Geographical description

Petrozavodsk is located in Northwestern District of the Russian Federation. It is one of the most rapidly developing cities of the region partly due to its geographical and geopolitical position.

Proximity of Petrozavodsk to the two capitals of Russia is also an advantage as Moscow is just 1091 km away, and St. Peterburg — 412 km. The region has motorway, railroad, air and waterway connections with other Russian territories. The motorway Murmansk — St. Petersburg — Moscow cuts across the capital of Karelia.

Petrozavodsk is also quite close to the frontier with the European Union and neighboring Finland; it is in about 350 km by the international motorway, the Blue Road.

Since the capital of Karelia is nestled at the shoreline there are perfect opportunities for communication with both Russian regions and foreign countries.Being located on the shore of Lake Onego, Petrozavodsk has access to the Baltic, White, Barents, Caspian and Black seas via a network of canals.

Such geographic and geopolitical location contributes to plenty contacts with Russian and foreign neighbors. Since 1970s, Petrozavodsk has been on friendly terms with its sister cities all over the world. Today there are cooperation agreements with 11 cities of 9 countries of Europe, Asia and the USA. Those are Varkaus and Joensuu in Finland, La Rochelle in France, Umea in Sweden, Noibrandenburg and Tubingen in Germany, Mo and Rana in Norway, Duluth in the USA, Brest in Belarus, Nikolaev in Ukraine, and Echmiadzin in Armenia.