Porkkala Peninsula
| Pork scale | ||
| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 60 ° 4 ′ N , 24 ° 31 ′ E | |
| Waters 1 | Baltic Sea | |
| length | 25 km | |
| width | 15 km | |
The peninsula Porkkala (Swedish Porkala ) is a Finnish peninsula ( Finnish Porkkalanniemi ).
Geographical location and name
The peninsula is about 30 kilometers west of the Finnish capital Helsinki . With a length of about 25 kilometers, it is up to 15 kilometers wide. A community of the same name, Porkkala , is located on the southern tip of the peninsula. The tip of the peninsula is only 36 km from the coast of Estonia on the other side of the Baltic Sea . This makes it an important station for migratory birds and popular for bird watching in spring when the Arctic geese and other water birds pass through here. The peninsula also had an important strategic military position for controlling the sea-side access to Saint Petersburg : artillery positions on both sides were able to secure this access.
German-language media often use the Swedish-language term “Porkala”.
history
At the end of World War II Porkkala was chosen for its strategic military position in the armistice of Moscow by Finland to the September 19, 1944 the Soviet Union leased . On January 26, 1956, the Soviet Union gave up the lease area, which fell back to Finland.
Today the Finnish Navy maintains one of its largest bases in Upinniemi , a port built by the Soviet armed forces, on the Porkkala peninsula.
literature
- Mikko Alameri: Railways in Finland (= International Archive for Locomotive History . 22). Slezak, Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-900134-22-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alameri, p. 31.