In 2019, the city's population reached 12.6 million. The entire agglomeration has 17.2 million inhabitants. In addition to the permanent population, the city has an additional 1.8 million visitors (people from other regions of the country looking for work, students, etc.). In addition, about 1 million people are living there illegally who do not declare their residency. ¹⁾

Moscow is the capital of the Moscow Oblast, although it does not belong to it. It is divided into 12 districts, of which the first 10 are divided into 125 regions, and the last two into 21 settlements. ²⁾

Moscow was founded before 1147. Throughout history, it has been the capital of the Duchy of Moscow, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union. ³⁾

In the 14th century, the Duchy of Moscow was raised to the status of a grand duchy. The Grand Duchy of Moscow from 1271 to 1480 depended on the Golden Horde (a historical Mongol state, founded in 1240 in the western part of Genghis Khan's empire, with its capital at Sarai Batu). ⁴⁾

Between 1485 and 1495, the Moscow Kremlin was expanded according to the design of Italian Renaissance architects Pietro Solari and Marco Ruffo, who gave it its present-day appearance. Moscow churches (including the Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin) were often decorated with frescoes and icons by Theophan the Greek, Andrei Rublev and Prochor of Gorodets. ⁵⁾