Place in the World

The former USSR, which included Russia and St. Petersburg, was an immense area of land, covering more than eight million square miles. Since the official breakup of the union in 1991, Russia has continued to be the largest and most influential of its countries. For most of this century Russia had been considered to be the "father/mother of modern communism", but now the world is looking to it with anticipation as it enters the global capitalist economy. Much of the world is excited about Russia and is flooding to its borders both as tourists and as investors. Russia is considered to be a "more developed" world region. Yet, many of its people are among the world's poor. About 70% of Russia's population is urban, with the majority living in its two largest cities. Moscow and St. Petersburg have consistently rivaled for the position as the primate Russian city. While Moscow can now claim to be more of a "global" city, St. Petersburg is still considered to be Russia's cultural capital. It is among the most plagued, misunderstood, and beautiful cities in the world.