Leningrad region

Geographical location
Leningrad region is washed by Gulf of Finland in the north-west, by the lake Ladoga in the north, by the Onezhskoe lake in the north-east. Historically the region is one of the most important parts of Russia. Area of the region is 85.9 thousand sq. km. Its great part is occupied by lowlands and plains. The highest point above the sea is Vepsovskaya highland - 291 metres.
In Leningrad region there are 1800 lakes. The Ladoga is the largest in Europe (18.135 thousand sq. km). Overall length of all rivers in the region is 50 thousand km. The biggest of them are the Neva, Svir, Volkhov, Vuoksa. Forests cover 55.5% of the region's territory. There are a lot of minerals. The most important - shale, phosphorus, peat.
The region comprises 23 administrative units: 17 districts, 6 towns.

Science and education
There are 462 schools of general education, 533 kindergartens, 24 evening schools, 5 non-state schools, 5 pedagogical colleges, Regional State University, Peasant State University, Regional Institute of Economics and Finance.

 Culture
Leningrad region has a wide network of cultural establishments, including libraries, 27 museums, monuments of history and culture (museum-park "Old Ladoga", Ivangorodskaya fortress and many others), more than 100 art schools, 6 state theatres, 3 municipal theatres.