Title: Grand Duchy of Finland

Description

This early-19th century playing card is from a set of 60 such cards, each devoted to a different province or territory of the Russian Empire, which at the time included the Grand Duchy of Finland, Congress Poland, and Russian America. One side of each card shows the local costume and the provincial coat of arms; the other side contains a map. This card depicts the Grand Duchy of Finland, located in part of present-day Finland. The Grand Duchy of Finland bordered on the Kingdom of Sweden and the Gulf of Bothnia to the north, the Gulf of Finland to the west, and Lake Ladoga to the south. In the aftermath of the Finnish War (1808-09) between Russia and Sweden, Finland became a grand duchy of the Russian Empire. Abo (present-day Turku) was the capital of the duchy. The card indicates that the distance from Abo to St. Petersburg was 630½ versts, and from Abo to Moscow, 1,350½ versts. A verst is a Russian measurement of distance, no longer used, equal to 1.0668 kilometers.