Vyborg

Town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, 130 km (81 miles) northwest of St. Petersburg, 245 km (152 miles) east of the Finnish capital Helsinki, and 38 km (24 miles) south of Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland. The most recent census population of Vyborg is as follows: 72,530 (2021 Census). Vyborg was founded as a medieval fortress in Finland under Swedish rule during the Third Swedish Crusade. After numerous wars between the Russians and Swedes, the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 defined the border of eastern Finland, and would separate the two cultures. Vyborg remained under Swedish rule until it was captured by the Russians during the Great Northern War. Under Russian rule, Vyborg was the seat of Vyborg Governorate until it was incorporated into the newly created Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917, after which Vyborg became its second-most significant city after Helsinki, and represented internationally as its most multicultural city.[18][19][20] During World War II, Vyborg's population was evacuated and the town was ceded to the Soviet Union. In 2010, Vyborg was conferred the status of "City of Military Glory" by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.