Moscow is the capital of Russia and the largest metropolis in Europe. Where it is located? What are the geographic coordinates of the city? And what are the features of the relief of Moscow? You will find answers to all these questions in our article.
Geographical location and city coordinates
Moscow is located in the European part of the country, in the Volga river basin. The climate here is temperate continental, with distinct seasons of the year. About 700 millimeters of atmospheric precipitation falls in the capital annually (most of it in summer).
The city is located on the banks of the Moskva River of the same name. In addition to it, dozens of other natural watercourses flow within the metropolis (Skhodnya, Khimka, Neglinnaya, Nyshenka, Presnya and others). Some of these rivers in the 20th century were βdrivenβ into underground collectors. Moscow is a city of ponds and staves, of which there are more than four hundred.
The total area of ββMoscow today is about 2.5 thousand square meters. km (two thirds of them are outside the Moscow Ring Road). The Russian capital is in the UTC + 3 time zone. The table below shows the exact geographical coordinates of the city.
Latitude of Moscow | 55 Β° 45 β² 21 β³ North |
Longitude of Moscow | 37 Β° 37 β² 04 β³ East |
Geological structure and soil
The soil cover within the capital and its immediate vicinity is represented mainly by sod-podzolic soils. Along the riverbanks, more fertile meadow and meadow-bog soils are found. But now the natural soil cover has been preserved only in some parts of the capital, not affected by large-scale construction. In other places, it was replaced by an anthropogenic layer with a thickness of up to 2-3 meters.
The geological structure of this territory is characterized by the following general features. Moscow is located within the Russian (East European) platform on a rather powerful cover of sedimentary rocks (its thickness here reaches 1,600 meters). In the area of ββthe capital there is the eponymous trough - the so-called Moscow syneclise. It is filled mainly with dolomites, marls, sandstones and limestones. About 70% of the city is covered by deposits of artificial (man-made) origin.
About 130 thousand years ago, the territory of modern Moscow was covered with a continuous glacier. This glaciation left behind numerous sediments in the form of moraine, sand and glacial loam. Clay deposits and building sands are associated with them. In addition, ancient glaciation left its mark on the modern relief of Moscow.
General features of the capital's relief
Moscow occupies a very interesting physical and geographical position on the map of Europe. It is at the junction of three landscape areas at once.
The relief of Moscow is quite diverse. The north of the capital is located within the Dmitrov moraine ridge of glacial origin. The eastern expanses of the city are occupied by the flat, in some places swampy Meshchera lowland. But from the south-west the Teplostanskaya Upland enters the metropolis. It also has a glacial origin, is very dissected by beams and ravines. The hill ends at the very shore of the Moscow River with a very picturesque massif - the Sparrow Hills.
Almost all Belokamennaya lies within the moraine plain, which is characterized by wide and well-developed river valleys with a floodplain and several terraces. The territory on which the huge city grew is almost completely covered with a powerful cover of Quaternary sediment.
The highest point of Moscow is located on the Teplostanskaya Upland (its height is 255 meters above sea level). The lowest is located on the southeastern outskirts of the city, near Besedinsky bridges.
Moscow and its famous hills
The fact that Moscow stands on seven hills does not know only the lazy. But in reality, this is just a beautiful legend. It was invented at the beginning of the 16th century in order to emphasize the sacred connection of Moscow with Rome. In fact, no one knows exactly which metropolitan hills are included in this number.
The relief of Moscow is indeed very hilly. This feature, by the way, is reflected in the names of many city streets and historical places (for example, Ivanovskaya Gorka, Big Kochki, Vorobyovy Gory).
The most famous hills of Moscow are Borovitsky, Sretensky, Tverskoy, Tagansky, Lefortovsky, Vagankovsky, Chertolsky. And each of them is remarkable in some way! So, Borovitsky hill is the heart of Moscow. It is here that the metropolitan Kremlin is located. Lefortovsky hill is the most expressive in relief, and the most beautiful monastery of the same name has been preserved on Sretensky.