Gdańsk Bay or the Gulf of Gdańsk ( pl, Zatoka Gdańska; csb, Gduńskô Hôwinga; russian: Гданьская бухта, Gdan'skaja bukhta, and german: Danziger Bucht) is a southeastern

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. It is named after the adjacent port city of

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Geography

The western part of Gdańsk Bay is formed by the shallow waters of the Bay of Puck. The southeastern part is the

Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon ( pl, Zalew Wiślany; russian: Калининградский залив, transliterated: ''Kaliningradskiy Zaliv''; german: Frisches Haff; lt, Aistmarės) is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 ...

, separated by the

Vistula Spit The Vistula Spit ( pl, Mierzeja Wiślana; russian: Балтийская коса; german: Frische Nehrung) is an aeolian sand spit, or peninsular stretch of land that separates Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay, in the Baltic Sea, with its tip sep ...

and connected to the open sea by the

Strait of Baltiysk The Strait of Baltiysk (russian: Балтийский пролив, pl, Cieśnina Piławska, german: Pillauer Tief) is a strait enabling passage from the Baltic Sea into the brackish Vistula Lagoon, located in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The co ...

. The bay is enclosed by a large curve of the shores of Gdańsk Pomerania in Poland ( Cape Rozewie,

Hel Peninsula Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is l ...

) and the

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admin ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

( Sambian Peninsula). The coast of the bay features two very long sandspits, the

Hel peninsula Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is l ...

and the

. The first one defines the Bay of Puck, the latter one defines the Vistula Lagoon. The maximum depth is 120 meters, and it has a

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

of 0.7%. The major ports and coastal cities are

, Gdynia, Puck, Sopot, Hel,

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

, Primorsk, and

Baltiysk Baltiysk (russian: Балти́йск; german: Pillau; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; pl, Piława; lt, Piliava; Yiddish: פּילאַווע, ''Pilave'') is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, R ...

. The main rivers of Gdańsk Bay are the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

and the

Pregolya The Pregolya or Pregola (russian: Прего́ля; german: Pregel; lt, Prieglius; pl, Pregoła) is a river in the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast exclave. Name A possible ancient name by Ptolemy of the Pregolya River is Chronos (from Germanic * ...

. The bay receives the waters of the Vistula directly via three branches—the

Leniwka The Leniwka () is the former name of the western branch of the Vistula (now Vistula) in northern Poland. It is long, and flows into Gdańsk Bay, forming the borders of Sobieszewo Island. It begins behind the lock in Biała Góra, where the No ...

, the

Śmiała Wisła The Śmiała Wisła () is a distributary river branch of the Vistula in Poland flowing to Gdańsk Bay Gdańsk Bay or the Gulf of Gdańsk ( pl, Zatoka Gdańska; csb, Gduńskô Hôwinga; russian: Гданьская бухта, Gdan'skaja bukhta, ...

, and the

Martwa Wisła The Martwa Wisła (; german: Tote Weichsel; both literally "dead Vistula") is a river, one of the branches of the Vistula, flowing through the city of Gdańsk in northern Poland. It got its name when this branch of the river became increasingly m ...

—and indirectly via the

with two branches, the

Nogat The Nogat is a 62 km long delta branch of the Vistula River in northern Poland. Unlike the main river, it does not empty into Gdańsk Bay but rather into the Vistula Lagoon. The Nogat has its origin near the village of Biała Góra as a ...

and the

Szkarpawa The Szkarpawa (, german: Elbinger Weichsel) is a distributary river in the Vistula delta of northern Poland. It branches off the Vistula near Drewnica and flows eastward to the Vistula Lagoon at Osłonka. In the past it was known as ''Wisła ...

Nautic definition

By nautic definition, the ''Bay of Gdańsk'' is much larger, including also the area of the Baltic Sea in front of the Russian exclave of

and the

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n coast.The Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak – sea areas and draining basins

History

The bayshore was the setting of a naval bombardment during the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

, the first combat action of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The bay plays a pivotal role in the American animated television series Metalocalypse.

Kursenieki

Today the Kursenieki, also known as Kuršininkai, are a nearly extinct

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit. In 1649 Kuršininkai settlement spanned from Memel (Klaipėda) to Danzig (Gdańsk). The Kuršininkai were eventually assimilated by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, except along the Curonian Spit where some still live. The Kuršininkai were considered

Latvians Latvians ( lv, latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common L ...

until after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

when

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

gained independence from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, a consideration based on linguistic arguments. This was the rationale for Latvian claims over the Curonian Spit, Memel, and other territories of

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

which would be later dropped.

References

External links

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gdansk Bay

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

Bays of the Baltic Sea Bays of Poland Bays of Russia Poland–Russia border Landforms of Pomeranian Voivodeship Bodies of water of Kaliningrad Oblast

Geography

Nautic definition

History

Kursenieki

See also

References

External links