European Russia (also Western Russia or Central Russia) refers to the Western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 square kilometres (1,528,560 mi²), larger in area than India, and spanning across 40% of Europe. Its Eastern border is defined by the Ural Mountains and in the South it is defined by the border with Kazakhstan. This area includes Moscow and St. Petersburg, the two largest cities of Russia.
Roughly 78% of the entire Russian population (about 110,000,000 people out of an approximate total Russian population of 141,000,000) lives in Western Russia, at an average of 27 persons per km² (69.9 per mi²). Even though 75% of Russia's territory lies within Asia, the Asian part of Russia accommodates only 22% of its population at 2.5 persons per km² (6.5 per mi²).
The term "European Russia" was used in the Russian Empire to refer to traditional East Slavic territories under Russian control, including what is now Belarus and most of Ukraine (Dnieper Ukraine).
Famous quotes containing the words european and/or russia:
“Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, [the Cherokee Indians] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skins and furs as we are, and find their wants the less tolerable as they are occasioned by a war [the American Revolution] the event of which is scarcely interesting to them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Today’s difference between Russia and the United States is that in Russia everybody takes everybody else for a spy, and in the United States everybody takes everybody else for a criminal.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)