Hi! I am from St. Petersburg (Russia). In fact, everything you are talking about has a place to be in our country, too. I've met a lot of people who are not too willing to call their place of residence if it's some remote or sparsely populated city or a remote small village. It seems that they are ashamed of their place of residence. Of course , people from large, well-known cities with a population of several million proudly pronounce their names. Because it is also a status. This is a different opportunity, a different standard of living. The difference between the capital cities and the province is very large. Many people tend to move to larger cities and change their status :)