Moscow
From Encyclopædia
Moscow (Russian: Moskva), the capital and largest
city of the
Russian federation and capital of the Moscow oblast, lies near the geographic center of European
Russia and the Great Russian Plain. Its population is 8,801,500 (1991 est.), and it covers an area of 879 sq km (339 sq mi). The
city is situated on the Moscow River. It has long, cold winters and hot, humid summers.For most of the 20th century Moscow's status in the
world stemmed from its role as capital of the USSR and headquarters of the
world communist movement. It was the political and economic center, not only for the Soviet Union and its republics, but for all of [[Eastern
Europe|Eastern Europe]]. With the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the earlier dissolution of the Soviet bloc in [[Eastern
Europe|Eastern Europe]], Moscow lost its position as capital of an empire, but it remains the seat of the Russian government and one of the
world's major cities.Layout and LandmarksMoscow developed over the centuries as a series of circular
fortifications, with each new circle encompassing the previous ones. The center of this series of circles is the
Kremlin (Russian: fortress), situated atop Borovitsky Hill, with the great Red
square and
saint basil's Cathedral just outside its walls. The historic
city of Moscow is contained within the first three rings encircling the
Kremlin: the Kitai Gorod, dating from the 14th century, the Bely Gorod (White
city), bounded by the Boulevard Ring, and the outermost portion bounded by the Sadovaya (Garden) Ring, which is the
city's most important transportation
artery. Until 1960 the Kamer-Kollezhky Rampart beyond the Sadovaya Ring marked the
city's limits. At that time the Soviet government, faced with a severe
housing shortage, extended the
city limits to include the former
suburbs of Tushina, Babushkina, Perova, Lyublina, and Kunsteva. These former towns became the focus of rapid residential construction, and today house a large portion of Moscow's population. The last ring around the
city, the Moscow Circular Motorway, marks the present
city limit, although residential districts beyond it are now being incorporated into the
city.Moscow's present appearance is largely the result of massive
Reconstruction projects carried out under Stalin in the 1930s, which involved the destruction of many historic monuments (including more than half of the
city's churches) and a radical alteration of the urban center. The Soviet
Reconstruction plan was characterized by buildings of monumental design and grand scale. Today Moscow's skyline is dominated by seven ornate
skyscrapers known as the "Stalin Gothics," the largest of which is Moscow
university in the Sparrow Hills.The population of Moscow is controlled by a
city residency law. Only legally registered residents have the right to
housing and employment. Population statistics are therefore inaccurate, because residents not registered with the
city government are not counted. Migration of workers from outside the
city caused the population to grow during the 1970s and 1980s. Faced with a shortage of unskilled labor, Moscow-based industries were allowed to extend residency permits to nonresidents in order to lure workers to unattractive jobs. Housed in dormitory-style high-rises throughout the
city, these workers are called limitchiki, because their permits were issued despite limits imposed by the residency laws.EconomyWith more than one-quarter of the population employed in manufacturing, Moscow's diverse industries turn out a wide variety of products, including automobiles, trucks, electrical products, and
machine tools. Throughout the Soviet period, under the centralized planning system of the Communist government, all of the
city's industrial and commercial enterprises were state-owned and operated. Today efforts are being made to privatize the
city's large industries by transforming them into joint-stock companies. Smaller enterprises are being privatized by auction and direct sale.The Soviet planning system gave preference to Moscow in its distribution of goods. As a result Moscow was better supplied than any other
city or region in the country. Today the
city is suffering the consequences of years of forced distribution policies, as regional suppliers assert their
Independence and sell their goods and products closer to home. In the period of transition to a market economy the Russian capital is faced with rapid
inflation, swelling unemployment, and shortages of food and consumer items.TransportationThe Soviet regime created a highly centralized transportation system with Moscow as its hub. The
city is served by four
airports; its international
airport, Sheremyetevo II, built in 1979, handles an
average of 15,000 passengers daily. Its nine railway stations receive 2 million passengers every day. Moscow also has an extensive urban public transportation system, with tram, trolley, and bus lines, and a
subway that is in itself an architectural masterpiece. First opened in 1935, the
subway stations in the
city center are richly decorated with heavy chandeliers,
stained glass windows, and monumental statues. With over 200 km (124 mi) of track and 140 stations, the Moscow Metro serves an estimated 8 million passengers daily.GovernmentUntil the late 1980s, Moscow's
city government was for all practical purposes controlled by the
city and regional
organs of the Communist party. In 1991 the
city elected its first mayor; at the same time, its boroughs were reorganized. It is now divided into 10 administrative regions (okrugs), each headed by a prefect appointed by the mayor. The okrugs are further divided into municipal districts (rayons), of which there are 134 in Moscow.Cultural LifeMoscow has more than 60 theaters, 100 museums, and 75 institutions of higher learning with a total enrollment of over a million-and-a-half students. It is the seat of th? Russian
academy of
sciences, and also the home of Moscow
university, the country's largest and most prestigious educational institution. The
city has more than 4,000 libraries, including the Russian State Library (formerly the Lenin Library), containing the country's largest collection of books and manuscripts. Moscow is also the home of the
world-renowned
Bolshoi Ballet and
opera Company. The principal museums are the Armory and Diamond Fund located in the
Kremlin--with rich collections of jewels and court regalia from the
Romanov (dynasty)dynasty--the State History Museum on Red
square, the Tretyakov Art Gallery, and the
Pushkin fine Arts Museum.HistoryMoscow was first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 1147. Its rise as a trading center along the Baltic-Volga-Caspian route was due largely to its favorable geographical position on the banks of the Moscow River. The
city was under Mongol-Tatar rule from the 13th century to the late 15th century, when it emerged as the capital of a unified Russian state, then known as Muscovy. In 1712, Peter I moved the Russian capital to
saint Petersburg, but Moscow continued to thrive as a cultural and economic center in the 18th and 19th centuries. After the
revolution of 1917, its political supremacy was restored.Juliette ShaplandBibliography: Berton, K., Moscow: An Architectural History (1991); Schmidt, A. J., Classical Moscow (1988); Ward, C. A., Moscow and Leningrad, 2 vols. (1989, 1990).Picture Caption[s]The Cathedral of
saint basil in Moscow (built 1555-60), with its characteristic onion-
domes, is a symbol of the Russian
Orthodox church. The Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Roman) churches were separated after the Great Schism, which is traditionally dated to 1054. (Daily
telegraph color Library)Map Location[s]
Murmansk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Arkhangel'sk, Nizhiniy
Novgorod (Gor'kiy),
Saratov, Rostov,
Volgograd,
Samara (Kuybyshev),
Perm,
Yekaterinburg (Sverdelovsk),
Chelyabinsk,
Omsk,
Novosibirsk,
Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude,
Yakutsk, Khabarovsk,
Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Bering S.,
Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Laptev Sea, Arctic Ocean, Kara Sea,
Barents Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of
Sea of Japan Okhotsk, Lena, Amur, L. Baikal, Yenisey, Irtysh,
Aral Sea, Volga, Oheph, Ob.
