Moscow, Idaho
—  City  —
West entrance to Moscow in 2009
Official seal of Moscow, Idaho Seal
Motto: Heart of the Arts
Location in Latah County and the state of Idaho
Coordinates: 46°43′54″N 116°59′50″W / 46.73167°N 116.99722°W / 46.73167; -116.99722Coordinates: 46°43′54″N 116°59′50″W / 46.73167°N 116.99722°W / 46.73167; -116.99722
Country	United States
State	Idaho
County	Latah
Settled	1871
Incorporated (town)	1887
Government
• Type	Council-Mayor
• Mayor	Nancy Chaney
• City Supervisor	Gary J. Reidner
Area
• Total	6.2 sq mi (15.9 km2)
• Land	6.2 sq mi (15.9 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	2,579 ft (786 m)
Population (2010 Census)[1]
• Total	23,800
• Density	3,730.8/sq mi (1,438.8/km2)
Time zone	Pacific Time Zone (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
ZIP code	83843
Area code(s)	208
FIPS code	16-54550
GNIS feature ID	0400006
Website	www.moscow.id.us

Moscow ( /ˈmɒskoʊ/ MOSS-koh) is a city in northern Idaho, situated along the Washington/Idaho border. It is the most populous city and county seat of Latah County^[2] and the home of the University of Idaho, the land grant institution and primary research university for the state, as well as the home of New Saint Andrews College. Eight miles (12 km) west is Pullman, Washington, home of Washington's land-grant university, Washington State University.

While the university is the dominant employer in Moscow, the city also serves as an agricultural and commercial hub for the Palouse region. The 2010 census reported a population of 23,800.

Moscow is the principal city in the Moscow, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Latah County. Moscow is the birthplace of writer Carol Ryrie Brink and singer Josh Ritter.

Along with the rest of northern Idaho, Moscow resides in the Pacific Time Zone. The elevation of its city center is 2,579 feet (786 m) above sea level. Major highways serving the city are US-95 (north-south) and Highway 8 (east-west), both of which are routed through Moscow city center. Limited commercial air service is four miles west (6.4 km) at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport.

Geography and natural history[link]

Main Street runs north-south through Moscow along the 117th meridian west.

The city of Moscow lies on the eastern edge of the Palouse region of North Central Idaho in the Columbia River Plateau. East of the city is a valley within the mountains of the Palouse Range to the northeast, whose highest point is Moscow Mountain at 4983 feet (1519 m) above sea level. The less prominent Paradise Ridge at 3702 feet (1128 m) and Tomer Butte at 3474 feet (1059 m) are southeast of the town.^[3] Paradise Creek, with headwaters on Moscow Mountain north of the city, flows through the city of Moscow. It then crosses the state border and joins the south fork of the Palouse River near Pullman, which eventually drains into the Snake River and Columbia River on its way to the Pacific Ocean.^[4]

The geology in and around Moscow represents varied formations: very old intrusive granite structures of the Jurassic–Eocene Idaho Batholith, fertile fields atop rolling hills of deep Pleistocene loess of the Palouse Formation deposited after the last ice age by westerly winds, and flood-worn channels of the Columbia River Basalt Group.^[5][6]

There are a variety of flora and fauna within the vicinity of Moscow. An amphibian, the Rough-skinned Newt, has a disjunctive population at Moscow; this species is found typically along the Pacific coast of the USA.^[7]

History[link]

Moscow First United Methodist Church

Miners and farmers began arriving in the northern Idaho area after the Civil War. The first permanent settlers came to the Moscow area in 1871. The abundance of camas bulbs, a favorite fodder of pigs brought by the farmers, led naming the vicinity Hog Heaven. When the first US post office opened in 1872, the town was called Paradise Valley initially, but the name was changed to Moscow in 1875. The name Paradise persists with the main waterway through town called Paradise Creek.

The precise origin of the name Moscow has been disputed, but there is no proof that it was named by a Russian or for the Russian city (the Russian municipality is pronounced 'MoskVA' and the Idaho municipality is pronounced 'MosCO'). It was reported by early settlers that five men in the area met to choose a proper name for the town, but could not come to agreement on a name. The postmaster Samuel Neff then completed the official papers for the town and selected the name Moscow. Interestingly, Neff was born in Moscow, Pennsylvania and later moved to Moscow, Iowa.^[8]

The business district was established by 1875 and the town was a center of commerce for the region. By 1890, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company's rail line (later the Union Pacific) and the Northern Pacific railroad line helped to boost the town's population to 2000.

UI Administration Building (1909)

The capital of the Idaho Territory was relocated from Lewiston to Boise in December 1864. In the late 1880s, statehood for the Washington Territory was nearing. Because its commercial and transportation interests looked west, rather than south, the citizens of the Idaho Panhandle passionately lobbied for their region to join Washington, or to form an entirely separate state, rather than remain connected with the less accessible southern Idaho. To appease the residents of the north, the territorial legislature of Idaho in Boise placed the new land grant university in Moscow, which at the time was the largest city other than Boise in the state. The University of Idaho was chartered in January 1889, and first opened its doors to students in October 1892.^[9]

In March 1890 Moscow's neighboring city, Pullman, was selected as the home of Washington's land grant institution. The college which would eventually become Washington State University, opened its doors in January 1892. Washington entered the union as the 42nd state in November 1889. Idaho entered next, eight months later, in July 1890.

Moscow Public Library[link]

Members of the Pleiades Club and Ladies’ Historical Club formed a cooperative named the Women's Reading Room Society and established a small library in the Browne building at the corner of Main and Second Streets in 1902.

Moscow Public Library
1906 Building with the 1983 annex on the left.

In 1904 the committee planned to raise funds for a new library building. Andrew Carnegie promised funding of $10,000 if the community agreed to maintain a free public library at the rate of at least $1000 annually. Moscow voters approved a permanent tax in 1905 and with successful fundraising by subscription of local residents and businesses, coupled with the Carnegie library money, the library construction was begun in 1905. In March 1906, the Mission Style building was ready for occupancy. A fire at the University Of Idaho Administration Building totally destroyed that structure, so the new library was used for university classes during the day and residents used the library in the evening. Beginning in 1907 the building was returned to full use as a library. The original library building (which is on the National Register of Historic Places) was expanded in 1931 and 1983. The building houses a children's room named for the author Carol Ryrie Brink. In 2006, the Friends of the Library celebrated a Century of Service for the organization. The current organizational structure of library service encompasses all public libraries in Latah County as the Latah County Library District. The library enjoys broad support from the citizens of Moscow and the County and is also supported by the Idaho Commission for Libraries (formerly the Idaho State Library.) To commemorate the first century of the library, an essay competition was held. One young writer wrote:

We are fortunate enough to be able to walk a few blocks down to the public library and check out whatever we want. Libraries are valuable and available to everyone, regardless of wealth. Anyone can and everyone should get a library card. I am very grateful that we have a public library in Latah County.
 — Elizabeth Nielsen (2006)

The library serves as resource for all the residents of Moscow, or as one essayist (Ellis Clark) in the 2006 contest states, "When time, money, or circumstances bind you to one locale, the Library is your passport for travel."^[10]

Highways[link]

• - US 95 - to Coeur d'Alene (north) and Lewiston (south)
• - SH-8 - to Pullman (west) and Troy (east)

Parks and recreation[link]

There are seventeen neighborhood parks located throughout the town offering a wide variety of venues for outdoor activities. These parks fall under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Parks and Recreation Department. The Paradise Path Task Force is a citizen committee seeking to develop a system of linearly connected parks throughout the area. Carol Ryrie Brink Nature Park was a community collaboration between the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute and local volunteers to remeander Paradise Creek and add riparian plantings. The Moscow community, including schools and the city, led by local youth, raised money over several years to fund, design, and build a skate park which was completed in 2000.

The Latah Trail, completed in October 2008, extends from the eastern edge of Moscow bike path system to Troy, parallel to the Troy Highway for most of its 12 miles (19 km). On the west side of Moscow, the Bill Chipman Trail connects the two university communities of the Palouse. Starting at the UI's Perimeter Road, it gradually descends with Paradise Creek for 8 miles (13 km) to Pullman through Whitman County, alongside the Moscow-Pullman Highway. Completed in April 1998, the trail honors a Pullman businessman (and UI alumnus) who died following a winter highway accident in Spokane County. The Paradise Path bridges the gap in Moscow between the endpoints of the Chipman and Latah trails, passing through the north and east edges of the UI campus. The trail systems together constitute a continuous 22-mile (35 km) paved linear park from Pullman to Troy, extending in Troy beyond the eastern boundary of the Palouse ecosystem. From Pullman to the western boundary of Moscow (the state line), it follows the right of way of a dismantled Union Pacific railroad line, and east of US-95 it follows the right of way of a dismantled BNSF railroad line that junctioned at Arrow on the Clearwater River by way of Troy, Kendrick, and Juliaetta.

Community Arts and Events[link]

Education[link]

The Moscow School District operates public schools. Moscow High School is the main high school. The district has four elementary schools, one junior high school, one high school, one charter school, and one alternative high school.^[11]

The University of Idaho is in Moscow.

Montrose Academy (K-12) is a private school.

Demographics[link]

Downtown Moscow in 2007

As of the census^[14] of 2000, there were 21,291 people, 7,724 households, and 3,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,460.6 people per square mile (1,336.7 per km²). There were 8,029 housing units at an average density of 1,305.0 per square mile (504.1 per km²). The racial makeup of the city was:

• 92.23% White
• 0.91% African American
• 0.80% Native American
• 3.13% Asian
• 0.14% Pacific Islander
• 0.97% from other races
• 1.82% from two or more races

Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.47% of the population.

There were 7,724 households out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.0% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.9% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city the age distribution of the population shows:

• 16.1% under the age of 18
• 35.8% from 18 to 24
• 26.3% from 25 to 44
• 14.0% from 45 to 64
• 7.8% 65 years of age or older

The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 109.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,884, and the median income for a family was $46,331. Males had a median income of $35,494 versus $24,560 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,930. About 9.5% of families and 22.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics[link]

McConnell Mansion
The house is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is open for tours by the Latah County Historical Society.

Moscow has a Council-Mayor form of government consisting of six Council members (at large) and a Mayor. These positions are elected separately and serve four year terms. Council member elections are held in odd-numbered years in November, with terms staggered so that three of the six seats are open at each election. Mayoral elections are held the November after a US Presidential election (e.g., most recently in 2009).

The Council elects a President and Vice-President from among its members at its first meeting in January each year. These two officers may stand in for the mayor as necessary. Council is the legislative and judicial arm of Moscow's City government; enacting ordinances and resolutions. This body confirms the Mayor's appointments of City officials and citizen advisory commission members. Council approves the City's annual budget and serves as the convening body for public hearings and appeals of other City Boards and Commissions. Meetings are generally scheduled for the first and third Monday of each month, beginning at 7:00 p.m.^[15]

Moscow, in comparison to the rest of the state of Idaho tends to be more politically Liberal. In the 2004 Presidential Election, John Kerry out-polled George W. Bush in Moscow 54%-46%. Latah County was 49.5%-48.0% for the Bush/Cheney ticket; the entire state of Idaho went 68%-30% for George W. Bush. In the 2008 Presidential Election, Democrat Barack Obama won Moscow and Latah County 52%-45% while losing statewide 61%-36%. In 2000 Latah county went to Republican George W. Bush 53% to Democrat Al Gore's 36% and Independent Ralph Nader's 6%, The state of Idaho went to Bush 67%, to Gore 27%, with Nader at 2%

Sister cities[link]

Moscow has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Villa Carlos Fonseca, Nicaragua

Villa Carlos Fonseca is the former name of Villa El Carmen ^[16]

Climate[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Idaho portal

• City of Moscow official site
• A Brief History of the University of Idaho official site
• Latah County Historical Society
• The Appaloosa Museum
• Moscow officer died of injuries sustained in standoff shooting

v t e Municipalities and communities of Latah County, Idaho, United States County seat: Moscow Cities Bovill Deary Genesee Juliaetta Kendrick Moscow Onaway Potlatch Troy CDP Princeton Unincorporated communities Harvard Viola

v t e  State of Idaho Boise (capital) Topics Index Bibliography Geography Government Delegations Governors History Symbols Images People Visitor Attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Boise metropolitan area Cache Valley Central Idaho Columbia River Plateau Eastern Idaho Great Basin Idaho Panhandle Inland Empire Magic Valley North Central Idaho North Idaho Palouse Southern Idaho Southwestern Idaho Treasure Valley Wasatch Range Wood River Valley Yellowstone Larger cities Boise Coeur d'Alene Idaho Falls Lewiston Meridian Nampa Pocatello Twin Falls Smaller cities Ammon Blackfoot Burley Caldwell Chubbuck Eagle Garden City Kuna Moscow Mountain Home McCall Post Falls Rexburg Stanley Counties Ada Adams Bannock Bear Lake Benewah Bingham Blaine Boise Bonner Bonneville Boundary Butte Camas Canyon Caribou Cassia Clark Clearwater Custer Elmore Franklin Fremont Gem Gooding Idaho Jefferson Jerome Kootenai Latah Lemhi Lewis Lincoln Madison Minidoka Nez Perce Oneida Owyhee Payette Power Shoshone Teton Twin Falls Valley Washington

Moscow
Москва (Russian)
—  Federal city  —
Top: St. Basil's Cathedral, Spasskaya Clocktower Center: Kotelnicheskaya Embankment building, Monument to Minin and Pozharsky, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Worker and Kolkhoz Woman sculpture Bottom: Moscow International Business Center
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: My Moscow
Coordinates: 55°45′N 37°37′E / 55.75°N 37.617°E / 55.75; 37.617Coordinates: 55°45′N 37°37′E / 55.75°N 37.617°E / 55.75; 37.617
Political status
Country	Russia
Federal district	Central[1]
Economic region	Central[2]
Established	Before 1147[3]
Federal city Day	The first Saturday and Sunday of September[4]
Government (as of March 2010)
- Mayor[5]	Sergey Sobyanin[5]
- Legislature	City Duma[6]
Statistics
Area [7]
- Total	1,091 km2 (421.2 sq mi)
Area rank	83rd
Population (2010 Census)[8]
- Total	11,689,048
- Rank	1st
- Density[9]	10,714.07 /km2 (27,749.3 /sq mi)
Population (2011 est.)	11,510,097 inhabitants[10]
Time zone(s)	MSK (UTC+04:00)[11]
ISO 3166-2	RU-MOW
License plates	77, 99, 97, 177, 199, 197
Official languages	Russian[12]
http://www.mos.ru

Moscow ( /ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva] ( listen)) is the capital and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the most populous city in Europe, and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Its population, according to the results of the 2010 Census, is 11,503,501.^[8] Based on Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world.^[13]

Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) also sit in Moscow.

The city is served by an extensive transit network, which includes four international airports, nine railroad terminals, and one of the deepest underground tubes in the world, the Moscow Metro, second only to Tokyo in terms of ridership and recognized as one of the city's landmarks due to the rich and varied architecture of its 185 stations.

Over time, Moscow has acquired a number of epithets, most referring to its size and preeminent status within the nation: The Third Rome (Третий Рим), The Whitestone One (Белокаменная), The First Throne (Первопрестольная), The Forty Forties (Сорок Сороков). In old Russian the word "Сорок" (forty) also meant a church administrative district, which consisted of about forty churches. Since 2011 Moscow Government and NGOs have been trying to promote a new city brand for tourists WowMoscow aimed at demonstrating its openness and friendliness. The demonym for a Moscow resident is Moskvitch, rendered in English as Muscovite.^[14]

History[link]

Moscow (Russian Empire) in 1908

The city is named after the river (old Russian: гра́д Моско́в, literally "the city by the Moskva River"). The first reference to Moscow dates from 1147 when Yuri Dolgorukiy called upon the prince of the Novgorod-Severski to "come to me, brother, to Moscow".^[3]

Nine years later, in 1156, Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy of Rostov ordered the construction of a wooden wall, the Kremlin, which had to be rebuilt multiple times, to surround the emerging city.^[15] 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 the independent Vladimir-Suzdal principality in 1327.^[16] Its favorable position on the headwaters of the Volga River contributed to steady expansion. Moscow developed into a stable and prosperous principality, known as Grand Duchy of Moscow, for many years and attracted a large number of refugees from across Russia.

Under Ivan I of Moscow the city replaced Tver as a political center of Vladimir-Suzdal and became the sole collector of taxes for the Mongol-Tatar 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. Moscow's opposition against foreign domination grew. In 1380, prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow led a united Russian army to an important victory over the Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo. The battle, however, was not decisive and only two years later Moscow was sacked by khan Tokhtamysh. Ivan III, in 1480, finally broke the Russians free from Tatar control, allowing Moscow to become the center of power in Russia.^[17] Under Ivan III the city became the capital of an empire that would eventually encompass all of present-day Russia and other lands.

In 1571, the Crimean Tatars attacked and sacked Moscow, burning everything but the Kremlin.^[18]

Kremlevskaya Naberezhnaya and Moscow skyline

In 1609, the Swedish army led by Count Jacob De la Gardie and Evert Horn started their march from Great Novgorod toward Moscow to help Tsar Vasili Shuiski, entered Moscow in 1610 and suppressed the rebellion against the Tsar, but left it early in 1611, following which the Polish–Lithuanian army invaded. During the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618) hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski entered Moscow after defeating the Russians in the Battle of Klushino. The 17th century was rich in popular risings, such as the liberation of Moscow from the Polish–Lithuanian invaders (1612), the Salt Riot (1648), the Copper Riot (1662), and the Moscow Uprising of 1682. The plague epidemics ravaged Moscow in 1570–1571, 1592 and 1654–1656.^[19] The city ceased to be Russia’s capital in 1712, after the founding of Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great near the Baltic coast in 1703. The Plague of 1771 was the last massive outbreak of plague in central Russia, claiming up to 100,000 lives in Moscow alone. During the French invasion of Russia in 1812, the Muscovites burned the city and evacuated, as Napoleon’s forces were approaching on 14 September. Napoleon’s Grande Armée, plagued by hunger, cold and poor supply lines, was forced to retreat and was nearly annihilated by the devastating Russian winter and sporadic attacks by Russian military forces. As many as 400,000 died in the adventure and only a few tens of thousands of ravaged troops returned.^[20]

French invasion of Russia in 1812, Fire of Moscow, painting of Smirnov A.F., 1813

In January 1905, the institution of the City Governor, or Mayor, was officially introduced in Moscow, and Alexander Adrianov became Moscow’s first official mayor. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, on 12 March 1918^[21] Moscow became the capital of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and of the Soviet Union less than five years later.^[22] During World War II (the period from June 22, 1941, to May 9, 1945 known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War), after the German invasion of the USSR, the Soviet State Defense Committee and the General Staff of the Red Army was located in Moscow.

Red Square, painting of Fedor Alekseev, 1802

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. That November, the German Army Group Center was stopped at the outskirts of the city and then driven off in the Battle of Moscow. Many factories were evacuated, together with much of the government, and from 20 October the city was declared to be under siege. Its remaining inhabitants built and manned antitank defenses, while the city was bombarded from the air. Joseph 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 continued through the war, and by the end of the war several new metro lines were opened.

Map of Moscow, 1784

Both German and Soviet casualties during the battle of Moscow have been a subject of debate, as various sources provide somewhat different estimates. Therefore, total casualties between 30 September 1941, and 7 January 1942, are estimated to be between 248,000 and 400,000 for the Wehrmacht and between 650,000 and 1,280,000 for the Red Army.^[23][24][25]

On 1 May 1944, a medal For the defense of Moscow and in 1947 another medal In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow were instituted. In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, on May 8, 1965, Moscow became one of twelve Soviet cities awarded the title of Hero City.

In 1980, it hosted the Summer Olympic Games, which was boycotted by the United States and several other Western countries due to the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan in late 1979. In 1991, Moscow was the scene of the failed 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 Russia.

Since then, the emergence of a market economy in Moscow has produced an explosion of Western-style retailing, services, architecture, and lifestyles. In 1998, it hosted the first World Youth Games.

A panoramic view of Moscow in 1867. (Image with notes).

Geography and climate[link]

Location[link]

Satellite image of Moscow and suburbs

Moscow aerial view

Moscow is situated on the banks of the Moskva River, which flows for just over 500 km through the East European Plain in central Russia. 49 bridges span the river and its canals within the city's limits. The elevation of Moscow at the All-Russia Exhibition Center (VVC), where the head Moscow weather station is situated, is 156 m (512 ft). The highest point is Teplostanskaya highland at 255 m (837 ft).^[26] The width of Moscow city (not limiting MKAD) from west to east is 39.7 km (24.7 mi), and the length from north to south is 51.7 km (32.1 mi).

Time[link]

Time zones of Europe

Moscow serves as the reference point for the timezone used in most of Central Russia, including Saint Petersburg. The areas operate in what is referred to as Moscow Standard Time (MSK, мск), which is 4 hours ahead of UTC, or UTC+4. Daylight saving time is no longer observed.

Climate[link]

Moscow has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with warm, and sometimes hot, somewhat humid summers and long, cold winters. Typical high temperatures in the warm months of June, July and August are around comfortable 23 °C (73 °F), but during heat waves (which can occur between May and September), daytime high temperatures often top 30 °C (86 °F)—sometimes for a week or a two at a time. In the winter, temperatures normally drop to approximately −10 °C (14 °F), though there can be periods of warmth with temperatures rising above 0 °C (32 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded was 38.2 °C (100.8 °F)^[27] at the VVC weather station and 39.0 °C (102.2 °F) in the center of Moscow and Domodedovo airport on 29 July 2010 during the unusual 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat wave. At the new averages 1981–2010 mean temperature of July is 19.2 °C (66.6 °F). The lowest ever recorded was −42.2 °C (−44.0 °F) in January 1940. Snow cover (present for 3–5 months a year) typically begins at the end of November and melts by mid-March.

Monthly rainfall totals vary minimally throughout the year, although the precipitation levels tend to be higher during the summer than during the 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 a continental climate zone.

The average annual temperature in Moscow is 5.8 °C (42.4 °F) (1981–2010), but for the last two years (2007–2008) the annual temperature has averaged above 7 °C (45 °F).^[28] In contrast, during the first half of the 20th century, Moscow experienced light frost during the late summer months.^[29]

On average Moscow has 1731 hours of sunshine per year, varying between a low of 8% in December to 52% in May–August.^[30] In 2004–2010, the average was between 1800 and 2000 hours with tends to more sunshine in summer months^[31]

Moscow, being in northern hemisphere middle latitudes, is one of places of a planet with the most expressed signs of global warming. Thus the climate becomes less stable, but the mid-annual temperature is growing. So, the period July – beginning of August has become considerably warmer, during this period in a city the periods of an extreme heat are often observed (2001, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011), thus in the end of January–February is observed colder (2006, 2010, 2011). Last decade was the warmest in history of meteorological observations of Moscow. Climate changes of Moscow are designated now on the table more low:

Demographics[link]

Population[link]

Population of Moscow (1350–2009)^{[citation needed]}

Red Square has long been one of the city's most important meeting places

According to the results of the 2010 Census, the population of Moscow was 11,503,501;^[8] up from 10,382,754 recorded in the 2002 Census.^[36]

At the time of the official 2010 Census, the ethnic makeup of the city was:^[8]

• 668,409 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.^[37]

The official population of Moscow is taken from those holding "permanent residency." According to Russia's Federal Migration Service, Moscow also contains 1,800,000 official "guests" who have temporary residency on the basis of visas or other documentation. The number of unofficial guests, those without proper documentation, is estimated to be an additional 1,000,000 people.^[38]

Religion[link]

Christianity is the predominant religion in the city, of which the Russian Orthodox Church is the most popular. Moscow is Russia's capital of Orthodox Christianity, which has been the country’s traditional religion and was deemed a part of Russia's "historical heritage" in a law passed in 1997.^[39] Other religions practiced in Moscow include Islam, Protestantism, Old-believers, Buddhism, and Judaism.

The Patriarch of Moscow serves as the head of the church and resides in the Danilov Monastery. Moscow was called the "city of 1600 churches"—"город сорока сороков церквей"—prior to 1917. In 1918 Russia became a secular state and religion lost its position in society. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 many of the destroyed churches have been restored and traditional religions are gaining popularity.

While the city's Muslim population is estimated to be 1.2–1.5 million^[40] (out of a total of 10.5 million), there were only four mosques in the city as of 2010. (Note that the 2010 Russian Census counted about 300,000 people from Muslim ethnic groups.) Though one additional mosque has been approved in the southeast, anti-mosque activists have blocked construction.^[41]

Cityscape[link]

View as seen from Sparrow Hills: Moscow-City, Moskva River, Luzhniki Stadium, Luzhnetsky Metro Bridge, Building of Russian Academy of Sciences

View as seen from Sparrow Hills: Moskva River, Luzhniki Stadium, Luzhnetsky Metro Bridge, Building of Russian Academy of Sciences

Architecture[link]

The Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki estate

Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, the masterpiece of Russian architecture

The Shukhov Tower in Moscow. Currently under threat of demolition, the tower is at the top of UNESCO's Endangered Buildings list and there is an international campaign to save it.^[42]

View to Ostankino Tower

Moscow's architecture is world-renowned. Moscow is also well known as the site of Saint Basil’s Cathedral, with its elegant onion domes, as well as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Seven Sisters. The first Kremlin was built in the mid twelfth century.

Medieval Moscow's design was of concentric walls and intersecting radial thoroughfares. This layout, as well as Moscow's rivers, helped shaped Moscow's design in subsequent centuries.

The Kremlin was rebuilt in the 15th Century. Its towers and some of its churches were built by Italian architects, lending the city some of the aura of the renaissance. From the end of the 15th century onwards, the city was embellished by increasing numbers of masonry structures such as monasteries, palaces, walls, towers, and churches.

The city's appearance had not changed much by the turn of the eighteenth century. Houses were made of pine and spruce logs with shingled roofs plastered with sod or covered by birch bark. Rebuilding of Moscow in the second half of the eighteenth century was necessitated not only by constant fires, but also the needs of the nobility. Much of the wooden city was replaced by buildings in the classical style.^[43]

For much of its history, Moscow was dominated by its numerous Orthodox churches. However, the overall appearance of the city changed drastically during the Soviet period, especially as a result of Joseph Stalin's large-scale effort to modernize the city. Stalin's plans for the city included a network of broad avenues and roadways, some of them over ten lanes wide, which, while greatly simplifying movement through the city were constructed at the expense of a great number of historical buildings and districts. Among the many casualties of Stalin's reforms was the Sukharev Tower, a longtime city landmark, as well as numerous mansions and commercial buildings lining the major streets. The city's newfound status as the capital of a deeply secular, totalitarian nation, made religiously significant buildings especially vulnerable to demolition. Many of the city's churches, which in many cases were some of Moscow's oldest buildings, were destroyed; some notable examples include the Kazan Cathedral and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. While the 1990s, both the latter were rebuilt (amid criticism due to the high costs and lack of historical perspective), many smaller churches were permanently lost.^[44]

While the later Stalinist period was characterized by the curtailing of creativity and architectural innovation, the earlier post-revolutionary years saw a plethora of radical new buildings created in the city. Especially notable were the constructivist architects associated with VKHUTEMAS, responsible for such landmarks as Lenin's Mausoleum. Also prominent was Vladimir Shukhov, responsible for 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.^[45] Shukhov also left a lasting legacy to the Constructivist architecture of early Soviet Russia. He designed spacious elongated shop galleries, most notably the GUM department store on Red Square,^[45] bridged with innovative metal-and-glass vaults.

Perhaps the most recognizable contributions of the Stalinist period are the so called Seven Sisters, comprising seven massive skyscrapers scattered throughout the city at about an equal distance from the Kremlin. A defining feature of Moscow’s skyline, their imposing form was allegedly inspired by the Manhattan Municipal Building in New York City, and their style—with intricate exteriors and a large central spire—has been described as Stalinist Gothic architecture. 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 fourth-tallest after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Canton Tower in Guangzhou and the CN Tower in Toronto.^[46]

The Soviet policy of providing mandatory housing for every citizen and his or her 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–found across the city provide glimpses of its past. The Old Arbat Street, a popular tourist street that was once the heart of a bohemian area, preserves most of its buildings from prior to the 20th 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 bourgeois architecture typical of Tsarist times. Ostankino Palace, Kuskovo, Uzkoye and other large estates just outside Moscow originally belong to nobles from the Tsarist era, and some convents and monasteries, both inside and outside the city, are open to Muscovites and tourists.