Short answers, pulled from the story.
About 80% of Russia's total population lives in European Russia. The region has a population of nearly 110 million and a population density of 27.5 people per square kilometer, making it the most densely populated part of the country.
The Ural Mountains and the Ural River divide European Russia from the Asian portion of the country, bisecting the Eurasian supercontinent. To the east of this boundary lies Siberia, which is far larger in area but far more sparsely populated.
European Russia spans roughly 40% of Europe's total landmass and accounts for over 15% of Europe's total population. It covers an area of over 3,969,100 square kilometers, making Russia the largest country in Europe by area, surpassing Ukraine.
Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Sevastopol are the three federal cities within European Russia. Of Russia's 16 cities with over one million inhabitants, 12 are in European Russia, including Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Voronezh, Perm, and Volgograd.
From the late 9th century to the mid-13th century, much of European Russia was part of Kievan Rus', a state whose territories served as major trade routes connecting Scandinavia, the Byzantine Empire, and Persia. Varangians operated throughout the region, and through contact with Byzantium the Slavic peoples gradually adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity before the Mongol Empire destroyed many major cities including Ryazan, Moscow, Vladimir, and Kiev.
In 2022 the gross regional domestic product of European Russia was around 100 trillion rubles, equivalent to approximately 1.4 trillion US dollars. The Central Federal District was the largest contributor, with a GRDP of about 47.4 trillion rubles.