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Administrative divisions of Moscow
Main article: Administrative divisions of Moscow.
Moscow is divided into ten administrative districts, of which only nine are located geographically in the city and one corresponds to a satellite city of municipal districts, unofficially called uprava, headed by elected person. Along with Municipal districts there are several TEOSes in Moscow—Territorial Unities with Special Status, or shortly, territories. These usually include areas with small or none permanent population such as All-Russia Exhibition Centre, Botanical Garden, large parks and industrial zones. Recent years some TEOSes were merged with different raions. There are no ethnic-specific raions in Moscow, also there are no definitely "rich" or "poor" raions (although living closer to city centre, metro station or green zones is generally considered more prestigious). Most raions have their own cable television, computer network and official newspaper.
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 Heavy traffic and active construction, 2003
Heavy traffic and active construction, 2003
Moscow has five airports, Brussels (2,000 km) Brussels - Moscow sleeper">[1].
Local transport includes the Moscow Metro, an excellent metro (subway) system famous for its art, murals, mosaics, and ornate chandeliers. Begun in 1935, the system has 11 lines and more than 171 stations. The system is the world's busiest, with nine million passengers every day and trains every 90 seconds at peak times.
 Moscow monorail
Moscow monorail
As Metro stations outside the city centre are far apart in comparison to other cities, up to four km, an extensive bus network radiates from each station to the surrounding residential zones. Suburbs and several city areas also connected with electric train (elektrichka) network. The buses are very frequent, often more than one a minute. Every large street in the city is served by at least one bus route and none of the city's 13,000 apartment blocks are more than a few minutes walk from a stop. There are also tram and trolleybus networks.
 Underground electric railway (elektrichka) station in Vnukovo Airport
Underground electric railway (elektrichka) station in Vnukovo Airport
There are over 2.5 million cars in the city on a daily basis (as of 2004). Recent years have seen explosive growth in the number of cars, which have caused traffic jams and the lack of parking space to become major problems.
The road system is structured with sequences of radial and ring roads. The first and innermost, Bulvarnoye Koltso (Boulevard Ring), built at the former location of the 16th century city wall around what used to be called Bely Gorod (White Town). Boulevard Ring is technically not a ring—it is not connected and has a horseshoe-like shape. The second ring, Sadovoye Koltso (Garden Ring), follows the line of another 16th century wall—the Earth Wall encircling historic Earth Town. After the war of 1812, the Earth Wall was demolished and replaced by streets and gardens. During the reconstruction of the 1930s the Garden Ring took its current shape—the streets were widened, and the gardens were gone. The Third Transport Ring was completed in 2003, and the Fourth Transport Ring is being constructed to reduce traffic congestion. The outer ring, a large road called MKAD, forms the approximate boundary of the city. MKAD, along with Third and future Fourth Transport Rings are the only freeways within city limits.
Everyday life
Although less than a quarter of Russians live in the countryside, many Muscovites, like other urban dwellers, are still attached to the country. Many live in country homes (called dachas) over the weekend and over holidays, and retire to the country when they are old. Moscow contains many parks and gardens; see Sport. Huge shopping malls, both urban and suburban, with their multiplex theatres, department stores, grocery chains, food courts, and other common features are now very common in Moscow and they are very popular with the city's adolescents most of whom, like their Western counterparts, like to project themselves as trendy.
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A major part of Russia's profits and development is concentrated in Moscow. Many multi-national corporations have branches and offices in the city. The plush offices and the lifestyles of the typical corporate employee in Moscow are practically indistinguishable from any other Western European city, although the average salary for the Russian is still lower here. After the financial crisis in the late 90s, various business sectors in Moscow have shown exponential rates of growth. However, while the overall stability has improved in the recent years, crime and corruption continue to remain a problem hindering business development. A recent study showed that far from decreasing, corruption in the Putin era has been on the rise, and large businesses can expect to pay an average of over a hundred thousand dollars a year in bribes to officials. The Mafia also runs extortion rackets in most parts of the city, though there are no reliable data to understand how large their influence is.
According to a July 22, 2004 article in Forbes, Moscow became the city with the most billionaires. It had 33 billionaires, passing York City">New York City by two. The nouveau-riche, also called the "New Russians", often pejoratively, have a reputation for flaunting their wealth; the avenues for doing so, and subtly, have also increased in recent times - a sense of fashion and self-consciousness has instilled itself through the many haute couture and haute-cuisine spots in Moscow.
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 Modern Moscow; the Sanyo sign overlooks the statue of Lenin, barely visible above the billboard
Modern Moscow; the Sanyo sign overlooks the statue of Lenin, barely visible above the billboard
Moscow is the home to more Olympic champions than any other city in the world. Unsurprisingly, it was the host city of the London.
Football (soccer) is probably the most popular spectator sport among the young, after Japan World Cup match, played in Japan but broadcast live to the crowds in Pushkin Square, went badly for the Russians, the crowd turned violent and wrought havoc in the centre of the city, breaking windows, smashing and burning cars and looting several shops. A Chinese restaurant was incidentally attacked and five Japanese tourists were beaten. One teenager was killed and about one hundred people were injured.
Winter sports have a large following. Most Russians own cross-country skis and ice skates and there are many large parks with marked trails for skiers and frozen ponds and canals for skaters. Often parks will have small local businesses offering ski and skate rental. Prices range from $1 to $5 an hour for rental.
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Moscow is the headquarters of many Russian television networks, radio stations, newspapers and magazines. The following is a brief list, beginning with English-language sources, followed by Russian.
Newspapers
The Moscow Times The largest English-language daily operating in Russia.
The eXile Alternative biweekly known for its irreverent style, pranks and club/restaurant reviews.
Gazeta.ru Leading Russian web magazine. In Russian only.
Mosnews.com The tabloid-style English-language site launched by Gazeta.ru and News.ru
Vedomosti with Financial Times The leading Russian business newspaper.
Radio
Echo Moskvy "Echo of Moscow", The first Soviet and Russian private news radio and information agency. 91.2 FM in Moscow, in Russian only.
Television
NTV - one of the first privately-owned Russian TV stations.
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Administrative divisions of Moscow
Main article: Administrative divisions of Moscow.
Moscow is divided into ten administrative districts, of which only nine are located geographically in the city and one corresponds to a satellite city of municipal districts, unofficially called uprava, headed by elected person. Along with Municipal districts there are several TEOSes in Moscow—Territorial Unities with Special Status, or shortly, territories. These usually include areas with small or none permanent population such as All-Russia Exhibition Centre, Botanical Garden, large parks and industrial zones. Recent years some TEOSes were merged with different raions. There are no ethnic-specific raions in Moscow, also there are no definitely "rich" or "poor" raions (although living closer to city centre, metro station or green zones is generally considered more prestigious). Most raions have their own cable television, computer network and official newspaper.
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Heavy traffic and active construction, 2003
Heavy traffic and active construction, 2003
Moscow has five airports, Brussels (2,000 km) Brussels - Moscow sleeper">[1].
Local transport includes the Moscow Metro, an excellent metro (subway) system famous for its art, murals, mosaics, and ornate chandeliers. Begun in 1935, the system has 11 lines and more than 171 stations. The system is the world's busiest, with nine million passengers every day and trains every 90 seconds at peak times.
Moscow monorail
Moscow monorail
As Metro stations outside the city centre are far apart in comparison to other cities, up to four km, an extensive bus network radiates from each station to the surrounding residential zones. Suburbs and several city areas also connected with electric train (elektrichka) network. The buses are very frequent, often more than one a minute. Every large street in the city is served by at least one bus route and none of the city's 13,000 apartment blocks are more than a few minutes walk from a stop. There are also tram and trolleybus networks.
Underground electric railway (elektrichka) station in Vnukovo Airport
Underground electric railway (elektrichka) station in Vnukovo Airport
There are over 2.5 million cars in the city on a daily basis (as of 2004). Recent years have seen explosive growth in the number of cars, which have caused traffic jams and the lack of parking space to become major problems.
The road system is structured with sequences of radial and ring roads. The first and innermost, Bulvarnoye Koltso (Boulevard Ring), built at the former location of the 16th century city wall around what used to be called Bely Gorod (White Town). Boulevard Ring is technically not a ring—it is not connected and has a horseshoe-like shape. The second ring, Sadovoye Koltso (Garden Ring), follows the line of another 16th century wall—the Earth Wall encircling historic Earth Town. After the war of 1812, the Earth Wall was demolished and replaced by streets and gardens. During the reconstruction of the 1930s the Garden Ring took its current shape—the streets were widened, and the gardens were gone. The Third Transport Ring was completed in 2003, and the Fourth Transport Ring is being constructed to reduce traffic congestion. The outer ring, a large road called MKAD, forms the approximate boundary of the city. MKAD, along with Third and future Fourth Transport Rings are the only freeways within city limits.
Everyday life
Although less than a quarter of Russians live in the countryside, many Muscovites, like other urban dwellers, are still attached to the country. Many live in country homes (called dachas) over the weekend and over holidays, and retire to the country when they are old. Moscow contains many parks and gardens; see Sport. Huge shopping malls, both urban and suburban, with their multiplex theatres, department stores, grocery chains, food courts, and other common features are now very common in Moscow and they are very popular with the city's adolescents most of whom, like their Western counterparts, like to project themselves as trendy.
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A major part of Russia's profits and development is concentrated in Moscow. Many multi-national corporations have branches and offices in the city. The plush offices and the lifestyles of the typical corporate employee in Moscow are practically indistinguishable from any other Western European city, although the average salary for the Russian is still lower here. After the financial crisis in the late 90s, various business sectors in Moscow have shown exponential rates of growth. However, while the overall stability has improved in the recent years, crime and corruption continue to remain a problem hindering business development. A recent study showed that far from decreasing, corruption in the Putin era has been on the rise, and large businesses can expect to pay an average of over a hundred thousand dollars a year in bribes to officials. The Mafia also runs extortion rackets in most parts of the city, though there are no reliable data to understand how large their influence is.
According to a July 22, 2004 article in Forbes, Moscow became the city with the most billionaires. It had 33 billionaires, passing York City">New York City by two. The nouveau-riche, also called the "New Russians", often pejoratively, have a reputation for flaunting their wealth; the avenues for doing so, and subtly, have also increased in recent times - a sense of fashion and self-consciousness has instilled itself through the many haute couture and haute-cuisine spots in Moscow.
|
Modern Moscow; the Sanyo sign overlooks the statue of Lenin, barely visible above the billboard
Modern Moscow; the Sanyo sign overlooks the statue of Lenin, barely visible above the billboard
Moscow is the home to more Olympic champions than any other city in the world. Unsurprisingly, it was the host city of the London.
Football (soccer) is probably the most popular spectator sport among the young, after Japan World Cup match, played in Japan but broadcast live to the crowds in Pushkin Square, went badly for the Russians, the crowd turned violent and wrought havoc in the centre of the city, breaking windows, smashing and burning cars and looting several shops. A Chinese restaurant was incidentally attacked and five Japanese tourists were beaten. One teenager was killed and about one hundred people were injured.
Winter sports have a large following. Most Russians own cross-country skis and ice skates and there are many large parks with marked trails for skiers and frozen ponds and canals for skaters. Often parks will have small local businesses offering ski and skate rental. Prices range from $1 to $5 an hour for rental.
|
Moscow is the headquarters of many Russian television networks, radio stations, newspapers and magazines. The following is a brief list, beginning with English-language sources, followed by Russian.
Newspapers
The Moscow Times The largest English-language daily operating in Russia.
The eXile Alternative biweekly known for its irreverent style, pranks and club/restaurant reviews.
Gazeta.ru Leading Russian web magazine. In Russian only.
Mosnews.com The tabloid-style English-language site launched by Gazeta.ru and News.ru
Vedomosti with Financial Times The leading Russian business newspaper.
Radio
Echo Moskvy "Echo of Moscow", The first Soviet and Russian private news radio and information agency. 91.2 FM in Moscow, in Russian only.
Television
NTV - one of the first privately-owned Russian TV stations.
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Hotels in Russia - Moscow >>
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