The Swedish, at the time, were in control of the Baltic area which contained the Baltic Sea, Peter’s dream spot for the navy. Peter the Great was victorious and won the Baltic territory. With the land obtained from the Sweden, He built the new capital city of St. Petersburg. Peter invited many great Italian artists and builders that built great Western style palaces. St. Petersburg was thought of as a symbol of his effort to build a modernized Russia. He transformed the dispersed empire into twelve controllable provinces watched over by intelligent governors. Peter made a Senate and cabinet to help with the expanding kingdom. He strengthened his navy and created two schools to train the officers and builders. These academies were called the School of Mathematical and Navigation Sciences in Moscow and the Naval Academy in Saint Petersburg. Lastly, Peter was able to expand Russian borders. . Russian traders and raiders expanded to the west as far as Siberia to Alaska and east by Alaska and the east of the Ural Mountains. This expansion made Russia the largest country in the world. It still is the largest