Moscow is the capital and the largest city in Russia. <br />The total Russian population is estimated at 142,500,482. <br />Approximately 73.8% of the population lives in urban centers. The largest cities are Moscow (10.523 million), St. Petersburg (4.575 million), Novosibirsk (1.397 million), Yekaterinburg (1.344 million) and Nizhniy Novgorod (1.267 million.) <br />The land border of Russia is 20,241 kilometers long, the second longest of any country. <br />Russia is the largest country in the world – and is approximately 1.8 times the size of the US. <br />Russia has a seat on the United Nations Security Council. <br />Russia shares a border with 14 countries including Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, China, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and North Korea. No other country has as many borders. <br />There are nine time zones across Russia. Russia is permanently on daylight savings time. <br />The lowest point in Russia is the Caspian Sea – at 28 meters below sea level. <br />The highest point is Mt. Elbrus at 5, 633 meters above sea level. It’s the highest mountain in Europe. A chairlift takes you to the 3000 meter mark so the climbing really starts there. <br />Russian is one of the five most spoken languages in the world. Russians use the Cryillic alphabet instead of the Latin alphabet.
