Usefull information
St. Petersburg
Founded on May 27, 1703 by Peter the Great. Capital of Russian Empire 1721-1918. Largest industrial center of Russia in the XIX century. City where October Revolution broke out in 1917. Nowadays it is the second largest city of Russia consedered to be a cultural capital.
Population
As of January 1, 2005 there are more than 4.5 million people what makes approximately 3% of the Russian population.
Time
St. Petersburg belongs to the Moscow standard time zone (MST), which differs from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), GMT + 4 hours in summer and GMT + 3 hours in winter.
Location
St. Petersburg is the nothernmost major city of the world. The city is situated in the North-West of Russia in the Neva River delta on the Eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland and the territory of 1439 square kilometers. The city is located on the 44 islands formed by the Neva River and 90 more rivers & canals. The abundance of islands has led to the construction of multiple bridges. Of these, nowadays there are 308 within the city proper and 534 if suburbs are included. The total length of all the bridges is about 16 kilometers.
Weather and climate
Due to the city's northern position it enjoys the phenomenon of the "White Nights" lasting from May 25-26 till July 16-17. The climate is humid, close to maritime with a moderately warm summer and rather long moderately cold winter. The average winter temparature is -8° C, the average summer temperature is +17° C.
Neighbouring countries
Sweeden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark.
Access to St. Petersburg
There are regular direct air flights to St. Petersburg from many European cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dussledorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Helsinki, London, Larnaka, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, Prague, Riga, Stockholm, Tel-Aviv, Vienna, Warsaw. The city is advantageously located at the sea routes and land routes. There are afternoon and overnight trains from Moscow offering open car seating and sleeping compartments. Time of travel is approximately 5 and 8 hours accordingly.
Morning and afternoon trains from Helsinki. Motorways to Finland and Scandinavia, to Baltic countries, to Moscow and South of Russia, to Murmansk and north of Russia. St. Petersburg is a major port of call in the region for international and river cruise ships.
Money
The national Russian currency is Rouble. One Rouble is equal to 100 kopecks. At the present time, there are the following money in circulation: coins of 1, 5, 10, 50 kopecks; coins of 1, 2, 5, 10 Roubles; notes of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Roubles issued in 1997.
Banks
45 banks currently operate in St. Petersburg, including 2 foreign ones, providing the wide range of banking services. Most of the banks are open to clients from 9.00 to 13.00. Currency exchange offices are usually open from 10.00 to 20.00. Large hotels provide 24-hours bankig services.
