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Capitals of the world
Moscow, capital of Russia: facts and figures
Moscow is the capital of Russia. It has about 12,600,000 residents, which makes it the 10th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 161 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Minsk, 675 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Russia |
| Continent | Europe |
| City population | 12,600,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 10th of 172 |
| Elevation | 161 m |
| Founded | not reported |
| Time zone | Europe/Moscow |
| Coordinates | 55.76° N, 37.62° E |
| Country population | 143,513,328 residents |
| Country GDP | 2.6 trillion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $17,547 |
| Life expectancy | 73.4 years |
| Internet users | 94.4 % |
| Big Mac price | RUB 135 (about $1.74) |
Climate through the year
Moscow averages -5.5 °C in winter and 18.6 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and July the warmest, and the city receives 635 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | -7.1 °C |
| February | -5.4 °C |
| March | -1.6 °C |
| April | 6.2 °C |
| May | 12.7 °C |
| June | 17.9 °C |
| July | 19.4 °C |
| August | 18.6 °C |
| September | 12.9 °C |
| October | 6.1 °C |
| November | -0.1 °C |
| December | -3.9 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Size: most populous capital in Europe (12,600,000 residents).
- Winter: coldest capital in Europe (-5.5 °C).
- Prices: cheapest capital for a Big Mac in the world ($1.74).
- Isolation: 2nd most isolated capital in Europe (675 km).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Minsk is the closest capital to Moscow.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Minsk | Belarus | 675 km |
| Kyiv | Ukraine | 756 km |
| Vilnius | Lithuania | 791 km |
| Riga | Latvia | 841 km |
| Tallinn | Estonia | 867 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Moscow to a place and a number you already know: it is 675 km from Minsk, and it is the 10th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Russia compares with every other country on figures like these, the most expensive Big Mac index ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Big Mac price: The Economist's Big Mac index, from its published dataset. The index covers about 55 economies, so most capitals here have no figure.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Moscow is the capital of Russia, in Europe, with about 12,600,000 residents, averaging -5.5 °C in winter and 18.6 °C in summer.
Turn the reading into recall. A new capital and country are waiting today.
Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Russia?
Moscow is the capital of Russia. It has about 12,600,000 residents and lies in Europe.
How many people live in Moscow?
About 12,600,000, which ranks Moscow 10th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Moscow?
Moscow averages -5.5 °C in winter and 18.6 °C in summer, with 635 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Moscow?
A Big Mac costs RUB 135 (about $1.74) there. GDP per capita in the country is $17,547, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Minsk, capital of Belarus: facts and figures
Minsk is the capital of Belarus: 2,000,000 residents, 203 m above sea level, -2.5 °C in winter and 18.7 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Kyiv, capital of Ukraine: facts and figures
Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine: 3,000,000 residents, 169 m above sea level, -1.1 °C in winter and 21.3 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Vilnius, capital of Lithuania: facts and figures
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania: 580,000 residents, 95 m above sea level, -1.5 °C in winter and 18.4 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.