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Kotlin IslandKotlin (or Kettle; Finn. Retusari, or Rat Island) is a Russian island, located near the head of the Gulf of Finland, 20 miles west of Saint Petersburg. The fortified town of Kronstadt is located on the island. In general outline, the island forms an elongated triangle, 7 miles in length by about 1 in breadth, with its base towards St Petersburg. The eastern or broad end is occupied by the town of Kronstadt, and shoals extend for a mile and a half from the western point of the island to the rock on which the Tolbaaken lighthouse is built. The island thus divides the seaward approach to St Petersburg into two channels; that on the northern side is obstructed by shoals which extend across it from Kotlin to Lisynos on the Finnish mainland; the southern channel, the highway to the former capital, is narrowed by a spit which projects from opposite Lomonosov on the Russian mainland, and, lying close to Kronstadt, has been historically strongly guarded by batteries. The approach to Saint Petersburg was greatly facilitated by the construction in 1875-1885 of a canal, 23 ft. deep, through the shallows.
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