St. Petersburg is located in the north-west of the Russian Federation, within the Prinevskaya lowland. Occupying the coast of the Neva Bay of the Gulf adjacent to the mouth of the Neva River and the numerous islands of the Neva Delta, the city stretches 90 km from the north-west to the southeast. The height of the city above sea level in the areas: center: 1–5 m, north: 5–30 m, south and southwest: 5–22 m. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the meridian passing through the observatory located in the city was used as a zero for counting longitude on the maps of the Russian Empire.

The basis of the resource potential of St. Petersburg is fresh surface and groundwater. The total length of watercourses is 217.5 km, and their water surface is about 7% of the total area of the city. The main watercourse is the Neva River.

In the area of Sestroretsk, sodium chloride mineral waters are used (a resort of national significance was established on their basis),
in the northern part of the city - ferruginous mineral medicinal-table waters of the Polyustrovo deposit. There are deposits of sand and gravel materials, pebbles, sands, clays, sandstones, loams, as well as peat.

In the southern part of the city there is a zone of thermal anomaly: at a depth of 1900–2200 m, the temperature of crystalline rocks reaches 70 °C.

Flora

Most of St. Petersburg is represented by a taiga zone, which in the south of the city begins to give way to a zone of mixed forests. It is not surprising that the northern capital is considered one of the greenest cities in Russia: vegetation covers almost half of the territory of the city. Pine, spruce, oak, linden, ash, alder, birch are the most common trees in this region. To preserve nature in its original form, a lot of nature conservation objects and territories have been created in the region.

There are seven specially protected natural areas in the city: 3 state nature reserves (Yuntolovsky, Gladyshevsky, Northern coast of the Neva Bay) and four natural landmarks (Duderhof Heights, Komarovsky shore, Strelninsky shore, Park Sergievka). The master plan for the development of St. Petersburg is the appearance of five more reserves and two natural landmarks.

St. Petersburg is one of the largest European cities in terms of population, and as of January 1, 2019, according to Rosstat, there are 5,381,736 residents.
St. Petersburg is the second most populated city in Europe, which is not the capital of the state, and the northernmost city with a population of more than a million people.

The ethnic composition of the region is Russian (84.73%), Ukrainians (1.87%), Belarusians (1.17%), Jews (0.78%), Tatars (0.76%), Armenians (0.45%) and other nationalities.

There are 268 faiths and religious associations in St. Petersburg: the Russian Orthodox Church (131 unions), Christians of the Gospel faith (23 associations), the Evangelical Lutheran Church (19 associations), Evangelical Christian Baptists (13 associations), as well as Jewish, Roman Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Buddhist, Muslim, Armenian Apostolic Church, Old Believers, Baha'is and others.

In St. Petersburg, the relics of Saints Alexander Nevsky, John of Kronstadt, Xenia of St. Petersburg are kept.

The priorities of the socio-economic development of St. Petersburg cover all spheres of its life and correspond to the strategic priorities of Russia. Based on these priorities, 4 strategic directions for the development of St. Petersburg until 2030 can be identified, each of which consists of its strategic goals:

• human capital development
• improving the quality of the urban environment
• ensuring sustainable economic growth
• management efficiency and development of civil society

The attractiveness of the city for investment projects:

• one of the largest cities of the Russian Federation and Europe with a stable economy;
• center of modern innovative production and attraction of skilled labor;
• one of the recognized world centers of culture and art;
• a city of equal opportunities with transparent legislation for doing business;
• a unique space of preferences for entrepreneurs.

St. Petersburg is the largest transport hub in the north-west of Russia and the second in the country after Moscow. It includes railways, sea and river transport, roads and airlines. Two Eurasian transport corridors “North - South” and “Sevsib”, the Pan-European transport corridor No. 9, the European automobile route E 18, connecting Scandinavia with the center of Russia pass through the city.

To reduce the congestion of urban highways with transit transport, a ring road was built. The main routes connecting St. Petersburg with other regions are (clockwise from the Gulf of Finland): Primorsky highway, Vyborg highway, Priozersk highway, Ryabov highway, Murmansk highway, Petrozavodsk highway, Moscow highway, Pulkov highway - Kiev highway, Tallinn highway , Peterhof highway. According to the Committee for the Development of Transport Infrastructure of the Administration of St. Petersburg, as of September 2017, 37% of inter-city roads are in a non-normative state; by 2020, it is planned to reduce this share to 20%.

Passenger air transport is carried out through Pulkovo airport, located on the southern outskirts of the city. St. Petersburg is the largest by population in Europe of the cities that have only one airport for passenger transport. The "Rossiya" state airline is registered in the city.

The metro has been operating here since 1955. At the beginning of June 2018, there were 69 stations in the St. Petersburg metro on 5 lines, 7 interchange stations, the operational length of the lines was more than 118 km. As of 2001, the largest tram network in the world operated in St. Petersburg. In recent years, it has been significantly reduced, and the city has well-developed bus and trolleybus networks.

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)

A unique annual event in the world of economics and business. SPIEF has been held since 1997, and since 2006 it has been held under the patronage and with the participation of the President of the Russian Federation. Over the past years, the Forum has become the leading global platform for communication between business representatives and discussion of key economic issues facing Russia, emerging markets and the world as a whole.

St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum

The forum has become a worldwide recognized platform for an open dialogue of cultures, attracting cultural figures from different countries and continents - stars of drama theater, opera and ballet, outstanding directors and musicians, and representatives of the academic community.

Festival of Light

The concept of the Festival was developed on the advice of representatives of the Association of World Light Festivals. The connection of the Festival with the history and image of the city is the main feature of the project. The festival is a multimedia program in a 3D format, light and laser show with the participation of quadrocopters.