Kaliningrad Oblast (
Russian ??????????´????? ?´??????,
Kaliningradskaya oblast; informally called
Yantarny kray (
????´???? ????, meaning
amber region) is a
federal subject (an
oblast) of
Russia on the
Baltic coast.
Despite being the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, it has no land connection to the rest of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then it has been an exclave of Russia surrounded by Lithuania and Poland. Borderless travel to the main part of Russia is only possible by sea or air. This political isolation became more pronounced when Lithuania and Poland both became members of the European Union and NATO, and entered the Schengen Zone, which means that the oblast is surrounded by the territories of these organizations as well.
Its largest city and the administrative center is Kaliningrad (formerly known as Königsberg), which has historical significance as both a major city of Prussia and the capital of the former German province East Prussia, partitioned after World War II between the USSR and Poland. Population 968,200 (2004 est.); 955,281 (2002 Census);[1]&_160;; 871,283 (1989 Census).[2].
Kaliningrad Oblast is a non-contiguous exclave of Russia surrounded by Lithuania, Poland, and the Baltic Sea.
