PaldiskiPaldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri Peninsula of northwestern Estonia. Since 2017, it's the administrative centre of Lääne-Harju Parish of Harju County. Previously a village of Estonia-Swedes known by the historical name Rågervik, it was extended into a Russian naval base in the 18th century. The Russian authorities renamed it Балтийский Порт ("Baltiyskiy Port", i.e., Baltic Port, Baltisch-Port) in 1762. In written Estonian, the name was spelled Baltiski until 1933, when the phonetically spelled version Paldiski became official.
PorkkalanniemiPorkkalanniemi (Porkala udd) is a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland, located at Kirkkonummi (Kyrkslätt) in Southern Finland. The peninsula had great strategic value, as coastal artillery based there would be able to shoot more than halfway across the Gulf of Finland. If the same power controlled the Estonian coast, on the opposite side of the gulf, it would then be able to block Saint Petersburg's naval access to the Baltic Sea. The distance to Estonia at the closest point is only .
EstoniansEstonians or Estonian people (eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group who speak the Estonian language. Their nation state is Estonia. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other Finnic languages, e.g. Finnish, Karelian and Livonian. The Finnic languages are a subgroup of the larger Uralic family of languages, which also includes e.g. the Sami languages. These languages are markedly different from most other native languages spoken in Europe, most of which have been assigned to the Indo-European family of languages.
Lake OnegaLake Onega (ou'nEg@; also known as Onego; Onezhskoe ozero, ɐˈnjɛʂskəɪ ˈozjɪrə; Ääninen, Äänisjärvi; Livvi: Oniegujärvi; Änine, Änižjärv) is a lake in northwestern Russia, on the territory of the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic Sea, and is the second-largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga, slightly smaller than Lebanon. The lake is fed by about 50 rivers and is drained by the Svir. There are about 1,650 islands on the lake.
Ringed sealThe ringed seal (Pusa hispida) is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light gray rings, hence its common name. It is the most abundant and wide-ranging ice seal in the Northern Hemisphere, ranging throughout the Arctic Ocean, into the Bering Sea and Okhotsk Sea as far south as the northern coast of Japan in the Pacific and throughout the North Atlantic coasts of Greenland and Scandinavia as far south as Newfoundland, and including two freshwater subspecies in northern Europe.
PskovPskov (Псков; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia. During the Middle Ages, it served as the capital of the Pskov Republic and was a trading post of the Hanseatic League before it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow and became an important border fortress in the Tsardom of Russia.
VotiansVotians, also referred to as Votes, Vots and Vods (ва́ддялайзыд, vađđalaizõd; водь; vadjalased; vatjalaiset) are a Finnic ethnic group native to historical Ingria, the part of modern-day northwestern Russia that is roughly southwest of Saint Petersburg and east of the Estonian border-town of Narva. The Finnic Votic language spoken by Votians is close to extinction. The language is still spoken in three villages of historical Votia and by an unknown number of speakers in the countryside.
Vyborg CastleVyborg Castle (Выборгский замок; Viipurin linna; Viborgs slott) is a fortress in Vyborg, Russia. It was built by the Swedes during the Middle Ages around which the town of Vyborg evolved. The castle became the stronghold of the Swedish realm in the Karelian region. Throughout the centuries, it was the first defence of the kingdom against the Russians. Its military and strategic status in the late Middle Ages was second only to the fortified capital Stockholm. Currently it serves as the site of Vyborg Regional Museum.
NarvaNarva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 53,626 inhabitants (as of 2023) Narva is Estonia's third largest city after capital Tallinn and Tartu. Narva was nearly completely destroyed in 1944 during World War II. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1944–1991, the city's original inhabitants were not permitted to return, and immigrant workers from Soviet Russia and other parts of then Soviet Union (USSR) were introduced.
Vasilyevsky IslandVasilyevsky Island (Васи́льевский о́стров, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south and northeast, and by Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland in the west. Vasilyevsky Island is separated from Dekabristov Island by the Smolenka River. Together they form the territory of Vasileostrovsky District, an administrative division of Saint Petersburg.
