A diving seaduck breeding on inland waters in Scandinavia and Estonia, northern Russia and across central Siberia from the Yenissei to Kazakhstan, with isolated populations in the Caucasian region (Turkey until 2010, Armenia, Georgia). Winters along coasts of Western Europe, including the Mediterranean coasts, and in the Black and Caspian Seas. Winters also on inland lakes in the Alps, the Balkans. Monotypic, formerly considered conspecific with close relatives from East Siberia M. stejnegeri and North America M. deglandi.