Sochi is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 443,562 residents, up to 600,000 residents in the urban area. The city proper covers an area of 176.77 square kilometers, while the Greater Sochi Area covers over 3,502 square kilometers. Sochi stretches across 145 kilometers from north to south. It is the longest city in the Eastern Hemisphere and second-longest city in the world, ahead of Perth and trailing only Mexico City. Sochi is the fifth-largest city in the Southern Federal District, the second-largest city in Krasnodar Krai, and the sixth-largest city around the Black Sea.
Being a part of the Caucasian Riviera, it is one of the very few places in Russia with a subtropical climate, with warm to hot summers and mild to cool winters.
With the alpine and Nordic events held at the nearby ski resort of Rosa Khutor in Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi hosted the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in 2014 at the site of the Circassian genocide, causing controversy. It also hosted the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix from 2014 until at least 2020.