Population Data
Moscow is the most populated city in Russia with an estimated 10,409,200 people in 2005. Many people in the city also have country homes that they visit on the weekends or over holidays. Moscow has several universities with over 50,000 students, making it the largest academic city in Russia. Moscow's population is centered in the middle of the city and gradually gets less dense as it radiates outward. Along the major transportation thoroughfares there is an increased density.
Moscow's population is somewhat unusual. Instead of having a gradual, pyramidal shape for each age group in each decade, there are smaller groups. These usually coincided with events, such as the formation of Russia from the USSR produced more births than usual. Moscow boasts a positive population gain while elsewhere in Russia the population is decreasing, mostly because of the lack of births and earlier deaths than elsewhere in the industrialized world. Much of the population growth is because of immigration. The 1970 census showed that 200,000 people were newcomers within the last two years, and the trend has continued. The darker areas of the map indicate the relative density. An older population occupies the old city, where there are few children so the population is gradually falling. The younger generation of working professionals live in the outer rings, where families live. The trend over the last 30 years shows that the density will gradually even out.
Russia, being an important international city, has a colorful range of peoples living in it. Most are slavic, from Russia, but there is a measurable population of Tartar and Ukrainians.