St Petersburg was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703 at the mouth of the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland. Up until 1918, St Petersburg was the Imperial Capital of Russia when the central government moved to Moscow. In 1914 the city was renamed Petrograd, in 1924 Leningrad and in 1991 back to St Petersburg. It is Russia's second largest city with 5 million people.
The House of Romanov ruled over Russia from 1613 until the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917 following the February Revolution. In the November of 1917, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace and transferred all political power to the Soviets. So began Communist rule of Russia and expansion into the Soviet Union. In WWII in 1941 German forces attacked Leningrad (St Petersburg) in a siege that lasted 872 days. This was one of the longest and most lethal sieges of a city in modern history that caused enormous destruction.
St Petersburg is a major trade gateway, financial, industrial and manufacturing centre, It has three large cargo and cruise liner seaports and a complex system of river ports on the Neva River. The St Petersburg Mint founded in 1724 is one of the largest mints in the world. Vehicle manufacturing and a large brewery and distilling industry add significantly to the city's economy.
Tourism is a major industry, centred around the historic architecture of the city centre despite the demolition undertaken by the Bolsheviks and the Nazi siege of WWII. The area is now listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
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