The deep indentations of the gulfs of Bothnia and Finland are surrounded by what is ethnologically Finnish territory, and it is only at the very head of the latter gulf that the Russians have taken firm foothold by erecting their capital at the mouth of the Neva.
The Neva (40 m.) flows from Lake Ladoga into the Gulf of Finland.
Finland; the Karelians, in the E., who also occupy the lake regions of Olonets and Archangel, and have settlements in Novgorod and Tver; the Izhores, on the Neva and the S.E.
Most of its alluvial burden being deposited in the lakes, the Neva takes a long time to alter its channels or extend its delta.
According to observations extending from 1706 to 1899, the mean day of the freezing of the Neva is November 25th, the earliest October 28th, the latest January 9th, and the next latest December 26th.