St. Petersburg City Flag Raised over Australia's Highest Mountain - 14 March, 2003

Yesterday, on March 13, 2002, St. Petersburg's flag was raised atop Australia's highest peak - Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 metres). According to the St. Petersburg city administration's press office, the expedition to climb Australia's highest mountain was undertaken by a team of St. Petersburg mountaineers.

The raising of St. Petersburg's flag over Mount Kosciuszko is one stage of a project devoted to the city's 300th anniversary. The project, which is supported by St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, plans to raise the city's flag at the North and South Poles and at the highest points of the world's seven continents. The project has already been partially completed: in 1999 the flag was raised at the North Pole, and in 2000 it was raised at the South Pole. In addition, in 2001 the city's flag was raised over Europe's highest peak and on Aconcagua in South America. In 2002 it was raised on Mount Kilimanjaro. In 2003 St. Petersburg's flag is also planned to be raised over Mount Everest, Mount McKinley in North America, and Mount Vinson in Antarctica.