Saint Petersburg (Russian:Санкт-Петербу́рг,romanized: Sankt-Peterburg) is aRussiancity in northwestern Russia, near theGulf of Finland of theBaltic Sea. Over five million people live in St. Petersburg as of 2015, and it is the second biggest city in Russia. It is a major port, connecting with the world's shipping paths through the Neva River and the Baltic.
Part of Saint Petersburg is designated aWorld Heritage Site calledThe Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.
Saint Petersburg was started by the Russian Tsar,Peter I as thecapital of theRussian Empire in1703, to take the place of the earlier capital,Moscow. It was the capital of Russia until1918. Peter the Great established Saint Petersburg as a warm-weather port in order to show Russian dominance in the Baltic and to increase trading opportunities. Peter sought to modernize Russia, therefore he tried to make Saint Petersburg as different as possible from the former capital, Moscow, by modernizing the city.
Saint Petersburg has changed its name many times. DuringWorld War I, when Russia andGermany were fighting each other, Russians thought the nameSankt Peterburg sounded too German, so TsarNicholas II, onAugust 31 (August 18, Old Style),1914 decided that the city was renamedPetrograd. In 1918 during theRussian revolution, the Soviet capital was moved to Moscow, still the capital of Russia now.
On January 26, 1924, five days afterLenin's death, Petrograd was renamedLeningrad in his honor. DuringWorld War II, the city was surrounded by the German army and undersiege for twenty-nine months until January 1944.
Leningrad again took its old name of St. Petersburg on September 6,1991, when Russia stopped beingcommunist. In every-day Russian, the city is often called just "Piter". TheOblast (administrative province) where the city is the capital is still called "Leningrad Oblast".
Saint Petersburg was a beautiful city planned by Peter I. There are many man-made rivers (or canals) in the city, so the city is sometimes called theVenice of the North. There are also beautiful buildings built by Russian emperors in other places of the city. Some of these buildings are theHermitage Museum and theWinter Palace.
1888 map of St Petersburg and Kronstadt, a fortified island city
Saint Petersburg is located in Northwestern Federal district of Russia. The area of the city is 605.8 km². Saint Petersburg has an area calledLeningrad oblast. The city has also many islands such asVasilyevsky Island, Kotlin Island, Kamerny Island, Aptekarsky Island etc.
↑Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", №20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
↑Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
↑Законодательное Собрание Санкт-Петербурга. Закон №555-75 от 26 октября 2005 г. «О праздниках и памятных датах в Санкт-Петербурге», в ред. Закона №541-112 от 6 ноября 2008 г. (Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg. Law #555-75 of 26 October 2005On Holidays and Memorial Dates in Saint Petersburg. ).
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