The capital Moscow holds 9 million inhabitants and can be considered a natural centre.

In addition to the two federal cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, there are 11 other cities that have population of one million or more, and 20 more cities with a population of more than half a million. In income level ranking, Moscow is number one in Russia, followed by regions that have rich natural resources. The next big city in average income level ranking is St. Petersburg on tenth place.

Oil, gas and minerals are big business in the north as well as there is a strong IT sector in Nizhny Novgorod.