Moscow is one of the world biggest megapolis. Its population was equal to 8,011,000 people in January, 1979. The territory of Moscow was 878,7 square kilometres. The boundary of Moscow (since 1960) corresponds to the Moscow ring road that is situated at 17-21 kilometres from a city centre.

Local authorities are, since 1991, Moscow Mairia and Moscow government. tax id

In terms of urban ecology, Moscow was advertised as a very clean city during the stagnation period, but recently, with positive political changes the real situation became known: air and water pollution by chemicals is rather heavy, in the southern and south-eastern parts of the town, specifically. This is explained by the pattern of enterprises and by the predominant winds. Moreover, information on radioactive pollution is now available, and separate strongly polluted sites have been discovered. Unfortunately, they are dispersed all over the territory of the town including its public gardens and densely populated blocks («sleeping regions»).

Moscow is located at 55.55'of northern latitude and 37.37' to the east of the Greenwich's meridian, in the centre of the East-European plain.

There is a folk saying about seven hills supporting Moscow. In reality, hilly are only some parts of former Moscow area, and the highest is the south-western part of the town. Geographically, it is defined as Teplostanskaya upland; the central and eastern parts of the town's area are more flat and low, and its major part is occupied by the valley of Moskva river with its tributaries.

The Moscow climate is moderately continental, although it is more then in other European cities. Temperature amplitude is 28 C. The cool period of the year starts in September, 29 and ends in May,10. Normally, the rainfall ranges within 540 .650mm per year. The rainy period lasts from April to October. The duration of the severe snow period is estimated thus: November, 26 - April,

11. The height of the snow cover reaches 35 cm in the end of winter. Atmospheric pressure, that doesn't strongly change during the year, is 747mm. Winds in Moscow may blow in any direction, but during periods of warm weather the north-western ones prevail, while the south-western winds are proper to cool seasons.

Weather is rather unstable in Moscow, and the weather forecast service is the most common object for jokes. One of possible reasons justifying not quite reliable forecasts is a considerable temperature amplitude between parts of Moscow, it may reach 10¸C in spring or autumn.

The heart of the Moscow is Red Square. It is more historic associations than any other place in Moscow. The main Kremlin tower, the Spasskaya Tower, has become a symbol of the country. On the territory of the Kremlin you can see old cathedrals, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Grate, the Palace of Congress, the Tzar-Cannon and the Tzar-Bell, the biggest cannon and bell in the world. There are a lot of beautiful places, cathedrals, churches and monuments in Moscow. There are more then 80 museums in Moscow. The largest museums are Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow is famous for its theaters. The best-known is Bolshoi Opera House. Drama theaters and studios are also very popular. Moscow is a city of the students. There are over 80 higher educational institutions in it.

Now Moscow is one of the largest cities in Europe. Its total area is about nine hundred square kilometers. Population of the city is over 8 million. Moscow is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Znaika: Well done, Neznaika, now you and pupils know a lot of interesting about Russia and Moscow.