise buildings. Apartments were built and partly furnished in the factory, before being raised and stacked into tall columns. The popular Soviet-era comic film '' Irony of Fate'' parodies this construction method. The city of Zelenograd was built in 1958 at from the city centre to the north-west, along with the Leningradskoye Shosse, and incorporated as one of Moscow's administrative okrugs.
Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
moved to its campus on
Sparrow Hills Sparrow Hills (, ), formerly known as Lenin Hills (, ), is a hill on the right bank of the Moskva River and one of the highest points in Moscow, reaching a height of above the river level. The observation platform is on a steep bank above ...
in 1953. In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev launched his anti-religious campaign. Of Moscow's fifty churches operating in 1959, thirty were closed and six demolished. On 8 May 1965, due to the actual 20th anniversary of the victory in World War II, Moscow was awarded a title of the Hero City. The
Moscow Ring Road The Moscow Automobile Ring Road (), or MKAD (), is a ring road running predominantly on the city border of Moscow with a length of 108.9 km (67.7 mi) and 35 exits (including ten interchanges). It was completed in 1962. The speed limi ...
(MKAD) was opened in 1961. It had four lanes running along the city borders. The MKAD marked the administrative boundaries of the city until the 1980s, when outlying suburbs beyond the ring road were incorporated. In 1980, Moscow hosted the
Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...
, which were boycotted by the US and other Western countries due to the Soviet Union's invasion of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
in 1979. In 1991 Moscow was the scene of a coup attempt by conservative communists opposed to the liberal reforms of
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
.


1991–present

When the USSR was dissolved in 1991, Moscow remained the capital of the
Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Since then, a market economy has emerged, producing an explosion of Western-style retailing, services, architecture, and lifestyles. The city continued to grow during the 1990s to 2000s, its population rising from below nine to above ten million. Mason and Nigmatullina argue that Soviet-era urban-growth controls produced controlled and sustainable metropolitan development, typified by the greenbelt built in 1935. Since then, however, there has been a dramatic growth of low-density suburban sprawl, created by heavy demand for single-family dwellings as opposed to crowded apartments. In 1995–97 the MKAD ring road was widened from the initial four to ten lanes. In December 2002 Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo became the first Moscow Metro station that opened beyond the limits of MKAD. The Third Ring Road, intermediate between the early 19th-century Garden Ring and the Soviet-era outer ring road, was completed in 2004. The greenbelt is becoming more and more fragmented, and satellite cities are appearing at the fringe. Summer dachas are being converted into year-round residences, and with the proliferation of automobiles there is heavy traffic congestion. Multiple old churches and other examples of architectural heritage that had been demolished during the Stalin era have been restored, such as the
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (, ) is a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few hundred metres southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of , it is the ...
. In 2010s Moscow's Administration has launched some long duration projects like the ''Moja Ulitsa'' (in English: ''My Street'') urban redevelopment program or the Residency renovation one. By its territorial expansion on 1 July 2012, southwest into the
Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
the area of the capital more than doubled, going from , resulting in Moscow becoming the largest city on the European continent by area; it also gained an additional population of 233,000 people. The annexed territory was officially named ''Новая Москва'' (New Moscow).


Geography


Location

Moscow is situated on the banks of the
Moskva River The Moskva (, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About southeast of Moscow, at the cit ...
, which flows for just over through the East European Plain in central Russia, not far from the natural border of the forest and forest-
steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...
zone. 49 bridges span the river and its canals within the city's limits. The
elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
of Moscow at the All-Russia Exhibition Center (VVC), where the leading Moscow weather station is situated, is . Teplostan Upland is the city's highest point at . The width of Moscow city (not limiting
MKAD The Moscow Automobile Ring Road (), or MKAD (), is a ring road running predominantly on the city border of Moscow with a length of 108.9 km (67.7 mi) and 35 exits (including ten interchanges). It was completed in 1962. The speed lim ...
) from west to east is , and the length from north to south is .


Time

Moscow serves as the reference point for the time zone used in most of
European Russia European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russia, Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia ...
,
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
and the Republic of Crimea. The areas operate in what is referred to in international standards as ''Moscow Standard Time (MSK, )'', which is 3 hours ahead of UTC, or UTC+3.
Daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time (Daylight saving time in the United States, United States and Daylight saving time in Canada, Canada), or summer time (British Summer Time, United Kingdom, ...
is no longer observed. According to the geographical
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
the average
solar noon Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour clo ...
in Moscow occurs at 12:30.


Climate

Moscow has a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Dfb'') with long, cold (although average by Russian standards) winters usually lasting from mid-November to the end of March, and warm summers. More extreme continental climates at the same latitude – such as parts of
Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...
or
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
– have much colder winters than Moscow, suggesting that there is still significant moderation from the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
despite the fact that Moscow is far from the sea. Weather can fluctuate widely, with temperatures ranging from in the city and in the suburbs to above in the winter, and from in the summer. Typical high temperatures in the warm months of June, July, and August are around a comfortable , but during heat waves (which can occur between May and September), daytime high temperatures often exceed , sometimes for a week or two at a time. In the winter, average temperatures normally drop to approximately , though almost every winter there are periods of warmth with day temperatures rising above , and periods of cooling with night temperatures falling below . These periods usually last about a week or two. The growing season in Moscow normally lasts for 156 days usually around 1 May to 5 October. The highest temperature ever recorded was at the VVC weather station and in the center of Moscow and
Domodedovo airport Moscow Domodedovo International Airport ( rus, links=no, аэропорт Домодедово, p=dəmɐˈdʲɛdəvə) (IATA: DME, ICAO: UUDD), formally Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov International Airport, is an international airport serving Mosc ...
on 29 July 2010, during the unusual 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat waves. Record high and average temperatures were recorded for January, March, April, May, June, July, August, November, and December in 2007–2022. The average July temperature from 1991 to 2020 is . The lowest ever recorded temperature was in January 1940. Snow, which is present for about five months a year, often begins to fall mid-October, while snow cover lies in late November and melts at the end of March. On average, Moscow has 1731 hours of sunshine per year, varying from a low of 8% in December to 52% from May to August. This large annual variation is due to convective cloud formation. In the winter, moist air from the Atlantic condenses in the cold continental interior, resulting in very overcast conditions. However, this same continental influence results in considerably sunnier summers than oceanic cities of similar latitude such as
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. Between 2004 and 2010, the average was between 1800 and 2000 hours with a tendency to more sunshine in summer months, up to a record 411 hours in July 2014, 79% of possible sunshine. December 2017 was the darkest month in Moscow since records began, with only six minutes of sunlight. Temperatures in the centre of Moscow are often significantly higher than in the outskirts and nearby suburbs, especially in winter. For example, if the average January temperature in the north-east of Moscow is , in the suburbs it is about . The temperature difference between the centre of Moscow and nearby areas of
Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
can sometimes be more than on frosty winter nights. Recent changes in Moscow's regional climate, since it is in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, are often cited by climate scientists as evidence of
global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
, though by definition,
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
is global, not regional. During the summer, extreme heat is often observed in the city (2001, 2002, 2003,
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, 2011,
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
). Along with a southern part of Central Russia, after recent years of hot summer seasons, the climate of the city gets hot-summer classification trends. Winter also became significantly milder: for example, the average January temperature in the early 1900s was , while now it is about . At the end of January–February it is often colder, with frosts reaching a few nights per year (2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013). The last decade was the warmest in the history of meteorological observations of Moscow. Temperature changes in the city are depicted in the table below:


Paleontology

Moscow is one of the few cities with paleontological monuments of world significance on its territory. One of them is the Gorodnya River with its tributaries, on the banks of which outcrops of the
Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
and older
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
periods are located.
Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
s of the
bivalve Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...
mollusk '' Inoceramus kleinii'' and tubular passages of burrowing animals, described in 2017 as a new
ichnospecies An ichnotaxon (plural ichnotaxa) is "a taxon based on the fossilized work of an organism", i.e. the non-human equivalent of an artifact. ''Ichnotaxon'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''íchnos'') meaning "track" and English , itself derived from ...
'' Skolithos gorodnensis'', were discovered in the Coniacian deposits near the stream bed of the Bolshaya Glinka River. Ichnogenera ''
Diplocraterion ''Diplocraterion'' is an ichnogenus describing vertical U-shaped burrows having a spreite (weblike construction) between the two limbs of the U. The spreite of an individual ''Diplocraterion'' trace can be either protrusive (between the paired ...
'', '' Planolites'', ''Skolithos'' and possibly '' Ophiomorpha'' were found in the
Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...
deposits.
Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
flint tools were discovered in the Quaternary deposits of the Bolshaya Glinka stream bed. In 1878, paleontologist Hermann Trautschold discovered the left flipper of an
ichthyosaur Ichthyosauria is an order of large extinct marine reptiles sometimes referred to as "ichthyosaurs", although the term is also used for wider clades in which the order resides. Ichthyosaurians thrived during much of the Mesozoic era; based on fo ...
near the village of Mnevniki, which later became part of Moscow. In 2014, the animal was named '' Undorosaurus trautscholdi'', after its discoverer. Trautschold determined the age of the sediments from which the specimen was taken to be Kimmeridgian, but, according to more recent studies, they were formed in the
Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age (geology), age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 149.2 ±0.7 annum, Ma and 143.1 ±0.6 (mi ...
age of the
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
period. Albian
foraminifera Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are unicellular organism, single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class (biology), class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell bio ...
and
ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...
s also known from the Moscow deposits. Fossils of various organisms are on display in Moscow museums, including the Orlov Museum of Paleontology and Vernadsky State Geological Museum.


Demographics


Population

According to the
2021 Russian census The 2021 Russian census () was the first census of the Russia, Russian Federation population since 2010 Russian census, 2010 and the third after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union. It took place between October 1 ...
, the population was 13,010,112; up from 11,503,501 in the
2010 Russian census The 2010 Russian census () was the second census of the Russian Federation population after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Preparations for the census began in 2007 and it took place between October 14 and October 25. The census The cen ...
.


Ethnic groups

; * 668,409 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.


Vital statistics

The official population of Moscow is based on those holding "
permanent residency Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...
". According to Russia's Federal Migration Service, Moscow holds 1.8 million official "guests" who have temporary residency on the basis of visas or other documentation, giving a legal population of 14.8 million. The number of
Illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...
, the vast majority originating from Central Asia, is estimated to be an additional 1 million people, giving a total population of about 15.8 million. Vital statistics for 2024: * Births: 120,215 (9.1 per 1,000) * Deaths: 116,478 (8.9 per 1,000) Total fertility rate (2024):
1.46 children per woman Life expectancy (2021):
Total — 74.55 years (male — 71.00, female — 77.94)


Religion

Christianity, Christians form the majority of the city's population; most of whom adhere Russian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Patriarch of Moscow serves as the head of the church and resides in the
Danilov Monastery Danilov Monastery (also ''Svyato-Danilov Monastery'' or ''Holy Danilov Monastery''; ) is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. Since 1983, it has functioned as the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox church and the o ...
. Moscow was called the "city of 40 times 40 churches"—prior to 1917. Moscow is Russia's capital of Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which has been the Religion in Russia, country's traditional religion. Other religions practiced in Moscow include Buddhism in Russia, Buddhism, Hinduism in Russia, Hinduism, Islam in Russia, Islam, Judaism, Yazidism, and Rodnovery. The Moscow Mufti Council claimed that Muslims numbered around 1.5 million of 10.5 million of the city's population in 2010. There are four mosques in the city.


Cityscape


Architecture

Moscow's architecture is world-renowned. Moscow is the site of
Saint Basil's Cathedral The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed (), known in English as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia. The building, now a museum, is officially known as ...
, with its elegant onion domes, as well as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Seven Sisters (Moscow), Seven Sisters. The first Kremlin was built in the middle of the 12th century. Medieval Moscow's design was of concentric walls and intersecting radial thoroughfares. This layout, as well as Moscow's rivers, helped shape Moscow's design in subsequent centuries. The Kremlin was rebuilt in the 15th century. Its towers and some of its churches were built by Italian architects, lending the city some of the aurae of the renaissance. From the end of the 15th century, the city was embellished by masonry structures such as monasteries, palaces, walls, towers, and churches. The city's appearance had not changed much by the 18th century. Houses were made of pine and spruce logs, with shingled roofs plastered with sod or covered by birch bark. The rebuilding of Moscow in the second half of the 18th century was necessitated by constant fires and the needs of the nobility. Much of the wooden city was replaced by buildings in the classical style. For much of its architectural history, Moscow was dominated by Orthodox churches. However, the overall appearance of the city changed drastically during Soviet times, especially as a result of Joseph Stalin's large-scale effort to "modernize" Moscow. Stalin's plans for the city included a network of broad avenues and roadways, some of them over ten lanes wide, which, while greatly simplifying movement through the city, were constructed at the expense of a great number of historical buildings and districts. Among the many casualties of Stalin's demolitions was the Sukharev Tower, a longtime city landmark, as well as mansions and commercial buildings. The city's newfound status as the capital of a deeply secular nation, made religiously significant buildings especially vulnerable to demolition. Many of the city's churches, which in most cases were some of Moscow's oldest and most prominent buildings, were destroyed; some notable examples include the Kazan Cathedral, Moscow, Kazan Cathedral and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. During the 1990s, both were rebuilt. Many smaller churches, however, were lost. While the later Stalinist period was characterized by the curtailing of creativity and architectural innovation, the earlier post-revolutionary years saw a plethora of radical new buildings created in the city. Especially notable were the constructivist architects associated with VKHUTEMAS, responsible for such landmarks as Lenin's Mausoleum. Another prominent architect was Vladimir Shukhov, famous for Shukhov Tower, just one of many Hyperboloid structure, hyperboloid towers designed by Shukhov. It was built between 1919 and 1922 as a transmission tower for a Russian broadcasting company. Shukhov also left a lasting legacy to the Constructivism (art), Constructivist architecture of early Soviet Russia. He designed spacious elongated shop galleries, most notably the GUM (department store), GUM department store on
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...
, bridged with innovative metal-and-glass vaults. Perhaps the most recognizable contributions of the Stalinist period are the so-called Seven Sisters (Moscow), Seven Sisters, seven massive skyscrapers scattered throughout the city at about an equal distance from the Kremlin. A defining feature of Moscow's skyline, their imposing form was allegedly inspired by the Manhattan Municipal Building in New York City, and their style—with intricate exteriors and a large central spire—has been described as Stalinist architecture, Stalinist Gothic architecture. All seven towers can be seen from most high points in the city; they are among the tallest constructions in central Moscow apart from the Ostankino Tower, which, when it was completed in 1967, was the highest free-standing land structure in the world and today remains the world's seventy-second tallest, ranking among buildings such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Taipei 101 in Taiwan and the CN Tower in Toronto. The Soviet goal of providing housing for every family, and the rapid growth of Moscow's population, led to the construction of large, monotonous housing blocks. Most of these date from the post-Stalin era and the styles are often named after the leader then in power (Brezhnev, Khrushchev, etc.). They are usually badly maintained. Although the city still has some five-story apartment buildings constructed before the mid-1960s, more recent apartment buildings are usually at least nine floors tall, and have elevators. It is estimated that Moscow has over twice as many elevators as New York City and four times as many as Chicago. Moslift, one of the city's major elevator operating companies, has about 1500 elevator mechanics on call, to release residents trapped in elevators. Stalinist architecture, Stalinist-era buildings, mostly found in the central part of the city, are massive and usually ornamented with Socialist realism motifs that imitate classical architecture, classical themes. However, small churches—almost always Eastern Orthodox–found across the city provide glimpses of its past. The Old Arbat Street, a tourist street that was once the heart of a bohemian area, preserves most of its buildings from prior to the 20th century. Many buildings found off the main streets of the inner city (behind the Stalinist façades of Tverskaya Street, for example) are also examples of Bourgeoisie, bourgeois architecture typical of Tsarist times. Ostankino Palace, Kuskovo, Uzkoye and other large estates just outside Moscow originally belong to nobles from the Tsarist era, and some :Template: Cloisters of Moscow, convents, and monasteries, both inside and outside the city, are open to Muscovites and tourists. Attempts are being made to restore many of the city's best-kept examples of pre-Soviet architecture. These restored structures are easily spotted by their bright new colors and spotless façades. There are a few examples of notable, early Soviet avant-garde work too, such as the house of the architect Konstantin Melnikov in the Arbat area. Many of these restorations were criticized for alleged disrespect of historical authenticity. Facadism is also widely practiced. Later examples of interesting Soviet architecture are usually marked by their impressive size and the semi-Modernist styles employed, such as with the Novy Arbat project, familiarly known as "false teeth of Moscow" and notorious for the wide-scale disruption of a historic area in central Moscow involved in the project. Plaques on house exteriors will inform passers-by that a well-known personality once lived there. Frequently, the plaques are dedicated to Soviet celebrities not well known outside (or often, like with decorated generals and revolutionaries, now both inside) of Russia. There are also many "museum houses" of famous Russian writers, composers, and artists in the city. Moscow's skyline is quickly modernizing, with several new towers under construction. In recent years, the city administration has been widely criticized for heavy destruction that has affected many historical buildings. As much as a third of historic Moscow has been destroyed in the past few years to make space for luxury apartments and hotels. Other historical buildings, including such landmarks as the 1930 Moskva hotel and the 1913 department store Voyentorg, have been razed and reconstructed anew, with the inevitable loss of historical value. Critics blame the government for not enforcing conservation laws: in the last 12 years, more than 50 buildings with monument status were torn down, several of those dating back to the 17th century. Some critics also wonder if the money used for the reconstruction of razed buildings could not be used for the renovation of decaying structures, which include many works by architect Konstantin Melnikov and Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro), Mayakovskaya metro station. Some organizations, such as Moscow Architecture Preservation Society and Save Europe's Heritage, are trying to draw the international public attention to these problems.


Parks and landmarks

There are 96 parks and 18 gardens in Moscow, including four botanical gardens. There are of green zones besides of forests. Moscow is a very green city, if compared to other cities of comparable size in Western Europe and North America; this is partly due to a history of having green "yards" with trees and grass, between residential buildings. There are on average of parks per person in Moscow compared with 6 for Paris, 7.5 in London and 8.6 in New York.Green dress of Moscow
Gorky Park (Moscow), Gorky Park (officially the Gorky Park (Moscow), Central Park of Culture and Rest named after Maxim Gorky), was founded in 1928. The main part () along the Moskva river contains Architectural glossary#Estrade, estrades, children's attractions (including the ''Observation Wheel'' water ponds with boats and water bicycles), dancing, tennis courts and other sports facilities. It borders the Neskuchny Garden (), the oldest park in Moscow and a former imperial residence, created as a result of the integration of three estates in the 18th century. The Garden features the Green Theater, one of the largest open amphitheaters in Europe, able to hold up to 15 thousand people. Several parks include a section known as a "Park of Culture and Rest", sometimes alongside a much wilder area (this includes parks such as Izmaylovsky, Fili and Sokolniki). Some parks are designated as Forest Parks (lesopark). Izmaylovsky Park, created in 1931, is one of the largest urban parks in the world along with Richmond Park in London. Its area of is six times greater than that of Central Park in New York. Bauman Garden (Moscow), Bauman Garden, officially founded in 1920 and renamed in 1922 after the bolsheviks, bolshevik Nikolay Bauman, is one of the oldest parks in Moscow. It is standing on the site of the former House of Golitsyn, Golitsyn estate and eighteenth-century public garden. Sokolniki Park, named after the falcon hunting that occurred there in the past, is one of the oldest parks in Moscow and has an area of . A central circle with a large fountain is surrounded by birch, maple, and elm tree alleys. A labyrinth composed of green paths lies beyond the park's ponds. Losiny Ostrov National Park ("Elk Island" National Park), with a total area of more than , borders Sokolniki Park and was Russia's first national park. It is quite wild, and is also known as the "city taiga" – elk can be seen there. Tsytsin Main Moscow Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, founded in 1945 is the largest in Europe. It covers the territory of bordering the All-Russia Exhibition Center and contains a live exhibition of more than 20 thousand species of plants from around the world, as well as a lab for scientific research. It contains a rosarium with 20 thousand rose bushes, a dendrarium, and an oak forest, with the average age of trees exceeding 100 years. There is a greenhouse taking up more than of land. The All-Russian Exhibition Center (Всероссийский выставочный центр), formerly known as the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV) and later VDNKh (Russia), Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (VDNKh), though officially named a "permanent trade show", is one of the most prominent examples of Stalinist-era monumental architecture. Among the large spans of a recreational park, areas are scores of elaborate pavilions, each representing either a branch of Soviet industry and science or a USSR republic. Even though during the 1990s it was, and for some part still is, misused as a gigantic shopping center (most of the pavilions are rented out for small businesses), it still retains the bulk of its architectural landmarks, including two monumental fountains (''The Stone Flower Fountain, Stone Flower'' and ''Friendship of Nations'') and a 360 degrees panoramic cinema. In 2014 the park returned to the name Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, and in the same year, huge renovation works had been started. ''Lilac Park'', founded in 1958, has a permanent sculpture display and a large rosarium. Moscow has always been a popular destination for tourists. Some of the more famous attractions include the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site, Moscow Kremlin and Red Square, which was built between the 14th and 17th centuries. The Kolomenskoye#The White Column of Kolomenskoye, Church of the Ascension at Kolomenskoye, which dates from 1532, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and another popular attraction. Near the Tretyakov Gallery, new Tretyakov Gallery there is a sculpture garden, Museon, often called "the graveyard of fallen monuments" that displays statues of the former Soviet Union that were removed from their place after its dissolution. Other attractions include the Moscow Zoo, a zoological garden in two sections (the valleys of two streams) linked by a bridge, with nearly a thousand species and more than 6,500 specimens. Each year, the zoo attracts more than 1.2 million visitors. Many of Moscow's parks and landscaped gardens are protected natural environments.


Moscow rings

Moscow's road system is centered roughly on the Kremlin at the heart of the city. From there, roads generally span outwards to intersect with a sequence of circular roads ("rings"). # The first and innermost major ring, Bulvarnoye Koltso (Boulevard Ring), was built at the former location of the 16th-century city wall around what used to be called Bely Gorod (White Town). The Bulvarnoye Koltso is technically not a ring; it does not form a complete circle, but instead a horseshoe-shaped arc that begins at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and ends at the Yauza River. # The second primary ring, located outside the Boulevard Ring, is the Sadovoye Koltso ( Garden Ring). Like the Boulevard Ring, the Garden Ring follows the path of a 16th-century wall that used to encompass part of Moscow. # The Third Ring Road, was completed in 2003 as a high-speed freeway. # The Fourth Transport Ring, another freeway, was planned, but cancelled in 2011. A system of chordal highways will replace it. Aside from the aforementioned hierarchy, line 5 of
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...
is a circle-shaped Loop line (railway), looped subway line (hence the name ''Koltsevaya Liniya'', literally "ring line"), which is located between the ''Sadovoye Koltso'' and Third Transport Ring. Two modern overlapping lines of Moscow Metro form "two hearts": * Line 14. Since 10 September 2016, ''Moscow Central Circle'' renovated railroad (former ''Moskovskaya Okruzhnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'') was introduced as Line 14 of
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...
. The cone-shaped railroad initially opened in 1908 (freight-only railway from 1934 until the 2016 reopening). * Line 11. Another circle metro line - ''Big Circle Line'' (''Bolshaya Koltsevaya line, Bolshaya Koltsevaya Liniya'') is under construction and will be finished in 2023. Kakhovskaya (Moscow Metro), Kakhovskaya-Savyolovskaya (Bolshaya Koltsevaya line), Savyolovskaya western half of the line was launched in late 2021. The outermost ring within Moscow is the
Moscow Ring Road The Moscow Automobile Ring Road (), or MKAD (), is a ring road running predominantly on the city border of Moscow with a length of 108.9 km (67.7 mi) and 35 exits (including ten interchanges). It was completed in 1962. The speed limi ...
(often called ''MKAD'', acronym word for Russian ''Московская Кольцевая Автомобильная Дорога''), which forms the cultural boundary of the city, and was established in the 1950s. It is to note the method of building the road (usage of ground elevation instead of concrete columns throughout the whole way) formed a wall-like barrier that obstacles building roads under the MKAD highway itself). * Before 2012 expansion of Moscow, MKAD was considered an approximate border for Moscow boundaries. Outside Moscow, some of the roads encompassing the city continue to follow this circular pattern seen inside city limits, with the notable examples of ''Betonka'' roads (highways A107 and A108), originally made of concrete pads. In order to reduce transit traffic on MKAD, the new ring road (called ''CKAD'' - ''Centralnaya Koltsevaya Avtomobilnaya Doroga'', ''Central Ring Road'') is now under construction beyond the MKAD.


Transport rings in Moscow


Culture


Museums and galleries

One of the most notable art museums in Moscow is the Tretyakov Gallery, which was founded by Pavel Tretyakov, a wealthy patron of the arts who donated a large private collection to the city. The Tretyakov Gallery is split into two buildings. The Old Tretyakov gallery, the original gallery in the Tretyakov Gallery, Tretyakovskaya area on the south bank of the Moskva River, houses works in the classic Russian tradition. The works of famous pre-October Revolution, Revolutionary painters, such as Ilya Repin, as well as the works of early Russian icon painting, icon painters can be found here. Visitors can even see rare originals by early 15th-century iconography, iconographer Andrei Rublev. The New Tretyakov gallery, created in Soviet times, mainly contains the works of Soviet artists, as well as of a few contemporary paintings, but there is some overlap with the Old Tretyakov Gallery for early 20th-century art. The new gallery includes a small reconstruction of Vladimir Tatlin's famous ''Tatlin's Tower, Monument to the Third International'' and a mixture of other avant-garde works by artists like Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. Socialist realism features can also be found within the halls of the New Tretyakov Gallery. Another art museum in the city of Moscow is the Pushkin Museum, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, which was founded by, among others, the father of Marina Tsvetaeva. The Pushkin Museum is similar to the British Museum in London in that its halls are a cross-section of exhibits on world civilisations, with many copies of ancient sculptures. However, it also hosts paintings from every major Western era; works by Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Pablo Picasso are present in the museum's collection. The State Historical Museum of Russia (Государственный Исторический музей) is a museum of Russian history located between Red Square and Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, Manege Square in Moscow. Its exhibitions range from relics of the prehistoric tribes inhabiting present-day Russia, through priceless artworks acquired by members of the Romanov dynasty. The total number of objects in the museum's collection numbers is several million. The Polytechnical Museum, founded in 1872 is the largest technical museum in Russia, offering a wide array of historical inventions and technological achievements, including humanoid automata from the 18th century and the first Soviet computers. Its collection contains more than 160,000 items. The Borodino Panorama museum located on Kutuzov Avenue provides an opportunity for visitors to experience being on a battlefield with a 360° diorama. It is a part of the large historical memorial commemorating the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 over Napoleon's army, that includes also the Triumphal Arch of Moscow, triumphal arch, erected in 1827. There is also a military history museum that includes statues, and military hardware. Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics under the Monument to the Conquerors of Space at the end of Cosmonauts Alley is the central memorial place for the Russian space officials. The Shchusev State Museum of Architecture is the national museum of Russian architecture by the name of the architect Alexey Shchusev near the Kremlin area. Moscow will get its own branch of the Hermitage Museum in 2024, with authorities having agreed upon the final project, to be executed by Hani Rashid, co-founder of New York-based 'Asymptote Architecture' - the same bureau that is behind the city's stock market building, the Busan-based World Business Center Solomon Tower and the Strata Tower in Abu-Dhabi.


Performing arts

Moscow is the heart of the Russian performing arts, including Russian ballet, ballet and film, with 68 museums 103 theaters, 132 cinemas and 24 concert halls. Among Moscow's theaters and ballet studios is the
Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...
and the Malyi Theatre as well as Vakhtangov Theatre and Moscow Art Theatre. The Moscow International Performance Arts Center, opened in 2003, also known as Moscow International House of Music, is known for its performances in classical music. It has the largest Organ (music), organ in Russia installed in Svetlanov Hall. There are also two large circuses in Moscow: Moscow State Circus and Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard named after Yuri Nikulin. The Mosfilm studio was at the heart of many classic films, as it is responsible for both artistic and mainstream productions. However, despite the continued presence and reputation of internationally renowned Russian filmmakers, the once prolific native studios are much quieter. Rare and historical films may be seen in the Salut cinema, where films from the Museum of Cinema collection are shown regularly. International film festivals such as the Moscow International Film Festival, Stalker (film festival), Stalker, Artdocfest, and Moscow Jewish Film Festival are staged in Moscow.


Sports

Over 500 Olympic sports champions lived in the city by 2005. Moscow is home to 63 stadiums (besides eight football and eleven light athletics maneges), of which Luzhniki Stadium is the largest and the 4th biggest in Europe (it hosted the 1998–99 UEFA Cup, 2007–08 UEFA Champions League finals, the
1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...
, and the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
with 7 games total, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final, final). Forty other sports complexes are located within the city, including 24 with artificial ice. The Olympic Stadium (Moscow arena), Olympic Stadium was the world's first indoor arena for bandy and hosted the Bandy World Championship twice. Moscow was again the host of the competition in 2010, this time in Ice Palace Krylatskoye, Krylatskoye. That arena has also hosted the World Speed Skating Championships. There are also seven horse racing tracks in Moscow, of which Central Moscow Hippodrome, founded in 1834, is the largest. Moscow was the host city of the
1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...
, with the yachting events being held at Tallinn, in present-day Estonia. Large sports facilities and the main international airport, Sheremetyevo Terminal 2, were built in preparation for the 1980 Summer Olympics. Moscow had made a bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. However, when final voting commenced on 6 July 2005, Moscow was the first city to be eliminated from further rounds. The Games were awarded to 2012 Summer Olympics, London. The most titled ice hockey team in the Soviet Union and in the world, HC CSKA Moscow comes from Moscow. Other big ice hockey clubs from Moscow are HC Dynamo Moscow, which was the second most titled team in the Soviet Union, and HC Spartak Moscow. The most titled Soviet, Russian, and one of the most titled Euroleague clubs, is the basketball club from Moscow PBC CSKA Moscow. Moscow hosted the EuroBasket in 1953 and 1965. Moscow had more winners at the USSR Chess Championship, USSR and Russian Chess Championship than any other city. The most titled volleyball team in the Soviet Union and in Europe (CEV Champions League) is VC CSKA Moscow. In Association football, football, FC Spartak Moscow has won more championship titles in the Russian Premier League than any other team. They were second only to FC Dynamo Kyiv in Soviet Top League, Soviet times. PFC CSKA Moscow became the first Russian football team to win a UEFA title, the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup (present-day UEFA Europa League). FC Lokomotiv Moscow, FC Dynamo Moscow and FC Torpedo Moscow are other professional football teams also based in Moscow. File:Стадион «Лукойл Арена» в Москве (08.01.2024) 01.jpg, Lukoil Arena, home of FC Spartak Moscow File:Arena CSKA.jpg, VEB Arena, home of PFC CSKA Moscow File:VTB Arena8.jpg, VTB Arena, home of FC Dynamo Moscow and HC Dynamo Moscow File:Lokomotiv Stadium.jpg, RZD Arena, home of FC Lokomotiv Moscow Moscow houses other prominent football, ice hockey, and basketball teams. Because sports organisations in the Soviet Union were once highly centralized, two of the best Union-level teams represented defence and law-enforcing agencies: the Armed Forces (CSKA Moscow, CSKA) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Dynamo Sports Club, Dinamo). There were army and police teams in most major cities. As a result, Spartak, CSKA, and Dinamo were among the best-funded teams in the USSR. The Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace is located in the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, Luzniki Olympic Complex. The building works started in 2017 and the opening ceremony took place on 18 June 2019. The investor of the Palace is the billionaire Alisher Usmanov, husband of the former gymnast and gymnastics coach Irina Viner-Usmanova. The total surface of the building is 23,500 m2, which include 3 fitness rooms, locker rooms, rooms reserved for referees and coaches, saunas, a canteen, a cafeteria, 2 ball halls, a Medical center, a hall reserved for journalists, and a hotel for athletes. Because of Moscow's cold local climate, winter sports have a following. Many of Moscow's large parks offer marked trails for skiing and frozen ponds for skating. Moscow hosts the annual Kremlin Cup, a popular tennis tournament on both the Women's Tennis Association, WTA and Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP tours. It is one of the ten Tier-I events on the women's tour and a host of Russian players feature every year. Olympic Stadium (Moscow), SC Olimpiyskiy hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, the first and so far the only Eurovision Song Contest arranged in Russia. Slava Moscow is a professional rugby union, rugby club, competing in the national Professional Rugby League. Former rugby league heavyweights RC Lokomotiv Moscow, RC Lokomotiv have entered the same league . The Luzhniki Stadium also hosted the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. In bandy, one of the most successful clubs in the world is 20 times Russian Bandy Super League, Russian League champions Dynamo Moscow Bandy Club, Dynamo Moscow. They have also won the Bandy World Cup, World Cup thrice and European Cup (bandy), European Cup six times. MFK Dinamo Moskva is one of the major futsal clubs in Europe, having won the UEFA Futsal Champions League, Futsal Champions League title once. When Russia was selected to host the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
, the Luzhniki Stadium got an increased capacity, by almost 10,000 new seats, in addition to a further two stadiums that have been built: the VTB Arena, Dynamo Stadium, and the Lukoil Arena, Spartak Stadium, although the first one later was dismissed from having World Cup matches.


Football clubs


Entertainment

The city is full of clubs, restaurants, and bars. Tverskaya Street is also one of the busiest shopping streets in Moscow. The adjoining Tretyakovsky Proyezd, also south of Tverskaya Street, in Kitai-gorod, is host to upmarket boutique stores such as Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., Armani, Prada and Bentley. Nightlife in Moscow has moved on since Soviet times and today the city has many of the world's largest nightclubs. The hottest area is located around the old chocolate factory, where bars, nightclubs, galleries, cafés and restaurants are placed. Dream Island (amusement park), Dream Island is an amusement park in Moscow that opened on 29 February 2020. It is the largest indoor theme park in Europe. The park covers 300,000 square meters. The complex includes a landscaped park along with a concert hall, a cinema, a hotel, a children's sailing school, restaurants, and shops.


Authorities


Moscow authorities

According to the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of the Russian Federation, Moscow is an independent federal subject of the Russia, Russian Federation, a Federal cities of Russia, city of federal importance. The Mayor of Moscow is the leading official in the executive, leading the Government of Moscow, which is the highest organ of executive power. The Moscow City Duma is the city duma (city council or local parliament) and local laws must be approved by it. It includes 45 members who are elected for a five-year term on Electoral district, single-mandate constituency basis. From 2006 to 2012, direct elections of the mayor were not held due to changes in the Charter of the city of Moscow, with the mayor appointed by presidential decree. The first direct elections from the time of the 2003 Moscow mayoral election, 2003 vote were to be held after the expiration of the current mayor in 2015, however, in connection with his resignation of his own free will, they took place in 2013 Moscow mayoral election, September 2013. Local administration is carried out through eleven prefectures, uniting the districts of Moscow into administrative districts on a territorial basis, and 125 regional administrations. According to the law "On the organization of local self-government in the city of Moscow", since the beginning of 2003, the executive bodies of local self-government are municipalities, representative bodies are municipal assemblies, whose members are elected in accordance with the Charter of the intracity municipality.


Federal authorities

In Moscow, as in a city endowed with the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of the Russian Federation, the legislative, executive, and judicial federal authorities of the country are located, with the exception of the Constitutional Court of Russia, Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which has been located in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
since 2008. The supreme executive authority – the Government of Russia, Government of the Russian Federation – is located in the House of the Government of the Russian Federation (the White House (Moscow), White House) on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in the center of Moscow. The State Duma sits on Okhotny Ryad (street), Okhotny Ryad. The Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council is located in a building on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street, Bolshaya Dmitrovka. The Supreme Court of Russia, Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is also located in Moscow. The
Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...
is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The president's working residence in the Kremlin is located in the Kremlin Senate, Senate Palace.


Safety

In a ranking of the safest cities by ''Economist Intelligence Unit, The Economist'' in 2021, Moscow occupied the 38th position with a score of 62.5 points. The general level of crime is quite low. More than 170,000 surveillance cameras in Moscow are connected to the facial recognition system. The authorities recognized the successful two-month experiment with automatic recognition of faces, gender, and age of people in real-time – and deployed the system to the whole city. The network of video surveillance unites access video cameras (95% of residential apartment buildings in the capital), cameras in the territory and in buildings of schools and kindergartens, at the Moscow Central Circle, MCC stations, stadiums, public transport stops, and bus stations, in parks, underground passages. The emergency numbers are the same as in all the other regions of Russia: 112 is the Single Emergency Number, 101 is the number of the Fire Service and Ministry of Emergency Situations (Russia), Ministry of Emergency Situations, 102 is the Police of Russia, Police one, 103 is the ambulance one, 104 is the Emergency Gas number. Moscow's EMS is the second most efficient one among the world's megacities, as reported by PwC during the presentation of the international study Analysis of EMS Efficiency in Megacities of the World.


Administrative divisions

The entire city of Moscow is headed by one mayor (Sergey Sobyanin). The city of Moscow is divided into twelve administrative okrugs and 125 districts. The Russian capital's town-planning development began to show as early as the 12th century when the city was founded. The central part of Moscow grew by consolidating with suburbs in line with medieval principles of urban development when strong fortress walls would gradually spread along the circle streets of adjacent new settlements. The first circular defence walls set the trajectory of Moscow's rings, laying the groundwork for the future planning of the Russian capital. The following fortifications served as the city's circular defense boundaries at some point in history: the Kremlin walls, Zemlyanoy Gorod (Earthwork Town), the Kamer-Kollezhsky Rampart, the Garden Ring, and the small railway ring. The Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) has been Moscow's boundary since 1960. Also in the form of a circle are the main Moscow subway line, the Ring Line, and the so-called Third Automobile Ring, which was completed in 2005. Hence, the characteristic radial-circle planning continues to define Moscow's further development. However, contemporary Moscow has also engulfed a number of territories outside the MKAD, such as Solntsevo, Butovo, and the town of Zelenograd. A part of
Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
's territory was merged into Moscow on 1 July 2012; as a result, Moscow is no longer fully surrounded by Moscow Oblast and now also has a border with Kaluga Oblast.Official website of the Government of Moscow
Draft of adopted measures of the capital and oblast governments with regards to the expansion of the borders of Moscow
In all, Moscow gained about and 230,000 inhabitants. Moscow's Mayor Sergey Sobyanin lauded the expansion that will help Moscow and the neighboring region, a "mega-city" of twenty million people, to develop "harmonically". All administrative okrugs and districts have their own coat of arms, coats of arms and flags as well as individual heads of the area. In addition to the districts, there are Territorial Units with Special Status. These usually include areas with small or no permanent populations. Such is the case with the All-Russia Exhibition Centre, the Moscow Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, Botanical Garden, large parks, and industrial zones. In recent years, some territories have been merged with different districts. There are no ethnic-specific regions in Moscow, as in the Chinatowns that exist in some North American and East Asian cities. And although districts are not designated by income, as with most cities, those areas that are closer to the city center, metro stations or green zones are considered more prestigious. Moscow also hosts some of the government bodies of
Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
, although the city itself is not a part of the oblast.According to Article 24 of the Charter of Moscow Oblast, the government bodies of the oblast are located in the city of Moscow and throughout the territory of Moscow Oblast. However, Moscow is not officially named the administrative centre of the oblast.


Economy


Overview

Moscow has one of the List of cities by GDP, largest municipal economies in Europe and it accounts more than one-fifth of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP). , the Gross Regional Product, GRP of Moscow reached almost ₽24.5 trillion(US$332 billion). GMP of Moscow Region was ₽31.3 trillion or around US$425 billion. The average gross monthly wage in the city is ₽123,688 (US$2,000), which is around twice the national average of ₽66,572 (US$1,000), and one of the highest among the federal subjects of Russia. Moscow is home to the List of cities by number of billionaires, third-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, and has the highest number of billionaires of any city in Europe. It is the financial center of Russia and home to the country's largest banks and many of its largest companies, such as oil giant Rosneft. Moscow accounts for 17% of retail sales in Russia and for 13% of all construction activity in the country. Since the 1998 Russian financial crisis, business sectors in Moscow have shown exponential rates of growth. Many new business centers and office buildings have been built in recent years, but Moscow still experiences shortages in office space. As a result, many former industrial and research facilities are being reconstructed to become suitable for office use. Overall, economic stability has improved in recent years; nonetheless, crime and corruption still hinder business development.


Industry

Primary Industry (economics), industries in Moscow include the chemical industry, chemical, metallurgy, Food industry, food, textile, furniture, energy production, software development and machinery industries. The Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant is a manufacturer of military and civil helicopters. Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center produces various space equipment, including modules for space stations Mir, Salyut and the International Space Station, ISS as well as Proton (rocket), Proton launch vehicles and military ICBMs. Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Mikoyan, Tupolev and Yakovlev aircraft design bureaus also situated in Moscow. NPO Energomash, producing the rocket engines for Russian and American space programs, as well as Lavochkin design bureau, which built fighter planes during WWII, but switched to space probes since the Space Race, are in nearby Khimki, an independent city in
Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
that have largely been enclosed by Moscow from its sides. Automobile plants ZiL and AZLK, as well as the Voitovich Rail Vehicle plant, are situated in Moscow and Metrovagonmash metro wagon plant is located just outside the city limits. The Poljot, Poljot Moscow watch factory produces military, professional and sport watches well known in Russia and abroad. The Electrozavod factory was the first transformer factory in Russia. The Kristall distillery is the oldest distillery in Russia producing vodka types, including "Stolichnaya" while wines are produced at Moscow wine plants, including the Moscow Interrepublican Vinery. The Moscow Jewelry Factory and the Jewellerprom are producers of jewelry in Russia. There are other industries located just outside the city of Moscow, as well as microelectronic industries in Zelenograd, including Ruselectronics companies. Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Economy of Russia, Russian company, has head offices also in Moscow, as well as other oil, gas, and electricity companies. Moscow hosts headquarters of the many of telecommunications and Technology company, technology companies, including 1C Company, 1C, ABBYY, Beeline (brand), Beeline, Kaspersky Lab, Mail.Ru, Mail.Ru Group, MegaFon, MTS (network provider), MTS, Rambler (portal), Rambler&Co, Rostelecom, Yandex, and Yota. Some industry is being transferred out of the city to improve the ecological state of the city.


Cost of living

During Soviet Union, Soviet times, apartments were lent to people by the government according to the square meters-per-person norm (some groups, including people's artists, heroes, and prominent scientists had bonuses according to their honors). Private ownership of apartments was limited until the 1990s when people were permitted to secure property rights to their inhabited places. Since the Soviet era, estate owners have had to pay the service charge for their residences, a fixed amount based on persons per living area. The price of real estate in Moscow continues to rise. Today, one could expect to pay $4,000 on average per square meter (11 sq ft) on the outskirts of the city or US$6,500–$8,000 per square meter in a prestigious district. The price sometimes may exceed US$40,000 per square meter in a flat. It costs about US$1,200 per month to rent a one-bedroom apartment and about US$1,000 per month for a studio in the center of Moscow. A typical one-bedroom apartment is about , a typical two-bedroom apartment is , and a typical three-bedroom apartment is . Many cannot move out of their apartments, especially if a family lives in a two-room apartment originally granted by the state during the Soviet era. Some city residents have attempted to cope with the cost of living by renting their apartments while staying in dachas (country houses) outside the city. In 2006, Mercer Human Resources Consulting named Moscow the world's List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees, most expensive city for expatriate employees, ahead of perennial winner Tokyo, due to the stable Russian ruble as well as increasing housing prices within the city. Moscow also ranked first in the 2007 edition and 2008 edition of the survey. However, Tokyo has overtaken Moscow as the most expensive city in the world, placing Moscow at third behind Osaka in second place. In 2008, Moscow ranked top on the list of most expensive cities for the third year in a row. In 2014, according to ''Forbes'', Moscow was ranked the 9th most expensive city in the world. ''Forbes'' ranked Moscow the 2nd most expensive city the year prior. In 2019 the Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living survey put Moscow to 102nd place in the biannual ranking of 133 most expensive cities. ECA International's Cost of Living 2019 Survey ranked Moscow at number 120 among 482 locations worldwide.


Public utilities

The heating of buildings in Moscow, like in other cities in Russia is done using District heating, central heating system. Before 2004, state unitary enterprises were responsible to produce and supply heat to the clients by the operation of heating stations and heating distribution system of Mosgorteplo, Mosteploenergo, and Teploremontnaladka which gave service to the District heating substation, heating substations in the Administrative divisions of Moscow, north-eastern part of the city. Clients were divided between the various enterprises based on their geographical location. A major reform launched in 2004 consolidated the various companies under the umbrella of MIPC which became the municipal heat supplier. Its subsidiaries were the newly transformed Joint-stock companies. The city's main source of heating is the power station of Mosenergo which was reformed in 2005, when around ten subsidiaries were separated from it. One of the newly independent companies was the District Heating Network Company (MTK) (). In 2007 the Government of Moscow bought controlling stakes in the company. "Our city" is a geo-information portal created in 2011 under the mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin with the aim of building a constructive dialogue between Moscow residents and the city's executive authorities. The portal is being developed by the State Public Institution "New Management Technologies" together with the Moscow Department of Information Technologies. In its 10 years of operation, more than 1.7 million users have joined the portal, and during this time it has become an effective tool for monitoring the state of urban infrastructure.


Education

There are 1,696 high schools in Moscow, as well as 91 colleges. Besides these, there are 222 institutions of higher education, including 60 state universities and the Moscow State University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, which was founded in 1755. The main university building located in Vorobyovy Gory (
Sparrow Hills Sparrow Hills (, ), formerly known as Lenin Hills (, ), is a hill on the right bank of the Moskva River and one of the highest points in Moscow, reaching a height of above the river level. The observation platform is on a steep bank above ...
) is tall and when completed, was the tallest building on the continent. The university has over 30,000 Undergraduate education, undergraduate and 7,000 Postgraduate education, postgraduate students, who have a choice of twenty-nine faculties and 450 departments for study. The Moscow State University library contains over nine million books, making it one of the largest libraries in all of Russia. The I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University named after Ivan Sechenov or formerly known as Moscow Medical Academy (1stMSMU) is a medical university situated in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1785 as the faculty of the Moscow State University. It is a Russian Federal Agency for Health and Social Development. It is one of the largest medical universities in Russia and Europe. More than 9200 students are enrolled in 115 academic departments. It offers courses for post-graduate studies. The Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University (formerly known as Russian State Medical University) is a medical higher education institution in Moscow, Russia founded in 1906. It is fully accredited and recognized by Russia's Ministry of Education and Science and is currently under the authority of the Ministry of Health and Social Development. Named after Russian surgeon and pedagogue Nikolay Pirogov, N.I. Pirogov (1810–1888), it is one of the largest medical institutions and the first university in Russia to allow women to acquire degrees. Moscow is one of the financial centers of the
Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS countries and is known for its business schools. Among them are the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; Plekhanov Russian University of Economics; The State University of Management, and the National Research University - Higher School of Economics. They offer undergraduate degrees in management, finance, accounting, marketing, real estate, and economic theory, as well as Masters programs and MBAs. Most of them have branches in other regions of Russia and countries around the world. Bauman Moscow State Technical University, founded in 1830, is located in the center of Moscow and provides 18,000 undergraduate and 1,000 postgraduate students with an education in science and engineering, offering technical degrees. The Moscow Conservatory, founded in 1866, is a prominent music school in Russia. The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, Gerasimov All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography, abbreviated as VGIK, is the world's oldest educational institution in Cinematography, founded by Vladimir Gardin in 1919. Moscow State Institute of International Relations, founded in 1944, remains Russia's best- known school of international relations and diplomacy, with six schools focused on international relations. Approximately 4,500 students make up the university's student body and over 700,000 Russian and foreign-language books—of which 20,000 are considered rare—can be found in the library of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Other institutions are the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, also known as Phystech, the Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Complex, founded in 1988 by Russian eye surgeon Svyatoslav Fyodorov, the Moscow Aviation Institute, the Moscow Motorway Institute (State Technical University), and the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology has taught numerous Nobel Prize winners, including Pyotr Kapitsa, Nikolay Semyonov, Lev Landau and Alexander Prokhorov, while the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute is known for its research in nuclear physics. The highest Russian military school is the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Although Moscow has a number of famous Soviet-era higher educational institutions, most of which are more oriented towards engineering or the fundamental sciences, in recent years Moscow has seen a growth in the number of commercial and private institutions that offer classes in business and management. Many state institutions have expanded their education scope and introduced new courses or departments. Institutions in Moscow, as well as the rest of post-Soviet Russia, have begun to offer new international certificates and postgraduate degrees, including the Master of Business Administration. Student exchange programs with numerous countries, specially with the rest of Europe, have also become widespread in Moscow's universities, while schools within the Russian capital also offer seminars, lectures, and courses for corporate employees and businessmen. Moscow is one of the largest science centers in Russia. The headquarters of the Russian Academy of Sciences are located in Moscow as well as research and applied science institutions. The Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading research and development institution in the fields of nuclear energy, where the first nuclear reactor in Europe was built, the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Institute for Physical Problems, Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems and Steklov Institute of Mathematics are all situated in Moscow. There are 452 libraries in the city, including 168 for children. The Russian State Library, founded in 1862, is the national library of Russia. The library is home to over of shelves and 42 million items, including over 17 million books and serial volumes, 13 million journals, 350,000 music scores and sound records, and 150,000 maps, making it the largest library in Russia and one of the largest in the world. Items in 247 languages account for 29% of the collection. The State Public Historical Library, founded in 1863, is the largest library specialising in Russian history. Its collection contains four million items in 112 languages, mostly on Russian and world history, heraldry, numismatics, and the history of science. In regard to primary and secondary education, in 2011, Clifford J. Levy of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "Moscow has some strong public schools, but the system as a whole is dispiriting, in part because it is being corroded by the corruption that is a post-Soviet scourge. Parents often pay bribes to get their children admitted to better public schools. There are additional payoffs for good grades."


Transportation


Metro

The
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...
system is famous for its art, murals, mosaics, and ornate chandeliers. It started operation in 1935 and immediately became the centrepiece of the transportation system. More than that it was a Stalinist device to awe and reward the populace, and give them an appreciation of Soviet realist art. It became the prototype for future Soviet large-scale technologies. Lazar Kaganovich was in charge; he designed the subway so that citizens would absorb the values and ethos of Stalinist civilisation as they rode. The artwork of the 13 original stations became nationally and internationally famous. For example, the Sverdlov Square subway station featured porcelain bas-reliefs depicting the daily life of the Soviet peoples, and the bas-reliefs at the Dynamo Stadium sports complex glorified sports and the physical prowess of the powerful new "Homo Sovieticus" (Soviet man). The metro was touted as the symbol of the new social order—a sort of Communist cathedral of engineering modernity. Soviet workers did the labour and the artwork, but the main engineering designs, routes, and construction plans were handled by specialists recruited from the London Underground. The Britons called for tunneling instead of the "cut-and-cover" technique, the use of escalators instead of lifts, and designed the routes and the rolling stock. The paranoia of Stalin and the NKVD was evident when the secret police arrested numerous British engineers for espionage—that is for gaining an in-depth knowledge of the city's physical layout. Engineers for the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company were given a show trial and deported in 1933, ending the role of British business in the USSR. Today, the Moscow Metro comprises twelve lines, mostly underground with a total of 203 stations. The Metro is one of the deepest subway systems in the world; for instance, the Park Pobedy (Moscow Metro), Park Pobedy station, completed in 2003, at underground, has the longest escalators in Europe. The Moscow Metro is the busiest metro system in Europe, as well as Metro systems by annual passenger rides, one of the world's busiest metro systems, serving about ten million passengers daily (300,000,000 people every month). Facing serious transportation problems, Moscow has plans for expanding its Metro. In 2016, the authorities launched a Moscow Central Circle, new circle metro railway that contributed to solving transportation issues, namely daily congestion at Koltsevaya Line. Due to the treatment of Metro stations as possible canvas for art, characterized by the fact that workers of Moscow would get to see them every day, many Stalin-era metro stations were built in different "custom" designs (where each station's design would be, initially, a massive installation on a certain theme. For example, Elektrozavodskaya (Arbatsko–Pokrovskaya line), Elektrozavodskaya station was themed solely after nearby lightbulb factory and ceramic ribbed lightbulb sockets); the tradition of "Grand Designs" and, basically, decorating metro stations as single-themed installations, was restored in late 1979. Moscow's metro is one of the world's busiest, handling 2.6 billion passengers in 2019. In the Russian capital, there are over 21.5 thousand Wi-Fi access points, in student dormitories, in parks, cultural and sports institutions, and within the Garden Ring and the Third Transport Ring. From September 2020 to August 2021, 1,700 new access points to urban Wi-Fi were launched in Moscow. The structure of the Wi-Fi network allows citizens to use the Internet without re-authorization.


Monorail

The Moscow Metro operates a short Moscow Monorail, monorail line (line 13). The line connects Timiryazevskaya (Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line), Timiryazevskaya metro station and Ulitsa Sergeya Eisensteina, passing close to Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy, VDNH (and Line 6 Metro station "V.D.N.Kh."). The line opened in 2004. It accepts overground interchanges, no additional fare is needed if a ride was spent at Moscow Metro within previous 90 minutes.


Bus, trolleybus and electric bus

As Metro stations outside the city center are far apart in comparison to other cities, up to , a bus network radiates from each station to the surrounding residential zones. Moscow has a bus terminal for long-range and intercity passenger buses (Moscow Central Bus Terminal, Central Bus Terminal) with a daily turnover of about 25 thousand passengers serving about 40% of long-range bus routes in Moscow. Every major street in the city is served by at least one bus route. Many of these routes are doubled by a trolleybus route and have trolley wires over them. With the total line length of almost of a single wire, 8 depots, 104 routes, and 1740 vehicles, the Moscow trolleybus system was the Trolleybus usage by country, largest in the world. But municipal authority, headed by Sergey Sobyanin, began to destroy the trolleybus system in Moscow in 2014 due the planned replacement of trolleybuses by electric buses. In 2018 Moscow trolleybus system has only 4 depots and dozens of kilometers of unused wires. Almost all trolleybus wires inside Garden Ring (Sadovoe Koltso) were cut in 2016–2017 due to the reconstruction of central streets ("Moya Ulitsa"). Opened on 15 November 1933, it is also the world's 6th oldest operating trolleybus system. In 2018 the vehicle companies Kamaz and GAZ have won the Mosgortrans tender for delivering 200 electric buses and 62 ultra-fast charging stations to the city transport system. The manufacturers will be responsible for the quality and reliable operation of the buses and charging stations for the next 15 years. The city will be procuring only electric buses as of 2021, replacing the diesel bus fleet gradually. According to expectations, Moscow will become the leader amongst the European cities in terms of electric and gas fuel share in public transport by 2019.


Moscow cable car

On 26 November 2018, the mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin took part in the ceremony to open the Moskva River cable car, cable car above the
Moskva River The Moskva (, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About southeast of Moscow, at the cit ...
. The cable car will connect the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, Luzhniki sports complex with
Sparrow Hills Sparrow Hills (, ), formerly known as Lenin Hills (, ), is a hill on the right bank of the Moskva River and one of the highest points in Moscow, reaching a height of above the river level. The observation platform is on a steep bank above ...
and Kosygin Street. The journey from the well-known viewpoint on Vorobyovy Gory to Luzhniki Stadium will last for five minutes instead of 20 minutes that one would have to spend on the same journey by car.


Tram

Moscow has an extensive tram system, which first opened in 1899. The newest line was built in 1984. Its daily usage by Muscovites is low, making up for approximately 5% of trips because many vital connections in the network have been withdrawn. Trams still remain important in some districts as feeders to Metro stations. The trams also provide important cross-links between metro lines, for example between Universitet (Moscow Metro), Universitet station of Sokolnicheskaya Line (#1 red line) and Profsoyuznaya (Moscow Metro), Profsoyuznaya station of Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line (#6 orange line) or between Voykovskaya (Moscow Metro), Voykovskaya and Strogino (Moscow Metro), Strogino. There are three tram networks in the city: * Krasnopresnenskoye depot network with the westernmost point at Strogino (depot location) and the easternmost point near platform Dmitrovskaya. This network became separated in 1973, but until 1997 it could easily have been reconnected by about of track and three switches. The network has the highest usage in Moscow and no weak points based on turnover except to-depot lane (passengers serviced by bus) and tram ring at Dmitrovskaya (because now it is neither a normal transfer point nor a repair terminal). * The Apakov depot services the south-western part from the Varshavsky lane – Simferopolsky boulevard in the east to the Universitet station in the west and Boulevard lane at the center. This network is connected only by the four-way Dubininskaya and Kozhevnicheskaya streets. A second connection by Vostochnaya (Eastern) street was withdrawn in 1987 due to a fire at the Dinamo plant and has not been recovered, and remains lost (Avtozavodsky bridge) at 1992. The network may be serviced anyway by another depot (now route 35, 38). * Main three depot networks with railway gate and tram-repair plant. In addition, tram advocates have suggested that the new rapid transit services (metro to City, Butovo light metro, Monorail) would be more effective as at-grade tram lines and that the problems with trams are only due to poor management and operation, not the technical properties of trams. New tram models have been developed for the Moscow network despite the lack of expansion.


Taxi

Commercial taxi services and route taxis are in widespread use. In the mid-2010s, service platforms such as Yandex.Taxi, Uber and Gett displaced many private drivers and small service providers and were in 2015 servicing more than 50% of all taxi orders in Moscow. Russian tech firm Yandex is testing self-driving taxis in Moscow.


Railway

Several train stations serve the city. Moscow's ten rail terminals (or ) are: * Belorussky Rail Terminal * Kazansky Rail Terminal * Kiyevsky Rail Terminal * Kursky Rail Terminal * Leningradsky Rail Terminal * Paveletsky Rail Terminal * Rizhsky Rail Terminal *
Savyolovsky Rail Terminal Savyolovsky station (, ''Savyolovsky vokzal''), alternatively spelled ''Savyolovskiy'', ''Savelovsky'' or ''Savelovskiy'', is one of the ten main Train station, railway stations in the Maryina roshcha District of Moscow. It serves suburban direc ...
* Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal * Vostochny Railway Terminal (Moscow), Vostochny railway Terminal The terminals are located close to the city center, along with the metro ringline 5 or close to it, and connect to a metro line to the centre of town. Each station handles trains from different parts of Europe and Asia. There are many smaller railway stations in Moscow. As train tickets are cheap, they are the preferred mode of travel for Russians, especially when departing to Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. Moscow is the western terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which traverses nearly of Russian territory to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. Suburbs and satellite cities are connected by commuter elektrichka (electric rail) network. Elektrichkas depart from each of these terminals to the nearby (up to ) large railway stations. During the 2010s, the Little Ring of the Moscow Railway was converted to be used for frequent passenger service; it is fully integrated with Moscow Metro; the passenger service started on 10 September 2016. A connecting railway line on the North side of the town connects Belorussky terminal with other railway lines. This is used by some suburban trains.


Moscow Central Circle

The Little Ring of the Moscow Railway, Moskovskaya Okruzhnaya Zheleznaya Doroga formed a ring around the now-downtown Moscow since 1903, but only served as a non-electrified, fueled locomotive-only railway prior to reconstruction into MCC in 2010's. The Moscow Central Circle is a Urban rail transit, urban-metro railway orbital line that encircles historical Moscow. It was built alongside Little Ring of the Moscow Railway, taking some of its tracks into itself as well. M.C.C. was opened for passenger use on 10 September 2016. The line is operated by the Moscow Government owned company MKZD through the
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...
, with the Government of Russia, Federal Government owned Russian Railways selected as the operation subcontractor.


Moscow Central Diameters

Another system, which forms "genuine ''S-Bahn''" as in "suburbia-city-suburbia"-designed railway, is the Moscow Central Diameters, a pass-through railways system, created by constructing bypasses from "vokzals" final stations (e.g. by avoiding the central stations of already existing Moscow Railway, used for both intercity and urban-suburban travel before) and forming a train line across Moscow's centre. Out of 5 projected lines, the first 2 lines were completed and launched on 2019-11-21.


Roads

There are over 2.6 million cars in the city daily. Recent years have seen growth in the number of cars, which have caused traffic jams and lack of parking space to become major problems. The Moscow Ring Road (MKAD), along with the Third Ring Road (Moscow), Third Transport Ring and the canceled Fourth Transport Ring, is one of only three freeways that run within Moscow city limits. Several other roadway systems form concentric circles around the city.


Air

There are five primary commercial airports serving Moscow: Sheremetyevo International Airport, Sheremetyevo (SVO), Domodedovo International Airport, Domodedovo (DME), Vnukovo International Airport, Vnukovo (VKO), Zhukovsky International Airport, Zhukovsky (ZIA), Ostafyevo International Airport, Ostafyevo (OSF). Sheremetyevo International Airport is the most globally connected of Moscow's airports, handling 60% of all international flights. It is also a home to all SkyTeam members, and the main hub for Aeroflot (itself a member of SkyTeam). Domodedovo International Airport is the leading airport in Russia in terms of passenger throughput and is the primary gateway to long-haul domestic and CIS destinations and its international traffic rivals Sheremetyevo. It is a hub for S7 airlines, and most of OneWorld and Star Alliance members use Domodedovo as their international hub. Vnukovo International Airport handles flights of Turkish Airlines, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and others. Ostafyevo International Airport caters primarily to business aviation. Moscow's airports vary in distances from the MKAD beltway: Domodedovo is the farthest at ; Vnukovo is ; Sheremetyevo is ; and Ostafievo, the nearest, is about from MKAD. There are a number of smaller airports close to Moscow (19 in Moscow Oblast) such as Myachkovo Airport, that are intended for private aircraft, helicopters and charters.


Water

Moscow has two passenger terminals, (South River Terminal and North River Terminal), on the river and regular ship routes and cruises along the Moskva and Oka River, Oka rivers, which are used mostly for entertainment. The North River Terminal, built in 1937, is the main hub for long-range river routes. There are three freight ports serving Moscow.


Sharing system

Moscow has different vehicle sharing options that are sponsored by the local government. There are several car sharing companies which are in charge of providing cars to the population. To drive the automobiles, the user has to book them through the app of the owning company. In 2018 the mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Moscow's car sharing system has become the biggest in Europe in terms of vehicle fleet. Every day about 25,000 people use this service. In the end of the same year Moscow carsharing became the second in the world in therms of fleet with 16.5K available vehicles. Another sharing system is bike sharing (''Velobike'') of a fleet formed by 3000 traditional and electrical bicycles. The ''Delisamokat'' is a new sharing service that provides electrical scooters.


Future development

In 1992, the Moscow government began planning a projected new part of central Moscow, the
Moscow International Business Center The Moscow International Business Center (MIBC), also known as Moscow-City, is an under-construction commercial development in Moscow, the capital of Russia. The project occupies an area of 60 hectares, and is located just east of the Third Rin ...
, with the goal of creating a zone, the first in Russia, and in all of Eastern Europe, that will combine business activity, living space and entertainment. Situated in Presnensky District and located at the Third Ring, the Moscow City area is under intense development. The construction of the MIBC takes place on the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment. The whole project takes up to . The area is the only spot in downtown Moscow that can accommodate a project of this magnitude. Today, most of the buildings there are old factories and industrial complexes. The Federation Tower, completed in 2016, is the List of tallest buildings in Europe, second-tallest building in Europe. It is planned to include a water park and other recreational facilities; business, office, entertainment, and residential buildings, a transport network and a City Hall and City Duma, new site for the Moscow government. The construction of four new metro stations in the territory has been completed, two of which have opened and two others are reserved for future metro lines crossing MIBC, some additional stations were planned. * A rail shuttle service, directly connecting Moscow International Business Center, MIBC with the Sheremetyevo International Airport is also planned. Major thoroughfares through MIBC are the Third Ring Road (Moscow), Third Ring and Kutuzovsky Prospekt. Three metro stations were initially planned for the Filyovskaya Line. The station Delovoi Tsentr opened in 2005 and was later renamed Vystavochnaya in 2009. The branch extended to the Mezhdunarodnaya (Moscow Metro), Mezhdunarodnaya station in 2006, and all work on the third station, Dorogomilovskaya (between Kiyevskaya (Filyovskaya), Kiyevskaya and Delovoi Tsentr), has been postponed. There are plans to extend the branch as far as the Savyolovskaya (Serpukhovsko–Timiryazevskaya line), Savyolovskaya station, on the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line. The cellphone service provider MTS announced on 5 March 2021, that they would begin the country's first pilot 5G network in Moscow.


Media

Moscow is home to nearly all of Russia's nationwide Television in Russia, television networks, radio stations, newspapers, and magazines.


Newspapers

English-language media include ''The Moscow Times'' and ''Moscow News'', which are, respectively, the largest and oldest English-language weekly newspapers in all of Russia. , ''Vedomosti'' and ''Novaya Gazeta'' are Russian-language media headquartered in Moscow. and ''Vedomosti'' are among the country's leading and oldest Russian-language business newspapers.


TV and radio

Other media in Moscow include the ''Echo of Moscow'', the first Soviet and Russian private news radio and information agency, and NTV (Russia), NTV, one of the first privately owned Russian television stations. The total number of radio stations in Moscow in the FM band is near 50. Moscow television networks: * Channel One (Russia), Channel One * Russia-1 (TV channel), Russia-1 * Russia-2 (TV channel), Russia-2 * NTV (Russia), NTV * TV Tsentr * Petersburg – Channel 5, Channel 5 * Kultura (TV channel), Rossiya Kultura * Russia-24 (TV channel), Russia-24 * Public Television of Russia * REN TV * STS (TV channel), STS * TNT (Russia), TNT * TV-3 (Russia), TV-3 * Zvezda (TV channel), Zvezda * Domashny * Carousel (TV channel), Carousel * Peretz (TV channel, Russia), Peretz * Euronews * 2×2 (TV channel), 2x2 * Pyatnica! (TV channel, Russia), Pyatnica! * Disney Channel (Russia), Disney Channel * RBC TV, RBC * Moscow 24 (TV channel), Moskva 24 * Dozhd * RU.TV * Petersburg – Channel 5 Moscow radio stations: * "Russian (Russkoye) Radio" * "Europa Plus" * "DFM" * "NRJ (Russia)" * "Radio Maximum" * "Voice of Russia (in English)" * "Radio Freedom (Svoboda)" * "Megapolis FM" * "Radio Kultura (Culture)" * "Pioneer FM" * "Zvezda" * "Komsomolskaya Pravda" * "Orpheus" * "Monte Carlo" * "Love Radio" * "The Main" Главная * "Govorit Moskva" * "Radio Dacha" * "Nashe Radio" * "Radio 7" * "Humor FM" * "Retro FM" * "Ultra" * "Keks FM" * "Carnival" * "Dobrye Pesni (Good Songs)" * "Voyage FM" * "Kino FM" * "Finam FM" * "First Popular" * "Politseiskaya Volna (Police Wave)" * "Radio Sport" * "Radio Rossii" * "Radio Podmoskovye" * "Radiocompany Moscow" * "UFM" * "Mayak" * "Business FM" * "Autoradio" * "Moya Semia (My Family)" * "XFM" * "Fresh Radio" * "Silver Rain" * "Chanson" * "M-Radio" * "Orphey" * "Echo of Moscow" * "Radio Jazz" * "Classic Radio" * "Vesti FM" * "City FM" * "Relax FM" * "Kommersant FM" * "Rock FM" * "Children's Radio" * "Radio Alla" * "Best FM" * "Next FM" * "Hit FM" * "Radio Record" * "Capital FM Moscow"


People

File: Portrait of Alexander Pushkin (Orest Kiprensky, 1827).PNG, Alexander Pushkin, the founder of modern Russian literature, was born in Moscow in 1799. File:Vasily Perov - Портрет Ф.М.Достоевского - Google Art Project.jpg, Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821. File:Joseph Kreutzinger - Portrait of Count Alexander Suvorov - WGA12281.jpg, Alexander Suvorov was born in Moscow in 1730. File:Peter de Grote.jpg,
Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
was born in Moscow in 1672.


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Moscow is Sister city, twinned with: * Almaty, Kazakhstan * Ankara, Turkey * Astana, Kazakhstan * Baku, Azerbaijan * Bangkok, Thailand * Beijing, China * Bucharest, Romania * Buenos Aires, Argentina * Cusco, Peru * Dubai, United Arab Emirates * Ganja, Azerbaijan, Ganja, Azerbaijan * Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam * Jakarta, Indonesia * Ljubljana, Slovenia * London, United Kingdom * Manila, Philippines * New Delhi, India * Pyongyang, North Korea * Rasht, Iran * Reykjavík, Iceland * Riga, Latvia * Seoul, South Korea * Tashkent, Uzbekistan * Tehran, Iran * Tokyo, Japan * Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia


Cooperation agreements

Moscow has cooperation agreements with: * Bangkok, Thailand (1997) * Lisbon, Portugal (1997) * Madrid, Spain (2006) * Tel Aviv, Israel (2001) * Tunis, Tunisia (1998) * Yerevan, Armenia (1995)


Former twin towns and sister cities

* Berlin, Germany (suspended due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine) * Brno, Czech Republic (terminated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine) * Chicago, United States (suspended due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine) * Düsseldorf, Germany (suspended due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine) * Kharkiv, Ukraine * Kyiv, Ukraine * Prague, Czech Republic (suspended since 2014 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine) * Tallinn, Estonia * Vilnius, Lithuania * Warsaw, Poland (terminated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine)


See also

* List of churches in Moscow * List of Moscow tourist attractions * List of museums in Moscow * List of shopping malls in Moscow * Mayor of Moscow * Moscow Millionaire Fair


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * *


External links

* *
Interactive map of housing in Moscow from 1785–2018
.
Travel2moscow.com – Official Moscow Guide

Official Moscow Administration Site

Informational website of Moscow


. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection. The National Library of Israel. I
Historic Cities Research Project
. {{Authority control Moscow, 12th-century establishments in Russia Capitals in Europe Moskovsky Uyezd Populated places established in the 12th century Federal cities of Russia Golden Ring of Russia