St. Petersburg is the northernmost of the largest cities in the world. Its geographical coordinates are 59 ° 57 'N and 30 ° 19' E. The 60th parallel, on which the northern capital of Russia is located, passes through Greenland, Alaska and the Norwegian capital Oslo. The area of the city is 606 sq. Km. km, and with the suburbs -1451 sq. km. km. Petersburg is divided into 19 administrative districts and 111 municipalities.
The high-latitude position of the city explains the phenomenon of white nights. White nights come on May 25-26, when the sun does not drop more than 9 ° from the horizon, and the evening twilight almost merges with the morning. The greatest duration of the day falls on June 21-22 (18 hours 53 minutes); the white nights end on July 16-17. The duration of the white nights is a total of more than 50 days.
The climate in St. Petersburg is wet, close to the sea, with a moderately warm summer and a fairly long, moderately cold winter. The average temperature in winter is -7.8 ° C, the average temperature in summer is + 18 ° C. In dry, hot weather, the air temperature can reach + 25 ° C ... + 30 ° C. In the winter there can be a considerable cooling: up to -25 ° С ...- 30 ° С. Precipitation is 634 mm per year.
The main waterway of the city is the Neva River. It received its name from Lake Nebo (in ancient times Lake Ladoga was called), from which it originates. The length of the Neva is 74 km (in the city - 36 km), the average width of the river in the city is about 600 m, the depth is up to 24 m. The Neva is a river with a complex character, with a very fast current. The average annual water temperature is 5 degrees. The surface of the water is a tenth of the city's area.
In St. Petersburg there are still 64 small rivers and there are 48 canals. Through them, 308 bridges (including suburban bridges over 800) are thrown. Among them there are 22 drawers. The total length of all the bridges of the city is about 16 km, and the embankments 170 km.
The city is located on 47 islands of the Neva Delta. The largest of them - Vasilyevsky and Petrogradsky.
The city is often exposed to floods. Most often they are in the fall, with hurricane western winds. For all the existence of the city of Neva more than 300 times rose above its usual level. The largest flood occurred on November 7, 1824, when the water rose 4, 1 m above the ordinar.
The population of St. Petersburg is 4,584,000 people as of April 1, 2009.
St. Petersburg is the youngest of the major European cities, it is only 308 years old. The territory on which it originated earlier was called Prinevsky or Izhora land. May 16, 1703 (on the day of the Holy Trinity) Peter I by his decree founded a new fortress on the Hare Island and named it St. Petersburg, in honor of his patron Saint Apostle Peter - holding the keys to paradise.
Petersburg is a museum in the open air. In the city there are 250 museums and their branches, 70 theaters and about 150 universities.