St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Russia’s first Emperor Peter I. In 1712–1918, it was the capital of Russia.  In 1914, the city got the name of Petrograd, while in 1924 it was renamed as Leningrad. It got its historic name back only in 1991. Nowadays, it is Russia’s second largest city after Moscow in terms of population.

• The Neva is one of the most affluent rivers in the European part of Russia. When it comes to average annual flow, it is only behind the Volga, the Pechora, the Northern Dvina and the Kama. The Neva flows out of Lake Ladoga. Over 30 rivers flow into this lake, however it is only the Neva that starts there.

• St. Petersburg is located almost precisely at 60°00′N and 30°00′E. The main astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Science is located in Pulkovo, a suburb of St. Petersburg, and bears its name. The meridian upon which the observatory is locates is eponymous with the suburb and was used as a zero meridian in the Russian Empire, instead of the Greenwich.    

• St. Petersburg is the world’s largest, most northern city: the 60th parallel, on which the city lies, passes through Greenland, Anchorage, Alaska, Magadan, and Oslo, the capital of Norway. The city is famed for its white nights, a major tourist attraction. However, geography-wise the white nights latitude is north of 60°34′, which is almost a whole degree away from St. Petersburg.

Saint Petersburg, Russian Sankt-Peterburg formerly (1914–24) Petrograd or (1924–91) Leningrad, City and port, northwestern Russia. Located on the delta of the Neva River where it enters the Gulf of Finland, it is Russia’s second largest city after Moscow. Founded by Peter I (the Great) in 1703, it was the capital of the Russian Empire from 1712 to 1917. It was the scene of the Decembrist revolt in 1825 and the Bloody Sunday attack on workers in the Russian Revolution of 1905. The original centre of the Bolshevik revolution (see Russian Revolution of 1917), it lost its capital status to Moscow in 1918. In World War II it underwent a siege by German forces (September 1941–January 1944), during which hundreds of thousands of people died (see Siege of Leningrad). From 1990 a reformist city council and mayor helped swing the country from the control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. St. Petersburg is a cultural, educational, and industrial centre and Russia’s largest seaport. Industries include engineering, printing, manufacturing, and shipbuilding. One of Europe’s most beautiful cities, it is strewn with canals and several hundred bridges; its many palaces, cathedrals, museums (including the Hermitage), and historical monuments were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1990.