Saint Petersburg
Federal city in Russia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Saint Petersburg,[lower-alpha 1] formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad,[lower-alpha 2] is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of roughly 5.6 million residents as of 2021,[3] with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.
Saint Petersburg
Санкт-Петербург | |
|---|---|
 .jpg)    .jpg) Clockwise from top: the Winter Palace; Peter and Paul Cathedral; the General Staff Building; the Moyka River from the Pevchesky Bridge to the Red Bridge; Saint Isaac's Cathedral; and Palace Bridge | |
| Anthem: "Anthem of Saint Petersburg" | |
 | |
 Location of Saint Petersburg in European Russia | |
| Coordinates: 59°56′15″N 30°18′31″E | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal district | Northwestern |
| Economic region | Northwestern |
| Founded | 27 May 1703 (1703-05-27)[1] |
| City raions | See list |
| Government | |
| • Body | Legislative Assembly |
| • Governor | Alexander Beglov[2] (UR) |
| Area | |
| • Federal city | 1,439 km2 (556 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Federal city |  5,601,911 |
| • Rank | 4th in Europe 2nd in Russia |
| • Density | 3,992.81/km2 (10,341.3/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 6,421,000[4][5] |
| Demonym | Petersburgian |
| GDP | |
| • Federal city | ₽9.440 trillion US$128 billion (2021) |
| • Per capita | ₽1,754,423 US$23,804 (2021) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (MSK[7]) |
| Postal code | 190000—199406 |
| Area code | 812 |
| ISO 3166 code | RU-SPE |
| Vehicle registration | 78, 98, 178, 198 |
| OKATO ID | 40 |
| OKTMO ID | 40000000 |
| Official language | Russian[8] |
| Website | gov |
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The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter.[10] In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power.[11] It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730).[12] After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow.[13] The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. It was the site of the siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, the most lethal siege in history.[14] In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR, voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum.[15]
As Russia's cultural centre,[16] Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018.[17][18] It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.