what was the capital of russia before moscow
Saint Petersburg Situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27 [O.S. 16] 1703. On 01 September 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd (Russian: Петрогра́д, IPA: [pʲɪtrɐˈgrat]), on 26 January 1924 to Leningrad (Russian: Ленингра́д, IPA: [lʲɪnʲɪnˈgrat]), and on 07 September 1991 back to Saint Petersburg.[10] Between 1713 and 1728 and in 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of Imperial Russia. In 1918, the central government bodies moved to Moscow.[11]
Geography of Russia Located in the north, west and east latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, most of Russia is much closer to the North Pole than to the equator. Individual country comparisons are of little value in gauging Russia's enormous size and diversity. The country's 17.09 million square kilometers include one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Its European portion, which occupies a substantial part of continental Europe, is home to most of Russia's industrial activity and is where, roughly between the Dnieper River and the Ural Mountains, the Russian Empire took shape. Russia includes the entire northern portion of Asia.