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Moscow is the
capital of the Russian Federation and its largest city. With over 10
million people living and working there, it is among the world’s 20
largest cities.
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Moscow was founded
in 1147, when Russia was made up of a number of city states and
princedoms before it was unified under a single ruler.
Toward the end of the 15th century the
city emerged as the capital of an empire
that would eventually encompass all of present-day Russia and other
lands. In 1712,
Peter the Great moved the capital to St. Petersburg. Soon after
coming to power in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved the capital back to
Moscow (1918). |
The city began with
the foundation of the Moscow Kremlin,
the historic fortress that has traditionally housed the government;
with the rest of the city eventually growing around it. Several
rivers cut through Moscow — the Moscow and Yauza rivers being the
largest.
Moscow is serviced by a sprawling network of public transportation,
including subway trains, buses, trolley buses, and trams. The
climate is moderately continental,
Typical high
temperatures in the warm months of July and August are around 22 °C
(72 °F); in the winter, temperatures normally drop to approximately
-12 °C (10 °F).
Moscow is home to
many architectural attractions, including 15th- to 19th-century
classical architecture, as well as Stalin-era monoliths and recently
constructed modern buildings.
In addition to Russians, the city has large Jewish, Tartar,
Armenian, and various other ethnic communities.
Moscow’s contribution to the national GDP (approx. 15%) makes it
Russia’s most developed economy and the country’s business center.
The city’s most profitable sectors are the food, mechanical
engineering, and power industries.
Moscow mayor Yuri
Luzhkov has run the city since 1992.
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