Sambia Peninsula

Sambia (Russian: Земландский полуо́стров, Zemlandsky poluostrov, literally the Zemlandsky Peninsula) or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is bounded by the Curonian Lagoon (to the north-east, the Vistula Lagoon (on the southwest), the Pregel River (on the south), and the Deyma River (on the east). As Samland is surrounded on all sides by water, it is technically an island. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.

Names

Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct tribe of Old Prussians. Samland is the name for peninsula in the Germanic languages. Polish and Latin speakers call the area Sambia, while the Lithuanian name is Semba.

History

Sambia was originally sparsely populated by the Sambians. The German Teutonic Knights conquered the region during the 13th century and the Bishopric of Samland became, along with Bishopric of Pomesania, Bishopric of Ermland, and Bishopric of Culm, one of the four dioceses of Prussia in 1243. Settlers from the Holy Roman Empire began colonizing the region, and the Sambian Prussians gradually became assimilated. The peninsula was the last area in which the Old Prussian language was spoken before becoming extinct at the beginning of the 18th century.