Karelian Isthmus
Encyclopedia
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
and Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
in northwestern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, to the north of the River Neva (between 61°21’N, 59°46’N and 27°42’E, 31°08’E). Its northwestern boundary is the relatively narrow area between the Bay of Vyborg and Lake Ladoga. If the Karelian Isthmus is defined as the entire territory of present-day Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
to the north of the Neva, the isthmus' area covers about 15,000 km2.
The smaller part of the isthmus to the southeast of the old Russia-Finland border is considered historically as Northern Ingria
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in the eastern Baltic, now part of Russia, comprising the southern bank of the river Neva, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, Lake Peipus in the west, and Lake Ladoga and the western bank of the Volkhov river in the east...
, rather than part of the Karelian Isthmus itself. The rest of the isthmus was historically a part of Finnish Karelia
Finnish Karelia
Karelia is a historical province of Finland. It refers to the Western Karelia that during the second millennium has been under western dominance, religiously and politically. Western, i.e. Finnish Karelia is separate from Eastern, i.e...
. This was conquered by the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
during the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
in 1712 and included within the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
(1809–1917) of the Russian Empire. When Finland became independent in 1917, and Finnish Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
by Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
following the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
(1939–1940) and Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
(1941–1944). In 1940–1941, during the Interim Peace
Interim Peace
The Interim Peace was a short period in the history of Finland during the Second World War. The term is used for the time between the Winter War and the Continuation War, lasting a little over a year, from 13 March 1940 to 24 June 1941...
, most of the ceded territories in the isthmus were included within the Karelo-Finnish SSR
Karelo-Finnish SSR
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived republic that was a part of the former Soviet Union. The republic existed from 1940 until it was merged back into the Russian SFSR in 1956 ....
. However, since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the entire isthmus has been divided between the city of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(mostly Kurortny District
Kurortny District
Kurortny District is a district of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus along the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland. Population:...
), as well as Priozersky District
Priozersky District
Priozersky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Priozersk. District's population: -History:...
, Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
and Vyborgsky District
Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast
Vyborgsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, on the Karelian Isthmus, established in 1940 when the territory had been ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union by Moscow Peace Treaty as a result of the Winter War. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of...
of Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
.
According to the 2002 census
Russian Census (2002)
Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics .-Resident population:...
, the population of the Kurortny District
Kurortny District
Kurortny District is a district of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus along the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland. Population:...
of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and the parts of Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
situated on the Karelian Isthmus amounts to 539,000. Many Saint Petersburg residents also decamp to the Isthmus during their vacations.
Geography and wildlife
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
at about 205 m (670 ft). There are no mountains on the isthmus, but steep hills occur in some places.
The Vuoksi
Vuoksi River
The Vuoksi River runs in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The river enters Lake Ladoga in three branches, an older main northern branch at Priozersk , a smaller branch few km...
, largest river, runs southeastwards from Lake Saimaa
Saimaa
Saimaa is a lake in southeastern Finland. At approximately , it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth largest in Europe. It was formed by glacial melting at the end of the Ice Age. Major towns on the lakeshore include Lappeenranta, Imatra, Savonlinna, Mikkeli, Varkaus, and Joensuu. The...
of Finland to Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
, dividing the isthmus into two uneven parts. Saimaa Canal
Saimaa Canal
The Saimaa Canal is a transportation canal that connects lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia. The canal was built from 1845 to 1856 and opened on 7 September 1856 .It was overhauled and widened in 1963–1968....
opened in 1856 links Lake Saimaa to the Bay of Vyborg.
The Karelian Isthmus lies within the ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
of Scandinavian and Russian taiga
Scandinavian and Russian taiga
The Scandinavian and Russian taiga is an ecoregion within the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome as defined by the WWF classification...
. Geobotanically, it lies at the juncture of the Central European, Eastern European and Northern European floristic province
Floristic province
A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap...
s of the Circumboreal Region
Circumboreal Region
The Circumboreal Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan....
of the Holarctic Kingdom.
The isthmus is mostly covered by coniferous forests
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
formed by Scots pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
(Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce
Norway Spruce
Norway Spruce is a species of spruce native to Europe. It is also commonly referred to as the European Spruce.- Description :...
(Picea abies), with numerous lakes (e.g. Lake Sukhodolskoye
Lake Sukhodolskoye
Lake Sukhodolskoye is a narrow 40 km long lake on the Karelian Isthmus located in Priozersk District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is a part of the Vuoksi River basin, constituting its southern armlet, and drained by Burnaya River....
and Lake Glubokoye) as well as small grass low moors and Sphagnum peat bogs. Forests cover approximately 11.700 km of the isthmus, more than three-fourths of its total square. Swampy areas occupy on average 5.5 percent of the territory. In the large contiguous area along the shore of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
in Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
, in the southeastern part of the isthmus, bogs occur much more frequently than in other parts. The same was once true of the lowland along the Neva River
Neva River
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...
, which has been drained. The soil is predominantly podsol
Podsol
In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous, or boreal forests. They are also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia...
, which contains massive boulders, especially in the north and northwest, where large granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
rocky outcrops occur.
Pine forests (with Pinus sylvestris) are the most widespread and occupy 51% of the forested area of the Karelian Isthmus, followed by spruce forests (with Picea abies, 29%) and birch forests (with Betula pendula and B. pubescens, 16%). Stands on more fertile soils and in more favorable locations are occasionally dominated by Norway maple, black alder, grey alder, common aspen
Populus tremula
Populus tremula, commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, trembling poplar, or quaking aspen, is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from the British Isles east to Kamchatka, north to inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and...
, English oak, grey willow, dark-leaved willow
Salix myrsinifolia
Salix myrsinifolia is a species of willow native to Europe and Western Siberia. It forms a 2–5 m high shrub. In the north it becomes often a tree up to 8 m tall....
, tea-leaved willow
Salix phylicifolia
Salix phylicifolia is a species of willow native to Europe, the Faroe Islands, Scandinavia, Finland, Russia, and Western Siberia.-External links:*...
, small-leaved lime
Tilia cordata
Tilia cordata is a species of Tilia native to much of Europe and western Asia, north to southern Great Britain , central Scandinavia, east to central Russia, and south to central Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, and the Caucasus; in the south of its range it is restricted to...
or European white elm. Common vegetation of various types of pine forests includes heather, crowberry
Empetrum nigrum
Empetrum nigrum is a species of crowberry known as black crowberry which is native to most northern areas of the northern hemisphere, as well as the Falkland Islands in the southern hemisphere....
, common juniper
Juniperus communis
Juniperus communis, the Common Juniper, is a species in the genus Juniperus, in the family Cupressaceae. It has the largest range of any woody plant, throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic south in mountains to around 30°N latitude in North America, Europe and Asia.-...
, eared willow
Salix aurita
Salix aurita is a species of willow distributed over much of Europe, and occasionally cultivated. It is a shrub to 2.5 m in height, distinguished from the similar but slightly larger Salix cinerea by its reddish petioles and young twigs. It was given its name because of the persistent...
, lingonberry
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Vaccinium vitis-idaea is a short evergreen shrub in the heath family that bears edible sour fruit, native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. In the past it was seldom cultivated, but fruit was commonly collected in the wild. ...
, water horsetail, bracken
Pteridium aquilinum
Pteridium aquilinum is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions throughout much of the northern hemisphere....
, graminoids (i.e. grasses in the wider sense) Avenella flexuosa and Carex globularis
Carex globularis
Carex globularis is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to damp forests and wetlands of Asia and Eastern Europe....
, mosses Pleurozium schreberi, Sphagnum angustifolium
Sphagnum angustifolium
Sphagnum angustifolium is a species of peat moss with a Holarctic distribution.-External links:** @ Moss Flora of China...
and S. russowii
Sphagnum russowii
Sphagnum russowii is a species of peat moss with a Holarctic distribution.-External links:** @ Moss Flora of China...
, and lichens Cladonia
Cladonia
Cladonia is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer and caribou. Cladonia species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets in Russia. Antibiotic compounds are extracted from some...
spp. Prominent in various spruce forests are wood horsetail, common wood sorrel, bilberry
Vaccinium myrtillus
Vaccinium myrtillus is an almost Holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit, usually simply referred to as "bilberry" or "whortleberry". It is more precidely called Common Bilberry or Blue Whortleberry, to distinguish it from its Vaccinium relatives...
, lingonberry, graminoids Avenella flexuosa, Calamagrostis arundinacea
Calamagrostis arundinacea
Calamagrostis arundinacea Roth is a species of bunch grass in the Poaceae family, native to Eurasia....
, Carex globularis, and mosses Polytrichum commune
Polytrichum commune
Polytrichum commune is a species of moss found in many regions with high humidity and rainfall...
and Sphagnum girgensohnii
Sphagnum girgensohnii
Common green peat moss is a species of peat moss with a Holarctic and Indo-Malesian distribution.-External links:** @ Moss Flora of China...
. Prominent vegetation of various birch forests include meadowsweet, common wood sorrel, bilberry and graminoids Calamagrostis arundinacea and C. canescens
Calamagrostis canescens
Calamagrostis canescens Roth is a species of grass in the Poaceae family, native to Europe and western Siberia....
.
1184 species of wild vascular plants are recorded in the isthmus. See also the List of the vascular plants of the Karelian Isthmus. Red squirrel
Red Squirrel
The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia...
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
, mountain hare
Mountain Hare
The Mountain Hare , also known as Blue Hare, Tundra Hare, Variable Hare, White Hare, Alpine Hare and Irish Hare, is a hare, which is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. It is distributed from Fennoscandia to eastern Siberia; in addition there are isolated populations in the Alps,...
and boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
(reintroduced) are typical inhabitants of the forests.
The climate of the isthmus is moderately continental
Humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
, with 650–800 mm (25–32 in) average precipitation per year, long snowy winters lasting from November through mid-April and occasionally reaching about -40°C (-40 F), moderately cool summers and short frost-free period. Compared to other parts of the Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
, the winter here is usually milder due to the moderating influence of the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
, but longer.
The city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
and the town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
of Priozersk
Priozersk
Priozersk is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, centered on an island at the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of River Vuoksi on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad with the same name...
are situated on the northwestern part of the isthmus.
The Karelian Isthmus is a popular place for hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
, skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
(Korobitsyno
Korobitsyno
Korobitsyno is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, hosting three popular ski resorts: Zolotaya Dolina, Snezhny, and Krasnoye Ozero...
and Kavgolovo), climbing
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
(near Kuznechnoye
Kuznechnoye
Kuznechnoye is an urban locality in the northern part of Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, located on the Karelian Isthmus...
), canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
(Losevo
Losevo, Leningrad Oblast
Losevo is a station settlement in Priozersky District, Leningrad Oblast, located at the junction of Vuoksi River and Lake Sukhodolskoye on Karelian Isthmus. It is a railway station of the Saint Petersburg–Khiytola railroad...
), fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
for consumption (of carp bream
Carp bream
The common bream, freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream or carp bream, Abramis brama, is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae....
, northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
, roach
Rutilus
Rutilus is a genus of fishes in the family Cyprinidae, commonly called roaches. Locally, the name "roach" without any further qualifiers is also used for particular species, particularly the Common Roach Rutilus (Latin for "shining, red, golden, auburn") is a genus of fishes in the family...
, European perch
European perch
The European perch, Perca fluviatilis, is a predatory species of perch found in Europe and Asia. In some areas it is known as the redfin perch or English perch, and it is often known simply as perch. The species is a popular quarry for anglers and has been widely introduced beyond its native area,...
, ruffe
Ruffe
The Eurasian Ruffe or simply Ruffe is a freshwater fish found in temperate regions of Europe and northern Asia. It has been introduced into the Great Lakes of North America, reportedly with unfortunate results...
, burbot
Burbot
The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...
and others), mushroom hunting
Mushroom hunting
Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild, typically for eating...
(for porcini
Boletus edulis
Boletus edulis, commonly known as penny bun, porcino or cep, is a basidiomycete fungus, and the type species of the genus Boletus. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere across Europe, Asia, and North America, it does not occur naturally in the Southern Hemisphere, although it has been...
, red-capped scaber stalk
Leccinum aurantiacum
Leccinum aurantiacum, is a species of fungus in the genus Leccinum. It is found in forests of Europe, North America and Asia and has a large, characteristically red-capped fruiting body. In North America, it is sometimes referred to by the common name red-capped scaber stalk...
, birch bolete, velvet bolete
Suillus variegatus
Suillus variegatus, commonly called the velvet bolete or variegated bolete, is a species of edible mushroom in the genus Suillus. Like all bolete-like species it has tubes, and pores, instead of gills under its cap. The mushroom forms a mycorrhizal relationship with pine and occurs in North America...
, slippery Jack
Suillus luteus
Suillus luteus is a basidiomycete fungus, and the type species of the genus Suillus. It is a common fungus indigenous to coniferous forests of Eurasia and North America, and introduced to southern Australia and New Zealand...
, golden chanterelle, Lactarius resimus
Lactarius resimus
Lactarius resimus is a species of mushrooms in the genus Lactarius, which is considered a delicacy in Russia and some other countries of Eastern Europe when pickled in salt. There it is considered one of three tastiest edible mushrooms, along with Boletus edulis and Lactarius deliciosus, though it...
, woolly milk-cap
Lactarius torminosus
Lactarius torminosus, commonly known as the woolly milkcap or the bearded milkcap, is a large basidiomycete fungus in the genus Lactarius. It is found in the United Kingdom, Northern Europe, and is common in North America, where it grows in mixed forests in a mycorrhizal association with various...
, ugly milk-cap
Lactarius turpis
Lactarius turpis is commonly known as the Ugly Milk-cap in English. It is found naturally in Europe and Siberia, and has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand...
, saffron milk-cap
Lactarius deliciosus
Lactarius deliciosus, commonly known as the Saffron milk cap, Red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus Lactarius in the order Russulales...
, Lactarius rufus
Lactarius rufus
Lactarius rufus is a common, medium sized member of the Lactarius genus, whose many members are commonly known as milkcaps. Known by the common name of the Rufous Milkcap, or the Red Hot Milk Cap in North America...
, various Russula
Russula
Around 750 worldwide species of mycorrhizal mushrooms compose the genus Russula. They are typically common, fairly large, and brightly colored - making them one of the most recognizable genera among mycologists and mushroom collectors...
s and others), berry picking (of bilberry
Bilberry
Bilberry is any of several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium , bearing edible berries. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., but there are several other closely related species....
, raspberry
Raspberry
The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...
, woodland strawberry
Woodland Strawberry
Fragaria vesca, commonly called wild strawberries or woodland strawberry, is a plant that grows naturally throughout the Northern Hemisphere....
, cowberry, cranberry
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
, cloudberry
Cloudberry
Rubus chamaemorus is a rhizomatous herb native to alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest, producing amber-colored edible fruit similar to the raspberry or blackberry...
, bog bilberry and stone bramble). It is a popular summer resort for Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
citizens since the late 19th century, served by trains of Finlyandsky Rail Terminal. The isthmus, especially the land along Saint Petersburg–Vyborg and Saint Petersburg–Priozersk
Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad
The Saint Petersburg-Hiitola Railway is a 170-kilometre long railway with broad gauge located in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast and Republic of Karelia, which links Finlyandsky Rail Terminal to Hiitola through Devyatkino, Vaskelovo, Sosnovo, Priozersk and Kuznechnoye...
railroads, hosts numerous dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
s.
A 20–35 km wide stretch of land in Vyborgsky District
Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast
Vyborgsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, on the Karelian Isthmus, established in 1940 when the territory had been ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union by Moscow Peace Treaty as a result of the Winter War. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of...
and Republic of Karelia
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas...
to the west of the Vyborg–Hiitola railway, as well as the islands and shores of the Gulf of Vyborg, belongs to the strictly guarded zone of the border control
Border Security Zone of Russia
The Border Security Zone in Russia is the designation of a strip of land where economic activity and access are restricted without permission of the FSB. In order to visit the zone, a permit issued by the local FSB department is required. The restricted access zone The Border Security Zone in...
, reaching the shore of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
at Hiitola. In 1993–2006 the zone was formally 5 km wide, although in fact it has always been much wider. Visiting it is forbidden without a permit issued by the FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
(by KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
during the time of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
).
Geological history
Baltic Shield
The Baltic Shield is located in Fennoscandia , northwest Russia and under the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Shield is defined as the exposed Precambrian northwest segment of the East European Craton...
's crystalline bedrock. During the final part of the last Weichsel glaciation, deglaciation in the central parts of the Isthmus started as early as 14000 BP
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
, when it formed the bottom of a large lake dammed by the surrounding ice sheet
Ice sheet
An ice sheet is a mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km² , thus also known as continental glacier...
. During further deglaciation, at the time of the Baltic Ice Lake
Baltic ice lake
The Baltic ice lake is a name given by geologists to a freshwater lake that gradually formed in the Baltic Sea basin as glaciation retreated from that region at the end of the Pleistocene. The lake, dated to 12,600-10,300 BP, is roughly contemporaneous with the three Pleistocene Blytt-Sernander...
, an early high water stage of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, when the ice sheet retreated to Salpausselkä
Salpausselkä
Salpausselkä is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland. It is a large terminal moraine formation that formed in front of the Baltic ice lake during the Younger Dryas period about 12.250 - 10.400 years ago....
, the upland area of the Isthmus remained a large island and many upland lakes emerged. Prior to 12650 BP, the land was characterized by harsh Arctic conditions
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
with permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
and sparse vegetation
Arctic vegetation
In the Arctic, the low tundra vegetation clothes a landscape of wide vistas, lit by the low-angle light characteristic of high latitudes. Much of the Arctic shows little impact from human activities, making it one of the few places on earth one can see intact ecosystems. Those who have had the...
. Steppe-tundra
Steppe-tundra
Steppe-tundra is a very cold dry-climate vegetation type consisting of mostly treeless open herbaceous vegetation. it was widespread during Pleistocene times at mid-latitudes of North America and Eurasia. Steppe-tundra can be divided into two types...
complexes developed after this point. Around 11000 BP climate began to warm and became humid, first pine and birch forests were established.
Around 9000 BP Ancylus Lake
Ancylus Lake
Ancylus lake is a name given by geologists to the body of fresh water that replaced the Yoldia Sea after the latter had been severed from its saline intake across central Sweden by the isostatic rise of south Scandinavian landforms. The dates are approximately 9500-8000 BP calibrated, during the...
, another stage of the Baltic Sea, retreated, and many lowland lakes were also isolated in depressions formed earlier by glacial exaration and fluvioglacial activity. Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
was separated from the sea as well. Due to land uplift, around 5000 BP the River Vuoksi started emptying into Lake Ladoga as a new outlet of Lake Saimaa. Lake Ladoga transgressed
Transgression (geology)
A marine transgression is a geologic event during which sea level rises relative to the land and the shoreline moves toward higher ground, resulting in flooding. Transgressions can be caused either by the land sinking or the ocean basins filling with water...
, flooding lowland lakes and the Vuoksi, and got connected with the sea at Heinjoki (now Veshchevo), to the east of present-day Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
. Around 3100–2400 BP the Neva River
Neva River
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...
emerged, draining Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
into the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. Ladoga level gradually sank from 15–18 m to its modern position of 4–5 m above sea-level, and lowland lakes were isolated again. However, the Vuoksi still had a significant direct outflow connection to the Bay of Vyborg, possibly as late as in the 12th century AD. The connection disappeared due to ongoing land uplift in the 2nd millennium AD.
In 1818 a canal, which was dug to drain spring flood waters from Lake Suvanto (now Lake Sukhodolskoye, a 40-km long narrow lake in the eastern part of the Isthmus) into Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
, unexpectedly eroded and turned into the Taipaleenjoki (now Burnaya River). The Taipaleenjoki started draining Suvanto and decreased its level by 7 m. Originally waters of Lake Suvanto flowed into the Vuoksi River through a waterway at Kiviniemi
Kiviniemi
Kiviniemi may refer to*Mari Kiviniemi, Finnish politician*Kalevi Kiviniemi, Finnish concert organist*Losevo, Leningrad Oblast...
(now Losevo), but as a result of the change, the waterway dried out. In 1857 the canal was dug there, but the stream reversed direction, revealed rapids and rendered navigation at Kiviniemi impossible. Since 1857 Suvanto and the Taipaleenjoki have constituted the southern armlet of the Vuoksi River, which has decreased the level of the original northern armlet emptying into Ladoga near Kexholm (now Priozersk) by 4 m, isolating it as a separate river basin.
Cities, towns and urban-type settlements
- KamennogorskKamennogorskKamennogorsk , known as Antrea before 1948, is a town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus on the left bank of the Vuoksa River northwest of St. Petersburg...
- KuznechnoyeKuznechnoyeKuznechnoye is an urban locality in the northern part of Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, located on the Karelian Isthmus...
(Kaarlahti) - LesogorskyLesogorskyLesogorsky is an urban locality in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, located on the Karelian Isthmus near the Russia–Finland border, and a station of the Kamennogorsk–Svetogorsk–Imatra railway...
(Jääski) - PrimorskPrimorsk, Leningrad OblastPrimorsk is a coastal town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and the largest Russian port on the Baltic. It is located on the Karelian Isthmus, west of St. Petersburg, at the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland, near Birch Islands, protected as a sea bird sanctuary...
(Koivisto) - PriozerskPriozerskPriozersk is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, centered on an island at the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of River Vuoksi on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad with the same name...
(Käkisalmi) - RoshchinoRoshchinoRoshchino , before 1948–Raivola, is an urban locality in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and a station on the Saint Petersburg-Vyborg railroad. It is situated on the Karelian Isthmus northwest of St. Petersburg, approximately half-way to Vyborg...
(Raivola) - Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(Pietari) - SertolovoSertolovoSertolovo is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located north of St. Petersburg. Population: It was founded in 1936 on the place of a former settlement of Ingrian Finns, whose inhabitants were deported. Urban-type settlement status was granted to it in 1977 and town status—in 1999.-External...
(Sierattala)
- SestroretskSestroretskSestroretsk is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the Sestra River and the Sestroretskiy Lake northwest of St. Petersburg...
(Siestarjoki) - SovetskySovetsky, Leningrad OblastSovetsky is an urban locality in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and a station of the Vyborg–Primorsk railroad. It is situated on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Vyborg on the Karelian Isthmus...
(Johannes) - SvetogorskSvetogorskSvetogorsk is an industrial town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus, on the Vuoksa River. It is located one kilometer from the Russian–Finnish border, five kilometers from the Finnish town of Imatra, and 207 kilometers from St. Petersburg...
(Enso) - ToksovoToksovoToksovo is an urban locality in Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located to the north of St. Petersburg on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by two neighboring stations of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad: Toksovo and Kavgolovo...
(Toksova) - VsevolozhskVsevolozhskVsevolozhsk is a town and the administrative center of Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus east of St. Petersburg. Population: The town's name came from manufacturer Vsevolozhsky...
(Seuloskoi) - VyborgVyborgVyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
(Viipuri) - VysotskVysotskVysotsk is a coastal town and a seaport in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Vyborg, southwest of Vyborg and northwest of St. Petersburg. It hosts a base of the Russian Baltic Fleet and an oil terminal...
(Uuras) - ZelenogorskZelenogorsk, Saint PetersburgZelenogorsk , ' before 1948, is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located in part of the Karelian Isthmus on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, and a station on the St. Petersburg-Vyborg railroad. It is located about northwest of central Saint...
(Terijoki).
Archaeology
Korela Fortress
Korela Fortress , at the town of Priozersk, was founded by the Karelians who named the place Käkisalmi.- Origin :...
, and churches on the Konevets
Konevets
Konevets is an approximately 8.5-km² island famous as the site of the Konevsky Monastery. It is located off the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga near the village of Vladimirovka. The island is part of the Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast. The nearest town is Priozersk, which is located...
island of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
, since the late 19th century a number of other archaeological sites have been discovered on the isthmus. Numerous archaeological remnants of the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
, Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
, Copper Age
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
and Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
occur all over the isthmus. The eastern part of the Karelian Isthmus hosts a number of medieval remnants. There are many grave pits of Karelians of the 10th-15th centuries with metal and ceramic artifacts along the northern armlet of the Vuoksi, near Lake Sukhodolskoye
Lake Sukhodolskoye
Lake Sukhodolskoye is a narrow 40 km long lake on the Karelian Isthmus located in Priozersk District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is a part of the Vuoksi River basin, constituting its southern armlet, and drained by Burnaya River....
and in a few other places in Priozersky District
Priozersky District
Priozersky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Priozersk. District's population: -History:...
. On the southern shore of Lake Sukhodolskoye small medieval burial mounds are abundant as well. A lot of large cult stones have been found along these bodies of water, as well as agglomerations of cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
s. Remnants of several rural settlements were also discovered there as well as on the shore of Lake Ladoga. Remnants of the Tiuri (Tiversk
Tiversk
Tiversk or Tiversky gorodok was a medieval Karelian fortified settlement 215–300 m. long and 40–56 m. wide in the Karelian Isthmus, near Melnikovo, Leningrad Oblast...
) town (10th-15th centuries) were excavated on a former island in the northern Vuoksi armlet near the Tiuri village (now Vasilyevo). A few treasures of silver adornments and medieval Arabian and Western European coins have also been found, as the isthmus laid on the Volga trade route
Volga trade route
In the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea, via the Volga River. The Rus used this route to trade with Muslim countries on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, sometimes penetrating as far as Baghdad...
(at that time, the Vuoksi River
Vuoksi River
The Vuoksi River runs in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The river enters Lake Ladoga in three branches, an older main northern branch at Priozersk , a smaller branch few km...
had a distributary emptying into the Bay of Vyborg).
Prehistory and Medieval
Ancestors of Finnic people wandered to the Karelian Isthmus possibly around 8500BCE.In the 11th century, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Novgorod Republic
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a large medieval Russian state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th centuries, centred on the city of Novgorod...
started to compete tax holding rights. The Treaty of Nöteborg
Treaty of Nöteborg
Treaty of Nöteborg, also known as Treaty of Oreshek , is a conventional name for the peace treaty that was signed at Orekhovets on August 12, 1323. It was the first settlement between Sweden and Novgorod Republic regulating their border...
of 1323 established a border between them along the rivers now known as the Sestra
Sestra River (Leningrad Oblast)
Sestra River is a river in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, Russia.The length of the river is 74 km . The area of its basin is 393 km² . The Sestra River flows over the Karelian Isthmus. It used to fall into the Gulf of Finland until the early 18th century...
and the Volchya
17th-20th centuries
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in the eastern Baltic, now part of Russia, comprising the southern bank of the river Neva, between the Gulf of Finland, the Narva River, Lake Peipus in the west, and Lake Ladoga and the western bank of the Volkhov river in the east...
. In this time many Karelians escaped to Tver's Karelia.
From 1721–1812 the isthmus belonged to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, won in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
that started with the Russian conquest of Ingria where the new imperial capital, Saint Petersburg, was founded (1703) in the southern end of the isthmus, in place of old Swedish town Nyenskans. Then in 1812, the northwestern half was transferred, as a part of Old Finland
Old Finland
thumb|right|260px|The areas that Sweden lost to Russia in the wars of 1721 and 1743Old Finland is a name used for the areas that Russia gained from Sweden in the Great Northern War and in the Russo-Swedish War...
, to the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
, created in 1809 and in a personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with Russia.
Due to its size, favorable climate, rich fishing waters and proximity to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, the capital of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, the Karelian Isthmus became the wealthiest part of Finland once the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
had gained momentum in the 19th century. The railroads Saint Petersburg–Vyborg–Riihimäki (1870), Vyborg–Hiitola–Sortavala
Vyborg–Joensuu railroad
The old Karelian railroad between Viipuri and Joensuu is a railway with broad gauge, which used to link Joensuu, Sortavala, Hiitola, Antrea and Viipuri...
(1893), Saint Petersburg–Kexholm–Hiitola
Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad
The Saint Petersburg-Hiitola Railway is a 170-kilometre long railway with broad gauge located in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast and Republic of Karelia, which links Finlyandsky Rail Terminal to Hiitola through Devyatkino, Vaskelovo, Sosnovo, Priozersk and Kuznechnoye...
(1917) crossed the isthmus, contributing to its economic development. By the end of the 19th century the nearby areas along the Saint Petersburg–Vyborg section had become popular place of summer resort for wealthy Saint Petersburgers.
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
and some districts of Saint Petersburg) remained Finnish, part of the Viipuri province
Viipuri Province
The Viipuri Province was a province of independent Finland from 1917 to 1947 but had already been founded in 1743.-History:The province was established in 1743 by separating the city of Viipuri and territories ceded from the Swedish Empire to Russia by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, from the Saint...
with its center in Viipuri, the second largest Finnish city. A considerable part of the remaining area populated by Ingrian Finns
Ingrian Finns
The Ingrian Finns are the Finnish population of Ingria descending from Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced to the area in the 17th century, when Finland and Ingria were both part of the Swedish Empire...
seceded from Bolshevist Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
as the Finland-backed Republic of North Ingria, but was reintegrated with Russia in the end of 1920 according to the conditions of the Treaty of Tartu
Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Finnish)
The Treaty of Tartu between Finland and Soviet Russia was signed on 14 October 1920 after negotiations that lasted for four months. The treaty confirmed the border between Finland and Soviet Russia after the Finnish civil war and Finnish volunteer expeditions in Russian East Karelia. Ratifications...
. In 1928–1939 parts of the isthmus which belonged to Russia constituted the Kuivaisi National District with its center in Toksova, with Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
as the official language, according to the policy of national delimitation in the Soviet Union. However, in 1936 the entire Finnish population of the parishes of Valkeasaari, Lempaala
Lempaala
Lempaala may refer to:*Lempäälä, a municipality in Finland*Lempaala, Finnish name of Lembolovo, a rural locality in Russia...
, Vuole and Miikkulainen along the Finnish border was deported
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population, often classified as "enemies of workers," deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite...
by the Soviet government.
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, such as Mannerheim Line
Mannerheim Line
The Mannerheim Line was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. During the Winter War it became known as the Mannerheim Line, after Field Marshal Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The line was constructed in two phases: 1920–1924 and...
, VKT-line
VKT-line
The VKT-line or Viipuri–Kuparsaari–Taipale line was a Finnish defensive line on Karelian Isthmus during the Continuation War, spanning from Viipuri through Tali and Kuparsaari along the northern shore of Vuoksi River, Suvanto and Taipaleenjoki to Taipale on the western shore of Lake Ladoga, using...
, VT-line
VT-line
The VT-line or Vammelsuu–Taipale line was a Finnish defensive line on the Karelian Isthmus built in 1942–1944 during the Continuation War and running from Vammelsuu on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland through Kuuterselkä and Kivennapa and along Taipaleenjoki to Taipale on the western...
, Main line (Finnish) and KaUR
Kaur
Kaur in Sikhism is a mandatory middle name for female Sikhs.-History:Kaur is a name used by Sikh women either as the middle name, or as a last name. It cannot be regarded as a true surname or family name...
(Soviet), and fronts moved back and forth over it.
In November 1939, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
staged the Shelling of Mainila
Shelling of Mainila
The Shelling of Mainila was a military incident on November 26, 1939, where the Soviet Union's Red Army shelled the Russian village of Mainila , declared that the fire originated from Finland across a nearby border and claimed losses in personnel...
and invaded Finland in what became known as the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
, which took a disproportionally heavy death toll on the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. Only in February 1940 did the Soviet forces manage to penetrate the Mannerheim Line
Mannerheim Line
The Mannerheim Line was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. During the Winter War it became known as the Mannerheim Line, after Field Marshal Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. The line was constructed in two phases: 1920–1924 and...
across the isthmus, strength of which is often exaggerated. Finland ceded the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia to the Soviet Union in the Peace of Moscow
Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)
The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War. The treaty ceded parts of Finland to the Soviet Union. However, it preserved Finland's independence, ending the Soviet...
of March 12. According to the protocol appended to the Moscow Peace Treaty, the fighting was ended at noon (Leningrad time), March 13, and by March 26 the Finnish troops had been completely withdrawn. The entire Karelian population of the ceded areas of about 422 thousand people was evacuated to other parts of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
(see Evacuation of Finnish Karelia
Evacuation of Finnish Karelia
As a result of the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty that concluded the Winter War, Finland ceded the area of Finnish Karelia and other territories to the Soviet Union...
). On March 31 most of the ceded territories were incorporated into Karelo-Finnish SSR
Karelo-Finnish SSR
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived republic that was a part of the former Soviet Union. The republic existed from 1940 until it was merged back into the Russian SFSR in 1956 ....
by a decision of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union (in the Karelian Isthmus the districts of Jääski, Kexholm and Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
). The districts of Kanneljärvi, Koivisto
Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast
Primorsk is a coastal town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and the largest Russian port on the Baltic. It is located on the Karelian Isthmus, west of St. Petersburg, at the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland, near Birch Islands, protected as a sea bird sanctuary...
and Rautu as well as the town of Terijoki were, however, included into Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. Few days later Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
as it is known in Finland (it is considered to be a front of the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and Russia) started. Finland initially regained the lost territory, reaching the Russian side of the border of 1939 and seen by the Russians as indirectly contributing to the Siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
(see Finnish reconquest of the Karelian Isthmus (1941)
Finnish reconquest of the Karelian Isthmus (1941)
The Finnish reconquest of the Karelian Isthmus refers to a military campaign carried out by Finland in 1941. It was part of what is commonly referred to as the Continuation War.Early in the war Finnish forces reconquered the Karelian Isthmus...
). Some 260,000 Karelian evacuees returned home.
On 9 June 1944, strong Soviet forces opened the Vyborg Offensive and pushed the front from the pre-1939 border to Vyborg in ten days. The returned Karelians were evacuated
Evacuation of Finnish Karelia
As a result of the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty that concluded the Winter War, Finland ceded the area of Finnish Karelia and other territories to the Soviet Union...
to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
again. In the Battle of Tali-Ihantala
Battle of Tali-Ihantala
The Battle of Tali-Ihantala was part of the Continuation War , which occurred during World War II. The battle was fought between Finnish forces—using war material provided by Germany—and Soviet forces...
, 25 June–9 July, the Finns concentrated their military strength and brought the offensive to a halt at the River Vuoksi, in the northwesternmost part of the isthmus, at the closest point only 40 kilometres from the border of 1940. The Moscow Armistice
Moscow Armistice
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...
ending the war was signed on September 19, 1944. The entire isthmus became Soviet, although most of it has never been captured by the Soviets in battles. This time the ceded territories of the Karelian Isthmus (including the districts of Jääski, Kexholm and Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
) were incorporated into Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
(unlike Ladoga Karelia, which remained within the Karelo-Finnish SSR). The border of the Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)
Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)
The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War. The treaty ceded parts of Finland to the Soviet Union. However, it preserved Finland's independence, ending the Soviet...
was recognized by Finland again in the Peace of Paris
Paris Peace Treaties, 1947
The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...
, 1947.
After the war
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
and people from other parts of the Soviet Union, mostly Russian, were settled here. The vast majority of the old Finnish toponyms in the conquered territories were renamed to invented Russian ones by the government around 1948. The Finnish toponyms of the territories included within Karelo-Finnish SSR and of the southern part of the isthmus (albeit assimilated) mostly remained. A lot of youth summer camps
Young Pioneer camp
Young Pioneer camp was the name for the vacation or summer camp of Young Pioneers. In the 20th century these camps existed in many socialist countries, particularly in the Soviet Union....
were built all over the isthmus during the time of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Some of them still exist.
Transport
Transport corridor
A transportation corridor is a tract of land in which at least one main line for transport, be it road, rail or canal, has been built...
linking Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and Central Russia. Primorsk
Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast
Primorsk is a coastal town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and the largest Russian port on the Baltic. It is located on the Karelian Isthmus, west of St. Petersburg, at the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland, near Birch Islands, protected as a sea bird sanctuary...
, terminus of the Baltic Pipeline System
Baltic Pipeline System
The Baltic Pipeline System is a Russian oil transport system operated by the oil pipeline company Transneft. The BPS transports oil from the Timan-Pechora region, West Siberia and Urals-Volga regions to Primorsk oil terminal at the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.-History:The project started...
, which has recently become one of the most efficient Russian sea ports, is also located here.
The only motorway on the isthmus is the recently completed E18 "Scandinavia"
European route E18
European route E18 runs from Craigavon in the United Kingdom to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It is about 1,890 km in length.-United Kingdom:...
(M10) going from Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
through Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
and Vaalimaa
Vaalimaa
Vaalimaa is a border crossing point between Finland and Russia. It is located in the Virolahti municipality. With over 2 million annual crossings, it is the busiest border crossing in the Finnish-Russian border, which is also the border of the European Union and Russia. European route E18 passes...
.
Saimaa Canal
Saimaa Canal
The Saimaa Canal is a transportation canal that connects lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia. The canal was built from 1845 to 1856 and opened on 7 September 1856 .It was overhauled and widened in 1963–1968....
(opened in 1856) is an important link connecting inland waterways of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
with the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
.
The Karelian Isthmus is served by a number of railways; the trains arrive from Finlyandsky Rail Terminal and Ladozhsky Rail Terminal of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
:
- Saint Petersburg-Hiitola railroad
- eastern part of the Saint Petersburg-Riihimäki railroad
- Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
– SestroretskSestroretskSestroretsk is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the Sestra River and the Sestroretskiy Lake northwest of St. Petersburg...
- BeloostrovBeloostrovBeloostrov , from 1922 to World War II—Krasnoostrov , is a municipal settlement in Kurortny District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the Sestra River, Karelian Isthmus, and a key station of the Saint Petersburg-Vyborg railroad since 1870 at the junction of Saint... - southern part of the Vyborg-Joensuu railroad
- Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
– VsevolozhskVsevolozhskVsevolozhsk is a town and the administrative center of Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus east of St. Petersburg. Population: The town's name came from manufacturer Vsevolozhsky...
– Ladozhskoye Ozero - Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
– VsevolozhskVsevolozhskVsevolozhsk is a town and the administrative center of Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus east of St. Petersburg. Population: The town's name came from manufacturer Vsevolozhsky...
– Petrokrepost – Nevskaya Dubrovka - VyborgVyborg railway stationVyborg railway station is a railway station located in the town of Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.The original station building was built in 1913 but was destroyed in the Continuation War. The current station building was built in Soviet times....
- Veschevo (earlier also through ZhitkovoZhitkovoZhitkovo is a settlement on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast. It was a station of the Vyborg–Veshchevo–Zhitkovo–Michurinskoye railroad constructed by Finland in the 1920s. However, the Zhitkovo-Michurinskoye link has been dismantled in the 1950s, and the...
to MichurinskoyeMichurinskoye, Leningrad OblastMichurinskoye is a settlement on Karelian Isthmus, in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast. Before the Winter War and Continuation War it was the administrative center of the Valkjärvi municipality of Finland....
) - KamennogorskKamennogorskKamennogorsk , known as Antrea before 1948, is a town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus on the left bank of the Vuoksa River northwest of St. Petersburg...
– SvetogorskSvetogorskSvetogorsk is an industrial town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus, on the Vuoksa River. It is located one kilometer from the Russian–Finnish border, five kilometers from the Finnish town of Imatra, and 207 kilometers from St. Petersburg...
– ImatraImatraImatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland, founded in 1948 around three industrial settlements near the Finnish–Russian border. In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and... - ZelenogorskZelenogorskZelenogorsk may refer to one of the following:*Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia*Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg, a municipal town in Russia under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg...
– PrimorskPrimorsk, Leningrad OblastPrimorsk is a coastal town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and the largest Russian port on the Baltic. It is located on the Karelian Isthmus, west of St. Petersburg, at the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland, near Birch Islands, protected as a sea bird sanctuary...
– SovetskySovetsky, Leningrad OblastSovetsky is an urban locality in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and a station of the Vyborg–Primorsk railroad. It is situated on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Vyborg on the Karelian Isthmus...
- VyborgVyborg railway stationVyborg railway station is a railway station located in the town of Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.The original station building was built in 1913 but was destroyed in the Continuation War. The current station building was built in Soviet times....
Industry
The pulp-and-paper, timberLogging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
industries (JSC Svetogorsk, pulp and paper mill in Svetogorsk
Svetogorsk
Svetogorsk is an industrial town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus, on the Vuoksa River. It is located one kilometer from the Russian–Finnish border, five kilometers from the Finnish town of Imatra, and 207 kilometers from St. Petersburg...
, Vyborgsky Pulp and Paper Mill in Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
, Priozersky Furniture and Woodworking Industrial Complex and Priozersky Woodworking Factory in Priozersk
Priozersk
Priozersk is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, centered on an island at the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of River Vuoksi on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad with the same name...
, as well as other smaller enterprises all over the isthmus) are well developed in Vyborgsky
Vyborgsky District
Vyborgsky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia.*Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast, an administrative and municipal district of Leningrad Oblast...
and Priozersky
Priozersky District
Priozersky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Priozersk. District's population: -History:...
Districts. The pulp and paper industry, however, affects the environment adversely. The predecessor of the Priozersk facilities, Priozersky Pulp and Paper Mill, a major polluter
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
constructed in 1931, was closed down in 1986. Northern and western parts of the isthmus are also an important reserve of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
(quarries in Kuznechnoye
Kuznechnoye
Kuznechnoye is an urban locality in the northern part of Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, located on the Karelian Isthmus...
, as well as a number of others along the Vyborg-Hiitola railroad).
Vyborg Shipyard is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in Northwestern Russia. Roskar Battery Farm in Pervomayskoye
Pervomayskoye, Leningrad Oblast
Pervomayskoye is a rural locality in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, on the Karelian Isthmus, located northwest of Saint Petersburg...
is a leading producer of chicken
Chicken (food)
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture.- History :...
and eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
.
In Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
state-owned Morozov Plant is located, which is an important producer of paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
s, adhesive
Adhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
s, abrasive
Abrasive
An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away...
s and other substances. In Kuzmolovsky, Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
, near the station Kapitolovo of the Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad
Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad
The Saint Petersburg-Hiitola Railway is a 170-kilometre long railway with broad gauge located in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast and Republic of Karelia, which links Finlyandsky Rail Terminal to Hiitola through Devyatkino, Vaskelovo, Sosnovo, Priozersk and Kuznechnoye...
, a facility of the Saint Petersburg nuclear enterprise Izotop is located, which specializes in transportation of nuclear materials and radioactive waste
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
. Bogs of Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
along the shores of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
and the Neva River
Neva River
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...
were major sources of peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
for fuel. Now it is extracted in smaller quantities, mostly for agricultural purposes. The district is also an important supplier of sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
. A plant of Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
producing Ford Focus cars was opened in Vsevolozhsk
Vsevolozhsk
Vsevolozhsk is a town and the administrative center of Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus east of St. Petersburg. Population: The town's name came from manufacturer Vsevolozhsky...
in 2002.
Military
The Karelian Isthmus is included within Leningrad Military DistrictLeningrad Military District
The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.-History:...
of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are the military services of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR...
. The isthmus hosts airfields in Levashovo
Levashovo (air base)
Levashovo is an air base located to the southwest of Levashovo, within the northern limits of the federal subject of Saint Petersburg, Russia...
, Pribylovo
Pribylovo
Pribilovo is a settlement on Karelian Isthmus, in the Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Vyborg. It hosts an air base in Russia located 28 km south of Vyborg, and a naval military airfield with 10 medium-sized revetments and 12 large ones. The airfield...
and Gromovo
Gromovo
Gromovo is a settlement in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located 18 km northwest of Sosnovo, and a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railway. Gromovo is situated on the northern shore of the Lake Sukhodolskoye, Karelian Isthmus. Until the Winter War and the...
. Other airfields in Veshchevo
Veshchevo
Veshchevo is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, and a station of the Vyborg–Zhitkovo railroad. The railway track between Veshchevo and Zhitkovo was, however, dismantled in 2001. Until the Winter War and Continuation War, it had been the...
and Kasimovo (Vartemyagi) have been abandoned. In the northern part of Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
, to the south of the old Finnish border, Karelian Fortified Region
Karelian Fortified Region
22nd Karelian Fortified Region is a 60 km wide area of Soviet defensive fortifications to the north of Leningrad that was built in 1928-1932, 1938-1939, 1941-1944 and 1950-1965 in the Soviet part of Karelian Isthmus among other fortified areas constructed around that time in order to protect...
(KaUR) is located, which was reconstructed as late as in the 1960s, but now seems to be abandoned as well. There is Bobochinsky tank range (195.975 km², founded in 1913) between Kamenka
Kamenka, Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast
Kamenka is a rural location on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, to the west of the railway station Kirillovskoye. The Nikolayevsky artillery range has been situated to the east of Kamenka since 1913.The 138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, formerly the 45th Guards Motor...
and Kirillovskoye
Kirillovskoye
Kirillovskoye is a settlement on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, near the European route E18, and an important station of the Saint Petersburg-Vyborg railroad, being the final destination of many electric passenger trains arriving from Finlyandsky Rail Terminal...
and a number of military facilities in Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
in the lowlands between Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
and Saint Petersburg-Hiitola railroad, including Rzhevsky artillery range (founded in 1879), a huge area encircled by the Road of Life
Road of Life
The Road of Life was the ice road transport route across the frozen Lake Ladoga, which provided the only access to the besieged city of Leningrad in the winter months during 1941–1944 while the perimeter in the siege was maintained by the German Army Group North and the Finnish Defence Forces. ...
, the roads Rzhevka - Devyatkino
Devyatkino
Devyatkino is a station of the Saint Petersburg Metro and St. Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railway. It is the only Metro station located outside the city limits, in Leningrad Oblast....
and Devyatkino - Matoksa and the coast of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
(available for visitors since 2003). In 2006 an over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar, or OTH , is a design concept for radar systems to allow them to detect targets at very long ranges, typically up to thousands of kilometers...
was built in Lekhtusi, Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District
Vsevolozhsky District is a district of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located in the southeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Vsevolozhsk. District's population:...
. The port of Vysotsk
Vysotsk
Vysotsk is a coastal town and a seaport in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus, on the eastern shore of the Bay of Vyborg, southwest of Vyborg and northwest of St. Petersburg. It hosts a base of the Russian Baltic Fleet and an oil terminal...
is a base of the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
. 138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade is dislocated in Kamenka
Kamenka, Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Oblast
Kamenka is a rural location on Karelian Isthmus, in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, to the west of the railway station Kirillovskoye. The Nikolayevsky artillery range has been situated to the east of Kamenka since 1913.The 138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, formerly the 45th Guards Motor...
, and 56th District Training Centre in Sertolovo
Sertolovo
Sertolovo is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located north of St. Petersburg. Population: It was founded in 1936 on the place of a former settlement of Ingrian Finns, whose inhabitants were deported. Urban-type settlement status was granted to it in 1977 and town status—in 1999.-External...
.
Notable people from the isthmus
- Martti AhtisaariMartti AhtisaariMartti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
, Finnish president - Georg ElfvengrenGeorg ElfvengrenColonel Georg Elfvengren was a Finnish officer of the Russian Imperial Guard during the First World War and a noted commander of the Finnish Civil War and Heimosodat, who sympathized with the Russian White movement and fought against Finnish and Russian Red Guards on the Karelian Isthmus on both...
, Finnish military commander - Gustav HägglundGustav HägglundJohan Edvin Birger Gustav Hägglund is a retired Finnish general. He was the Chief of Defence 1994—2001, and Chairman of the European Union Military Committee 2001–2004....
, Finnish military commander - Max JakobsonMax JakobsonMax Jakobson is a retired Finnish Jewish diplomat and journalist.Jakobson began his career as a journalist. He worked at the BBC. From 1953 to 1974 he was employed by the Finnish foreign ministry, eventually acting as Finland's ambassador to the United Nations and Sweden...
, Finnish diplomat - Gustaf KomppaGustaf KomppaGustaf Komppa was a Finnish chemist best known for a world-first in commercializing total synthesis, that of camphor in 1903....
, Finnish chemist - Juho NiukkanenJuho NiukkanenJuho Niukkanen was a Finnish politician prior to, during, and after the Winter War. He was a member of parliament 1917–1932 and 1936–1954, and represented the Agrarian Party . He served as a minister in many cabinets...
, Finnish politician - Karl Lennart OeschKarl Lennart OeschKarl Lennart Oesch was one of the leading Finnish generals during World War II. He held a string of high staff assignments and front commands, and at the end of the Continuation War fully two-thirds of the Finnish ground forces were under his command...
, Finnish military commander - Larin ParaskeLarin ParaskeLarin Paraske was an Izhorian oral poet. She is considered a key figure in Finnish folk poetry and has been called the "Finnish Mnemosyne"...
, Finnish oral poet - Uno UllbergUno UllbergUno Ullberg was a famous Finnish architect. Was the first to introduce to Viipuri the important international tendency in architecture known as Functionalism...
, Finnish architect - Johannes VirolainenJohannes VirolainenJohannes Virolainen was a Finnish politician.Virolainen was born near Viipuri. After the Continuation War Virolainen moved to Lohja, but he remained one of the leaders of the evacuated Karelians, and never gave up the hope that Soviet Union and later Russia would return Finnish Karelia to Finland...
, Finnish politician - Artturi Ilmari VirtanenArtturi Ilmari VirtanenArtturi Ilmari Virtanen was a Finnish chemist and recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.-Early life:Virtanen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He completed his school education at the Classical Lyceum in Viipuri, Finland. He married the botanist Lilja Moisio in 1920 and had two sons with her...
, Finnish chemist, recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in ChemistryNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,... - Edith SödergranEdith SödergranEdith Irene Södergran was a Swedish-speaking Finnish poet. She was one of the first modernists within Swedish-language literature and her influences came from French Symbolism, German expressionism and Russian futurism. At the age of 24 she released her first collection of poetry entitled Dikter...
, Swedish-speaking Finnish poet.
Cultural references
- The Karelian IsthmusThe Karelian Isthmus-2003 Re-release:#"Pilgrimage from Darkness" – 4:32#"Black Embrace" – 3:25#"Privilege of Evil" – 3:50#"Misery Path" – 4:17#"Vulgar Necrolatry" – 3:58#"Excursing from Existence" – 3:06-Personnel:* Tomi Koivusaari − vocals, guitar, six string acoustic guitar...
is the name of the debut album of the Finnish band AmorphisAmorphisAmorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other types of genres, which include heavy metal, progressive metal, and folk metal...
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External links
- Detailed and historical maps (site navigation in Russian)
- Site of the local history association "Karelia" (in Russian).
- Terijoki.spb.ru (in Russian)
Further reading
- Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Юго-западный сектор, часть 1: Кивеннапа - Териоки (Первомайское - Зеленогорск). СПб.: Новое время, 1998. ISBN 5930450161.
- Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Юго-западный сектор, часть 2: Уусикиркко (Поляны). СПб.: Новое время, 2000. ISBN 5875170220.
- Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Юго-западный сектор, часть 3: Каннельярви - Куолемаярви (Победа - Пионерское). СПб.: Новое время, 1998. ISBN 593045017Х.
- Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 2-3. Юго-западный сектор: Уусикиркко - Куолемаярви - Каннельярви (Поляны - Красная Долина - Победа). 2-е изд., перераб. и доп. СПб.: Нива, 2002. ISBN 586456124Х.
- Шитов Д.И. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 4. Восточный сектор: Рауту - Саккола (Сосново - Громово). СПб.: Нордмед-Издат, 2000. ISBN 5931140409.
- Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 5. Западный сектор: Койвисто (Приморск). СПб.: КультИнформПресс, 2002. ISBN 5839202169.
- Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 5 - 6. Западный сектор: Койвисто - Йоханнес (Приморск - Советский). 2-е изд., испр. и доп. СПб.: Нива, 2003. ISBN 5864561029.
- Орехов Д.И., Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 7. Центральный сектор: Муолаа - Яюряпяя (Красносельское - Барышево). СПб.: Нива, 2004. ISBN 5864560782.
- Орехов Д.И., Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 8. Восточный сектор: Метсяпиртти (Запорожское). СПб.: Нива, 2005. ISBN 5864561169.
- Балашов Е. А. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 9. Центральный сектор: Валкъярви - Вуоксела (Мичуринское - Ромашки). СПб.: Нива, 2005. ISBN 5864560650.
- Шитов Д.И. Карельский перешеек: Земля неизведанная. Часть 10. Северо-восточный сектор: Ряйсяля (Мельниково). СПб., 2006. ISBN 5864561185.
- Иллюстрированный определитель растений Карельского перешейка / Под ред. А. Л. Буданцева, Г. П. Яковлева. – СПб: СпецЛит, 2000.