Moscow, Russia

Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation and that nation's largest city, as well as one of the largest cities in the world. A major center for finance, industry, education, and culture, it evolved over the course of nearly nine centuries from a village on the banks of the Moscow River into the capital of the Soviet Union and one of the poles of international power during the Cold War. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the transition to a market economy gave the city a reputation for organized crime and rampant, unplanned growth. However, new legislation, law enforcement, and economic stability helped improve living conditions. Moscow remains known for its historic architecture and multiple World Heritage Sites as well as its central place in Russia's economic and political landscape.

Landscape

Moscow is located in European Russia, a broad, heavily forested plain west of the Ural Mountains; its metropolitan area occupies 1,035 square kilometers (414 square miles). Ranging in elevation from 130 to 253 meters (from 427 to 830 feet), it is in a river basin that is flat except for the slight rise of the Sparrow Hills.

The center of modern Moscow follows its original layout, with concentric circles radiating out from the central fortification, the Kremlin. An extensive road network encircles Moscow, and the number of automobiles in and around the city has increased steadily, especially since the fall of the Soviet Union. Beyond the modern city center are numerous high-rise apartment buildings, most of them constructed during the Soviet period. Separate from the living areas but also outside the center are numerous industrial sites.

The Moscow River flows through the city and connects it to five seas. The headwaters of the largest river in Europe, the Volga, rise west of Moscow. A canal links the Moscow River to the Volga, giving the city access to major shipping ways.

Moscow has a continental climate that is moderated by Atlantic winds. Winters are snowy and cold, with January temperatures averaging –10.3 degrees Celsius (13.5 degrees Fahrenheit) and short hours of daylight. Summers are warm, with long hours of daylight. Annual precipitation, which falls as snow in winter and as rain in summer, averages 610 millimeters (24 inches).

Russia has been affected by climate change. The number of hot days has increased by 5 percent per decade since the 1970s, and the number of cold days has increased by 6 percent per decade since the mid-1970s. Some evidence indicates that climate change has increased the amount of precipitation in some areas.

People

The population of Moscow in 2023 was more than 12.68 million, according to an estimate by the US Central Intelligence Agency. Russia's overall population is in decline due to low birth rates. These trends have also affected Moscow's population but have been offset by the urban immigration of people searching for better work opportunities and a higher quality of life.

Though dominated by ethnic Russians, who are Slavic, the Soviet Union contained diverse peoples. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many of its republics based on ethnic lines gained independence. Nonetheless, various ethnic groups are still represented within Moscow, including small populations of Tatars, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Armenians, and Central Asians; ethnic groups generally speak their own language in addition to Russian. The country has a history of xenophobia, and many ethnic minorities face discrimination and violence, both from security forces and from civilians.

Moscow is the seat of the patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, which enjoys an important role in the cultural life of the city after decades of proscription under communism. Other Christian sects, Jews, and Muslims are also represented.

Numerous cultural and scientific luminaries were born in Moscow or have ties to it, including Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Andrei Sakharov. The city's main rival for cultural standing, particularly in performing arts, plastic arts, and literature, is the former capital, Saint Petersburg.

Economy

Moscow is an economic powerhouse, and it attracts investors from around the world despite a sometimes-uncertain business climate. Russia's transition to a market economy, beginning in 1991, was nowhere as obvious or successful as in Moscow. An explosion in small business ownership was one of the most significant features of privatization. Another feature has been the development of a middle class—as well as an extreme range between rich and poor.

Finance, banking, insurance, education, research, and industry are largely centered in the capital. Engineering and metalworking, two of the most important industries, produce a range of goods, from vehicles and precision tools to helicopters and defense equipment. Textile production, construction, trade, and administration of Russia's vast natural resources are also important sectors of the local economy.

As a major transportation hub, encompassing nine railway stations and extensive river and sea access, Moscow serves as a transit point for many imports and exports. The Moscow region also has one of the country's most developed road systems.

Russia's greater openness to foreigners after the fall of the Soviet Union meant a dramatic increase in tourism, and Moscow is one of the key destinations as well as an entry point for many of those traveling elsewhere. In 2022, 17.9 million tourists visited Moscow, indicating a bounce back from the effects of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the year prior to the pandemic, more than 25 million tourists visited Moscow.

Despite its relative economic success, Moscow does face notable challenges. Extensive bureaucracy and lack of transparency in business practices do not encourage foreign investment. Organized crime, which has decreased since the 1990s, is still reportedly involved in massive extortion schemes. Development of the judicial system has brought a measure of stability but may also have been used for political purposes. Nonetheless, the country remains a lucrative risk for many entrepreneurs.

Landmarks

The Kremlin, a walled fortress that has been the seat of government for much of the city's history, dates to the fourteenth century. The brick walls are topped with twenty bell towers, and within the Kremlin are a palace, government buildings, and some of the finest examples of Russian Orthodox architecture, including the onion-domed Church of the Assumption and the Cathedral of the Annunciation.

Outside the eastern Kremlin walls is Red Square, at one end of which stands the sixteenth-century Church of St. Basil, a small, multicolored structure in the Russian Orthodox style. The Kremlin and Red Square have together been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

During the early Soviet period, many churches and monuments in Moscow were demolished by order of leader Joseph Stalin to bolster the atheistic outlook of the Soviet state and make way for monumental building projects glorifying communism. Several of the structures, including the Christ the Savior Cathedral, were rebuilt in the 1990s.

Other structures erected during the Soviet period include unique modernist buildings, a set of Gothic-like skyscrapers (called the Seven Sisters) visible from most areas of the city, the highly decorated metro system, and the Ostankino Tower, once the tallest free-standing structure in the world. The mausoleum of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, founder of the Soviet state, lies outside the eastern Kremlin wall.

Several of the world's premier art museums and theaters are located in Moscow. The Pushkin Museum showcases art from around the world, while the Tretyakov Gallery showcases Russian art, including that of the Moscow School. The opera and ballet companies of the Bolshoi Theater enjoy one of the highest international reputations in the performing arts.

Moscow is well served by urban parks. Gorky Park, Neskuchniy Garden, and Izmaylovsky Park are three such areas offering natural settings and amusements for the city's population.

History

The site of Moscow was settled in Neolithic times, but the earliest historical reference to a wooden village protected by a fortress is 1147. The Kremlin was built in stone in 1367 and has survived to the present day with many modifications, but fires destroyed the wooden buildings of the developing village several times.

Despite the setback of the thirteenth-century Mongol invasion, Moscow grew in stature through trade and the protection it could offer people from other parts of Russian territory. It became an independent principality in 1327 and began uniting neighboring principalities under its rule. During the domination of the Mongols and Tatars, which lasted until 1480, Moscow was allowed self-governance but had to pay annual tributes to the foreign armies. The city became the capital of a unified Russia in the fifteenth century and the ecclesiastical capital the following century.

Russian leader Czar Peter the Great moved the capital to Saint Petersburg in 1712, but Moscow continued to prosper as a major seat of shipping, trade, and culture. The city suffered another setback a century later when emperor Napoleon I of France invaded Russia, defeated the Russian military at the Battle of Borodino outside of Moscow, and marched on the city. It is uncertain whether retreating Russians or French looters set the city on fire, but much of Moscow was destroyed, and with few provisions Napoleon's forces were forced to retreat after five weeks. Between 1813 and 1843, Moscow was rebuilt and once again became a focal point for economic and cultural advancement.

In the period leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, revolutionaries used Moscow as a base to plot their overthrow of the czar and institute a socialist government. The year after the revolution, the Bolsheviks relocated their temporary government to Moscow. In 1922, it became the capital of the Soviet Union and underwent dramatic growth in population and economic power. In the subsequent decade, Stalin carried out massive building projects designed to transform Moscow into a model proletarian city. The metro system, road works, and many housing programs date from this period.

During World War II, Moscow served as country's military headquarters while key industries and most of the government were relocated further east. In 1941, German forces marched on the city but were repulsed by the Soviets in the Battle of Moscow. As industries returned, it regained importance in the war effort.

Moscow continued to grow during the latter half of the Soviet period, but, as in the rest of the Soviet Union, economic and social stagnation struck acutely in its final decade. An attempted coup in 1991 by communist hard-liners opposed to President Mikhail Gorbachev's economic and social reforms took place in Moscow but failed to salvage the Soviet Union. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Moscow became the capital of the Russian Federation. The poor economic climate meant that little attention could be given to the city's infrastructure.

A decade of chaos, rife with crime, ensued as the country and city made the transition to a market economy. In the early twenty-first century, the city continued to grow as its population increased significantly, prompting the implementation of various infrastructural and economic initiatives. However, the social and political challenges facing Russia as a whole often came to head in Moscow, as in 2002 when Chechen rebels seized a theater in the city, leading to the deaths of about 120 hostages. Antigovernment protests, often targeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin, also occasionally broke out in the city, with resulting crackdowns typically drawing international condemnation. Meanwhile, oil and gas revenues flowing through the capital contributed to an explosion of wealth, although the slump in oil prices beginning in 2014 and subsequent volatility exposed economic weaknesses. Though Moscow still faces numerous urban problems, it has been transformed once again into a major center for economic and cultural development.

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