The Vistula Spit is a thin stretch of land (sandspit) which separates Vistula Lagoon from the main part of the Gdańsk Bay. Out of the spit’s 65 kilometers, the northwestern strip of land with a length of 35 kilometers belongs to Russia and is part of the Kaliningrad Region. The southern part of the spit belongs to Poland. The width of the spit varies between 300—1,800 meters in the middle and in the south and 8—9 kilometers in the north. The westernmost point of Russia is located on the Vistula Spit. The spit’s territory is mostly sandy beaches and partly forested dunes. The spit is connected to the Polish mainland at its southwestern point and is separated from the Russian mainland by the Strait of Baltiysk. The northern part of the spit is known as the Pillau peninsula (Pillau is the previous name of Baltiysk).
The Vistula Spit is a deposition landform found off coasts. Sandspits represent the counteracting of two natural forces. Sea waves and longshore currents move sand alongside the beach, and the wind moves it in the other direction, creating an aeolian sand spit. The Vistula Spit dunes are no higher than 40 meters. Vegetation growing on the spit makes the soil more stable and prevents the sand from being washed away. The Vistula Spit started to deposit 6,000 years ago when the Vistula Lagoon was formed after crustal movement and sea-level fluctuation caused the Valdai glacier to melt away.
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