Moscow Oblast - Administrative and Municipal Divisions

Administrative and Municipal Divisions

Administratively, the oblast is divided into 38 cities/towns under oblast jurisdiction and 36 administrative districts, consisting of 46 towns of district significance, 72 urban-type settlements, and 6,119 rural localities.

As of 2011, Moscow Oblast is municipally subdivided into 38 urban okrugs and 36 municipal districts, which consist of 114 urban settlements and 193 rural settlements.

The three largest cities of the oblast are Balashikha (215,494), Khimki (207,425), and Podolsk (186,961). Most other towns have ten to fifty thousand people. The smallest town is Vereya in Naro-Fominsky District with the population of 4,957 (2002 Census). Among the urban-type settlements, the largest is Nakhabino (36,546) followed by Tomilino (30,605). The oldest populated place in the oblast is Volokolamsk, first mentioned in 1135; slightly younger towns are Zvenigorod (1152), Dmitrov (1154), and Kolomna (1177).

The most intensive formation of towns occurred in 1938–1940. The youngest towns are Golitsyno and Kubinka. They existed for quite some time, but were granted town status only in 2004. Some recent towns separated from the other towns, such as Yubileyny and Peresvet.

New projects have been announced at the beginning of the 21st century. One of them is Rublyovo-Arkhangelsk, which is designed for 30,000 inhabitants with high income and is called by the media the "city for millionaires". Another is "Great Domodedovo, 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of the Moscow Ring Road, which is designed for 450,000 residents. The new city A101 was designed for 300,000 residents in 2009 and already began the sale of its land in Leninsky District. The city construction is planned to take thirty-five years.

A part of Moscow Oblast's territory was merged with the federal city of Moscow on July 1, 2012.

The housing stock of the oblast is approximately 125 million square meters. Almost all the houses are equipped with water supply, sewerage, gas, central heating and hot water. However, the telephone network is underdeveloped in rural areas. In the competition for the most comfortable city of 2006 in the Moscow Oblast the winner was Kolomna followed by Balashikha (for cities with population over 100,000) and Vidnoye (<100,000) and then by Mytishchi and Noginsk.