Abstract: The article addresses problems of the periphery and peripheralization of Russia’s spatial development, a significant part of which experienced negative socioeconomic development during the transition to a market economy and continues to struggle at present. Theoretical approaches of Russian and foreign authors to defining the concepts of periphery and peripheralization of space are considered. By comparative analysis and systematization, the authors have identified the six basic approaches researchers use to define the term periphery: positional, functional, problematical, generative-translational, social, and subjective. The content and features of each approach are also revealed. The authors have highlighted such basic properties of the periphery as multiform remoteness, economic degradation, social marginalization, multiscale character, migration outflow, ubiquity, relativity, and weak involvement in global economic relations. A system of indicators is proposed that characterize the periphery in accordance with the identified approaches. The spatial development of individual centers of Russia along with degradation of most of its territory significantly actualizes the question on the future of the Russian periphery and its impact on the spatial development of the country as a whole. Due to its own weak potential, the Russian periphery cannot independently attract socioeconomic development and requires strengthening of state regulation measures based on the competitive advantages of each territory.