Rating of the largest cities in Russia. The largest cities in Russia by population Rating of cities by territory

or the largest cities in the world by area they occupy in square kilometers

What is a city?

The encyclopedic dictionary gives the following interpretation: « City- a settlement whose residents are usually employed outside of agriculture. The classification of a settlement as a “city” is formalized by law; At the same time, the criterion for the city's population varies - from 200 people in Iceland before 30 thousand people in Japan......In Russia, a city must have at least 12 thousand inhabitants and at least 85% of the population employed outside agriculture".

Moreover, from the general rules there are always exceptions, in particular in Russia until now smallest in population and wherein with city status is a new city Innopolis, with a population at the time of receiving city status in 2012 of only 10 people, and as of January 1, 2016 with a population of 96 people.

What territory is included in the concept of “largest city”?

The main sources of data on the size of urban areas are statistical authorities, and for statistical purposes, each city is primarily an administrative unit (municipal entity).

In other words - territory controlled by the city administration and is called a city or urban district.

This is where situations arise when in 1st place among largest cities in the world by territory is a Chinese city Chongqing, in which most of the territory is agricultural land, around the former city border. In this case, the expansion of the administrative boundaries of the city is associated with the desire of the administration to urbanize rural areas, increasing population density.

Chongqing (China). Largest city in the world by area

Therefore, in the list of the largest cities in terms of the area occupied by the territory one can find very small cities with a population of 20,000 - 30,000 people, and at the same time the territory occupied by them is comparable to multimillion-dollar cities- the only difference is that in cities with a population of millions there is a high population density over the entire or most of the city’s territory, and in cities with a small population, this is usually the area around the main building with a low population density.

What is included in the city territory. Examples.

The largest cities in the world by area in square kilometers may include within their administrative boundaries, in addition to land territory, Also water area. This is most typical for cities on the water, in particular in the American New York, where the water area is more than 35% of the total area of ​​the city.

New York (USA). More than 35% of the city's territory is water

Also a frequent option for large cities, but with a small population, are cities with one main source of income (mining coal, ore and other minerals), when a relatively large mining area, where few people live, is included in administrative boundaries of the city.

A similar example is mountain ranges, territories of nature reserves, natural parks adjacent to the territory of the city, as well as cities in which residents live mainly in private houses and, accordingly, have a low population density, typical for cities Australia.

Brisbane (Australia). Most of the residents of this city of 2 million live in private houses

Several cities at once claim to bear the honorary title of the third capital of Russia. It is not clear, to be honest, what exactly is honorable or beneficial in this, because the city automatically recognizes the primacy of Moscow and St. Petersburg in all areas. Yes, this is exactly the reality, but our cities could not follow the two capitals, but immediately adopt, say, the European experience.

Maybe for foreign tourists coming to Russia there is some charm in this label, and it’s all about their wallets? We don’t have any special deductions from the federal budget for this title... Be that as it may, there was a serious struggle for the status of the third capital some time ago, and the disputes do not subside to this day.

Now the Third Capital brand belongs to Kazan. The city wrested it from Nizhny Novgorod and other less successful competitors. But times are changing. In recent years, there have often been proposals to move the capital of Russia somewhere to the Urals or Siberia, so soon the struggle for the right to carry the banner of the third capital may again become relevant.

What do you think about this? Let's vote, because we have so many cool candidates!

Kazan

Everything is clear with Kazan. The capital of Tatarstan, an ancient but modern city, which Putin himself called the third capital! True, sometimes this happens there...

Novosibirsk

The third largest city in Russia, the capital of Siberia (although Krasnoyarsk would argue here), which in 100 years has transformed from a provincial provincial town into a metropolis. True, in 1993 Rutskoi and Khasbulatov wanted to set up their temporary capital here, but the Novosibirsk residents are not to blame for this!

Ekaterinburg

The capital of the Urals with a rich history, a constant contender for the title of third capital, the city in which the first president of Russia matured!

Nizhny Novgorod

The capital of the Volga region... True, this is the only million-plus city in Russia that is losing population, but Nizhny Novgorod residents will still never recognize the primacy of Kazan!

Velikiy Novgorod

One of the oldest cities in Russia, once a rich center of international trade, which remained independent even during the Horde occupation of Rus', has now turned into a backwater (even though it is the capital of the region). Nikita Mikhalkov himself proposed to assign the status of the third capital to Veliky Novgorod.

Samara

During the years of great upheaval, Samara was already (in fact) the temporary capital of Russia and the USSR. Another city whose residents could not help but be offended by the fact that Kazan had leapfrogged them.

Omsk

Ah, Omsk! Once upon a time Kolchak sat here, and now Dvorakovsky was barely kicked out... But maybe the status of the third capital will help this beautiful Siberian city to revive?

Sevastopol

A staple city, which, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, received a unique status: along with Moscow and St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, from the point of view of legislation, is an independent region - a city of federal significance.

Grozny

Another city on which the center willingly spends money. A city that rose from the ashes after the Chechen wars and acquired important political significance, each time guaranteeing the current president and the ruling party an excellent result in the elections.

Great, but we need another option for fans of the Soviet Union!

Maybe Ruzaevka in Mordovia?

Or Naberezhnye Chelny in Tatarstan? But then the whole of Kazan will be bombed...

May it be better Volgograd! Moreover, I have not been there yet and cannot judge biasedly. And especially for fans of the USSR, we will also rename it Stalingrad, don’t mind!

So let's practice choosing!

UPD: There will still be a second round. Kazan residents, with the active support of the Tatarstan media, tried very hard and pushed hard, but still did not make it before midnight, and the voting results turned into a pumpkin!

At 0:05 Moscow time it was like this:

As you may have guessed, Kazan and Yekaterinburg are reaching the finals! I hope that by the second round the residents of Yekaterinburg will also wake up, and an exciting fight will await us.

Which city is worthy of the title of the third capital of Russia?

Velikiy Novgorod

83 (2.5 % )

Volgograd

79 (2.4 % )

70 (2.1 % )

Ekaterinburg

687 (20.6 % )

1576 (47.3 % )

The largest settlements in the Russian Federation are traditionally selected according to two criteria: occupied territory and population. The area is determined by the general plan of the city. Population – the All-Russian Population Census, or Rosstat data, taking into account birth and death rates, if they are current.

The largest cities in Russia by population

The largest cities in Russia with a population of more than 1 million people are 15. According to this indicator, Russia ranks third in the world. And their number continues to grow. More recently, Krasnoyarsk and Voronezh entered this category. We present to you the top ten most densely populated Russian megacities.

Population: 1,125 thousand people.

Rostov-on-Don became a million-plus city relatively recently - only thirty years ago. It is the only one among the ten largest cities in Russia that does not have its own metro. Its construction in 2018 will only be discussed. For now, the Rostov administration is busy preparing for the upcoming World Cup.

Population: 1,170 thousand people.

In penultimate place in the list of the largest cities in Russia by population is the administrative center of the Volga region - Samara. True, starting from 1985, the population preferred to leave Samara as soon as possible, until by 2005 the situation improved. And now the city is even experiencing a slight increase in migration.

Population: 1,178 thousand people.

The migration situation in Omsk is not brilliant - many educated Omsk residents prefer to move to Moscow, St. Petersburg and neighboring Novosibirsk and Tyumen. However, since 2010, the population in the city has been growing steadily, mostly due to the redistribution of the population in the region.

Population: 1,199 thousand people.

Unfortunately, Chelyabinsk is experiencing problems with livability: residents complain about the abundance of dirt, giant puddles in the spring and summer, when, due to non-functioning storm sewers, entire neighborhoods turn into something like Venice. It is not surprising that about 70% of Chelyabinsk residents are thinking about changing their place of residence.

Population: 1,232 thousand people.

The capital of the Republic of Tatarstan rightfully bears the title of one of the most comfortable cities in Russia. This is likely one of the reasons why the city has experienced steady population growth since the mid-90s. And since 2009, Kazan has become a plus not only due to migration, but also due to natural growth.

Population: 1,262 thousand people.

The ancient and very beautiful city is going through hard times in terms of the number of residents. The peak was in 1991, when its population exceeded 1,445 thousand people, and since then it has only been falling. A slight increase was observed only in 2012–2015, when the population increased by approximately 10 thousand people.

Population: 1,456 thousand people.

The “Capital of the Urals” became a million-plus city exactly 50 years ago, in 1967. Since then, having survived the population decline in the “hungry 90s,” the city’s population has been growing slowly but steadily. It is increasing, as in all large cities of Russia, mainly due to migrants. But not the ones you thought about - the population replenishment mainly (more than 50%) comes from the Sverdlovsk region.

Population: 1,602 thousand people.

The third place in the list of the largest cities in Russia is occupied by the center of the Novosibirsk region. In addition to its million-plus status, the city can also boast of being among the top 50 cities in the world with the longest traffic jams. True, Novosibirsk residents are hardly happy about such a record.

However, unlike traffic jams, the demographic situation in the city is more or less successful. A number of regional and state programs aimed at increasing the birth rate and reducing mortality are being implemented in Novosibirsk. For example, at the birth of a third or subsequent child, the family is awarded a regional certificate for 100 thousand rubles.

According to city authorities, if the current dynamics of population growth continue, then by 2025 the number of residents of the Novosibirsk region will increase to 2.9 million people.

Population: 5,282 thousand people.

The cultural capital of Russia, where polite intellectuals bow to each other, raising their berets, and where such animals as the “bun” and “curb” live, is demonstrating steady growth in both area and population.

True, this was not always the case; Since the end of the USSR, the population preferred to leave St. Petersburg. And only since 2012, positive dynamics began to be observed. In the same year, the city's five millionth resident was born (for the second time in its history).

1. Moscow

Population: 12,381 thousand people.

It is unlikely that the answer to the question: “What is the largest city in Russia?” came as a surprise to someone. Moscow is the largest city in Europe by population, but is not among the first.

More than 12 million people live here, and if we add to this the population of the near Moscow region, who regularly travel to Moscow for work and shopping, then the figure turns out to be more than impressive - 16 million. Due to the current economic situation in the country, the population is both modern Babylon and the surrounding areas will only increase. According to experts, by 2030 this number could reach 13.6 million people.

Muscovites are traditionally not happy with those who have come in large numbers, and those who have come in large numbers shrug their shoulders: “I want to live, and I even want to live well.”

The largest cities in Russia by area

It would seem that the list of the largest cities in Russia by area should coincide with the list of the most populated cities, but this is not the case. In addition to the simple population size, the area of ​​the city is influenced by many factors - from the historical method of territorial expansion to the number of industrial enterprises within the city. Therefore, some positions in the ranking can surprise the reader.

Area: 541.4 km²

Samara opens the top 10 largest cities in Russia. It stretches along the western bank of the Volga River for more than 50 km with a width of 20 km.

Area: 566.9 km²

The population of Omsk exceeded a million people back in 1979, the city’s territory is large and, according to Soviet tradition, the city should have acquired a metro. However, the nineties struck, and construction since then has been going neither shaky nor slow, but in general nothing. There is not even enough money for conservation.

Area: 596.51 km²

Voronezh became a million-plus city quite recently - in 2013. Some areas in it are almost exclusively private sector - houses, from comfortable cottages to village ones, garages, vegetable gardens.

Area: 614.16 km²

Thanks to the historically established radial-ring development, Kazan is a fairly compact city with a convenient layout. Despite its size, the capital of Tatarstan is the only million-plus city in Russia that completely recycles its waste and has managed to maintain a more or less favorable environmental situation.

Area: 621 km²

The only regional city that is not an administrative center and a million-plus population, Orsk seems to have been included in this rating by mistake. Its population is only 230 thousand people, who occupy an area of ​​621 km2, with a very low density (only 370 people per km2). The reason for such a huge territory with a small number of inhabitants is the large number of industrial enterprises within the city.

Area: 707.93 km²

Ufa residents have a spacious place to live - each person has 698 m2 of the total territory of the city. At the same time, Ufa has the lowest density of the street network among Russian megacities, which often manifests itself in huge multi-kilometer traffic jams.

Area: 799.68 km²

Perm became a million-plus city in 1979, then in the nineties, due to a general decline in the population, it lost this status for more than 20 years. Only in 2012 was it possible to return it. Permians live freely (the population density is not too high, 1310 people per km2) and green - the total area of ​​green spaces is more than a third of the citywide area.

Area: 859.4 km²

Although Volgograd became a million-plus city relatively recently - in 1991, it has long been among the top three in terms of territory size. The reason is the historically uneven urban development, where apartment buildings, village houses with plots and empty steppe spaces alternate with each other.

Area: 1439 km²

Unlike the compact radial-beam “old” Moscow, St. Petersburg is freely spread out at the mouth of the Neva. The length of the city is more than 90 km. One of the features of the city is the abundance of water spaces, occupying 7% of the entire territory.

1. Moscow

Area: 2561.5 km²

And the absolute first place among the largest cities in Russia is given to Moscow. Its area is 1.5 times larger than the area of ​​the second place in the ranking, St. Petersburg. True, until 2012, the territory of Moscow was not so impressive - only 1100 km2. It grew so significantly due to the annexation of the southwestern territories, the total area of ​​which reaches 1480 km2.

Hello, dear readers of the site “I and the World”! We are glad to welcome you again! What do you think is the largest city in the world and what is its name? In our new article we want to talk about cities and present the top 10 largest in the world by area and population.

10th place - New York - 1214.4 sq. km

America starts the list. If you look at the population for 2017, the city is small - 8,405,837 people. Quite young, about 400 years old.

In the territory where New York is now located there were Indian tribes. Arrows, dishes and other Indian attributes are found here. Throughout the 19th century, emigrants from different countries came here, due to which it grew. It includes several islands, the largest of which is Manhattan. People of almost all religions live here, but Christians predominate.

We give 9th place to Mexico City – 1485 sq. km

The population of the capital of Mexico is 9,100,000 people. Mexico City was founded by the Aztecs in 1325. According to legend, the Sun God ordered them to come to this place.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Mexico City was the most beautiful in the Western Hemisphere until it was destroyed during the reign of Cortez, but was soon rebuilt. It is located at an altitude of more than 2000 km above sea level and is surrounded by mountains.

London is in 8th place – 1572 sq. km

London is the capital of Great Britain and the largest city in the country. It was founded in 43 AD. e. There are now 8,600,000 people living in London.

The terrible plague of the 17th century claimed about 70,000 lives. This is a place of remarkable historical and architectural monuments: the Tower, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral and others.

We put Tokyo in 7th place - 2188.6 sq. km

But the population is quite large - 13,742,906 people. Tokyo is one of the modern cities and the capital of Japan. Even if you live here for a month, you won’t see all the sights.

The main part is solid concrete and wires. Tokyo was inhabited by tribes of people back in the Stone Age. Over the course of several years from 1703 to 2011, Tokyo suffered many earthquakes, and as a result of one of them, 142,000 people died at once.

In 6th place is Moscow – 2561.5 sq. km

Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation, located between the Oka and Volga rivers. 12,500,123 people live here. In terms of length, Moscow is quite long - 112 km. It is an important tourist center in Russia.

The age of the city is still unknown exactly, but there are facts that the first settlements appeared in this territory around 8 thousand years BC. e.

Middle of the top - Sydney - 12144 sq. km

The development and history of Australia began with a small settlement. 200 years ago the navigator Cook landed here. Sydney is the largest metropolis and capital of the state of New South Wales.

The capital is home to 4,500,000 people. The city is located in one of the beautiful bays of the world, where business skyscrapers coexist with cozy beaches, which are always full of tourists.

In 4th place is Beijing – 16,808 sq. km

Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China. Huge and noisy, its population numbers 21,500,000 inhabitants.

In the 13th century, it was almost completely burned by Genghis Khan, but rebuilt 43 years later in a different place. Here is a famous architectural monument - the Forbidden City - the residence of the rulers.

At the beginning of the 20th century it was occupied by the Japanese. After Russia's victory in World War II and the fall of Japan, the capital became free again.

We give 3rd place to Hangzhou – 16847 sq. km

The city has 8,750,000 inhabitants. The metropolis is famous for its tea plantations and natural beauty.

Previously, it was the capital of China, and now it is a major religious center. In the 19th century, as a result of an uprising, it was partially destroyed and restored in the 50s, where industry began to rapidly develop.

Weaving folk items, harvesting tea leaves, and making bamboo products are still done by hand.

In second place is Chongqing – 82,300 sq. km

Chongqing is the largest city in the world in terms of population, with about 32 million people living here. The highest population density is 600 people per square meter. km.

The metropolis arose 3,000 years ago and at that time was the capital of the kingdom of Ba. Now it is a huge industrial center. There is a large base for the production of automobiles - 5 factories and 400 - for the production of car parts. Real estate construction here is proceeding at such a fast pace that 10 years of construction for Moscow is 1 year for Chongqing. Old buildings are being demolished very actively, and skyscrapers are appearing in their place. It is more business than architectural. And the main attraction is the overpasses that entangle the entire city.

We give 1st place to the unusual city of Ordos - 86,752 sq. km

Ordos is a ghost town. Where is the strange metropolis, the largest in territory, but empty? In China, it began to be built 20 years ago for people involved in the extraction and sale of coal.

A large city was built with museums, theaters, and a stadium. There is everything for the life of a city dweller here. But almost no one wanted to move here. Over the past few years, the number of people has increased to 300,000. There are so few inhabitants in the huge settlement that even in broad daylight, the streets are completely empty.

Beautiful, abandoned houses, museums, cinemas. There are even unfinished buildings - there is no one to build for. Everywhere is clean and well-groomed. And silence! A metropolis inhabited by “ghosts”. There are several of these in China.

Also, there are cities beyond the Arctic Circle and living there is quite cold. The largest “cold” city is in Russia - Murmansk - 154.4 square meters. km. It is quite small in size and has a population of 298,096 people.

We showed you the ranking of major cities in the world with photos and descriptions. Ten different megacities, with different numbers of inhabitants, different lengths and architecture. 2018 will be a new year for everyone and everything, and our rankings may change. In the meantime, if you liked the information, share it with your friends.