Russia (Россия, Rossiya in Russian) is by far the world's largest country, spanning a little over 150° in longitude. It is organized as the Russian Federation (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) with members known as federal subjects (sub'yekty federatsii). Russia is primarily a continental nation but it has important coastlines on the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas and very long coastlines on the Arctic Ocean and North Pacific Oceans. To guard these coasts it operates hundreds of lighthouses, many of them historic. The Gulf of Finland, the eastern arm of the Baltic Sea, extends about 425 km (265 mi) to end at St. Petersburg, Russia's traditional western outlet to the sea. For most of its length the Gulf is 60-120 km (38-75 mi) wide. The eastern quarter of the Gulf's length is surrounded by Russian territory and the western 3/4 separates Finland on the north from Estonia on the south. Finland and Estonia were both parts of the Russian Empire before World War I and Estonia was a member republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 until 1991. Between Finland and Estonia, near the centerline of the Gulf, there is a ragged string of islands. In the Russian Empire prrior to World War I these islands were included in the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state within the Empire. They were retained by Finland when it declared its independence late in 1917, but they were seized by Soviet troops during the Winter War of 1939-40. Under Soviet control they were attached to the Russian Federation and thus they remained as Russian possessions after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Curly braces {} are used to enclose former Finnish names of some of the light stations .The Russian word for a lighthouse is mayak (маяк); ostrov is an island, rif is a reef, mys is a cape, bukhta is a bay, zaliv is a larger bay or gulf, proliv is a strait, reka is a river, and gavan' is a harbor. Russian lighthouses are owned by the Russian Navy and maintained by the Office of Navigation and Oceanography (Управление навигации и океанографии). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume C of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 116.
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![]() Ostrov Rodsher Light, Gulf of Finland, January 2023 Google Maps photo by Plinio Lisboa |
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![]() Bol'shoy Tyuters Light, Bol'shoy Tyuters, August 2021 unattributed Google Maps photo |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Southeastern Finland | Southeast: South Ingria | South: Northeastern Estonia
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Posted May 22, 2005. Checked and revised October 10, 2025. Lighthouses: 18. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.