Sovetsk

Sovetsk, town, western Russia. Formerly called Tilsit, Sovetsk is located in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad province and is 1 km (’ mi) from the border with Lithuania. Sovetsk lies on the River Neman (Nemunas), 97 km (60 mi) north-east of the city of Kaliningrad. It is an industrial and commercial centre, a rail junction, and a river port. The town developed in the early 15th century around a castle of the Teutonic Knights, an order of medieval Christian knights. Originally a part of East Prussia, it was chartered and renamed Tilsit in 1552. The Treaty of Tilsit, signed there in 1807, ended one of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the 1945 Potsdam Conference Tilsit was transferred, along with the rest of East Prussia, to the Soviet Union. In 1946 the city was renamed Sovetsk. Population (1991 estimate) 42,300.