Cities and towns of Russia

Miass

Miass (Миасс) is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the Miass River in the Southern Urals; founded 1773 as a copper plant, a 19th-century gold-mining center, now home to UralAZ trucks and the Makeyev rocket bureau.

Moscow (Москва)

Moscow (Москва), capital and largest city of Russia, first recorded in 1147; 12.6 million residents in the city, about 17 million in the agglomeration, with metro expansion, digital government services, and documented spatial inequality.

Mozdok

Mozdok (Моздок) is a town of about 35,000 on the left bank of the Terek in northern North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. Founded in 1759, fortified in 1763, it anchors the eastern Azov-Mozdok line and is the republic's northernmost town.

Murmansk (Мурманск)

Murmansk (Мурманск), founded 4 October 1916 as Romanov-na-Murmane, is a Russian Arctic port city on the ice-free Kola Bay, administrative center of Murmansk Oblast and the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle, near 300,000 people.

Murom (Муром)

Murom (Муром), ancient Russian city in Vladimir Oblast on the left bank of the Oka, first recorded in 862; population about 104,000 (2025). Known for Ilya Muromets, Peter and Fevronia, its monasteries, defense manufacturing, and the 2009 cable-stayed Oka bridge.

Mytishchi

Mytishchi (Мытищи) is a Moscow Oblast satellite city on the Yauza River, 19 km from Moscow, first mentioned in 1460, a city since 1925, home to the Metrovagonmash carriage works and the source of Moscow's first water pipeline.

Nakhodka

Nakhodka (Находка) is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, on Nakhodka Bay in the Sea of Japan, about 85 km east of Vladivostok. Founded as a city in 1950, it is Russia's major Far Eastern port hub with Vostochny Port and Kozmino.

Nalchik

Nalchik (Нальчик), capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, a foothill city on the Nalchik River at about 500 m elevation; founded as a Russian fortress (dates disputed, official 1724), city since 1921, federal balneological resort, City of Military Glory.

Nazran

Nazran (Назрань; Ingush: Наьсаре, Näsare) is the largest city of the Republic of Ingushetia in the North Caucasus, Russia, and its capital until Magas took over in 2000.

Nevinnomyssk

Nevinnomyssk (Невинномысск) is an industrial city in southwestern Stavropol Krai, Russia, on the Kuban River at the Bolshoy Zelenchuk confluence. Founded as a Cossack stanitsa in 1825, a city since 1939, about 113,000 residents, largest industrial city of the krai, home to Nevinnomyssky Azot.

Nikolayevsk-on-Amur (Николаевск-на-Амуре)

Nikolayevsk-on-Amur (Николаевск-на-Амуре), also Nikolaevsk, is a port town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, on the left bank of the Amur near its mouth; founded 1850 by Nevelskoy, population about 17,500 (2025).

Nizhnekamsk

Nizhnekamsk (Нижнекамск), Tatarstan city on the Kama River founded 1961, city status 1966; population about 241,000; Russia's petrochemical center built around Nizhnekamskneftekhim, TANECO and tire plants.

Nizhnevartovsk

Nizhnevartovsk (Нижневартовск), city in Khanty-Mansi AO – Yugra, Russia, service center of the Samotlor oil field, the largest in Russia; about 293,000 residents, subarctic climate, high oil-industry wages.

Nizhny Novgorod (Нижний Новгород)

Nizhny Novgorod (Нижний Новгород), also called Nizhny, formerly Gorky (1932–1990), is a Russian city of about 1.22 million at the Volga–Oka confluence, founded in 1221 by Yuri Vsevolodovich, administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the Volga Federal District.

Nizhny Tagil

Nizhny Tagil (Нижний Тагил) is an industrial city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, founded in 1722 by the Demidovs, granted city status in 1919, home to Uralvagonzavod and EVRAZ NTMK, population about 331,000.

Norilsk (Норильск)

Norilsk (Норильск) is a Russian Arctic mining city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, founded 1935 with Norillag labour, the largest city built on permafrost, isolated from road and rail, heavily polluted, and facing thawing permafrost.

Novokuznetsk

Novokuznetsk (Новокузнецк), formerly Kuznetsk and Stalinsk, is a Siberian industrial city in Kemerovo Oblast founded in 1618 as the Kuznetsk fort; a metallurgy and coal center of about 547,000 people on the Tom River.

Novomoskovsk

Novomoskovsk (Новомосковск), formerly Bobriki and Stalinogorsk, a chemical-industry city in Tula Oblast, Russia, about 220 km south of Moscow; founded 1930 around the Azot fertilizer plant, near the source of the Don River.

Novorossiysk (Новороссийск)

Novorossiysk (Новороссийск), a Black Sea port city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, founded 1838, Hero City 1973. Home to Russia's largest port, the Sheskharis oil terminal, and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminus, repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian drones since 2023.

Novosibirsk (Новосибирск)

Novosibirsk (Новосибирск), formerly Novonikolaevsk, is Russia's third largest city, founded in 1893 on the Ob River during Trans-Siberian Railway construction; administrative center of Novosibirsk Region and the Siberian Federal District.

Odintsovo

Odintsovo (Одинцово), a city in Moscow Oblast about 24 km west of Moscow; first mentioned 1627, town since 1957, about 190,000 residents; ranked first among 25 Moscow Oblast cities for quality of life in 2025.

Omsk (Омск)

Omsk (Омск), Siberian city at the Om-Irtysh confluence, administrative center of Omsk Oblast since 1934. Founded as a fortress in 1716 by Bukholts; city status 1782; population about 1.11 million; major oil-refining and petrochemical center on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Orenburg

Orenburg (Оренбург), Russian city on the Ural River and capital of Orenburg Oblast, founded 1743 as an imperial fortress; population about 551,000; hit by the record April 2024 flood after the Orsk dam breach.

Orsk

Orsk (Орск) is a city of about 220,000 people in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, at the mouth of the Or River, flooded in April 2024 after a dam burst.

Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast

Ozyorsk (Озёрск), formerly Chelyabinsk-40/65, is a closed ZATO city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, built 1945–46 around the Mayak nuclear complex; site of the 1957 Kyshtym disaster, Techa River contamination, spent fuel reprocessing, and a pass-regime entry system.

Penza

Penza (Пенза), city on the Sura River in European Russia, founded as a fortress in 1663, administrative center of Penza Oblast since 1939; population about 488,000 in 2024, 629 km southeast of Moscow.

Perm

Perm (Пермь), formerly Molotov until 1957, is a Russian city of about one million on the Kama River near the Urals, administrative center of Perm Krai, founded around the 1723 Yegoshikha copper works and made a city by Catherine II in 1780.

Pervouralsk

Pervouralsk (Первоуральск), industrial city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, 41 km west of Yekaterinburg on the Chusovaya River near the Europe-Asia boundary; founded 1732 as the Vasilyevo-Shaitansky ironworks, city since 1933, population about 111,000, centered on the PNTZ seamless pipe plant.

Petergof (Петергоф)

Petergof (Петергоф), formerly Petrodvorets, is a town within Saint Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland, founded by Peter the Great and famous for its 1723 palace ensemble and gravity-fed fountains.