11/24/2015 at 00:45 · Pavlofox · 108 970

Top 10 largest cities in Russia by area

Russia is the largest country in the world by area. But in addition to the vast territories, the country’s residents can also be proud of the most beautiful cities. Among them there are both very small settlements, such as Chekalin, and megacities.
The largest cities in Russia by area - which large settlements are included in the honorable top ten? We will consider only cities whose area is given within their city limits.

10. Omsk | 597 sq. kilometers

It is located in 10th place in the list of the largest cities in Russia by area. The population exceeds one million inhabitants. According to this indicator, Omsk ranks second in terms of population in Siberia. The importance of the city for the region is great. During Civil War it was called the Capital of the Russian State. Is the capital of Siberian Cossack army. Now Omsk is a large industrial and cultural center. One of the city’s decorations is the Assumption Cathedral, which is one of the treasuries of world temple culture.
The territory of the city is 597.2 square meters. kilometer

9. Voronezh | 596 sq. kilometer

In 9th place in the top 10 largest Russian cities, it is located with a territory of 596.51 square meters. kilometer The population is 1.3 million inhabitants. The city is located in a beautiful place - on the banks of the Don and the Voronezh reservoir.
Voronezh has many beautiful architectural monuments, but it is also famous for its modern art. Sculptures of the kitten from Lizyukova Street, a character from the famous cartoon, and White Bim from the film “White Bim, Black Ear” were installed in the city. There is also a monument to Peter I in Voronezh.

8. Kazan | 614 sq. kilometers

The eighth place in the ranking of the largest cities in Russia by area is occupied by the capital of Tatarstan. It is the country's largest economic, scientific, cultural and religious center. In addition, Kazan is one of the most important Russian ports. Unofficially bears the name of the third capital of Russia.
The city is actively developing as an international sports center. Great importance Kazan authorities are focusing on the development of tourism. Many international festivals are held here every year. The most significant architectural structure of the city is the Kazan Kremlin, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The area of ​​the city is 614 square meters. kilometers.

7. Orsk | 621 sq. kilometers

Comprising three administrative districts with an area of ​​about 621.33 square meters. kilometers, takes seventh place in the list of the largest Russian cities. It is located in a picturesque place - on the spurs of majestic Ural mountains, and the Ural River divides it into two parts: Asian and European. The main industry developed in the city is industry. There are more than 40 archaeological sites in Orsk.

6. Tyumen | 698 sq. kilometers

In sixth place among the largest settlements in Russia is the first Russian city founded in Siberia - Tyumen. The number of inhabitants is about 697 thousand people. Territory – 698.48 sq. kilometers. Founded in the 16th century, the city now includes 4 administrative districts. The beginning of the future city was laid by the construction of the Tyumen fort, started by decree of Fyodor Ivanovich, the third son of Ivan the Terrible.

5. Ufa | 707 sq. kilometers

Ufa, whose territory is 707.93 square meters. kilometers, is in fifth place in the list of the largest Russian cities. The population has more than a million inhabitants. The capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan is a major cultural, scientific, economic and sports center of the country. The importance of Ufa was confirmed by the BRICS and SCO summits held here in 2015.
Despite the fact that Ufa is a million-plus city, it is the most spacious settlement in Russia - there are almost 700 square meters per resident. meters of territory.
Ufa is considered one of the greenest cities in the country - there are a large number of parks and squares. It is also distinguished by a wide variety of monuments.

4. Perm | 800 sq. kilometers

In fourth place in the ranking of the largest cities by area is. Occupies an area of ​​799.68 square meters. kilometers. The number of inhabitants is more than a million people. Perm is a large industrial, economic and logistics center. The city owes its foundation to Tsar Peter I, who ordered the construction of a copper smelter to begin in the Siberian province.

3. Volgograd | 859 sq. kilometers

The Hero City, which in the Soviet era bore the name Stalingrad, ranks third on the list of the largest Russian cities. Area – 859,353 sq. kilometers. The population is just over a million people. The city was founded at the end of the 16th century on the ancient Volga trade route. The first name is Tsaritsyn. One of the most famous historical events associated with Volgograd - great Battle of Stalingrad, which showed the courage, heroism and perseverance of Russian soldiers. It became a turning point in the war. One of the most famous monuments dedicated to those difficult years is the “Motherland Calls” monument, which became its symbol for the city residents.

2. St. Petersburg | 1439 sq. kilometers

In second place among the largest cities in Russia by area is the second capital of the country. The favorite brainchild of Peter I occupies an area of ​​1439 square meters. kilometer The population is more than 5 million inhabitants. The cultural capital of Russia is famous for its many magnificent monuments and architectural structures, which hundreds of thousands of tourists come to admire every year.

1. Moscow | 2561 sq. kilometers

The capital of Russia takes first place in the ranking. Territory – 2561.5 sq. kilometers, the population is more than 12 million people. To understand the full scale of the capital, you need to remember that Moscow has a larger population than some European countries.

In addition to the largest Russian cities listed above, there are also urban settlements, when the city itself includes other settlements. If we consider these territorial units in our ranking, then Moscow or St. Petersburg will not be in first place. In this case, the list of the largest settlements in Russia will be headed by the city of Zapolyarny, whose area is 4620 square meters. kilometers. This is twice the area of ​​the capital. Meanwhile, only 15 thousand people live in Zapolyarny. The Arctic is interesting because about 12 kilometers from the city there is the famous super-deep Kola well, which is one of the deepest points on Earth.
The urban district of Norilsk can also lay claim to the title of the largest territorial association in Russia. It includes Norilsk itself and two settlements. Territory area – 4509 sq. kilometers.

Readers' Choice:

Russia is a country with a fairly high level of urbanization. Today there are 15 million-plus cities in our country. Which Russian cities are currently leading in terms of population? You will find the answer to this question in this fascinating article.

Urbanization and Russia

Is urbanization an achievement or a scourge of our time? It's difficult to answer this question. After all, this process is characterized by enormous inconsistency, provoking both positive and negative consequences.

This concept in a broad sense understands the growing role of the city in human life. This process, having burst into our lives in the twentieth century, fundamentally changed not only the reality around us, but also the person himself.

In mathematical terms, urbanization is an indicator that marks the proportion of the urban population of a country or region. Countries in which this indicator exceeds 65% are considered highly urbanized. IN Russian Federation about 73% of the population lives in cities. You can find a list of cities in Russia below.

It should be noted that the processes of urbanization in Russia took place (and are taking place) in two aspects:

1. The emergence of new cities that covered new areas of the country.
2. Expansion of existing cities and the formation of large agglomerations.

History of Russian cities

In 1897, within modern Russia The all-Russian counted 430 cities. Most of them were small towns; at that time there were only seven large ones. And all of them were located up to the line of the Ural Mountains. But in Irkutsk - the current center of Siberia - there were barely 50 thousand inhabitants.

A century later, the situation with cities in Russia has changed dramatically. It is quite possible that the main reason for this was the completely reasonable regional policy pursued by Soviet authorities in the twentieth century. One way or another, by 1997 the number of cities in the country had increased to 1087, and the share of the urban population had grown to 73 percent. At the same time, the number of cities increased twenty-three times! And today almost 50% of the total population of Russia lives in them.

Thus, only a hundred years have passed, and Russia has transformed from a country of villages into a state of big cities.

Russia is a country of megacities

Largest cities Russia's population is distributed quite unevenly across its territory. Most of them are located in the most populated part of the country. Moreover, in Russia there is a steady trend towards the formation of agglomerations. It is they who form the framework network (socio-economic and cultural) on which the entire settlement system, as well as the country’s economy, is strung.

850 cities (out of 1087) are located within European Russia and the Urals. In terms of area, this is only 25% of the state's territory. But in the vast Siberian and Far Eastern expanses there are only 250 cities. This nuance extremely complicates the process of development of the Asian part of Russia: the shortage of large megacities is felt especially acutely here. After all, there are colossal mineral deposits here. However, there is simply no one to develop them.

The Russian North also cannot boast of a dense network of large cities. This region is also characterized by focal population settlement. The same can be said about the south of the country, where only lonely and brave daredevil cities “survive” in the mountainous and foothill regions.

So can Russia be called a country of big cities? Of course. Nevertheless, in this country, with its vast expanses and colossal natural resources, there is still a shortage of large cities.

The largest cities in Russia by population: TOP-5

As mentioned above, in Russia as of 2015 there are 15 million-plus cities. This title, as is known, is given to that settlement whose number of inhabitants has exceeded one million.

So, we list the largest cities in Russia by population:

1. Moscow (from 12 to 14 million inhabitants according to various sources).
2. St. Petersburg (5.13 million people).
3. Novosibirsk (1.54 million people).
4. Yekaterinburg (1.45 million people).
5. Nizhny Novgorod(1.27 million people).

If you carefully analyze the population (namely, its upper part), you will notice one interesting feature. We are talking about a fairly large gap in the number of residents between the first, second and third lines of this rating.

Thus, over twelve million people live in the capital, and about five million in St. Petersburg. But the third largest city in Russia - Novosibirsk - is inhabited by only one and a half million inhabitants.

Moscow is the largest metropolis on the planet

The capital of the Russian Federation is one of the largest megacities in the world. It is very difficult to say how many residents live in Moscow. Official sources talk about twelve million people, unofficial sources give other figures: from thirteen to fifteen million. Experts, in turn, predict that in the coming decades the population of Moscow may even increase to twenty million people.

Moscow is included in the list of 25 so-called “global” cities (according to Foreign Policy magazine). These are the cities that make the most significant contribution to the development of world civilization.

Moscow is not only a significant industrial, political, scientific, educational and financial center of Europe, but also a tourist center. Four sites of the Russian capital are included in the UNESCO heritage list.

Finally...

In total, approximately 25% of the country’s population lives in 15 million-plus cities in Russia. And all these cities continue to attract more and more people.

The largest cities in Russia by population are, of course, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk. All of them have significant industrial, cultural, as well as scientific and educational potential.

Today, megacities are growing by leaps and bounds, attracting people from surrounding settlements. Most of them have already moved to the cities, but the villages continue to empty. But where are the largest cities in Russia located, and most importantly, how many people live in them? Let's try to figure it out.

Moscow

The first place is quite logical and predictable - Moscow. The capital of our vast homeland itself is not too small, and although they say that it is not rubber, in fact it stretches to the envy of any rubber. Now it is home to more than 12 million people. This is according to official data. Anecdotal evidence is even more impressive.

The national composition is quite diverse. The majority are Russians - almost 92%, 1.4% are Ukrainians, they have the largest national community, almost the same number are Tatars, 1.38%, less than 1% are Armenians, half a percent are Armenians and Jews, 0.36 are Belarusians each and Georgians. But, again, these are official data.

The second place is also quite predictable - St. Petersburg, the northern or cultural capital. Unlike Moscow, it has much fewer inhabitants - “only” 5,200,000 people. And this is on an area of ​​1439 square kilometers. As a result, it turns out that 3,566 people are constantly located within one kilometer. The national composition is almost the same as in Moscow.

There are many differences between St. Petersburg and Moscow, but one of the main ones is age. Moscow grew gradually, finally reaching such a size. St. Petersburg appeared with a wave of the hand of Peter the Great. As a city it is very young, just over three centuries old. Perhaps, over time, he will still catch up with Moscow.

Novosibirsk is considered the northernmost million-plus city, because it is home to 1,500,000 people. This makes it the largest city in Siberia and the third in Russia. It is worth noting that about 500,000 more live in the surrounding area, creating a total agglomeration of two million.

Despite the fact that the climate in Novosibirsk is very harsh, the city has won the title of one of the most comfortable for living. It is a business, trade, transport, scientific and industrial center of a huge region, but at the same time it has a developed infrastructure, designed for the convenience of residents. All this allowed the city to bear the proud title of the capital of Siberia.

The list of millionaires continues with Yekaterinburg. This city has a population of 1,396 people. It is worth noting that Yekaterinburg has a fairly large number of satellite cities, and the total size of the agglomeration is more than 2,200,000 people.

By the way, like St. Petersburg, this city appeared by decree of Peter the Great. Yekaterinburg also has the unofficial title of capital, but this time the capital of the Urals.

Like many major cities, Nizhny Novgorod has a long history. The first mention of it appeared in 1221. It is difficult to compare its size then and today; for example, even at the beginning of the 19th century, just over 14,000 people lived in Nizhny Novgorod. But by our years its population has increased tenfold, and now stands at 1,272,000 people.

Like many cities on this list, Nizhny Novgorod has a vast agglomeration with a population of more than 2,020,000 people. Actually. 60% of all Novgorod region live in it. At the same time, Novgorod has a serious problem - rapid population decline. This is partly explained by natural processes, partly by the outflow of young people to nearby Moscow.

Kazan is not just a large city, it is the capital of one of the Russian republics, Tatarstan. And again, it has a name with the word capital, this time “third capital,” which even became the official brand. There are others, unofficial ones, “the capital of all the Tatars of the world”, “the capital of Russian federalism”.

The population of this capital allowed the city to receive an honorable sixth place in our ranking, because it is home to 1,190,000 people. The agglomeration, compared to others, is quite small - a little more than 1,500,000 people.

Kazan recently turned 1000 years old, and this was clearly reflected in its appearance, and most importantly, the composition of the population. Representatives of more than 115 nationalities live in the city, making it one of the most multinational cities in Russia.

Samara

This city is unique in its own way; 1,171,000 people live in it, which makes it the seventh largest settlement in Russia. But, at the same time, it has one of the largest agglomerations, more than 2,500,000 people - the third largest after Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Samara is the largest city in the Volga region. On the one hand, this is good; the central location facilitates the establishment of business and trade relations. At the same time, the proximity to other, larger cities is causing many young residents to leave.

Omsk

One of interesting features This city is multinational. It is inhabited by Russians (only 88.8% of them), Kazakhs, Ukrainians, Tatars, and Germans. In total, 56 national cultural organizations are registered.

The ninth city on the list is Chelyabinsk, famous for its large metallurgical plant, the comedy show “Our Russia” and the meteorite. 1,169,000 people live in this “harsh” place.

Moreover, like Omsk, it has become a hometown for many nationalities. A total of 86.5% are Russians, 5% Tatars, 3.1% Bashkirs, 1.4% Ukrainians, and this can go on for a long time.

Last on our list is Rostov-on-Don, the administrative center of the Southern Federal District. It is home to 1,109,000 people. The agglomeration is almost twice as large – 2.5 million people. Another multinational city in which Russians, although they make up the majority, 90.6%, but there are also many other nationalities.

This is a ten largest cities Russia. But the list can be continued for a very, very long time. There are many settlements in our country, but only 15 of them have a population of over a million. The second ten are Ufa, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Voronezh. Perhaps someday they will become larger and take a place on this list. For now, the list looks like this and is not going to change.

Most of Russia's population is concentrated in cities. In total there are more than 1,100 thousand of them with official status. But only 160 of them have a population of more than 100,000 people. And a tenth of them - 15 of them - are millionaires, that is, they are home to more than one, but less than two million people. The two capitals - Moscow and St. Petersburg - are multi-million cities, that is, they are home to more than two million people. But not only these, but also other largest cities in Russia deserve a special story.

Moscow

Moscow is the capital of Russia, today and in some other periods of the country's history. It is the largest populated area in the world and one of the largest in the world. Now about 12 million people live in it, and the total agglomeration, including the suburbs, is even more - 15 million people. The total area is about 250 square kilometers. This means that the population density is 4823 people per square kilometer. It is difficult to say when this city was founded, but the first mentions of it date back to the beginning of the 12th century.

Moscow is a multinational city. In total, about 90% of its population, according to official data, are Russians. About 1.5% are Ukrainians, the same amount are Tatars, and slightly less are Armenians. Half a percent each - Belarusians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians. Dozens more nationalities have smaller diasporas. And although representatives of different nationalities do not always get along peacefully, Moscow has become a real home for millions of people.

St. Petersburg is often called the second capital of Russia, the northern or cultural capital, and so on. It also has many beautiful names and epithets - northern Palmyra, northern Venice. And although the population of this city is significantly inferior to Moscow (5 million versus 12), as well as its age (3 centuries versus 9), in terms of fame and significance for the country, St. Petersburg is in no way inferior to it. It is also inferior in area, population density and many other parameters. But St. Petersburg is one of the “longest cities” - it “embraces” the Gulf of Finland.

It is worth noting that St. Petersburg is unique in many ways. Of all the cities that are not the capital, it has the second largest number of inhabitants. During the years that this city was the capital of the empire, it became the most important for world culture. The Hermitage, Russian Museum, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peterhof, Kunstkamera - this is only a small part of its attractions.

The list of the country's largest settlements continues with Novosibirsk - the administrative center of the Siberian Federal District, the most populated city in the northern part of the country. It is also a business, commercial, industrial, cultural and scientific center not only Siberia, but throughout Russia.

Novosibirsk has a population of over a million people, but it has a significant population less people than in the previous two cities - “only” a little more than one and a half million. At the same time, it must be taken into account that Novosibirsk was founded relatively recently - in 1893. This city is distinguished from others by its rather harsh climate with sharp transitions. In winter, temperatures can reach 50 degrees, while in summer the temperatures sometimes rise to 35 degrees. The total temperature difference throughout the year can reach a record 88 degrees.

Yekaterinburg is considered not only one of the largest cities in the country, but also one of the most comfortable and comfortable for living. It is the center of the Ural Federal District and is often called the capital of the Urals.

Ekaterinburg can be classified as ancient cities countries. After all, it was founded in 1723 and was named in honor of Empress Catherine the First. In Soviet times it was renamed Sverdlovsk, but in 1991 it returned its name.

This is the case when Veliky Novgorod, older and more titled, is significantly inferior to its younger namesake - Nizhny Novgorod. Residents of Russia often simply call him Nizhny, for brevity and not to confuse him with the Great.

The city was founded in 1221 and during this time became administrative center Nizhny Novgorod Federal District, a major economic, industrial and cultural center, home to 1,200 thousand people.

Kazan is the sixth city in the ranking in terms of population, but in many ways it surpasses even larger settlements. No wonder it is called the third capital of Russia and even registered this brand officially. It also has several unofficial titles, for example, “Capital of all Tatars of the world” or “capital of Russian federalism.”

This city with more than a thousand years of history was founded in 1005 and recently celebrated such a major anniversary. It is interesting that the population decline, which affected almost all cities, even many million-plus cities, did not affect Kazan, and it continues to increase its population. Also notable is National composition- almost equally Russians and Tatars, approximately 48% each, as well as some Chuvash, Ukrainians and Mari.

This city is familiar to many from the song “Ah, Samara-town”. But they forget that in terms of size this “town” ranks seventh in terms of population. If we talk about the agglomeration, then it is much larger than many other cities, and has 2.5 million residents, which is the third largest in the country, after Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Samara was founded in 1586 as a guard fortress by decree of Tsar Feodor. The location of the city turned out to be successful, and the city grew every year. During the Soviet years it was renamed Kuibyshev, but then the original name was returned.

The Internet is full of jokes about the harshest city in the country. A new round was opened by the fall of a meteorite, which occurred right in its center. But not everyone knows that this city is the most compact metropolis in the country, one of the leading metallurgical centers, and a city with excellent roads. In addition, it is among the TOP 15 cities in Russia in terms of living standards, TOP 20 in terms of environmental development, and TOP 5 in terms of the number of new buildings put into operation. It even ranks first in terms of housing affordability. And all this concerns the “harsh” Chelyabinsk.

It is worth noting that the city continues to develop. Until recently, it occupied ninth place in the ranking, and now it has risen to eighth with a population of 1,170 thousand people. Its national composition is quite diverse. The majority - 86% - are Russians, another 5% are Tatars, 3% are Bashkirs, 1.5% are Ukrainians, 0.6% are Germans, and so on.

Omsk is the ninth most populous city in the Russian Federation, but it was not always this way. When the small fortress was founded in 1716, only a few thousand people lived in it. But now there are more than 1,166 thousand of them. But, unlike many other millionaire cities, the Omsk agglomeration is extremely small - only about 20 thousand.

Like many other cities in Russia, representatives of a wide variety of nationalities live here. Most of all, of course, are Russians - 89%, another 3.5 are Kazakhs, 2% each are Ukrainians and Tatars, 1.5% are Germans.

Rostov-on-Don, like Nizhny Novgorod, which we talked about above, has its own “namesake” - Veliky Rostov. But Veliky is significantly inferior to it in size: Rostov-on-Don, although ranked last, is included in the TOP 10 largest cities in Russia. Veliky has only about 30 thousand inhabitants, although it is several times older than it.

Now you know what the largest city in Russia is, where it is located and how many people live in it. But in addition to the ten listed in the country, there are five more million-plus cities: Ufa, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Vladimir and Voronezh. The rest are trying very hard to be included in this prestigious list, and some may soon succeed.