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Moscow (UK /ˈmɒskoʊ/ or US /ˈmɑːskaʊ/; Russian: <phonos file="ru-Moskva.ogg">Москва</phonos>, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva]; see also other names) is the capital and the most populous city and the federal subject of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation center of Russia and the world, a global city. It is also the seventh largest city proper in the world, a megacity. The population of Moscow (as of 1 September 2009) is 10,535,100.

It is located by the Moskva River in the Central Federal District, in the European part of Russia. Moscow sits on the junction of three geological platforms. Historically, it was the capital of the former Soviet Union, Russian Empire, Tsardom of Russia and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, one of the World Heritage Sites in the city, which serves as the residence of the President of Russia. The Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) and the Government of Russia also sit in Moscow.

Moscow is a major economic centre. It is home to many scientific and educational institutions, as well as numerous sport facilities. It possesses a complex transport system that includes four international airports, nine railroad terminals, and the world's second busiest (after Tokyo) metro system which is famous for its architecture and artwork. Its metro is the busiest single-operator subway in the world.

Over time, the city has earned a variety of nicknames, most referring to its pre-eminent status in the nation: The Third Rome (Третий Рим), Whitestone (Белокаменная), The First Throne (Первопрестольная), The Forty Forties (Сорок Сороков).

A person from Moscow is called a Muscovite in English or Moskvich in Russian.

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File:The State Tretyakov Gallery.jpg

The front of the Gallery

The State Tretyakov Gallery (Russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, Russian: ГТГ) is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.

The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection to the Russian nation.

The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighboring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi.

The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich.

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Mathias Rust (born July 1968 in Wedel, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany) is a German man known for his illegal landing near Red Square in Moscow in 1987. As an amateur aviator, he flew from Finland to Moscow, being tracked several times by Soviet air defence and interceptors. The Soviet fighters never received permission to shoot him down, and several times he was mistaken for a friendly aircraft. He landed on Vasilevski Spusk next to Red Square near the Kremlin in the capital of the USSR.

Rust's intentions, as he stated, were to create an "imaginary bridge" to the East, and he has claimed that his flight was intended to reduce tension and suspicion between the two Cold War sides. Rust's successful flight through a supposedly impregnable air defense system had a great impact on the Soviet military and led to the firing of many senior officers, including Defence Minister Sergei Sokolov. The incident enabled Mikhail Gorbachev to speed his reforms (by removing numerous military officials opposed to him), and reduced the prestige of the Soviet military among the population, thus helping bring an end to the Cold War.

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Featured articles

• Battle of Moscow • Vkhutemas • Aleksandr Vasilevsky • Laika

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Did You Know...

• Moscow Monorail • Emil Stang (born 1882) • Shkolnaya Street • Stray dogs in Moscow • Malchik • Moscow International House of Music • Coat of arms of Moscow • 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade • Lobnoye Mesto • 1904 Moscow tornado • Moscow Orphanage • Lenin's Mausoleum Template:/box-footer

The Fire of Moscow (14-18 September) during Napolean's failed invasion of Russia. The city had started to burn after Russian soldiers retreating from the Battle of Borodino lit amunnition stores on fire so as to prevent them from falling into French hands. Looting was widespread.

• ... that the Government of Moscow owns 25% of the Moscow Monorail Transit System, for a monetary value of about $3,379,000?
• ... that Emil Stang was a delegate to the Founding Congress of Comintern in Moscow in 1919?
• ... that Moscow's first legitimate flea market was held in Shkolnaya Street in 2007?
• ... that Moscow is home to an estimated 35,000 stray dogs, about 500 of whom live in the metro stations?

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