Volga-Baltic Waterway

Series of rivers and canals, western Russia. The navigable system links the Volga River with the Baltic Sea and includes the Neva River, a canal along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, and the Sheksna River past Cherepovets through the Rybinsk Reservoir. Its total length is some 685 mi (1,100 km). The system was completed in 1964, replacing the antiquated Mariinsk Canal system using the same route that had been constructed originally in the 18th century and later several times enlarged and improved. The system includes seven automatic locks.

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Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The name has sometimes been used to include Finland and Poland. They were created as independent states in 1917 from the Baltic provinces of Russia, the city of Kovno, and part of the Polish department of Wilno (later Lithuania). With the aid of German and Allied forces, the Baltic states repelled a Bolshevik invasion in 1919. In 1940 they were forcibly occupied by the Soviet Union and incorporated as constituent republics. In 1944 Soviet troops recovered the territory overrun by German forces in 1941. The Baltic states gained independence on the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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Branch of the Indo-European language family that includes three attested languages, Lithuanian, Latvian, and Old Prussian. They were or are spoken along the eastern and southeastern shore and hinterlands of the Baltic Sea. Medieval chronicles report four other Baltic-speaking peoples in the region, though by the 16th century these peoples had been completely assimilated. Baltic has certain striking features in common with Slavic languages, though the deep divisions within Baltic itself, among other factors, make the hypothesis of a common Balto-Slavic protolanguage difficult to defend.

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Sea, northern Europe. An arm of the Atlantic Ocean, connecting with the North Sea, it is about 1,000 mi (1,600 km) long, covers an area of about 149,000 sq mi (386,000 sq km), and has a maximum depth of about 1,500 ft (450 m). It receives the Vistula and Oder rivers and many other rivers. It is enclosed by Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, and Russia. It has two large arms, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. The modifying effect of the North Atlantic Current is scarcely felt; its waters contain only about one-fourth as much salt as the oceans, and it freezes readily.

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Baltic may refer to:Places in Northern Europe

• The Baltic Sea
• Baltic Ridge, hilly landscape at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea
• Baltic states (also Baltics, Baltic countries or Baltic republics): Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
• The Baltic region, an ambiguous term referring to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea
• Baltic governorates or provinces, former parts of the Russian Empire (modern Latvia, Estonia)
• The Baltic Shield, the exposed Precambrian northwest segment of the East European Craton
• The Baltic Plate, an ancient tectonic plate that is now fused onto the Eurasian PlateLanguages
• Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian language
• Baltic, a Scots language word for "freezing cold"People
• Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originating from the Baltic countries
• Baltic Germans, historical ethnic German minority in Latvia and Estonia
• Baltic Russians, Russian immigrant community of post World War II origin in the Baltic countriesOther
• SS Baltic (1871)
• RMS Baltic (1903)
• "Baltic", a type of railroad steam locomotive
• Baltic Exchange, UK company that operates as a marketplace for shipbrokers, ship owners and charterers

*Baltic Dry Index, a daily shipping index published by the Baltic Exchange

• BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, United Kingdom
• Baltic State Opera, the Opera House in Gdańsk, PolandPlaces in the US and Canada
• Baltic, Ohio
• Baltic, South Dakota
• Baltic, Kings County, Prince Edward Island, Canada
• Baltic, Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada

See also

• Baltica
• Baltiysk
• Baltiysky