Is Russia in Europe or Asia? It's Both.

Russia is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

The Split

• ~77% of territory (≈13 million km²) in Asia (Siberia, Far East).
• ~23% of territory (≈3.9 million km²) in Europe (west of Urals).
• ~75–80% of population (≈110M of 144M) lives in European Russia.

The Conventional Boundary

The Ural Mountains (north–south) are the primary land divide. South of the Urals, the boundary follows the Ural River to the Caspian Sea, then the Caucasus watershed (or Kuma–Manych Depression) to the Black Sea.

Major Cities by Continent

• Europe: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd.
• Asia: Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg (straddles Urals), Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, Irkutsk.

Why It Matters

• Politics: European institutions (Council of Europe, OSCE); Asian forums (APEC, SCO, EAEU).
• Culture: European roots (Orthodoxy, literature, ballet) + Siberian/Indigenous diversity.
• Economy: European core (finance, industry, administration); Asian resources (oil, gas, minerals, timber).

Russia is geographically Eurasian, demographically European, politically both—a bridge and a colossus.