The seaside position of St. Petersburg determines the great importance of the city in the Russian economy as a major export center. It was created as the entry point of the Russian state to the European market. However, St. Petersburg is important not only as an export port. In the article, we consider the climate of the city and geographical location.
St. Petersburg - a city on two seas
The construction site of the city was not chosen by chance. Located in the delta of one of the largest rivers in the region, St. Petersburg has access not only to the Gulf of Finland, but through it to the Baltic Sea and further to the Atlantic Ocean, but also to Lake Ladoga, which during the construction of the city was an important link in the northern transport routes.
In the XX century. the role of Lake Ladoga became even more significant in connection with the construction of the transport system that connected it with the White Sea. Thus, the transit of goods from the Baltic Sea to the White Sea and further to the ports of the northern seas became possible.
The economic and geographical position of St. Petersburg becomes even more advantageous after the final formation of the Volga-Baltic waterway, connecting Lake Onega with the Volga, which flows into the Caspian Sea. The Caspian states are actively using this route to escort their vessels to the north.
Imports of industrial goods
Back in the xlx c. Affordable port facilities and close proximity to developed industrial powers made Petersburg a major center for the processing industry. Factories and factories processing not only Russian but also European raw materials began to be actively built in the city. Of great importance for the urban economy were metalworking and engineering, which were developed during the Soviet period, turning the city into one of the key industrial centers in the entire Soviet Union.
At the same time, the geographical location of St. Petersburg made it a transit point for goods from remote regions of the country.
St. Petersburg: physical and geographical characteristics
The city with a population of five million people is the largest in Northern Europe. The location in the Neva Delta, in addition to the advantages associated with the possibility of active economic activity, also creates some difficulties. Indeed, it is at the place where the river flows into the bay that its course meets the waves of the Baltic, which can cause severe flooding. Experts highlight several key reasons for the change in the water level in the Neva.
In summer and autumn, the main cause of floods in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland are cyclones originating in the Baltic Sea, which drive water towards the city, where it collides with the Neva that flows into the Gulf, which causes an increase in water levels in the Neva Bay and throughout the delta.
Throughout the history of the city, floods were of great importance for its life and quite often were destructive. However, with the introduction in 2011 of a complex of structures for flood protection, rising water levels ceased to pose a serious danger to the city.
White Nights and the Gulf Stream
Along with floods, one of the symbols of the city is the white nights of St. Petersburg. The geographical location and climate of the city are arranged in such a way that during the period from June 11 to July 2, the sun sets only 7 degrees above the horizon. At the same time, morning twilight almost merges with evening. However, all the remaining time in the city is very bright nights, even though the sun falls below.
Cities like Khanty-Mansiysk and Reykjavik are located at the same latitude as St. Petersburg, but the climate in the northern capital is much milder than in the cities mentioned. The Atlantic Gulf Stream has a great influence on the temperature regime, mitigating winters throughout the whole of Fennoscandia - the geographical region to which St. Petersburg belongs.
However, the same course, together with a mild winter and warm summer, brings to the region a large number of cloud masses. Because of this, the number of sunny days is on average one and a half to two times less than in southern Europe. It rarely exceeds 72 days.
Azores anticyclone and Petersburg winters
Most of the air masses and winds come to St. Petersburg from the Atlantic Ocean, but the warmest air and high pressure, characterized by sunny weather, come from the southeast. Cold air comes from the Arctic Ocean region.
Such a variety of air supply sources makes the weather in the Baltic extremely changeable. Unstable weather also became a peculiar hallmark of the city.
In addition to the fact that the geography of St. Petersburg, geographical location and solar radiation affect the climate of the city, the ecology of the urban environment is of great importance.
As in any other large city, dust, exhaust gases, soot and other impurities trap heat near the surface, which is why the temperature in the city center is often higher than on the outskirts by 6-10 degrees.
The human capital of a cultural capital
Summing up, it is worth saying that Petersburg occupies an extremely advantageous, from an economic point of view, position due to the geographical features of the region. However, the climate, the amount of sunlight and soil quality do not make agriculture an important component of the economy. However, this drawback is more than compensated by the high cultural level of the townspeople and the quality of education, without which St. Petersburg would not be able to use its full geographical position.