| Location |
Including the subordinated administrative territories St. Petersburg occupies
the area or 1439 km2. The City is located nearby the Eastern Coast
or the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea at the crossing of the sea and river
routes and the mainland roads, St. Petersburg has always been the Russian
gateway to Europe, its strategic centre, and the closest of all Russian cities
to the European Union countries.
St. Petersburg is the second largest cities of the Russian Federation.
|
| Distance from St. Petersburg to the nearest large European cities |
|
Duration of a trip from St. Petersburg to the largest European cities |
| City |
Distance, km |
City |
Duration of a trip (direct) |
| By air |
By sea |
By automobile road |
By fast (high-speed) train |
By air |
| Moscow |
610 |
- |
664 |
Moscow |
7h 35min(4h 47min) |
1h 05min |
| London |
2070 |
2258 |
3050* |
London |
- |
3h 00min |
| Paris |
2120 |
- |
3070 |
Paris |
- |
3h 00min |
| Berlin |
1310 |
- |
2030 |
Berlin |
38h 07min |
2h 05min |
| Helsinki |
300 |
320 |
383 |
Helsinki |
5h 18min |
50-55min |
| Vilnius |
640 |
- |
736 |
Vilnius |
13h 36min |
- |
| Riga |
480 |
724 |
545 |
Riga |
12h 56min |
- |
| Tallinn |
310 |
350 |
330 |
Tallinn |
8h 42min |
- |
|
| *-excluding ferry passages |
|
| Historical Information |
St. Petersburg is one of the youngest among the major European cities. Tsar Peter the Great founded it in 1703.
In 1712-1917 the city was the capital of the Russian Empire and the centre of innovations and reforms. The city witnessed three revolutions: the revolution of 1905-1907, the bourgeois-democratic revolution of February 1917, and the October Social Revolution of 1917. The city experienced a period of the Civil War (1917-1922) and in World War 2 of 1941-1945 the German blockade of the city lasted 900 days and caused hunger and devastation before the Nazis were repelled.
By the end of 19th century St. Petersburg became the largest city in Russia and one of the most important in the industrial world as a credit and stock trading centre. After the capital was moved to Moscow in 1918, "the Northern capital" became the second city of Russia. |
| Landmarks of the City History |
16 May (by Gregorian calendar)
27 may (by Julian calendar) 1703 |
Foundation of the City of St. Petersburg by Emperor Peter the Great |
| 1703-1914 |
St. Petersburg |
| 1914-1924 |
Petrograd |
| 1924-1991 |
Leningrad |
| 6 September 1991 |
The historical name of the city restored – St. Petersburg |
| From 1712 till 1728 and from 1732 till 1918 |
The capital of Russia |
| 1927-1931 |
The administrative centre of Leningrad Oblast |
| 1931-1993 |
A city of republication subordination |
| Since 1993 until now |
The city was assigned the status of a "subject of the Russian Federation" (like Moscow) |
|
|
| Climate |
| St. Petersburg's climate is characterised by a temporary-warm and humid summer and temporary-cold winter. |
| Average annual temperature |
5.3 ° C |
41.5 ° F |
| Average temperature in July |
18.1 ° C |
64.6 ° F |
| Average temperature in January |
-6.3 ° C |
20.7 ° F |
|
The average annual precipitation is 634 mm. The prevailing wind directions are western, south-western and southern.
The favourite time of the year among the citizens and the guests is "the White Nights" period (from 25-26th of May till 16-17th of July), when the sun sets behind the horizon only for a short period of time, and the daylight lasts nearly 19 hours in the end of June. |
| Population and Human Resources |
| At present the City's human resources are estimated as 3 million people. The total number of the employed in the economy, including sole proprietorship and small business, estimated at an annual range of about 2, 4 man people. Thus, with favourable conditions, there up to 0.6 million city dwellers (both for full-time and part-time) available for work. |
| Social and demographic characteristic of St. Petersburg Dwellers |
The data submitted represents citizens of St. Petersburg, excluding the suburbs, from the age of 16 and older.
*The number of citizens in St. Petersburg at the beginning of 2001 (thousand people) |
| |
St. Petersburg excluding the suburbs |
Suburbs |
St. Petersburg Total |
| Total |
4100 |
540 |
4640 |
| Over 15 years old. |
3400 |
450 |
3850 |
| Children under 15 years old. |
700 |
90 |
790 |
| Children under 7 years old. |
235 |
30 |
265 |
| Children from 7 to 15 |
465 |
60 |
525 |
| No. of families |
1350-1400 |
170-175 |
1500-1600 |
|
| Educational level |
| Education |
University |
Secondary and specialised secondary/techno |
Primary and secondary education |
| Russia |
26% |
39% |
25% |
| St. Petersburg |
42% |
30% |
28% |
|
| Employment level |
| % |
Unemployed |
Housewives |
Pensioners |
Students |
Employed |
| Russia |
8 |
6 |
26 |
3 |
57 |
| St. Petersburg |
4 |
5 |
25 |
11 |
55 |
|
| Telecommunication and Communication Service |
The number of telephones per capita is 41 per 100 citizens, which is one of the highest in Russia, close to the European average.
The length of the transport network exceeds 35000kk, with inter-station communications based mostly on fibre-optic cables that allow the transmission rates up to 40 Gbit/sec and use the latest technologies. The total length of the fibre-optic communication lines reached 6000 km.
St. Petersburg holds the second place in Russia by the Internet service volume. More then 100 organisations provide access to the World Wide. The number of internet users has grown to 700,000 people. The number of permanent Internet users exceed 160 000 people. More then 1.6 million citizens are using computers on a daily basis. 35% out of them have a PC at home. |
| Foreign Trade |
| The results for St. Petersburg in 2001 were the best in North-West Federal District for imports and the second best in exports. |
| Dynamic of the Foreign Trade of St. Petersburg in 1997-2001 (man USD) |
 |
| Major Trade Partners of St. Petersburg by share in commodity turnover |
 |