Saint Petersburg

**Saint Petersburg** () is a Russian city in northwestern Russia, near the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic 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 a World Heritage Site called **The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments**.

## History

Saint Petersburg was started by the Russian Tsar, Peter I as the capital of the Russian Empire in 1703, to take the place of the earlier capital, Moscow. It was the capital of Russia until 1918. 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. During World War I, when Russia and Germany were fighting each other, Russians thought the name **Sankt Peterburg** sounded too German, so Tsar Nicholas II, on August 31 (August 18, Old Style), 1914 decided that the city was renamed **Petrograd**.  In 1918 during the Russian revolution, the Soviet capital was moved to Moscow, still the capital of Russia now.

On January 26, 1924, five days after Lenin's death, Petrograd was renamed **Leningrad** in his honor. During World War II, the city was surrounded by the German army and under siege for twenty-nine months until January 1944.

Leningrad again took its old name of St. Petersburg on September 6, 1991, when Russia stopped being communist. In every-day Russian, the city is often called just "_Piter_". The _Oblast_ (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 the _Venice of the North_. There are also beautiful buildings built by Russian emperors in other places of the city. Some of these buildings are the Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace.

## Geography

Saint Petersburg is located in Northwestern Federal district of Russia. The area of the city  is 605.8 km². Saint Petersburg has an area called Leningrad oblast. The city has also many islands such as Vasilyevsky Island,  Kotlin Island, Kamerny Island, Aptekarsky Island etc.

The climate is a humid continental.

## Infobox (russian federal subject)

- **en name**: Saint Petersburg
- **ru name**: Санкт-Петербург
- **image skyline**: SPB Collage 2014-3.png
- **image caption**: **Clockwise from top left:** Peter and Paul Fortress on Zayachy Island, Smolny Cathedral, Bronze Horseman on Senate Square (Saint Petersburg), Senate Square, the Winter Palace, Trinity Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, Trinity Cathedral, and the Moyka river with the General Staff Building.
- **image map**: Saint Petersburg in Russia (special marker).svg
- **image coa**: Coat of Arms of Saint Petersburg (2003).svg
- **coa caption**: Coat of Arms of Saint Petersburg, Coat of arms
- **image flag**: Flag of Saint Petersburg.svg
- **flag caption**: Flag of Saint Petersburg, Flag
- **holiday**: 27 May
- **political status**: Federal city
- **political status link**: Federal cities of Russia
- **federal district**: Northwestern Federal District, Northwestern
- **economic region**: Northwestern economic region, Northwestern
- **population density km2**: 3699.31
- **pop density as of**: 2017
- **area km2**: 1439
- **area km2 rank**: 82nd
- **license plates**: 78, 98, 178, 198
- **iso**: RU-SPE
- **leader title**: Governor of Saint Petersburg, Governor
- **leader name**: Alexander Beglov (United Russia, UR, acting)
- **legislature**: Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg, Legislative Assembly
- **website**: http://gov.spb.ru
- **date**: October 2018