Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow with 5 million inhabitants. As an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great. Before the central government bodies were moved to Moscow in 1918, Saint Petersburg had been the capital of Imperial Russia for a period of time.
Saint Petersburg is often considered Russia's cultural capital, with more than 90 state and non-state universities, 400 research institutes, 2,000 libraries, 80 theaters, 45 galleries, 62 cinemas, 264 museums, and 3,675 sports facilities. The city as a whole was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many foreign consulates, international corporations, banks and businesses have offices in Saint Petersburg. It’s also one of Russia’s economic, commercial, technological, educational and transportation hubs, only second to Moscow.
It became a friendship city of Shenzhen on January 1, 2014.