Russia has a higher population density in the west
Russia . At 17075200 km2 , Russia is the largest country in the world by surface area , covering more than one-eighth of the Earth 's inhabited land area , and the ninth most populous , with over 144 million people at the end of March 2016 . The European western part of the country is much more populated and urbanised than the eastern ; about 77 % of the population live in European Russia .