Audrey Porter, age 16, of Camden, N.J., for her question:
DID LENINGRAD HAVE ANOTHER NAME?
Leningrad, the second largest city in the U.S.S.R., has had two i other names in the past: Saint Petersburg and Petrograd.
The site of Leningrad was originally a Swedish fortress commanding the approach to the Neva River. In 1703, the Russian ruler Peter the ' Great captured the area and ordered the construction of a new city on the site to be named Saint Petersburg after his patron saint.
Peter wanted the city to be Westernized, considering it a "Window on Europe." In 1713 the royal family moved their residence and the Russian capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.
Later in the 18th century the population increased and the city became one of the cultural centers of Eastern Europe.
During the reign of Emperor Alexander I, the marshes were drained and the population doubled. The development of harbor facilities in the 19th century resulted in the industrial development of the city.
In 1914 Emperor Nicholas II changed the German name of Saint Petersburg to the Russian name Petrograd, after Russia declared war on Germany. In 1918 the capital of Russia was moved from Petrograd back to Moscow.
V.I. Lenin, the Russian revolutionary and political theoretician was one of the leaders in the Revolution of 1917. He was also the creator of the Soviet Union and headed its first government. After he died in 1924, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honor.
During World War II, Leningrad was the center of heavy fighting during a siege by German forces from late 1941 to January 1944. About 1.25 million residents died either in the fighting or as a result of disease and starvation. Also, more than 10,000 buildings were totally or partially destroyed.
After the war Leningrad was reconstructed. Today the population is close to 5 million.
Leningrad is built on both banks of the Neva and on islands in the river. Canals and natural waterways connect the navigable Neva with the Caspian and White seas and also with the Dnieper and Volga rivers, making Leningrad the port of exit for much of the Caspian, Ural and Volga areas.
A deepwater channel in the Neva River makes the port accessible through the Gulf of Finland to the largest oceangoing ships.
Although the harbor is frozen from November to April, icebreakers keep the channel open except during the severest winter period.
Leningrad is one of the world's top intellectual and cultural centers Among the many museums are the Hermitage Museum, built in 1765, which houses one of the greatest art collections in the world; the Russian Museum, which contains a notable collection of Russian art works; and the Kazan Cathedral.
The city has numerous theaters, notably the Kirov Opera, the Ballet Theater and the Pushkin Drama Theater. tt also has 1,700 public libraries, 200 scientific institutes and many schools of higher learning.