The geographical position of Moscow: coordinates, location on the map. Characteristics of the geographical location of Moscow

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow - one of the largest megacities of the modern world. It is home to over 12 million people. Where is Moscow? In which part of the country is it located? What is the geographical location of Moscow and Moscow region?

Moscow is capital of Russia

According to historians, Moscow was the capital of the Russian state for the first time in 1340. Today 12.4 million people live in this city. By this indicator, Moscow is among the top ten cities in the world in terms of population. Here is the largest library in Europe and one of the most visited sights - the Moscow Kremlin.

People have long chosen these places for their lives. This is evidenced by numerous archaeological finds. Later, the convenient geographical location of Moscow attracted traders and artisans to the city. The latter mainly engaged in dressing leather, making products from wood and iron.

Trying to explain the origin of the toponym "Moscow", the researchers broke into two camps. The former associate it with the Old Slavonic language, from which this word can be translated as "damp." The second insists that the roots of this toponym are Finnish. In this case, the modern name "Moscow" can be composed of two Finnish words: "mosk" (bear) and "wa" (water).

Where is Moscow? We will pay more attention to the geography of the capital city.

Geographical location of the city

Moscow is an important financial, scientific and cultural center of Russia. The city was founded in the middle of the XII century and today is the most populated in Europe. What is the geographical position of Moscow? And how did it affect the history of the city?

Moscow is located in the heart of the East European Plain, in the interfluve of the Volga and the Oka. The city itself stands on the Moskva River, which gave it its name. The relief of Moscow is rather heterogeneous: low hills alternate here with low valleys. The average height of the urban area is 144 meters.

The total length of Moscow from north to south is 51.7 km, and from west to east - 29.7 km. In the extreme south-west, the urban area extends to the borders of the Kaluga region.

More precisely, the location of Moscow on the map of Russia is shown below.

Geographic coordinates and area of the capital

Characteristics of the geographical location of Moscow will be incomplete without specifying its coordinates. So, the city is in the Northern and Eastern hemispheres of the Earth. Its exact coordinates are: 55 ° 45 'north. W., 37 ° 36 'east. Etc. By the way, on the same latitude are located such famous cities as Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Kazan. The minimum distance from Moscow to the state border of Russia is 390 km.

But the distance from Moscow to some other capitals of Europe and major Russian cities:

• Minsk - 675 km;
• Kiev - 750 km;
• Riga - 850 km;
• Berlin - 1620 km;
• Rome - 2380 km;
• London - 2520 km;
• Ekaterinburg - 1420 km;
• Rostov-on-Don - 960 km;
• Khabarovsk - 6150 km;
• St. Petersburg - 640 km.

Moscow is a very dynamic city. Therefore, its boundaries are constantly changing in the direction of expansion. Today the capital covers an area of 2,561 square kilometers. Km. This is roughly comparable to the area of Luxembourg.

Moscow - an important transport hub

The extremely convenient geographical location of Moscow contributed to the gradual transformation of the city into an important transport hub. As far back as 1155 Andrei Bogolyubsky passed on these places, carrying the miraculous icon of the Mother of God to Vladimir. Today, from Moscow, important transport corridors emerge in different directions.

The internal transport system of the city is also quite developed. In total, five airports and nine railway stations operate in Moscow. All areas of the capital are densely permeated with a network of bus, trolleybus and tram routes. The Moscow metro is considered to be one of the largest in the world. The total length of its lines (total of 12) is 278 kilometers. By the way, according to one hypothesis, there is also a secret metro line in the capital that connects the Kremlin with military bunkers for shelter.

General features of the nature of Moscow

The capital of Russia is at the junction of three orographic structures. It is the Smolensk-Moscow Upland in the west, the Meshchera lowland in the east and the Moskvoretsko-Oka plain in the south. It is this fact that explains the heterogeneity of its relief. Some areas of Moscow are densely cut by steep ravines and gullies, while others, on the contrary, are flat and marshy lowlands.

The city is located in a temperate continental climate zone with average January temperatures of -10 degrees, July - +18 degrees. The amount of precipitation in Moscow, as a rule, does not exceed 600-650 mm per year.

Dozens of rivers, rivulets and small streams carry their water within the city limits. The largest of them are Moscow River, Setun, Khodynka, Yauza and Neglinnaya. True, today most of Moscow's rivers are "hidden" in underground sewers.

It is not necessary to talk about any integral soil cover in such a large metropolis as Moscow. The sod-podzolic soils are the most common in areas of the city that are free from residential or industrial development.

Almost from all sides, Moscow is surrounded by forests - pine, oak, spruce and lime. In the same city, many parks, squares and green spaces have been created. The largest natural park within the capital is "Losiny Ostrov".

Economic and geographical location of Moscow and its assessment

EGP city is extremely profitable. First of all, from the transport point of view. Important automobile and railway routes connect Moscow not only with the large cities of Russia, but also with other countries of the near abroad. In addition, relatively close to the city there are powerful fuel and metallurgical bases of the state.

The second advantageous factor of the Moscow EGP is the capital status of the city. It was he who determined the placement in it of key government bodies, foreign embassies, important universities and financial institutions.

In general, the favorable central-geographical position of Moscow has been the main factor of its economic development for several centuries. Today, four free economic zones are created and operate within the capital and its immediate vicinity.

Geographical location of the Moscow region

If to express themselves figuratively, the capital is, as it were, enclosed in the gentle embraces of the Moscow region or the Moscow region, as they like to call this region informally. By area it is the 55th subject of the Russian Federation.

The suburbs are located within the East European Plain and directly bordered by the Kaluga, Smolensk, Tver, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Tula and Ryazan regions. The relief of the region is mostly flat. Only in the west the territory is slightly hilly.

The region is not rich in mineral resources. In its limits there are insignificant deposits of phosphorites, sandstone, limestone, brown coal and peat. The Moscow region is located in the temperate continental climate zone with a humid summer and a fairly snowy winter. The region is distinguished by a developed hydrological network. The largest rivers of the Moscow region are Moscow, Oka, Klyazma, Sturgeon.

Interesting fact: the area is almost equally removed from the nearest seas (Black, Baltic, White and Azov). Through its territory are important transport routes that connect Russia with the countries of Eastern Europe.

The modern Moscow region is an important industrial region. According to the total volume of industrial production, it ranks ninth in Russia.

Conclusion

So, what are the features of the geographical location of Moscow? As a summary, we list the most significant of them:

• Moscow is located in the European part of the country, on the 55th parallel of the Northern hemisphere of the Earth;
• The capital of Russia is in the heart of the East European Plain, in the temperate continental climate zone;
• To many capitals of Europe, Moscow is closer in distance than to some of the major cities of Russia;
• The city is located at the intersection of important transport routes, long connecting Europe with Russia and Asia;
• All the benefits of the geographical location of Moscow are only reinforced by its capital status.