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Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: ) is the capital of Russia and the country's principal political, economic, financial, educational, and transportation center, located on the Moskva River. The city constitutes about 7% of the Russian population or 10.4 million permanent inhabitants within the city boundaries * and is the most populous city in Europe. As of 2006 Moscow is also the most expensive city in the world.
The city is in the Central Federal District located in the west part of the Russian Federation. Historically, its position was central in the Russian homeland. It was the capital of the former Soviet Union, and of Muscovite Russia, the pre-Imperial Russia. It is the site of the famous Kremlin, which serves as the center of the national government.
Moscow is also well known as the site of the Saint Basil's Cathedral, with its elegant onion domes, as well as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The Patriarch of Moscow, whose residence is the Danilov Monastery, serves as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The coat of arms of Moscow depicts a horseman with a spear in his hand slaying a dragon.
History
The first reference to Moscow dates from 1147 when Yuri Dolgoruki called upon the prince of the Novgorod Republic to "come to me, brother, to Moscow." Nine years later, in 1156, Prince Yuriy Dolgorukiy of Kiev ordered the construction of a wooden wall, which had to be rebuilt multiple times, to surround the emerging Moscow. After the sacking of 1237-1238, when the Mongols burned the city to the ground and killed its inhabitants, Moscow recovered and became the capital of an independent principality in 1327. Its favorable position on the headwaters of the Volga river contributed to steady expansion. Moscow developed into a stable and prosperous principality for many years and attracted a large number of refugees from across Russia.
Under Ivan I the city replaced Tver as capital of Vladimir-Suzdal and became the sole collector of taxes for the Mongol rulers. By paying high tribute, Ivan won an important concession from the Khan. Unlike other principalities, Moscow was not divided among his sons but was passed intact to his eldest. In 1380, prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow led a united Russian army to an important victory over the Mongols in the Battle of Kulikovo. After that, Moscow took the leading role in liberating Russia from Mongol domination. In 1480, Ivan III had finally broken the Russians free from Tatar control, allowing Moscow to become the center of power in Russia. The Russian capital, which had wandered from Kiev to Vladimir, came to rest in this city by the end of his reign, and Moscow became the capital of an empire that would eventually encompass all of present-day Russia, Siberia, and parts of other lands.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet State Committee of Defence and the General Staff of the Red Army was located in Moscow. In 1941, sixteen divisions of the national volunteers (more than 160,000 people), twenty-five battalions (18,500 people) and four engineering regiments were formed among the Muscovites. In November 1941, German Army Group center was stopped at the outskirts of the city and then driven off in the course of the Battle of Moscow. Many factories were evacuated, together with much of the government, and from October 20 the city was declared to be under siege. Its remaining inhabitants built and manned antitank defenses, while the city was bombarded from the air. It is of some note that Stalin refused to leave the city, meaning the general staff and the council of people's commissars remained in the city as well. Despite the siege and the bombings, the construction of Moscow's metro system, which began in the early 1930s, continued through the war and by the end of the war several new metro lines were opened. On May 1, 1944 a medal For the defence of Moscow and in 1947 another medal In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow were instituted. On May 8, 1965 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory in World War II, Moscow was one of twelve Soviet cities awarded the title of the Hero City. In 1980, it hosted the summer Olympic Games.
In 1991 Moscow was the scene of a coup attempt by the government members opposed to the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. When the USSR was dissolved in the same year, Moscow continued to be the capital of the Russian Federation. Since then, the emergence of a market economy in Moscow has produced an explosion of Western-style retailing, services, architecture, and lifestyles.
Government
Moscow is the seat of power for all of Russia. At the center of the city, in the Central Administrative Okrug, is the Moscow Kremlin, which houses the home of the President of Russia as well as many of the facilities for the national government. Moscow, like with any national capital, is also the host of all the foreign embassies and diplomats representing a multitude of nations in Russia. On a slightly smaller scale, Moscow is located within the Central Federal District, one of the seven federal districts of Russia. As result, it falls under the administration of a representative appointed by the President of Russia to head the district. Moscow is also designated as one of only two federal cities - Saint Petersburg being the other - within Russia. Since all Russian subjects - republics, provinces, cities, and territories - have two representatives within the Federation Council of Russia, the over 10 million Muscovites are represented by just two people - 1.1% of the Council - despite the fact that they account for 7.3% of the total population of Russia. Lastly, Moscow is located within the central economic region, one of twelve regions within Russia with similar economic goals.
The entire city of Moscow is headed by one mayor (currently Yuriy Luzhkov). It is divided into 10 administrative (okrugs) and 123 municipal districts. Administrative districts: Zelenogradskiy Administrative Okrug (City of Zelenograd in the federal classification), Northern Administrative Okrug, North-Eastern Administrative Okrug, North-Western Administrative Okrug, Central Administrative Okrug, Eastern Administrative Okrug, Southern Administrative Okrug, South-Eastern Administrative Okrug, South-Western Administrative Okrug, and Western Administrative Okrug. Nine of the ten administrative districts, except of Zelenogradskiy, are located within City of Moscow main boundaries.
Each administrative district consists of several municipal districts (raions). Each municipal and administrative district has its own coat of arms, flag, and elected head official. Additionally, most raions have their own cable television, computer network, and official newspaper. Along with municipal districts are Territorial Unities with Special Status or territories. These usually include areas with small or no permanent populations, such as the case with the All-Russia Exhibition Centre, the Botanical Garden, large parks, and industrial zones. In recent years, some territories have been merged with different raions. There are no ethnic-specific raions in Moscow in the manner Chinatowns exist in some North American and East Asian cities. And although raions are not designated by income, as with most cities, those areas that are closer to the city center, metro stations or green zones are considered more prestigious.
Climate and environment
Due to the city's high northern latitude, its daylight period varies drastically through the year. At its shortest, at the Winter Solstice, the day lasts less than seven hours, whereas at its longest, at the Summer solstice, Moscow's daylight period extends beyond eighteen hours. As a result, Moscow is exposed to cold winters, warm and mild summers, and very brief spring and autumn seasons. Typical high temperatures in the warm months of July and August are around 20°C (68°F); in the winter, temperatures normally drop to approximately -12°C (10°F) in January and February. Monthly rainfall totals vary minimally throughout the year, although the precipitation levels tend to be higher during summer than during winter. Due to the significant variation in temperature between the winter and summer months as well as the limited fluctuation in precipitation levels during the summer, Moscow is considered to be within the continental climate zone.
Moscow has a very high air pollution level. One obvious source of this pollution is heavy traffic with virtually no automobile emissions control. Although most areas are quite heavily polluted, areas where there is most pollution include South-Eastern Moscow, Eastern Moscow and Central Moscow. Areas with the least pollution include Western Moscow, South-Western Moscow and Zelenograd.
Demographics
The population of Russia has been declining by about 700,000 persons per year since the fall of the Soviet Union since 1991 due to low birth rates, and Moscow is not entirely immune to these effects. In 2003, the number of deaths within the city exceeded the number of births by approximately 49,400. Birth rates at the onset of the twenty-first century were on the rise, but the average age of the Moscow's population has continued to increase. In 2004, there were more than twice as many Muscovites over 55 years old than there were Muscovites under 14 years old. However, large migration numbers still enable the city to overcome the effects of this system. These new Muscovites are attracted by the local economic growth, which contrasts to the stagnation or even decline in most of Russia as a result of sharp polarization of the country in recent years. In order to help regulate the population size within the city, Moscow has an internal passport system that prohibits non-city residents from staying in the capital for more than ninety days without registration.
The city is home to small numbers of people of many racial and cultural group, from African students to Irish business people; as a result of the large Irish precense in Moscow, there is an annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on the Noviy Arbat avenue. In 2002, Moscow was 84.8% Russian, 2.4% Ukrainian, 1.6% Tatar, 1.2% Armenian, 0.9 Azerbaijani 0.8% Jewish, 0.6% Belarusian, 0.5% Georgian, and 7.2% other ethnicities. 2002 Census of the Russian Federation Retrieved on 2006 07-16
- See also History of Moscow for historical population growth and List of districts and neighborhoods in Moscow
Architecture
For a long time the view of the city was dominated by numerous churches. The look of the city changed drastically during Soviet times, mostly due to Joseph Stalin, who oversaw a large-scale effort to modernize the city. He introduced broad avenues and roadways, some of them over ten lanes wide, but he also destroyed a great number of historically significant architectural works. The Sukharev Tower, as well as numerous mansions and stores lining the major streets, and various works of religious architecture, such as the Kazan Cathedral and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, were all destroyed during Stalin's rule. During the 1990s, however, both the latter were rebuilt.
Architect Vladimir Shukhov was responsible for building several of Moscow's landmarks during early Soviet Russia. The Shukhov Tower, just one of many hyperboloid towers designed by Shukhov, was built between 1919 and 1922 as a transmission tower for a Russian broadcasting company. Shukhov also left a lasting legacy to the Constructivist architecture of early Soviet Russia. He designed spacious elongated shop galleries, most notably the Upper Trade Rows (GUM) on Red Square, bridged with innovative metal-and-glass vaults.
Stalin, however, is also credited with building the The Seven Sisters, which are comprised of seven, cathedral-like structures. A defining feature of Moscow's skyline, their imposing form was allegedly inspired by the Municipal Building in New York, and their style - with intricate exteriors and a large central spire - has been described as Stalinist gothic architeture. All seven towers can be seen from most elevations in the city; they are among the tallest constructions in central Moscow apart from the Ostankino Tower which, when it was completed in 1967, was the tallest free-standing land structure in the world and today remains the world's second-tallest.
The Soviet policy of providing mandatory housing for every citizen or their family, and the rapid growth of the Muscovite population in Soviet times, also led to the construction of large, monotonous housing blocks, which can often be differentiated by age, sturdiness of construction, or 'style' according to the neighborhood and the materials used. Most of these date from the post-Stalin era and the styles are often named after the leader then in power - Brezhnev, Khrushchev, etc - and they are usually ill-maintained. The Stalinist-era constructions, usually in the central city, are massive and usually ornamented with Socialist realism motifs that imitate classical themes. However, small churches - almost always Eastern Orthodox - that hint on the city's past still dot various parts of the city. The Old Arbat, a popular tourist street that was once the heart of a bohemian area, preserves most of its buildings from prior to the twentieth century. Many buildings found off the main streets of the inner city (behind the Stalinist façades of Tverskaya Street, for example) are also examples of the bourgeois decadence in Tsarist times. Ostankino, Kuskovo, Abramtsevo and other large estates just outside Moscow originally belong to nobles from the Tsarist era, and some Monasteries in Moscow, both inside and outside the city, are open to Muscovites and tourists.
Attempts are being made to restore many of the city's best-kept examples of pre-Soviet architecture. These revamped structures are easily spotted by their bright new colours and spotless facades. There are a few examples of notable, early Soviet avant-garde work too, such as the house of the architect Konstantin Melnikov in the Arbat area. Later examples of interesting Soviet architecture are usually marked by their impressive size and the semi-Modernist styles employed, such as with the Novy Arbat project, designed by Mikhail Posokhin.
Like in London, but on a broader scale, plaques on the house exteriors will inform passers-by that a well-known personality once lived there. Frequently the plaques are dedicated to Soviet celebrities not well-known to the outside world. There are also many 'house-museums' of famous Russian writers, composers, and artists in the city.
Views of Moscow
City plan
Moscow's road system is centered roughly around seat of the Russian government, the Moscow Kremlin. From there, the roads in general radiate out to intersect with a sequence of circular roads or "rings" focused at the Kremlin.
The first and innermost major ring, Bulvarnoye Koltso (Boulevard Ring), was built at the former location of the sixteenth century city wall around what used to be called Bely Gorod (White Town). The Bulvarnoye Koltso is technically not a ring; it does not form a complete circle, but instead a horseshoe-like arc that goes from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour to the Yauza River. In addition, the Boulevard Ring changes street names numerous times throughout its journey across the city.
The second primary ring, located outside the Boulevard Ring is the Sadovoye Koltso (Garden Ring). Like the Boulevard Ring, the Garden Ring follows the path of a sixteenth century wall that used to encompass part of the city. The third ring, the Third Transport Ring, was completed in 2003 as a high-speed freeway. The Fourth Transport Ring, another freeway, is currently under construction to further reduce traffic congestion. The outermost ring within Moscow is the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (often called the MKAD from the Russian Московская Кольцевая Автомобильная Дорога), which forms the approximate boundary of the city.
Outside the city, some of the roads encompassing the city continue to follow this circular pattern seen inside city limits.
Museums and galleries
Many of Moscow's museums and galleries have collections that can be compared to those of the best museums of Western Europe and North America. Frequent art exhibitions thrive on both the new and the classic, as they once did in pre-Revolutionary times, and are derived from diverse branches of the arts - painting, photography, and sculpture. It would appear that the Muscovite art world is steeped in many traditions: Russian, Western, and East Asian, both old and new.
One of the most notable art museums in Moscow is the Tretyakov Gallery, which was founded by Pavel Tretyakov, a wealthy patron of the arts who donated a large private collection to the city.See also: The Official Site of the Tretyakov Gallery Retrieved on 2006-07-08. Currently the Tretyakov Gallery is split into two buildings. The Old Tretyakov, the original gallery in the Tretyakovskaya area on the south bank of the Moskva River, houses the works of the classic Russian tradition. The works of famous pre-Revolutionary painters, such as Ilya Repin, as well as the works of early Russian icon painters can be found in the Old Tretyakov Gallery. Visitors can even see rare originals by early-fifteenth century iconographer Andrei Rublev. The New Tretyakov, created in Soviet times, mainly contains the works of Soviet artists, as well as of a few contemporary artists, but there is some overlap with the Old Tretyakov Gallery for early twentieth century art. The new gallery includes a small reconstruction of Vladimir Tatlin's famous Monument to the Third International and a mixture of other avant-garde works by artists like Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. Soviet propaganda can also me find within the halls of the New Tretyakov Gallery.
Another art museum in the city of Moscow is the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, which was founded by, among others, Marina Tsvetaeva's father. Pushkin Museum is similar to The British Museum in London in that its halls are a cross-section of world civilizations, with many plaster casts of ancient sculptures. However, it also hosts famous paintings from every major Western era of art; works by Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Pablo Picasso are all sampled there.
Theaters and other performing arts
Moscow is also the heart of Russian performing arts, including ballet and film. Among Moscow's many theatres and ballet studios is the Bolshoi Theatre and the Malyi Theatre as well as Vakhtangov Theatre and Moscow Art Theatre. The repertories in a typical Moscow season are exhaustive and modern interpretations of classic works, whether operatic or theatrical, are quite common. State Central Concert Hall Rossia See also: The Official Site of the State Central Concert Hall "Rossia". Retrieved on 2006-07-17. is famous for its estrade performances. There are also two large circuses in Moscow: Moscow State Circus and Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard See also: The Official Site of the Moscow Nikulun Circus. Retrieved on 2006-07-17. named after Yuri Nikulin.
Soviet films are integral to film history and the Mosfilm studio was at the heart of many Soviet classic films as it is responsible for both artistic and mainstream productions. . However, despite the continued presence and reputation of internationally-renowned Russian filmmakers, the once prolific native studios are much quieter.
Education
There are 222 institutions offering higher education in Moscow, including 60 state universities and the Lomonosov Moscow State University, which was founded in 1755. Today, its campus is the largest university campus in the world. The university main building located in Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills) is 240-meter-tall and when completed, was the tallest building outside the United States. The university has over 30,000 undergraduate and 7,000 postgraduate students, who have a choice of twenty-nine faculties and 450 departments for study. Additionally, approximately 10,000 high school students take courses at the university, while over two thousand researchers work. The Moscow State University library contains over nine million books, making it one of the largest libraries in all of Russia. Its acclaim throughout the international academic community has meant that over 11,000 international students have graduated from the university, with many coming to Moscow to learn the Russian language.
Bauman Moscow State Technical University, founded in 1830, is located in the center of Moscow and provides more than 18,000 undergraduate and 1,000 postgraduate students with an education in science and engineering offering a wide range of technical degrees. Since it opened enrollment to students from outside Russia in 1991, Bauman Moscow State Technical University has increased its international enrollment to up to two hundred.
The Moscow ConservatorySee also: The Official Site of the Moscow Conservatory. Retrieved on 2006-07-17., founded in 1866 is a prominent music school in Russia, whose graduates included Sergey Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin, Aram Khachaturian, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Alfred Schnittke.
Moscow State Institute of International Relations, founded in 1944, remains Russia's best known school of international relations and diplomacy, with six different schools focused on international relations. Approximately 4,500 students make up the the university's student body and over 700,000 Russian and foreign-language books - of which 20,000 are considered rare - can be found the library the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Some Moscow institutions have divisions in other regions and countries, including, for example such as Mongolia.
Although Moscow has a number of famous Soviet-era higher educational institutions, most of which are more oriented towards engineering or the fundamental science, in recent years Moscow has seen a significant growth in the number of commercial and private institutions that offer classes in business and management. Many state institutions have expanded their education spectrum and increased their student enrollments. Institutions in Moscow, as well as the rest of post-Soviet Russia, have begun to offer new international certificates and postgraduate degrees, including the Master of Business Administration. Student exchange programs with different (especially, European) countries also have become widespread in Moscow's universities, while many schools within the Russian capital will also offer seminars, lectures, and courses for corporate employees and businessmen.
Transport
Intercity transport
There are five airports serving Moscow: Sheremetyevo International Airport, Domodedovo International Airport, Bykovo Airport, Ostafievo International Airport and Vnukovo International Airport. Sheremetyevo International Airport is the most common entry point for foreign passengers (as it handles sixty percent of all international flights) although other airports also serve the city of Moscow, particularly with flights within Russia and to and from states from the former Soviet Union. Domodedovo International Airport is the leading airport in Russia in terms of passenger throughput. Moscow's airports are at different distances from the city center; Bykovo Airport is the farthest of the five, located 35 kilometers (21 miles) from the city center.Likewise, Moscow employs several train stations to serve the city. All of Moscow's nine rail terminals (or vokzals) - Belorusskiy Rail Terminal, Kazanskiy Rail Terminal, Kievskiy Rail Terminal, Kurskiy Rail Terminal, Leningradskiy Rail Terminal, Paveletskiy Rail Terminal, Rizhskiy Rail Terminal, Savyolovskiy Rail Terminal, and Yaroslavlskiy Rail Terminal - are located close to the city center, but they each handle trains from different parts of Europe and Asia. There are also many smaller railway stations in Moscow. As trains are relatively cheap, they are the mode of preference for travelling Russians, especially when departing to Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city.
Moscow also has two passenger riverports (South port and North port or Rechnoy vokzal) and regular motorship routes and cruises along Moskva and Oka rivers used mostly for entertainment. Besides this Moscow has a bus terminal for long-range and intercity passenger buses (Moscow Avtovokzal) with daily overturn of about 25 thousand passengers serving about 40% of long-range bus routes in Moscow *.
Local transport
Local transport includes the Moscow Metro, a metro system famous for its art, murals, mosaics, and ornate chandeliers. When it first opened in 1935, the system had just one line. But today, the Moscow Metro contains twelve lines, mostly underground with a total of 171 stations. The Moscow Metro is one of world's busiest metro system, serving seven million passengers daily. There is also a monorail line administratively subordinated to the Moscow metro.As Metro stations outside the city center are far apart in comparison to other cities, up to four km, an extensive bus network radiates from each station to the surrounding residential zones. Suburbs and satellite cities also connected by commuter electric rail network. The buses are very frequent, often more than one a minute. Every large street in the city is served by at least one bus route. There are also tram and trolleybus networks.
There are over 2.6 million cars in the city on a daily basis. Recent years have seen explosive growth in the number of cars, which have caused traffic jams and the lack of parking space to become major problems.
The MKAD, along with the Third Transport Ring and future Fourth Transport Ring, is one of only three freeways that run within Moscow city limits. However, as one can easily observe from a map of Moscow area, there are several other roadway systems that form concentric circles around the city.
Tourism
Moscow has always been a popular destination for tourists looking for a less conventional European experience. Some of the better known attractions include the the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site, Moscow Kremlin and Red Square,UNESCO considers the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square to be part of a single World Heritage Site. See also UNESCO's profile on this site. which was built between the 14th and 17th centuries. Just outside Moscow, in Kolomenskoye, is another popular attraction and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Church of the Ascension, which dates from 1532.
Other popular attractions include the Moscow Zoo, home to nearly a thousands species and more than 6,500 specimens. Each year, the zoo attracts more than 1.2 million adult visitors. The abundant greenery of Moscow gives the city a semi-tropical feel that pleasantly surprises the visitor accustomed to stereotypes about the Russian cold. The long days will also afford one more time to cover the immense wealth of historical, cultural or simply popular sites in Moscow. Tsytsin Main Moscow Botanical Garden, bordering the All-Russia Exhibition Centre is the largest in Europe See also: The Official Site of the Main Moscow Botanical Garden. Retrieved on 2006-07-18. and a live exhibition of various spices of plants from different parts of the world as well as scientific research laboratory. Scenic vantage points include the Sparrow Hills, on the Moscow river to the south-west of the city.
Moscow is also the western end of the 9 300 km Trans-Siberian railway to Vladivostok.
Everyone is also required to carry their passport for identification and so that the registration can be checked by local militia, who also pose a problem. They are found all over the city but especially in and around Metro stations. Being underpaid, they frequently attempt to supplement their income by stopping people arbitrarily, checking their passports, and demanding bribes to prevent arrest over trivial reasons. Also, with the recent terrorist actions being associated with the darker-skinned Caucasian population, official police racism against all dark-skinned people is rife and the latter are likely to be stopped much more often, sometimes as much as thrice a week. Violent crime, especially but not only directed against foreigners, is also a frequent occurrence in Moscow.
However, the average tourist making a brief visit on a package tour is not likely to encounter any of these problems. While customer service is still something new to many Russian vendors, burgeoning Westernization means that high-profile and tourist stores all over Moscow may give you special attention if you are a foreigner.
See also: List of Moscow tourist attractions
Sports
Moscow is home to more Olympic champions than any other city in the world. Unsurprisingly, it was the host city of the 1980 Summer Olympics, although the yachting events were held at Tallinn. Huge new stadium and other athletic facilities were built especially for the occasion. The main international airport, Sheremetyevo Terminal 2, was also built at this time. Moscow has also made a bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. However, when final voting commenced on July 6 2005, Moscow was the first city to be eliminated from further rounds. The Games were finally awarded to London.
There are 40 sport complexes in the city, including 24 with artificial ice as well as 63 stadiums, of which Luzhniki Stadium is the biggest. There are also 7 horse racing tracks in Moscow, of which Central Moscow Hippodrome, See also: The Official Site of the Cental Moscow Hippodrome founded in 1834 is the largest.
Football is probably the most popular spectator sport among the young, followed by ice hockey. Clubs such as Dynamo, CSKA, Lokomotiv and Spartak are prominent on the European stage. Supporter violence has become a serious problem when international teams play in Moscow. In 2002, a dozen Irish fans in Moscow for a Russia-Ireland game were attacked by neo-Nazi groups. One later died of his injuries. That same year, when a Russia-Japan World Cup match, played in Japan but broadcast live to the crowds in Pushkin Square, went badly for the Russians, the crowd turned violent and wrought havoc in the center of the city, breaking windows, smashing and burning cars and looting several shops. A Chinese restaurant was incidentally attacked and five Japanese tourists were beaten. One teenager was killed and about one hundred people were injured.
Winter sports have a large following. Most Russians own cross-country skis and ice skates and there are many large parks with marked trails for skiers and frozen ponds and canals for skaters. Often parks will have small local businesses offering ski and skate rental.
Economy
In 2006, Mercer Management Consulting named Moscow the world's most expensive city, ahead of perennial winner Tokyo, due to the stable Russian ruble as well as increasing housing prices within the city. Some prices are considerably higher for the foreign visitor than for locals. For locals, small apartments bought or given by the state in the Soviet era, coupled with extremely low utility costs and easily avoidable income tax serve to lower the cost of living greatly.
Business and Trade
A significant portion of Russia's profits and development is concentrated in Moscow as many multi-national corporations have branches and offices in the city. The plush offices and the lifestyles of the typical corporate employee in Moscow are often indistinguishable from any other Western European city, although the average salary for the Muscovite is lower. After the financial crisis in the late 1990s, various business sectors in Moscow have shown exponential rates of growth. Many new business centers and office buildings were built recent years, but Moscow still experiences shortages in office space. As a result, many former industrial and research facilities are being reconstructed to become suitable for office use.However, while the overall stability has improved in the recent years, crime and corruption continue to remain a problem hindering business development. A recent study showed that far from decreasing, corruption in the Putin era has been on the rise, and large businesses can expect to pay an average of over a hundred thousand dollars a year in bribes to officials. The Mafia also runs extortion rackets in most parts of the city, though there are no reliable data to understand how large their influence is.
The Cherkizovskiy marketplace, controlled by the Azeri diaspora is the largest marketplace in Europe with daily overturn of about thirty million dollars and about ten thousand sellers from different countries (including China, Turkey, Azerbaijan and India). It is administratively devided into twelve parts and covers a wide sector of the city.
Moscow is one of the top cities in the world for billionaires; in 2006, Forbes ranked Moscow second in highest number of billionaires, surpassed only by New York City. In 2004, Russia's thirty-six billionaires (of whom only three did not live in Moscow) held the equivalent of twenty-four precent of Russia's gross domestic product. The nouveau-riche, also called the "New Russians", often pejoratively, have a reputation for flaunting their wealth; the avenues for doing so, and subtly, have also increased in recent times - a sense of fashion and self-consciousness has instilled itself through the many haute couture and haute-cuisine spots in Moscow.
Industry
Primary industries in Moscow include the chemical, metallurgy, food, textile, furniture, and machinery industries. Moscow's size, political importance, and overall wealth have persuaded many foreign corporations, such as OTIS and British American Tobacco, into investing in production plants in the city. However, there are several that define the industrial panoram within Moscow.Automobile plants ZiL and AZLK, as well as the Voitovich Rail Vehicle plant, are situated in Moscow. The Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant is one of the leading producers of military and civil helicopters in the world. The Poljot Moscow watch factory produces reliable military, professional and sport watches well known in Russia and abroad. The Kristall distillerySee also: The Official Site of the Moscow Cristall distillery. Retrieved on 2006-07-08. is the oldest distellery in Russia producing various vodka types, including "Stolichnaya" while a wide assortment of wines are produced at several Moscow wine plants, including Moscow Interrepublican Vinery.See also: The Official Site of the Moscow Interrepublican Vinery. Retrieved on 2006-07-07. The Moscow Jewelry FactorySee also: The Official Site of the Moscow Jewelry Factory. Retrieved on 2006-07-07. and the Jewellerprom See also: The Official Site of the Experimental Moscow Jewelery Atelier Jewellerprom. Retrieved on 2006-07-07 are important producers of jewelry in Russia; Jewellerprom used to produce the famous and exclusive Order of Victory, awarded to those aiding the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. There are also many other industries located just outside the city of Moscow, as well as many microelectronic industries in Zelenograd.
Despite the economic growth experienced in Moscow since the dawn of the twenty-first century, many industries have undergone various crises in recent years. Some of them has been sold to foreign investors and others have been closed down to make for new buildings constructed as business centers. Additionally, some industry is now being transferred out of Moscow to improve the ecological state of the city. Nevertheless, the city of Moscow remains one of Russia's major industrial centers.
Living costs
During Soviet times apartments were lent to people by the government according to the square meters-per-person norm (bureaucracy and privileged intelligentsia had bonuses according to their status). Private ownership of apartments was not allowed until 1990, when people were permited to secure property rights to the places they inhabited. Since the Soviet era estate owners have to pay the service charge for their residences, a fixed amount based on persons per living area. Due to the current economic situation, the prices per square meter of real estate in Moscow continues to rise. Today it is between $3400 to $3800 per square meter. An average apartment is about 30m²-45m²-70m² (1-2-3 rooms accordingly). Many cannot move out of their apartments, especially if a family has a 2 room apartment given to the period of the USSR. Some people have an apartment and a dacha (country house). They often give out their apartment for rent and as the prices are increasing, so are rent costs, making this a very common practice.Social aspects
| City of Moscow Crime rates (2005) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime type | Rate (per 100,000 people)Illegal population (~ 3 million) included. Source: Moscow Government | ||||
| Murder and murder attempt | 9.8 | ||||
| Grave crime | 13.85 | ||||
| Robbery | 178.9 | ||||
| Armed robbery | 42.3 | ||||
| Burglary and larceny-theft | 671.7 | ||||
| Motor vehicle theft | 104.3 | ||||
As of 2006 there are 8470 thousand people able to work of which 1728 thousand employed by state, 4423 thousand - by private companies and 1988 thousand - in small business. There are 34.4 thousand officially registered unemployed.
Media
Moscow is the headquarters of many Russian television networks, radio stations, newspapers and magazines.
English-language media include The Moscow Times and The Moscow News which are, respectively, the largest and oldest English-language weekly newspapers in all of Russia. The eXile is another popular newspaper in Moscow, known for its satirical nature and pranks on Russian politicians. Expert, Kommersant, and Gazeta are two popular Russian-language media whose headquarters are in Moscow. Expert and Kommersant are, respectively, some of the country's leading and oldest Russian-language business newspapers while Gazeta is a popular web magazine.
Other notable media within the City of Moscow include the "Echo of Moscow", the first Soviet and Russian private news radio and information agency, and NTV, one of the first privately-owned Russian television stations.
Bibliography
- Karel Neubert. "Portrait of Moscow". 1964
- Albert J. Schmidt. "The Architecture and Planning of Classical Moscow: A Cultural History". 1989
- Kathleen Berton. "Moscow: An Architectural History". St. Martin's, 1991
- Marcel Girard. "Splendours of Moscow and Its Surroundings", trans. from French. 1967
- John Bushwell. "Moscow Graffiti: Language and Subculture". Unwin Hyman, 1990
- S.S. Hromov et al. (eds.). "History of Moscow: An Outline", trans. from Russian. 1981
- Galina Dutkina. "Moscow Days: Life and Hard Times in the New Russia". Trans. Catherine Fitzpatrick. Kodansha America, 1995
Notes and references
See also
External links
General
- Official Moscow Administration Site
- Committee for Tourism of Moscow City Government
- WikiMapia: Moscow - aerial, satellite view of Moscow showing city landmarks
- Norday Travel Company - overview of the city and its landmarks
- Moscow city guide
Media
- The Moscow Times - official site of Moscow's leading English-language newspaper
- The Moscow News - one of Moscow's oldest English-language newspapers
- NTV - one of Russia's largest broadcasting companies
Images
- Moscow House of Photography
- EarthCam: Red Square - webcams of Moscow's Red Square
- Moscow Photos by Arkady Kulev
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"Moscow"