Zingst Peninsula is the easternmost portion of the three-part Fischland-Darß-Zingst Peninsula, located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany between the cities Rostock and Stralsund on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The area is part of the Pomeranian coast. Zingst Peninsula extends eastward nearly 20 kilometres and has a width of just 2 to 4 kilometres. Zingst serparates the Baltic Sea from the Bodden Inlet, which belongs to the Darß-Zingster-Boddenkette (Darß-Zingst Bodden Chain), a large or estuary. The shallow waters of the inlet are a major rest stop for the migratory European cranes. In spring and fall, up to 3,000 birds gather there before their migration to and from Spain. Most of the estuary and the eastern end of the peninsula are part of the National Park Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft (Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park). Until the early 1870's, Zingst was an island, separated from Darß by the Prerowstrom, a narrow strait. A storm tide in 1874 closed the strait, which had connected Bodden Inlet and the Baltic Sea. A road now connects Zingst and Darß on a 100 metre wide land bridge. The soils of Zingst consist almost entirely of sand. The sand is white in colour which makes it popular with sunbathers and tourists. Dunes border the Baltic Sea and enclose low ground about half a metre below sea level. The low land results in swampy conditions in the interior of the peninsula, and these swamps offer habitat to a wide variety of wilfdlife. There are also ruins of Slavic fortifications, the Hertesburg are on Zingster side.