St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census estimate, the population was 271,842, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida, the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa, and the largest in the state that is not a county seat. Along with Clearwater, these cities are part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, the second-largest in Florida with a population of around 2.8 million. St. Petersburg is located on the Pinellas peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and is connected to mainland Florida to the north.
St. Petersburg was founded in 1888 by John C. Williams, who purchased the land, and by Peter Demens who brought the railroad industry into the area. A coin toss bet was held between Williams and Demens to name this newly formed community. Demens won the bet and subsequently named the land after Saint Petersburg, Russia. Williams was then granted the right to name the first hotel built. Both named their winnings after their personal hometowns. St. Petersburg was incorporated as a town on February 29, 1892 and re-incorporated as a city on June 6, 1903.