 The Pskov Region is located in the northwest of the Russian Federation. It covers 55.3 thousand km2, including 2.1 km2 of lakes. The region stretches 380 km from north to south, and 260 km from east to west.
The region's total area surpasses the size of Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia, or the Netherlands. Administratively, the region is divided into 24 districts, with 9 of them lying adjacent to the border.
The region has two relatively large economic centers: the city of Pskov in the central part, and the city of Velikiye Luki in the south. The main peculiarity of the region's economic and geographical position is its border status. Cargo transport border transpassing is processed by 5 customs; thereare also 9 highway и eail way border check points.
The Pskov Region has:
internal borders with the Novgorod and Leningrad Regions of the northwest zone, and with the Tver and Smolensk Regions of the central zone of Russia;
external borders with Belarus (352 km long), Estonia (249 km), and Latvia (270 km).
The region serves as a tourist link joining the tourist facilities of northwest and central Russia. The region is situated at the crossroads of the motorways and railways connecting Moscow with Riga and Tallinn, and St.-Petersburg with Riga and Kiev. The Pskov airport has an international status. The region's capital, the city of Pskov, is located equidistant from St.-Petersburg (250 km), Tallinn (280 km) and Riga (260 km), and in 600 km from Moscow.
By the petition of the Pskov Region Administration, the following elements of the border infrastructure have been opened and are presently functioning in the region: the Pskov Office of the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a consulate office at the Shumilkino border-crossing checkpoint, the consulate of the Latvian Republic, and the office of the General Consulate of Estonia in St.-Petersburg.
Climatic conditions of the region, its relatively warm summers and mild winters, are conducive to the development of both summer and winter kinds of recreational tourism. The entire complex of the region's natural recreational resources can be evaluated as favorable for tourism, and moderately-favorable for recreation and restorative tourism. The natural recreational facilities of the region are added by numerous historical and cultural monuments. The Pskov Region has bountiful recreational resources. It is characterized by a significantly partitioned landscape with alternating highland and lowland areas. The region's forests have a mixed deciduous-coniferous structure and abound in edible berries and mushrooms. Numerous lakes (more than 3,000), rivers and rivulets provide favorable conditions for the development of environmental, restorative, fishing and water tourism. The region has abundant balneology resources: mineral springs and mud-baths.
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