Editing Sambia Peninsula (section)

== Geography and geology ==
[[File:Samland Physical Map.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Physical Map of Samland in 1905]]
[[Baedeker]] describes Sambia as "a fertile and {{sic|hide=y|partly|-}}wooded district, with several lakes, lying to the north of [[Königsberg]]"<ref>[[Karl Baedeker]], ''Northern Germany'', Leipzig, London and New York: 1904 (fourteenth revised edition (English language)), pp.177-8.</ref> (since 1946 [[Kaliningrad]]). The landscape is hilly in the west, with coastal bluffs and beaches, while in the east it is low-lying and flat. The sections of coast adjacent to the Curonian and Vistula Lagoons are often swampy. Due to the moderating influence of the Baltic Sea, the climate is more mild than regions of comparable latitude further east. The highest point at 111 meters, [[Galtgarben Hill|Galtgarben]], is found two kilometers southeast of [[Kumachyovo]] ({{langx|de|Kumehnen}}).

[[Gvardeysk]] ({{langx|de|Tapiau}}) is located at the southeastern end of the peninsula where the Deyma branches off from the Pregolya, while [[Polessk]] ({{langx|de|Labiau}}) is found at the northeastern end, nearby where that river enters the Curonian Lagoon. The peninsula is connected to the [[Curonian Spit]] to the north, while it is separated from the [[Vistula Spit]] by the [[Strait of Baltiysk]] next to the port city of [[Baltiysk]] ({{langx|de|Pillau}}). Sambia also includes two famous seaside resorts on its northern coast, [[Zelenogradsk]] ({{langx|de|Kranz}}) and [[Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast|Svetlogorsk]] ({{langx|de|Rauschen}}).

===Amber===
{{further|Amber Coast}}
[[Amber]] has been found in the area for over two thousand years, especially on the coast near [[Kaliningrad]]. History and legends tell of the ancient trade routes known as the [[Amber Road]] leading from the [[Old Prussians|Old Prussian]] settlements of [[Mokhovoye, Kaliningrad Oblast|Kaup]] (in Sambia) and [[Truso]] (near [[Elbląg]], near the mouth of the [[Vistula]]) southwards to the [[Black Sea|Black]] and [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] seas. In [[Imperial Germany]], the right to collect amber was restricted to the [[Hohenzollern dynasty]], and visitors to Sambia's beaches were forbidden to pick up any fragments they found. Beginning in the 19th century, amber was mined on an industrial scale by the Germans before 1945 and by the Soviets / Russians thereafter at [[Yantarny, Kaliningrad Oblast|Yantarny]] (former German name: ''Palmnicken'').