Metropolitan City of Venice had annexed Padua and Verona, and by the 16th century the republic included territories from the Julian Alps to Crema, Istria, Dalmatia, Cyprus and part of the Peloponnese. In 1797, Napoleon invaded the Republic and, following the Treaty of Campo Formio, it was ceded to Austria. After the final defeat of Napoleon, the Austrian Empire founded a province of Venice on the Adriatic. In 2015 this was converted to the current Metropolitan City. Facing east on the Northern Adriatic Sea, the Metropolitan City is bordered to the northeast by the Province of Udine and Province of Pordenone, south by the
Gulf of Finland depression was somewhat reshaped by glacier's activities. Its retreat formed the Littorina Sea, whose water level was some 7–9 metres higher than the present level of the Baltic Sea. Some 4,000 years ago the sea receded and shoals in the gulf have become its islands. Later uplifting of the Baltic Shield skewed the surface of the gulf; for this reason, its ancient northern shores are significantly higher than the southern ones. The climate in the area is humid continental climate, characterized by temperate to hot summers and cold, occasionally severe winters with regular precipitation. The vegetation is dominated by a