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Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг (help·info)) is a city located in Northwestern Federal District of Russia on the delta of the Neva River at the east end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. It is informally known as Piter (Питер) and was formerly known as Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924) and Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991).
Founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 16(27), 1703 as a "window to Europe", it served as the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years. St. Petersburg ceased being the capital when the capital was moved to Moscow after the Russian Revolution of 1917. With about 4.7 million inhabitants (2002), today Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city, Europe's eighth largest city, a major European cultural center, and the most important Russian port on the Baltic. The city has a total area of 1439 square km, which makes it the second biggest city in terms of area among cities with over a million inhabitants in Europe, after London.
Among cities of the world having populations of over one million people, Saint Petersburg is the northernmost. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Russia's political and cultural center for 200 years, the city is impressive even today, and is sometimes referred to in Russia as "the Northern Capital" (северная столица, severnaya stolitsa). It is the administrative center of Leningrad Oblast (itself a separate region) and of the Northwestern Federal District.
The Constitutional Court of Russia is scheduled to move from Kitai-gorod in Moscow to the Senate and Synod buildings on the Decembrists Square by 2008, returning to Saint Petersburg a part of the role of a national capital.
Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг (help·info)) is a city located in Northwestern Federal District of Russia on the delta of the Neva River at the east end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. It is informally known as Piter (Питер) and was formerly known as Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924) and Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991).
Founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 16(27), 1703 as a "window to Europe", it served as the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years. St. Petersburg ceased being the capital when the capital was moved to Moscow after the Russian Revolution of 1917. With about 4.7 million inhabitants (2002), today Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city, Europe's eighth largest city, a major European cultural center, and the most important Russian port on the Baltic. The city has a total area of 1439 square km, which makes it the second biggest city in terms of area among cities with over a million inhabitants in Europe, after London.
Among cities of the world having populations of over one million people, Saint Petersburg is the northernmost. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Russia's political and cultural center for 200 years, the city is impressive even today, and is sometimes referred to in Russia as "the Northern Capital" (северная столица, severnaya stolitsa). It is the administrative center of Leningrad Oblast (itself a separate region) and of the Northwestern Federal District.
The Constitutional Court of Russia is scheduled to move from Kitai-gorod in Moscow to the Senate and Synod buildings on the Decembrists Square by 2008, returning to Saint Petersburg a part of the role of a national capital.