Kaliningrad

Russia / Kaliningrad /
 city, capital city of state/province/region, second-level administrative division, draw only border, former national capital
Kaliningrad (/kəˈlɪnɪnɡræd/ kə-LIN-in-grad; Russian: Калининград, IPA: [kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat]), until 1946 known as Königsberg; Russian: Кёнигсберг, tr. Kyonigsberg; Polish: Królewiec; Lithuanian: Karaliaučius), is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland. The city sits about 663 kilometres (412 mi) west from mainland Russia. The city is situated on the Pregolya River, at the head of the Vistula Lagoon on the Baltic Sea, and is the only ice-free port of Russia on the Baltic Sea. Its population in 2020 was 489,359,] with up to 800,000 residents in the urban agglomeration.[13][14] Kaliningrad is the second-largest city in the Northwestern Federal District, after Saint Petersburg, the third-largest city in the Baltic region, and the seventh-largest city on the Baltic Sea.
The settlement of modern-day Kaliningrad was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement Twangste by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named Königsberg in honor of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. A Baltic port city, it successively became the capital of the State of the Teutonic Order, the Duchy of Prussia (1525–1701) and East Prussia. Königsberg remained the coronation city of the Prussian monarchy, though the capital was moved to Berlin in 1701. From 1454 to 1455, the city under the name of Królewiec belonged to the Kingdom of Poland, and from 1466 to 1657 it was a Polish fief. Königsberg was the easternmost large city in Germany until World War II. The city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 and during the Battle of Königsberg in 1945; it was then captured by the Soviet Union on 9 April 1945. The Potsdam Agreement of 1945 placed it under Soviet administration. The city was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 in honor of Russian Bolshevik leader Mikhail Kalinin. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it has been governed as the administrative centre of Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, the westernmost oblast of Russia.
As a major transport hub, with sea and river ports, the city is home to the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy, and is one of the largest industrial centres in Russia. It was deemed the best city in Russia in 2012, 2013, and 2014 in Kommersant's magazine The Firm's Secret, the best city in Russia for business in 2013 according to Forbes, and was ranked fifth in the Urban Environment Quality Index published by Minstroy in 2019. Kaliningrad has been a major internal migration attraction in Russia over the past two decades, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Google panoramas:
goo.gl/maps/Nt8dbySPDsk9W2Yh8
goo.gl/maps/6rLx4ukioR42gu1q9
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   54°42'19"N   20°28'20"E

Comments

  • please write comments in english, if you add it to the english description.
  • I was in Kaliningrad by motorbike in summer 2007. the sun was shining and the city looked better than I belived before the journey. The city center has many restaurants and bars. If you visit there take care of your things; bikes, cars and bags. The customs are quite impolite and you must have lot of time in border. But people in town were very nice.
  • The city was never called "Krolowiec" officially.
  • andypandy, learn some history before posting garbage. "In 1944 during World War II, the city of Königsberg was extensively bombed from the air by the British Royal Air Force and burned for several days. ... 189 Lancasters of No. 5 Group dropped 480 tons of bombs on the centre of the city. RAF Bomber Command estimated that 20% of all the industry and 41% of all the housing in Königsberg was destroyed." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_K%C3%B6nigsberg_in_World_War_II
  • Actually it was a combination of both. First the air raids ruined large parts of the city, and then the Battle of Konigsberg (a Russian attack) destroyed much of what remained.
  • Most of the World's amber has come from this area and the Sambia or Samland Peninsule to the North. it is found in a layer of bluish clay.
  • That could be why Russia kept hold of this area when the surrounding areas broke free.
  • Such a nice city. I've been there only once, while visiting some relatives, and was verry sorry I could stay only for a few days.
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