Moscow: Capital and most populous city of Russia

Moscow
Mосква (Russian)
Moscow; Mосква (Russian)
— Federal city —
	Clockwise, from top right: Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin; MIBC; Red Square, Saint Basil's Cathedral; Bolshoi Theatre; Moscow State University; and Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.; Clockwise, from top right: Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin; MIBC; Red Square, Saint Basil's Cathedral; Bolshoi Theatre; Moscow State University; and Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
; Flag	; Coat of arms
	Anthem: "My Moscow"
	Coordinates: 55°45′N 37°37′E / 55.750°N 37.617°E
Political status
Country	Russia
Federal district	Central
Economic region	Central
Established	1147
Federal city Day	The second weekend of September
Government (as of July 2014)
• Mayor	Sergey Sobyanin
• Legislature	City Duma
Statistics
	Area
• Total	2,511 km2 (970 sq mi)
Area rank	83rd
Time zone(s)	MSK (UTC+04:00)
ISO 3166-2	RU-MOW
License plates	77, 177, 777; 97, 197, 797; 99, 199, 799
Official languages	Russian
	Official website

The city is on the Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population of around 13 million people in the city limits, over 17 million people in the urban area, and over 20 million people in the metropolitan area. The city has an area of 2,511 square kilometers (970 sq mi). Moscow's urban area has an area of 5,891 square kilometers (2,275 sq mi). Moscow's metropolitan area has an area of over 26,000 square kilometers (10,000 sq mi). Moscow is one of the world's largest cities. It is the most populous city that is only in Europe. It is also the largest urban and metropolitan area in Europe and the largest city by land area on the European continent.

It was first wrote about in 1147. Moscow grew to become a powerful city that was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Moscow stayed the political and economic center of the country when the Tsardom of Russia was made. When the Tsardom turned into the Russian Empire, the capital was moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg which lowered the influence of the city. The capital was moved back to Moscow after the October Revolution. This brought the city back as the political center of the Russian SFSR and then the Soviet Union. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Moscow stayed the capital city of the new Russian Federation.

Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity in the world. It has a history that goes through eight centuries. Moscow is a federal city of Russia since 1993 that is the political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe. Moscow has one of the world's largest urban economies as an alpha world city. The city is one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world, and it is one of Europe's most visited cities. Moscow is home to the seventh-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world. The Moscow International Business Center is one of the largest financial centers in Europe and the world. Moscow has most of Europe's tallest skyscrapers. Moscow was the host city of the 1980 Summer Olympics, and one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Moscow is the home of many Russian artists, scientists, and sportspeople. The city also has several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Moscow is well known for its Russian architecture. This includes its historic Red Square, and buildings such as the Saint Basil's Cathedral and the Moscow Kremlin. The Moscow Kremlin is the seat of power of the Government of Russia. Moscow is home to many Russian companies in different industries. It has a large transit network, which includes four international airports, ten railway terminals, a tram system, a monorail system, and the Moscow Metro. The Moscow Metro is the busiest metro system in Europe. It is one of the largest rapid transit systems in the world. The city has over 40 percent of its land covered by greenery. This makes it one of the greenest cities in Europe and the world.

A person from Moscow is called a "москвич" (moskvich) for male or "москвичка" (moskvichka) for female. In English, people from Moscow are called Muscovites.

Geography

It is by the Moskva River in the Moscow Oblast, in the European part of Russia. Moscow sits on the center of three parts of Earth's crust. It was once the capital of the Soviet Union (1918-1991), Russian Empire, Tsardom of Russia and the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480-1703). It is the place of the Moscow Kremlin, one of the World Heritage Sites in the city, which is the home of the President of Russia. The Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council of Russia (Federation Council) and the Government of Russia also are in Moscow.

The city has a humid continental climate. The winter (usually cold) is lasting from mid-November to the end of March. The average temperature in winter is about −10 °C (−14 °F). The summer is usually warm or even hot with temperature ranging from 15 to 35 °C (50 to 95 °F) .

Economy

Moscow has a large economic infrastructure. It is home to the most billionaires in the world. In 2008 Moscow was named the world's most expensive city for non-Russian workers for the third year in a row. In 2009, however, Moscow went down to third after Tokyo and Osaka came in first and second.

History

The city is named after the river (old Russian: гра́д Моско́в, which means "the city next to the Moskva River"). The beginning of the name is not known, but some people have a few ideas. One is that the name might be from a very old Finnic language, in which it means "dark" and "cloudy". In 12th century tribes of Vyatichi and Krivichs lived on that land. The first Russian reference to Moscow is from 1147 when Yuri Dolgoruki called upon the prince of Novgorod-Severski to "come to me, brother, to Moscow."

Nine years later, in 1156, Prince Yuri Dolgoruki ordered the building of a wooden wall, which had to be redone many times, to go around the growing city. After the attack of 1237–1238, when the Mongols burned the city to the ground and killed its people living there, Moscow grew back and became the capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality (an amount of land ruled by a prince) in 1327. Its good place on the start of the Volga River helped the city to grow slowly bigger and bigger. Moscow turned into a peaceful and rich principality, known as the Grand Duchy of Moscow, for many years and a large number of people from across Russia moved to live there.

Under Ivan I the city replaced Tver as a political center of Vladimir-Suzdal and became the only collector of taxes for the Mongol-Tatar rulers. By paying high taxes, Ivan worked out an important deal with the Khan. Unlike other principalities, Moscow was not divided among his sons but was passed whole to his oldest. However, Moscow did not like the Mongol rule. In 1380, prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow led a Russian army to an important victory over the Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo. Only two years later Moscow was raided by the Khan Tokhtamysh. In 1480, Ivan III finally broke the Russians free from Tatar control, allowing Moscow to become the center of power in Russia. Under Ivan III the city became the capital of an empire that would eventually include all of Russia and other countries.

In 1571, the Crimean Tatars raided Moscow, burning everything but the Kremlin.

In 1609 the Swedish army, led by Count Jacob De la Gardie and Evert Horn, marched from Veliky Novgorod toward Moscow to help Tsar Vasili Shuiski. They entered Moscow in 1610 and stopped the revolution against the Tsar, but left early in 1611. After that the Polish invaded. During the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618) hetman (army commander) Stanisław Żółkiewski entered Moscow after he defeated the Russians in the Battle of Klushino. The 17th century had lots of revolutions, such as the Salt Riot (1648), the Copper Riot (1662), and the Moscow Uprising of 1682.

The plague of 1654–1656 killed half the population of Moscow. The city stopped being Russia’s capital in 1712, after the building of Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great near the Baltic coast in 1703. The Plague of 1771 was the last big plague in central Russia, killing 100,000 people in Moscow alone. During the French invasion of Russia in 1812, the Muscovites burned the city and ran away, as Napoleon’s army was coming near to the city on 14 September. Napoleon’s army, which was very hungry and cold, had to leave and was nearly destroyed by the freezing Russian winter and some attacks by the army.

Moscow (Russian Empire) in 1908

In January 1905, Alexander Adrianov became Moscow’s first mayor. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, on 12 March 1918 Moscow became the capital of the Soviet Union. During World War II (known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War), after the German invasion of the USSR, the Soviet State Defense Group and commanders of the Red Army were placed in Moscow.

In 1941, 16 groups of national volunteers (more than 160,000 people), twenty-five battalions (18,500 people) and four engineering regiments were created among the Muscovites. That November, the German Army was stopped at the edge of the city and then driven off in the Battle of Moscow. Many factories were moved away, and much of the government was too, and from 20 October the city was declared to be under siege. Its people who stayed built and used anti-tank defences, and the city was bombed from the air. Joseph Stalin (the leader of Russia) did not leave the city, so the general staff remained in the city as well. Even with a siege going on, the construction of the Moscow Metro system continued through the war, and by the end of the war a few new metro lines were open.

On 1 May 1944, a medal For the defence of Moscow and in 1947 another medal In memory of the 800th year of Moscow were given to Moscow. In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, on 8 May 1965, Moscow became one of twelve Soviet cities awarded the title of Hero City.

In 1980, Moscow hosted the Summer Olympic Games, which the United States and several other countries did not go to because of the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan in the end of 1979. In 1991, Moscow was the scene of a failed overthrow attempt by government members opposed to Mikhail Gorbachev. When the USSR ended in the same year, Moscow continued to be the capital of Russia.

Since then, the beginning of a market economy in Moscow has caused an explosion of Western-style stores, services, architecture, and lifestyles. In 1998, it hosted the first World Youth Games.

Transportation

Metro

Moscow metro is one of the largest and the beautiful ones in the World. It was opened for passengers in 1935.

Trams

The first electric tram began operating in 1899.

Buses

Trolleys

The Moscow trolley system was the largest in the World before ending of 2010s. In 2020 it was closed.

Sister cities

Moscow has many sister cities:

Related pages

List of cities and towns in Russia by population

References

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