The Strait of Baltiysk (, , ) is a

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

enabling passage from the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

into the brackish

Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from the Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. Geography The lag ...

, located in

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

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 ...

. The constructed strait separates the

Vistula Spit The Vistula Spit (; ; ; ) is an aeolian sand spit, or peninsular stretch of land, separating Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay, in the Baltic Sea, with its tip separated from the mainland by the Strait of Baltiysk. The border between Poland (Pom ...

from the peninsula (called Pillau Peninsula in Russia: Пиллауский полуостров, after the ) which was part of the Vistula Spit in the 15th century and now is part of Sambian Peninsula.

Shipping

The strait is the shipping connection from the high sea to the important Russian ports of

Baltiysk Baltiysk ( ); ; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; ; ; is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separ ...

and

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

in the northeastern lagoon, as well as to the Polish ports of

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

Braniewo Braniewo () (, , Old Prussian language, Old Prussian: ''Brus''), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of Braniewo County. Braniewo is the seco ...

, Tolkmicko,

Frombork Frombork (; ) is a town in northern Poland, situated on the Vistula Lagoon in Braniewo County, within Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, it has a population of 2,260. The town was first mentioned in a 13th-century document. In the ...

Sztutowo Sztutowo is a village in Nowy Dwór Gdański County, within the Pomeranian Voivodeship of northern Poland. It lies approximately east of Gdańsk on the northeastern edge of the Vistula Delta, at the base of the Vistula Spit on the Baltic coast ...

, Krynica Morska, and Nowa Pasłęka in the southeastern lagoon.What Changes will a Canal on the Vistula Spit bring?
On 17 September 2022, Poland opened a new canal through the Vistula Spit, which will allow ships to enter the Polish port of Elbląg without passing through the Strait of Baltiysk in Russia's Kaliningrad region.

Russian blockade

The Strait of Baltiysk is a strait where international navigation is governed by a non-suspendable innocent passage regime under the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...

(dead-end

). Despite the law since the 1990s Russia periodically blocks navigation via the strait to Polish ports. Since 2006, Poland had considered digging another canal across the Vistula Spit in order to circumvent this restriction. The Vistula Spit canal started construction in 2019 and opened in 2022.

History

In 1497 a

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

dug a new gat, then called the ''Neues illauerTief'' or ''Pillauer Seetief'' (New illauDeep, Pillau Sea Deep), through the Vistula Spit. In 1510 another storm surge widened and deepened that gat to navigability. It measured in length and in width. In 1626 King

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 t ...

landed with 37 ships next to the gat, at a spot already slightly fortified, transforming it into the , and holding it for ten years (till the

Treaty of Stuhmsdorf The Treaty of Stuhmsdorf (), or Sztumska Wieś (), was a treaty signed on 12 September 1635 between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Swedish Empire in the village of Stuhmsdorf, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Poland (now Sztumska Wi ...

), also in order to pressure his brother-in-law George William, Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg, to support him in the

Polish–Swedish War This is a List of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1562 and 1814. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and 1629. These are the wars ...

and the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. The Swedes extended the adjacent Pillau village and built its first place of worship, a Lutheran church. In 1638 the Duke moved his residence to the close-by ducal capital Königsberg in Prussia. In the 1960s the gat was expanded and now it measures in width and in depth.

References

{{Coord, 54, 38, 28, N, 19, 52, 42, E, type:waterbody, display=title

Bodies of water of Kaliningrad Oblast