Gogland

Different transliterations of the name from the Russian language have been used. In older transliterations, the Russian Г is transliterated as "G", but in contemporary usage, it is rendered as "H". Since being ceded to Russia, the latter form is often used in western languages. The original meaning of the name is Hogland in Swedish which means Highland (that precisely describes the physical shape of the Island). The Russian name derived from the original Swedish/Viking name of the Island. In Russian the H became to a G. So the name became Gogland after Russia conquered it from the Swedish.

Gogland has been inhabited by ethnic Finns since at least the 16th century, but it has changed hands several times. Throughout much of its history the island was part of the Kingdom of Sweden, which controlled Finland; however, after the Great Northern War (as part of which, the action of 22 July 1713 took place near the island), the Russian Empire, under Tsar Peter I, claimed the island. Peter then had the island's first lighthouse built in 1723.

During the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) the Battle of Hogland, between the Russian and Swedish fleets, took place offshore, in July 1788.

During the Crimean War, four vessels of the Royal Navy—Arrogant, Cossack, Magicienne, and Ruby—silenced the Russian batteries at a fort on the island, while the Anglo-French fleet went on to attack Sveaborg before returning home.

Offshore there have been several notable shipwrecks. The crew of the three-mast clipper Amerika, which sank near the shore in October 1856, lie buried in an old Finnish cemetery.

After the Finnish War (1808–1809), Gogland officially passed to the Russian Empire, although it was made part of the newly created Grand Duchy of Finland which gained independence from Russia in 1917. Most of the island's population lived in two fishing villages administered from Viipuri (Vyborg).

Gogland is known as the location of one of the earliest radio contacts, which took place on 6 February 1900 under the supervision of Alexander Popov. (The time and details of this event vary slightly in different sources.)

Tourism became an important source of income in the interbellum. There was also a small soft drink factory on the island.

In March 1939, the Soviets asked Finland to lease Suursaari and four small uninhabited islets for thirty years and cede rich and heavily populated areas on the Karelian isthmus, as they claimed they were vital for the defense of Leningrad, the second biggest Soviet city. In return, the Soviet Union would show its good faith by offering a large slice of empty and unofficially disputed Karelian borderland in exchange. The Finns refused.[1]

Soviet troops occupied the island during the Winter War (1939–1940), and the civilian population was evacuated. Gogland and nearby islands became strategically important during World War II, as German and Finnish forces used them to observe and maintain the massive belts of sea mines that kept the Soviet fleet bottled up in the eastern Gulf of Finland throughout the conflict.

Finnish forces captured Gogland during the Battle of Suursaari (December 1941 – April 1942). Later, in September 1944—Finland having ceased hostilities with the Soviet Union—the Germans attempted to take the island from their Finnish former allies but were repulsed with heavy losses in Operation Tanne Ost. Hogland became a Soviet possession at the end of the war.

In 2019, Russia built a military heliport with room for multiple helicopters and a refueling station on the island.[2]

NATO forces have used the island as a border point for Russia.[3]

Gogland has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with oceanic influences from the Gulf of Finland.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hogland.

• (in Finnish) FSB`s order number 239
• (in Russian) Tourist attractions of Gogland
• (in Russian) Account of a trip to Gogland, with illustrations
• (in Finnish) Old pictures and maps from the Finnish era

60°03′N 26°59′E