Russia
Moscow · Eastern Europe
Russia is a country in Europe. Its capital city is Moscow, the official currency is the Russian Ruble, and the main language is Russian.
With a population of roughly 144.4 million people spread over 17,098,246 km², Russia is the 9th most populous country in the world and the 1st largest by area. That works out at about 8 people per square kilometre.
Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea — 14 neighbours in all. Its largest urban centres are Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Novosibirsk. The highest point in the country is Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 metres.
For scale, it covers almost exactly the same area as Canada, while its population is closest to that of Mexico.
- Capital
- Moscow
- Region
- Eastern Europe
- Population
- 144,400,000
- Area
- 17,098,246 km²
- Currency
- Russian Ruble
- Main language
- Russian
- Highest point
- Mount Elbrus
5,642 m - Land borders
- 14
Russia: things worth knowing
- Russia spans eleven time zones and borders fourteen countries, both world records.
- It is larger than Pluto's surface area, and covers about an eighth of the world's inhabited land.
- Lake Baikal in Siberia holds roughly a fifth of all unfrozen fresh water on Earth.
Russia in context
Europe has 44 sovereign countries in total. Russia ranks 1st among them by population.
See the full list of Europe countries, or browse all 195 countries.