What continent is Moscow in?

This is a question that is asked more often than you might think and although you may feel that the answer is obvious, a quick search of the internet will return at least two different suggestions.

Russia itself spans two continents – Europe and Asia so where exactly does Moscow fall?

Location, location

Moscow, the capital city of Russia is situated firmly in Europe, despite any suggestions to the contrary. The border between two continents is defined by the Ural Mountain Range and any location to the east of the Urals is therefore in Asia.

With Moscow being located entirely to the west of the Ural Mountains, if anyone asks you what continent is Moscow in, you can categorically confirm that the city is situated in Europe.

Straddling two continents

While Moscow and some other major cities such as St Petersburg, Krasnodar and Kazan can all be found in Europe, the majority of the country can be found on the Asian side of the Urals.

The Asian sector of Russia includes the vast region of Siberia which represents much of the country’s land mass. With these factors in mind, perhaps it’s not surprising that some would suggest Moscow may fall into this Asian sector.

A rich history

Moscow has a rich and varied history and that is one reason why it is proving to be so popular with a new flood of tourists from the west.

The City was founded as long ago as the 12^th century and named after the river that runs through it. The early Moscow was destroyed by invading Mongol hordes around 150 years later and from that point, many of the fine buildings and landmarks that exist today were constructed.

Some brief Moscow facts

Moscow is the capital and largest city in Russia and it is the sixth largest city in the world overall. At the 2010 census, records showed that just over eleven and a half million people lived here and as such, it is the most densely populated city in the whole of the European continent.

Moscow is also the richest city in the world according to a study by Forbes Magazines in 2011 which claimed that 79 billionaires had been identified as living there.

Moscow tourism

Moscow’s amazing architecture has been well known to the outside world for centuries but since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s, a whole new wave of travellers have come here to experience all that is good about this incredible city.

There are many must see locations from the ancient St Basils Cathedral in Red Square to Lenin’s Mausoleum while others may prefer a trip to the Bolshoi theatre to see an unforgettable performance from the eponymous ballet.

So if anyone asks you what continent is Moscow in, you can give then a qualified answer but that only tells part of the story. To get to know the real Moscow, it pays to uncover more information and even to pay this historic city a visit.