inherited the duchy in 1618 under Polish overlordship. Because the Duchy of Prussia failed to fulfill its feudal obligations as a vassal of Poland during the Polish–Swedish wars, George William's rule in Prussia was suspended in 1635 and he was replaced by the Polish king by a viceroy, Jerzy Ossoliński. However, under the Treaty of Sztumska Wieś the Duchy (and so the Sambia peninsula) was given back to George William. In 1701 Hohenzollern ruler proclaimed the Kingdom of Prussia and Sambia became part of the newly formed Province of East Prussia in 1773. In 1871, the peninsula became part of the German Empire in the course of the unification of Germany. After World War I Sambia formed part of the East Prussian province of Weimar Germany. In 1945 after World War II, the Soviet Union annexed northern East Prussia, including Sambia, while the southern part of the province became again part of Poland. Sambia became part of the Soviet Kaliningrad Oblast, named after the nearby city of Kaliningrad (historically ), and the new authorities expelled its German inhabitants in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement. The Soviet Union gradually repopulated the Kaliningrad Oblast, including Sambia, with Russians and Belarusians. Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, much of the district was a closed military area. Kursenieki While today the Kursenieki, also known as Kuršininkai are a nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group living along the Curonian Spit, in 1649 Kuršininkai settlement spanned from Memel (Klaipėda) to Gdańsk, Poland, including the coastline of the Sambian Peninsula. The Kuršininkai were eventually assimilated by the Germans, except along the Curonian Spit where some still live. The Kuršininkai were considered Latvians until after World War I when Latvia gained independence from the Russian Empire, a consideration based on linguistic arguments. This was the rationale for Latvian claims over the Curonian Spit, Memel, and other territories of East Prussia which would be later dropped. Geography and geology Baedeker describes Sambia as "a fertile and wooded district, with several lakes, lying to the north of Königsberg" (since 1946 Kaliningrad). The highest point, 360 feet, is found twelve miles north of Pereslavskoe (Drugehnen) at the ski resort then called the Galtgarben. There also used to be a Samland railway station. the Pereslavskoe railway station serves the "Blue Arrow" railway line from Kaliningrad to Svetlogorsk. Sambia includes two famous seaside resorts, Zelenogradsk and Svetlogorsk. Amber Amber has been