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Vyborg (transcription of Russian Выборг) is a town with 70,000 inhabitants at Russia's border to Finland, on the Karelian Isthmus, close to Saint Petersburg . The Saimaa canal enters the Gulf of Finland at Vyborg. After 1944, when the Karelian inhabitants were evacuated to the West, the town was resettled by people from different parts of the Soviet Union. In EnglishThe English language is a West Germanic language, originating from England. It is the third most common "first" language (native speakers), with around 402 million people in 2002. English has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the mil texts Vyborg may also be referred to as Viipuri ( Finnish spelling), Viborg ( SwedishFinland-Swedish is a variety of Swedish. Until 1863 Swedish, not Finnish, was the language of jurisdiction, administration and higher education in Finland. In 1892 Finnish and Swedish became official languages with equal status, and at Finland's independe) and Wiburg ( GermanGerman (called Deutsch in German in which germanisch refers to prechristian times), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and one of the world's major languages. It is the language with the most native speakers in the European Union.).

1 History

In pre-historic times the area where Vyborg is located was a trading center on River Vuoksi's western branch, which has now dried up. The area was inhabited by the Karelians, that was a Finnic tribe who came under the domination of Novgorod and Sweden.

The first castle of Viborg was founded during the third Swedish crusade in 1293 by the marsk Torkel Knutsson. The castle was fought over for centuries. In the treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 Viborg was officially made part of the Swedish realm, and soon of Sweden proper. The town's trade privileges were chartered by King Eric of Pomerania in 1403. It remained in Swedish hands until the Great Northern War, when Russia received Viborg (as Vyborg) by the Treaty of Nystad. After Finland was conquered by Russia in 1808, Vyborg was incorporated in the Grand Duchy of Finland (as Viipuri) in 1812 and became again the center of administration for the eastern part of the country.

In 1917 Finland declared itself independent. During the Finnish Civil War Viipuri was in the hands of the Reds, until it was captured by the Whites on 29 April 1918.

Viipuri was the second biggest city in Finland, characterized by important minorities of Russians, Germans and Swedes. In 1939 Viipuri had some 80,000 inhabitants. During this time, Viipuri became known for its innovative modern architecture.

During the Winter War some 31,000 people were evacuated from Viipuri to western Finland. The Winter War was concluded in the Peace of Moscow according to which most of Ladoga Karelia and all of the Karelian Isthmus, also those parts still in Finnish hands, including Viipuri, were to be ceded to the Soviet Union. The remaining population had to be evacuated in haste. The evacuees from Finnish Karelia came to be a vociferous political force, and their wish to return to their homes was an important incentive when Finland sought support from Nazi Germany against the Soviet threat; a support that resulted in Finland and Germany ending up on the same side in the Great Patriotic War/ the Continuation War.

Viipuri was recaptured by Finnish troops on 29 August 1941, and lost again on 20 June 1944. About 70% of the evacuees from Finnish Karelia returned after the re-conquest to rebuild their looted homes, but were again evacuated after the Red Army's 1944 Karelian offensive , timed with the Allied recapture of France (the Battle of Normandy). The town fell to the Red Army on 20 June 1944.

After the wars the city's name officially reverted to Vyborg and was settled by people from all over the Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, Vyborg became an important industrial producer of paper, but since in more recent times Vyborg has become economically depressed.

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