Baltic sea day

March 22 is the Baltic sea day (this article is in Russian — Международный день Балтийского моря). The decision on the annual celebration was made in 1986 at the 17th meeting of the Helsinki Convention. And the date of March 22 was chosen because the Convention itself was signed on this day in 1974, and because today marks another important environmental date — world water day.

The history of the origin and development of the Baltic sea itself, located in Northern Europe and belonging to the Atlantic ocean basin, began when the last Valdai glacier retreated about 15,000 years ago, when the edge of the glacier stretched along the southern border. The size of the glacier was huge — its thickness reached more than a kilometer, and when it retreated, it flattened the hills on its way, scratching hard rock and taking with it a lot of loose material, rubble and boulders. At the same time, the ice turned into huge masses of water, the ocean level rose, and a series of pre-glacial lakes appeared.

As the glacier retreated, these lakes merged into a single Baltic glacial lake, which was very cold and even had icebergs floating in it. From ancient times to the XVIII century, the Baltic sea was called in Russia^[ru] "Varangian sea". The average depth of the Baltic sea is approximately 51 meters, and the highest is 470 meters.

Today, the Baltic sea is the most important transport corridor linking Russia, Europe and Asia. It washes the coasts of Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. But in recent years, environmentalists say that this water corridor is littered with garbage and urgently needs cleaning. Today, the Baltic sea is the most important transport corridor linking Russia, Europe and Asia.

It is to attract public attention to the issues of preserving the ecology of this important natural object of the planet^[ru] that the Baltic sea Day was established, when various scientific, educational and environmental events are traditionally held in many countries^[ru].

In Russia, the celebration of the Baltic sea Day is held in Saint Petersburg, where the organizers and initiators of this holiday are public environmental organizations with the active support of government and business representatives. In addition to the traditional international conferences and exhibitions, contests for student works devoted to environmental problems of the Baltic sea, there is an international environmental forum with the same name — "Baltic sea Day", where serious discussion of the problems of the region, search of ways of their solution, exchange of experience of representatives of different countries. The St. Petersburg Forum is attended not only by residents of the Baltic region and the European continent, but also by representatives of the United States^[ru] and Canada.

The main goal of all events is to preserve the unique historical natural and cultural ensemble-the Baltic sea.

On may 18, Russia celebrates the day of the Baltic fleet.

The history of the Baltic fleet formation is closely connected with the history of Saint Petersburg. The city on the Neva river began to be built in may 1703, and in 1704 the Admiralty shipyard began to be built here, which later became the center of shipbuilding in Russia. Since then, the Baltic fleet has been brilliantly performing the task of protecting Russia's borders from the North-West direction. The Baltic fleet became the ancestor of Russian long-distance and circumnavigation voyages — 432 geographical discoveries were made on the world map, which bear the names of 98 admirals and officers of the Baltic fleet.

Great naval commanders, heroes of naval battles, admirals — F. F. Ushakov, M. p. Lazarev, P. S. Nakhimov, V. A. Kornilov, S. O. Makarov and N. O. Essen considered themselves Baltics; discoverers and travelers — V. I. Bering, F. F. Bellingshausen, G. I. Nevelskoy; scientists — A. S. Popov, B. S. Jacobi.

Today, the Baltic fleet — the oldest fleet in Russia, is a large group of operational and strategic territorial units of the Russian Navy in the Baltic sea, able to operate effectively at sea, in the air and on land, and has in its composition ship forces, naval aviation, aerospace and air defense, and coastal troops. The fleet consists of more than 100 warships, more than 150 aircraft and helicopters of marine aviation. The main bases of the troops are Baltiysk (Kaliningrad region) and Kronshtadt (Leningrad region).