located_in_the_administrative_territorial_entity smolenskaya square
___MASK7___ is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow , Russia . Population : ___MASK83___ ( or ) is the capital and ___MASK73___ populous city ___MASK23___ Russia , with 12 . 2 million residents within the city limits and 16 . 8 million within the urban area . ___MASK83___ has the status ___MASK23___ a Russian federal city . ___MASK14___ ( from the  Rus '), also officially known as the Russian Federation , is a country in Eurasia . At , ___MASK14___ is the largest country in the world by surface area , covering more than one - eighth ___MASK23___ the Earth ' s inhabited land area , and the ninth most populous , with over 140 million people at the end ___MASK23___ March 2016 . The European western part ___MASK23___ the country is much more populated and urbanised than the eastern , about 77 % ___MASK23___ the population live in European ___MASK14___ . ___MASK14___ ' s capital Moscow is one ___MASK23___ the largest cities in the world , other major urban centers include Saint Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Yekaterinburg , Nizhny Novgorod and ___MASK49___ . An urban area is a human settlement with high population density and infrastructure ___MASK23___ built environment . Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities , towns , conurbations or suburbs . In urbanism , the term contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets and in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment . The creation ___MASK23___ early predecessors ___MASK23___ urban areas during the urban revolution led to the creation ___MASK23___ human civilization with modern urban planning , which along with other human activities such as exploitation ___MASK23___ natural resources leads to human impact on the environment . Smolenskaya Square ( Russian :   ) is a square in the center ___MASK23___ Moscow . The Garden Ring crosses the square . Arbat street runs towards it and ends near the Foreign Ministry skyscraper , the main building ___MASK23___ the Ministry ___MASK23___ Foreign Affairs ___MASK23___ Russia . The latter faces Smolenskaya square . The Garden Ring , also known as the " B " Ring ( transliteration : " Sadovoye Koltso "), is a circular ring ___MASK44___ avenue around ___MASK40___ Moscow , its course corresponding to what used to be the city ramparts surrounding Zemlyanoy Gorod in the 17th century . Arbat ___MASK55___ ( Russian ), mainly referred to in English as the Arbat , is a pedestrian ___MASK55___ about one kilometer long in the historical centre ___MASK23___ Moscow , Russia . The Arbat has existed since at least the 15th century , which makes it one ___MASK23___ the oldest surviving streets ___MASK23___ the Russian capital . It forms the heart ___MASK23___ the ___MASK7___ ___MASK23___ Moscow . Originally the ___MASK55___ formed part ___MASK23___ an important trade - route and was home to a large number ___MASK23___ craftsmen . A ring ___MASK44___ ( also known as beltline , beltway , circumferential ( high ) way , loop or orbital ) is a ___MASK44___ or a series ___MASK23___ connected roads encircling a town or city .