The Vistula Spit (Polish: Mierzeja Wiślana; Russian: Балтийская коса; German: Frische Nehrung) is a spit, or peninsular stretch of land, which separates Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay (Danziger Bucht in German)[fn 1] in the Baltic Sea. The border between Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia, bisects it, politically dividing the spit in half between the two countries. The westernmost point of Russia is located on the Vistula Spit. The Polish part contains a number of tourist resorts, incorporated administratively as the town of Krynica Morska.
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Until the 13th century, the spit had navigable straits in the middle, which allowed the city of Elbląg (Elbing in German),[fn 1] part of the monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, direct access to the Baltic Sea. The natural closing of the straits in the late 13th century reduced Elbing's status as an important trading seaport. Thus, and by the Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) and Polish Pomerania in 1308, the importance of Gdańsk (Danzig)[fn 1] grew.
Nowadays, Poland is considering the idea of digging a channel through its part of the spit, in order to regain direct access to the Baltic, rather than by the only natural, yet Russian-controlled port at Baltiysk (Pillau[fn 1]/Piława). Also, Poland has access to the Baltic via Gdansk.