In 1147, a small fortified city was founded on the high bank of the Moscow River.
Painting by Apollinary Vasnetsov. Construction of the first walls of the Kremlin by Yuri Dolgoruky in 1156.
A strategic point for the protection of Russian lands, created to protect against raids and control trade routes, over hundreds of years it has become a highly developed economically and technologically capital of Russia. One of the largest financial, business and transport centers of Eastern Europe. Tourist services, leisure, transport and IT technologies here are among the best in the world.
What takes years to build in the regions, for example, a city embankment, is created in Moscow in a few months or even days. Why is this so today?
Russia is a very centralized country. Most of the largest Russian enterprises, even those that conduct their main activities outside the capital, are registered in Moscow. Accordingly, taxes flow here, even if the region works more for the enterprise's economy.
This is in accordance with the historical development of Moscow, which began to turn into the center of Rus' in the 14th century, especially with the reign of Prince Ivan Kalita (1325-1340), who received a label for the Grand Duchy of Vladimir from the Khan of the Golden Horde, which gave him the right to collect tribute from other Russian lands. This significantly increased the political and economic influence of Moscow. Having grown stronger, Moscow became the center of resistance to the Horde. By the end of the 15th century, under Ivan III, the Moscow Principality freed itself from dependence on the Golden Horde, which marked the beginning of the formation of a unified Russian state.
And here's what's interesting. The official population of Moscow in 2024 is about 13 million people. However, many more people work and stay in the city every day - an estimated 16-17 million people, including visitors from other cities and regions.
Photo of Moscow taken from the International Space Station in winter 2014. Amazing view of the city from space in January.
The population of the Moscow agglomeration, which includes not only Moscow itself, but also the surrounding cities and towns, is about 20 million people. However, it is important to understand that many residents of Moscow or the region do not have a Moscow or regional residence permit, that is, they are not included in the statistics. After all, tens of thousands of people from the regions and neighboring countries come to the capital every year and stay for permanent residence without any registration: registration is not required to work and live in Moscow.
Therefore, it can be assumed that there are about 24-30 million people living and working in Moscow. There are even theories that there are 45 million.
But let's leave the official population of the agglomeration: 20 million people. Now let's take the official population of Russia: 145 million people. It turns out that almost 14% of all citizens of the country live in Moscow or work in it.
What other cities in the world, or rather agglomerations, have the same concentration of population from the total population of the country? Not many.
- Tokyo, Japan — The Tokyo metropolitan area (including Tokyo and its surrounding cities) is the largest in the world, with a population of approximately 37 million. This is approximately 30% of Japan's population (~125 million).
- Seoul, South Korea - The Seoul metropolitan area has a population of approximately 26 million, accounting for approximately 50% of the country's population (~51 million).
- Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Buenos Aires metropolitan area has a population of approximately 15 million, accounting for approximately 33% of Argentina's population (~45 million).
- Lima, Peru - The Lima metropolitan area has a population of approximately 10 million, accounting for approximately 30% of Peru's population (~33 million).
- Bangkok, Thailand - The Bangkok metropolitan area has a population of approximately 10 million, accounting for approximately 15% of Thailand's population (~70 million).
- Mexico City, Mexico - The Mexico City metropolitan area has approximately 21 million people, accounting for about 17% of Mexico's population (~126 million).
A work of art from the named agglomerations, created with the help of AI
These cities and their agglomerations play a central role in the economy and life of their countries, just as Moscow does in Russia. If we add to this the tax registrations of the largest enterprises, we get the economic secret of Moscow's prosperity: one of the world's largest concentrations of population in a single country, and a high concentration of enterprise registrations to match it.
Another reason cited is meaning: “Moscow creates meaning for all of Russia.” This is partly true.
The figures convey Moscow’s scale, but do not fully explain why it became the centre of the country. On our tour through the streets of the historic centre, we explore this transformation from a small fortified town into the nation’s political and symbolic capital ‘Heart of the Capital’.