Seskar (; ; ), or Siskar, is an island in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

, part of the

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Important Bird Area

The island has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports populations of many species of

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

and

wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

s on passage, as well as breeding Arctic herring gulls.

History

The island was an independent municipality of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

populated by Finns since at least the 16th century. The Seiskari municipality was formed from the Koivisto municipality in 1903. It was part of the province of Viipuri in the

South Karelia South Karelia (or ''Southern Karelia'', ; ) is a Regions of Finland, region of Finland. It borders the regions of Kymenlaakso, Southern Savonia, South Savo and North Karelia, as well as Russia (Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast). Hist ...

region. It was ceded to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

following the 1940

Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...

. Prior to the transfer of sovereignty, it was also known as Siskar.

Shipwrecks

The island has been involved in many shipwrecks over the centuries, including some ships sunk, wrecked or otherwise lost: *In 1777, the British ship ''Mercey'' was wrecked near the island. She was on a voyage from Saint Petersburg to London. *In 1802, the Russian ship ''Roman Vasselevitch'' was wrecked near the island. She was on a voyage from Saint Petersburg to London. *In 1807, the British ship ''Nelly'' was driven ashore on Seskar island. She was on a voyage from London to Saint Petersburg. ''Nelly'' was later refloated. *In 1815, the British ship ''Graces'' was wrecked by Seskar. The crew was rescued.

References

* Risto Hamari, Martti Korhonen, Timo Miettinen, Ilmar Talve: ''Suomenlahden ulkosaaret; Lavansaari, Seiskari, Suursaari, Tytärsaari'', Jyväskylä 1996; {{coord, 60, 02, N, 28, 22, E, region:FI_type:city(4251)_scale:50000, display=title Russian islands in the Baltic Important Bird Areas of Baltic islands Important Bird Areas of Russia Islands of Leningrad Oblast