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Hanko Peninsula
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hanko Penisula (Finnish: Hangonniemi, Swedish: Hangö udd) is the southernmost point of mainland Finland. The town of Hanko is situated on the peninsula. The Baltic Sea Proper is demarcated by a line from the Hanko Peninsula to the Northwesternmost point of mainland Estonia. The battle of Gangut was fought outside the Hanko peninsula ("Gangut" is the transliteration of the Swedish name for the peninsula "Hangö udd").
The Hanko Paninsula has played a major part during times of war. Here are e.g. the Hanko fortifications, part of Peter the Great's Naval Fortress. During the Finnish Civil War, the German Ostsee Division landed here in April 1918. After Finland had been brought to its knees, following the Winter War, the peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union for 30 years as a naval base. However, the Soviets evacuated their 25,000 soldiers in the area during the Continuation War and it was retaken by the Finns in December 1941.