Russia's Population Core: The Moscow-Centric Western Cluster

Over 100 million Russians — ~70% of the national population — live in the western fifth of the country, centered on the Moscow metropolitan area.

The Core Zone

• Moscow City: 13.1M (2024) — largest city entirely in Europe.
• Moscow Oblast: 8.5M — sprawling satellite cities (Khimki, Balashikha, Podolsk, Korolev).
• Moscow Metro Area: ~22M — among world's top 10 urban agglomerations.

Secondary Western Hubs

Why the West?

• History: Muscovite core expanded northeast; steppe south/east settled later.
• Climate: Temperate, arable (chernozem), river network (Volga, Oka, Don).
• Transport: Rail/road/hub-and-spoke from Moscow.
• Economy: 60%+ GDP, finance, defense, tech, government.

East of the Urals

Only ~25% of Russians live in Siberia/Far East (75% of territory). Major cities: Novosibirsk (1.6M), Yekaterinburg (1.5M), Vladivostok (600k) — resource-driven, not population-driven.

Russia is a European country with Asian territory — demographically, politically, culturally anchored west of the Urals.