Northwestern Federal District

Population of the Northwestern Federal District

In 2022, 13,972,061 people live in the Northwestern Federal District of Russia. Which is 9.52% of the total population of the country. Most of the city residents - 84.25%, half of the residents (51.76%) live in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. The remaining regions are sparsely populated.

Average life expectancy is 71.2 years.

Mortality exceeds birth rate by (-1).

The most numerous ethnic group is Russians (83.07%), and representatives of the following nationalities live in the district:

Ukrainians (1.86%)
Komi (1.53%)
Belarusians (1.11%)
Tatars (0.46%)
Karelians (0.34%)
Armenians (0.28%)
Azerbaijanis (0.25%)
Jews (0.18%)
Germans (0.09%)
Finns (0.11%)
Nenets (0.06%)
Gunzibians (0.06%)
Vepsians (0.04%)
Mordva (0.01%)
Sami (0.01%) and others.

Petrozavodsk

The capital of Karelia, the largest city of the republic. But it doesn’t take much time to get from one point to another, and you can cross the entire city by car in 30 minutes. Moreover, it is not necessary to have a car here; all places in the city are accessible both on foot and by public transport, and during the season, many people even use bicycles.

North-West Russia: interesting cities to live [besides St. Petersburg] 6

The nature of Karelia is magnificent , many rivers and lakes guarantee excellent fishing, and the forests are rich in mushrooms and berries. From Petrozavodsk to the border with Finland is only 300 km, and to the Northern capital 420 km along an excellent road. Life in Petrozavodsk is characterized by regularity and lack of fuss; traffic jams are also not typical for this city.

City residents prefer locally produced products with a short shelf life. In addition to all this, Petrozavodsk is included in many tourist routes , which indicates its uniqueness in terms of the presence of many interesting places. And to live in the capital of this northern region you need much less money than in St. Petersburg or Moscow.

Brief description of the regions of the Northwestern Federal District

Arkhangelsk region (Arkhangelsk)

Occupies a large territory in the north-west of the country. There are unique natural landscapes here: islands, lakes, caves. Tourism to this region will give you a lot of unforgettable experiences. Most popular places:

Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the city of Mirny
Solovetsky Monastery (early 15th century)
Open-air museum complex "Malye Korely"
Kenozersky National Park
Archipelago Franz Josef Land
Pinega caves
Solovetsky Botanical Garden
Solovki lake-canal system
The city of Kargopolye with a large number of cultural heritage sites and people who speak with a special dialect.
Kiy Island (an annual jazz festival is held here, there is a rest house and the Onega Cross Monastery).

The region will delight you with its originality, special atmosphere and rich history.

Vologda region (Vologda)

The visiting card is the city of Veliky Ustyug, the birthplace of Father Frost. But besides this, there is something else to see here:

Vologda Kremlin (1567)
Belozersky Kremlin (XV century)
Temple complex Cathedral Courtyard (XVII century)
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery for Men (1397)
Ferapontov Belozersky Monastery (1398)
Architectural and ethnographic open-air museum in the village of Semyonkovo
House-Museum of Peter I (XVII century)
Brianchaninovs' estate (XIX century)
Khvalevskoe estate (XIX century)

Among the natural attractions are the Padun Waterfall, the Russian North National Park, the Darwin Nature Reserve, and the Opoki Tract.

Kaliningrad region (Kaliningrad)

German heritage is present throughout the region. It is not very well adjacent to Soviet buildings and is not always in good condition. Traveling around the region will allow you to take a tour of the history of Prussia and the sites of the Second World War.

Main attractions:

Cathedral in Kaliningrad (restored)
7 city gates of Kaliningrad in Gothic style
Amber Museum in Kaliningrad
Museum and exhibition complex "Amber Castle"
Citadel "Pillau" (XVII century)
Fort No. 3 “King Frederick William I” (1879)
Fort No. 5 - King Frederick William III
Church of the Holy Family
Insterburg Castle of the Teutonic Order (1336)

Natural places: Curonian Spit (World Heritage Site) and the Dancing Forest, Baltic Spit, Vishtynetskoye Lake, Lake Tikhoe in Svetlogorsk.

Republic of Karelia (Petrozavodsk)

The main wealth of the republic is nature; eco-tourism and fishing are very popular here. One of the most beautiful places:

Paanajärvi National Park
National Park "Ladoga Skerries"
Ruskeala Mountain Park
Lake Onega
Kivakkakoski Falls
Kivach waterfall
Ruskeala waterfalls
Mount Vottovaara

There are architectural and historical values here: the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery (XIV century), the Assumption Church in Kondopoga (XVIII century), the Kizhi Museum-Reserve, the White Sea and Onega petroglyphs.

Komi Republic (Syktyvkar)

An amazingly beautiful region:

Weathering pillars on the Manpupuner plateau (Mansi boobies)
Yugyd Va National Park
Pechora-Ilychsky Biosphere Reserve
Mount Narodnaya is the highest point of the Urals 1895 meters
Mount Manaraga - 1662 meters

You can get acquainted with the culture of local peoples in the Finno-Ugric ethnocultural park, which is located in the village of Yb. No less popular are the House-Museum of I.P. Morozov, the National Gallery of the Komi Republic, and the National Museum of the Komi Republic.

Leningrad region (St. Petersburg)

The main decoration of the region and the entire Northwestern Federal District is the city of St. Petersburg. It's hard to mention as part of an article. He deserves a full story about himself, as he preserves the centuries-old history of our Motherland.

Murmansk region (Murmansk)

Who would think that this region, associated with the harsh north, can offer quite an interesting tourist route.

Khibiny mountain range on the Kola Peninsula
Kandalaksha Nature Reserve, which includes several islands
Seydozero with its steep banks
The beauty of the Lapland Nature Reserve
Kanozero petroglyphs dated to the 3rd-2nd millennia BC. e.
Natural park "Sredniy and Rybachy Peninsula" and much more.

Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Naryan-Mar)

Nenets Nature Reserve in the Pechora Sea
Natural monument “Stone City”
Thermal tract Pym-Va-Shor
Grand Gate Canyon

Novgorod region (Veliky Novgorod)

The region is rich in historical attractions:

Novgorod Kremlin (first mentioned in 1044)
St. Sophia Cathedral (1050)
Architectural complex Yaroslavovo Dvorishche (X-XI centuries)
The Lord's Chamber (XV century)
Yuriev Monastery (XI century)
Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in Staraya Russa (XII century)
Vitoslavlitsy - open-air museum of wooden architecture
House-Museum of F. M. Dostoevsky in Staraya Russa
House-Museum of N. A. Nekrasov in Chudovo
House-Museum of G. I. Uspensky in the village of Syabrenitsy

Among the natural places: Lake Seliger, Valdai National Park, Rdeisky Reserve.

Pskov region (Pskov)

Travelers will also be surprised by the Pskov lands:

Pskov Kremlin (XI-XII centuries)
Men's Pskov-Pechersky Monastery (1473)
Porkhov Fortress (1387)
Izborsk fortress (XIV century)
Thundering Tower (1525)
Mikhailovskoye Museum-Estate (Pushkin’s family estate)
Petrovskoye Museum-Estate (which belonged to Pushkin’s ancestors - the Hannibal family)
Trigorskoye Museum-Estate (belonged to the Osipov-Wulf landowners, friends of Pushkin)
Museum-Estate of S. Kovalevskaya
Museum-Reserve of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov
Museum-Reserve of M. P. Mussorgsky

Among the natural attractions are the underground springs of the Slovenian Springs in Izborsk, Lake Peipsi, Sebezhsky National Park, and the Polistovsky Reserve.

Kaliningrad

The westernmost city in the country. The city is quite large, but incredibly cozy and comfortable. Located on the shores of the Baltic Sea, the coastline of the region is 180 km of beautiful beaches. The Polish border is only 25 km from the city, that is, Europe is literally at your fingertips.

North-West Russia: interesting cities to live [besides St. Petersburg] 5

Many people move to it because of its wonderful mild climate. Kaliningrad is literally surrounded by greenery, and the grass grows here even in winter. The city has a rich history; it used to be called Königsberg and belonged to East Prussia, which explains the architecture of Kaliningrad, which is not typical for Russian cities.

The roads also differ for the better from most Russian roads. If we talk about food prices, they are lower than in “big” Russia. The creation of a special economic zone in 2022, offering a preferential tax regime , makes this area very attractive for business.

Other federal districts of Russia

Hot key

General impression

The small town is not suitable for the life of modern youth, but I liked it. The Alley of 1000 Pines, Dante's Gulch - these are simply unrealistically cool places.

Pros:

the resort center of the city is developed (recreation center for adults and elderly people in 1970-80)
in summer there are enough vacationers and tourists, the city does not seem empty
the air is beautiful
nature is magnificent
delicious products

Minuses:

it's very hot and there's nowhere to hide from the heat
entertainment infrastructure is poorly developed, there is nowhere to go
bad water

There are such cute houses

Sanatorium building

Ekaterinburg

According to many, this is the third capital of Russia. Currently, this industrial city is full of skyscrapers and continues to be rapidly built. The city has a rather turbulent history, since the great Russian storyteller Pavel Bazhov once lived here, and citizen Nikolai Romanov, who was once Emperor Nicholas, was shot here. Boris Yeltsin also studied second. Everyone who has seen Yekaterinburg claims that it is a typically European industrial city, so this is the place for lovers of urban landscapes.

Yaroslavl

General impression

I didn’t like the city; the city’s districts are geographically distant from each other. Yaroslavl became the main disappointment of the trip; there was a lot of hope for this city. Yaroslavl is out of the list of candidates for relocation due to the dirt on the streets.

Pros:

very beautiful embankment
very good shopping center Aura
not far from Moscow

Minuses:

very dirty, very
everywhere, at every step there is graffiti. Almost all buildings are painted: Italian cafes, banks, even the second floors of buildings - it’s just terrible.
bad roads
sights have not been restored
the houses are old and peeling
small provincial town
chilly
a lot of poor people (judging by their clothes) and strange people
expensive fare (18 rubles on the tram)

The beauty of the center of Yaroslavl

Garbage, also the center.

An architectural monument, protected by the state.

Such “artists” should be fined

Rostov-on-Don

General impression

I didn’t like the city, it felt like the authorities abandoned taking care of their city 5-10 years ago, but there are a lot of cafes, bars, cinemas, shops, and banks in the city. The current situation with Ukraine has left its mark: there are many refugees in the city, the stations are full of people who live there (probably temporarily), you will have to wait at the railway ticket office for at least 2 hours. The city seems dangerous for life due to its proximity to the border, drug addicts (so they say) and strange people on the streets, dark courtyards - it has dropped out of candidates for moving.