Physical and geographical location
Saint Petersburg is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic sea at the mouth of the Neva river and on the Islands of its Delta.
The geographical coordinates of the city center are 59° 57 ' North latitude and 30° 19’ East longitude. The city covers an area of 1439 km2, of which the territory of high-density, almost continuous development is 650 km2.
The height of the city above sea level: for the Central areas-1-5 m, peripheral areas (North) - 5-30 m, peripheral areas (South and South-West) - 5-22 m. the highest place in the city – Duderhof heights in the area of red Village with a maximum height of 176 m.
On the lowland adjacent to the Neva river and its continuation along the Bay are the nearest suburbs. Despite the General flatness, the terrain of the surrounding area is diverse. To the South-West of the city stands Izhora hill, to the North — the hills of the Karelian isthmus, Primorsko-Vuokinsky lake district. These places are picturesque at any time of the year, attract tourists and vacationers.
On the banks of the Neva river, white nights are delightful. They come on may 25-26 and end on July 16-17, lasting more than 50 days. The longest duration of the day falls on June 21-22 (18453 min), when the sun only slightly goes below the horizon and the" night " sky is indistinguishable even the brightest stars.
The city is located at 60 deg.S. sh., i.e. at the latitude that passes through the southern part of Alaska, Chukotka, Greenland. Of the major cities at about the same latitude are Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, each of them is affected by the influence of the warm current in the Atlantic-the Gulf stream. In the Western hemisphere, there are no major cities at this or near latitudes. Pulkovo Meridian (31 deg.V. D.) crosses St. Petersburg, as well as (approximately) Kiev, Istanbul, Cairo, but none of the latter cities is similar in nature to the city on the Neva.
Islands
Vasilyevsky Island is the largest island (not counting the unnamed artificial island formed by Obvodny Canal and Fontanka and Kotlin Island (the site of Kronstadt) in the Neva Bay), followed by Petrogradsky, Dekabristov and Krestovsky Islands. The latter, together with Yelagin and Kamenny Island, forms the so-called Kirovskiye islands, covered mostly by parks.
Other islands include:
- Aptekarsky Island
- Artillery Island
- anonersky Island
- New Holland Island
- Spassky Island, between the Fontanka, Moika, Griboyedov and Kryukov canals
- Zayachy Island (Hare Island) - the site of the Peter and Paul Fortress
Relief
Almost the entire territory of St. Petersburg is located on a flat low plain with many ancient sea terraces. One of the most famous — Litorinovaya, which begins near the metro station "Avtovo" and stretches along the Avenue of strikes and all Peterhof highway. It is named after the Littorin sea, which existed on the site of the modern Baltic about 7.5-4 thousand years ago. Within the city, the terrace is heavily modified by man, riddled with streets with heavy traffic.
The average height of the city center above sea level is 5 m. the Northern areas have a height of 1 (swamp Yuntolovsky reserve) to 40 m (Poklonnaya mountain). Southern areas - from 5 to 18 m. and only in the southern and some places in the Northern suburbs, the average elevation is 50-60 m. the Highest point in the city is located at the Duderhof heights and is 176 m. the lowest land point is in Kronstadt-Dock basin with an average annual water level of 11.4 m below zero Kronstadt footstock.