Saint Petersburg (Russia) (Russian Sankt Peterburg), second largest city
and largest seaport in Russia, located in the northwestern part of the
country, at the head of the Gulf of Finland (an arm of the Baltic Sea).
The capital of Russia for two centuries (1712-1918), Saint Petersburg is
one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, noted for its lavish
palaces and grand cathedrals. It is also a major rail junction and an
industrial, cultural, and scientific center. The city is located on both
banks of the Neva River and on a number of river islands.
Saint
Petersburg has been renamed three times since its founding. Construction
of the city began in 1703, ordered by Russian tsar (later emperor)
Peter the Great, who named it Saint Petersburg after his patron saint.
After World War I broke out in 1914, the city's Germanic name was
changed to Petrograd. In 1924, upon the death of Soviet leader Vladimir
Lenin, its name was changed to Leningrad. Finally, in June 1991, six
months before the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) officially
dissolved and Russia emerged as an independent country, the city
reverted to its original name.
Saint Petersburg’s climate is one of
strong contrasts. It is affected by air masses coming off the Atlantic
Ocean and by polar continental air, which in winter is very dry and
cold. Saint Petersburg has cold winters, with temperatures in January
averaging -10° C (14° F); the summers are generally cool, with the
temperature in July averaging 17° C (63° F). Although the city’s harbor
is frozen for three to four months of each year, icebreakers keep it
open for much of the winter season.