Kotlin Island

Kotlin (Russian: Ко́тлин) is a Russian island, located near the head of the Gulf of Finland, 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of Saint Petersburg[2] in the Baltic Sea. Kotlin separates the Neva Bay from the rest of the gulf. The fortified city of Kronstadt is located on the island and forms part of a World Heritage Site that is Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. The island serves as a gateway to Saint Petersburg and as such has been the site of several military engagements.

Kotlin Island
Остров Котлин
Map of Kronstadt bay with Kotlin Island in the upper left corner
Kotlin Island
Kotlin Island within Saint Petersburg
Kotlin Island
Kotlin Island within Russia
Kotlin Island
Kotlin Island within Europe
Geography
LocationGulf of Finland
Coordinates60°00′45″N 29°44′01″E
Area15 km2 (5.8 sq mi)
Length10.2 km (6.34 mi)
Width3.7 km (2.3 mi)[1]
Highest elevation17 m (56 ft)
Administration
RegionSaint Petersburg
Demographics
Population43,005 (2010)
Pop. density2,867/km2 (7425/sq mi)

History

The city of Kronstadt was founded on Kotlin island by Peter the Great, who took it from the Swedes in 1703.[2] Later in March 1921, Kotlin was the site of the Kronstadt rebellion, which resulted in over 11,000 casualties.[3][4]

Geography
Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance photo of Kotlin Island, 1 June 1942

In general outline, the island forms an elongated triangle; 12.1 km (7.5 mi) long by about 1.6 km (1.0 mi) broad, with its base towards St Petersburg. The eastern or broad end is occupied by the city of Kronstadt, and shoals extend for 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the western point of the island to the rock on which the Tolbaaken lighthouse is built.[2]

The island thus divides the seaward approach to St Petersburg into two channels; that on the northern side is obstructed by shoals which extend across it from Kotlin to Lisiy Nos; the southern channel, the highway to the former capital, is narrowed by a spit which projects from opposite Lomonosov on the Russian mainland, and, lying close to Kronstadt, has been historically strongly guarded by batteries.[2]

The naval approach to Saint Petersburg was greatly facilitated by the construction in 1875–85 of a canal, 7 m (23 ft) deep, through the shallows,[2] whereas cars can travel overland to the island by using the Saint Petersburg Dam from the north and south shores of the Gulf of Finland. Started in 1980, but delayed by political upheaval in the 1990s, the dam project was completed in 2010 and officially commissioned in 2011.[5]

Transportation

Low level of water in Neva Bay was an incentive for building Sea Canal to accommodate transportation of big vessels, this canal provide the possibility of movement of vessels with a draft of 11 meters (to fresh water), a length of 320 meters and a width of 42 meters.[6]

References
  1. Google Earth
  2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Kropotkin, Peter; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Kronstadt". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 927–928.
  3. Pukhov, A. S. Kronshtadtskii miatezh v 1921 g. Leningrad, OGIZ-Molodaia Gvardiia.
  4. Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 (New York: Viking Press 1997), 767.
  5. "St. Petersburg gets protecting dam". Voice of Russia. 12 August 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  6. Водные_объекты/961/Морской_канал_Санкт-Петербурга


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