Editing Sambia Peninsula

{{Short description|Peninsula in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia}}
{{redirect-distinguish-for|Sambia|Zambia|other uses}}
[[File:Kaliningradsky peninsula EN.svg|thumb|Sambia is the peninsula northwest of Kaliningrad]]

'''Sambia''' ({{langx|ru|Самбийский полуостров|lit=Sambian Peninsula|translit=Sambiysky poluostrov}}) or '''Samland'''<ref>Samland was also the codename for the USA by the wartime intelligence agency Abwehr (Operation Mincement by Ben MacIntyre)</ref> ({{langx|ru|Земландский полуостров|lit=Zemlandic Peninsula|translit=Zemlandsky poluostrov}}) or '''Kaliningrad Peninsula''' (official name, {{langx|ru|Калининградский полуостров}}, ''Kaliningradsky poluostrov'') is a [[peninsula]] in the [[Kaliningrad Oblast]] of [[Russia]], on the southeastern shore of the [[Baltic Sea]]. The peninsula is bounded by the [[Curonian Lagoon]] to the north-east, the [[Vistula Lagoon]] in the southwest, the [[Pregolya|Pregolya River]] in the south, and the [[Deyma River]] in the east. As Sambia is surrounded on all sides by water, it is technically an island. Historically it formed an important part of the historic region of [[Prussia (region)|Prussia]].

==Etymology==
Sambia is named after the [[Sambians]], an extinct tribe of [[Old Prussians]]. ''Samland'' is the name for the peninsula in the [[Germanic languages]]. [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[Latin]] speakers call the area ''Sambia'', while the [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] name is ''Semba''.

== 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'').

== History ==
Reference to the Sambia Peninsula begins with Greek traveller [[Pytheas]], referring to an amber island called "Abalus". The name probably described the whole lagoon area known in Finnic as AVA (open expanse = lagoon) and -LA (place of) Historic scholars could not find the mysterious amber island because the Sambia Peninsula did not look like an island since the whole Baltic area that was depressed by the Ice Age glaciers has been rising many meters in the last thousands of years and was no longer looking like an island by the 10th century. Based on finds of prehistoric amber carvings, nomadic boat using hunter gatherers were attracted to the area as early as 6,000 years ago,according to archeology.
[[File:Map of East Prussia 1648.jpg|thumb|right|Samland in the [[Duchy of Prussia]], ca. 1648.]]
Sambia was originally sparsely populated by the [[Sambians]]. The [[Germans|German]] [[Teutonic Knights]] conquered the region in the 13th century. The church administration was placed under the [[Bishopric of Samland]], established in 1243. Settlers from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] began colonizing the region, and the Sambian Prussians gradually became assimilated. The peninsula was the last area in which the [[Old Prussian language]] was spoken before becoming extinct at the beginning of the 18th century.

In 1454, the region was incorporated by King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] to the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]] upon the request of the anti-Teutonic [[Prussian Confederation]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Górski|first=Karol|title=Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych|year=1949|publisher=Instytut Zachodni|location=Poznań|language=pl|page=54}}</ref> After the subsequent [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)|Thirteen Years' War]], since 1466, it formed part of Poland as a [[fief]] held by the Teutonic Order.<ref>Górski, p. 96–97, 214–215</ref> The peninsula became part of the [[Duchy of Prussia]], a [[Prussian Homage|vassal duchy]] of the Kingdom of Poland, founded when [[Albert, Duke of Prussia|Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach]], the 37th [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Order|Grand Master]], secularized the [[Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights]] in 1525. The [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] inherited the duchy in 1618 under Polish overlordship.

Because the Duchy of Prussia failed to fulfill its feudal obligations as a vassal of Poland during the [[Polish–Swedish wars]], George William's rule in Prussia was suspended in 1635 and he was replaced by the Polish king by a viceroy, [[Jerzy Ossoliński]]. However, under the [[Treaty of Stuhmsdorf|Treaty of Sztumska Wieś]] the Duchy (and so the Sambia peninsula) was given back to [[George William, Elector of Brandenburg|George William]]. In 1701 [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] ruler proclaimed the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and Sambia became part of the newly formed [[Provinces of Prussia|Province]] of [[East Prussia]] in 1773. In 1871, the peninsula became part of the [[German Empire]] in the course of the [[unification of Germany]]. After [[World War I]] Sambia formed part of the East Prussian province of [[Weimar Republic|Weimar Germany]].

During [[World War II]], the Germans operated two subcamps of the [[Stutthof concentration camp]], and the AGSSt Samland assembly center for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] POWs in the region.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gliński|first=Mirosław|title=Podobozy i większe komanda zewnętrzne obozu Stutthof (1939–1945)|journal=Stutthof. Zeszyty Muzeum|language=pl|volume=3|page=160|issn=0137-5377}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Megargee|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Overmans|first2=Rüdiger|last3=Vogt|first3=Wolfgang|year=2022|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=68|isbn=978-0-253-06089-1}}</ref> The [[Polish resistance movement in World War II|Polish resistance movement]] was active in the region, with its activities including espionage of German activity and distribution of [[Polish underground press]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Chrzanowski|first=Bogdan|year=2022|title=Polskie Państwo Podziemne na Pomorzu w latach 1939–1945|language=pl|location=Gdańsk|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|pages=47, 57|isbn=978-83-8229-411-8}}</ref>

In 1945 after World War II, the [[Soviet Union]] annexed northern East Prussia, including Sambia, while the southern part of the province became again part of [[Poland]]. Sambia became part of the Soviet [[Kaliningrad Oblast]], named after the nearby city of [[Kaliningrad]] (historically {{langx|de|[[Königsberg]]}}), and the new authorities [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|expelled]] its German inhabitants in accordance to the [[Potsdam Agreement]].

The Soviet Union gradually repopulated the Kaliningrad Oblast, including Sambia, with [[Russians]] and [[Belarusians]]. Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, much of the district was a closed military area.

===Kursenieki===
{{details|Kursenieki}}
[[Image:Curonians kursenieki in 1649.png|thumb|right|upright=0.65|Curonian-populated area in 1649]]
While today the [[Kursenieki]], also known as Kuršininkai are a nearly extinct [[Balts|Baltic]] ethnic group living along the [[Curonian Spit]], in 1649 Kuršininkai settlement spanned from [[Klaipėda|Memel (Klaipėda)]] to [[Gdańsk]], Poland, including the coastline of the Sambian Peninsula. The Kuršininkai were eventually assimilated by the [[Germans]], except along the Curonian Spit where some still live. The Kuršininkai were considered [[Latvians]] until after [[World War I]] when [[Latvia]] gained independence from the [[Russian Empire]], a consideration based on linguistic arguments. This was the rationale for Latvian claims over the Curonian Spit, [[Klaipėda|Memel]], and other territories of [[East Prussia]] which would be later dropped.

== See also ==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Samland}}
* [[Amber Coast]]
* [[Curonian Lagoon]]
* [[Curonian Spit]]
* [[Vistula Lagoon]]

== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Peninsulas of Russia]]
[[Category:Peninsulas of the Baltic Sea]]
[[Category:Landforms of Kaliningrad Oblast]]