Morzhovets Island (russian: Остров Моржовец) is an island located in

Mezen Bay The Mezen Bay (russian: Мезенская губа) is located in Arkhangelsk Oblast and Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Northwestern Russia. It is one of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Dvina Bay, the Onega Bay, and ...

of the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...

. Morzhovets island lies from mainland Russia.

Geographical data

Morzhovets lies only a few km above the Arctic Circle. This island has an area of . The area where this island is located belongs to the Arkhangelsk Oblast,

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Administratively, the island is part of

Mezensky District Mezensky District (russian: Мезе́нский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.Law #65-5-OZ As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Mezensky Municipal District.Law ...

. The island is flat and grassy (covered by

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

) and it has many lakes. The biggest one is Lake Morzhovets. There is a settlement on Morzhovets, Severny Gorodok, which serves the lighthouse and the meteorological station. The population of the settlement is 12.

History

Historically, the

Pomors Pomors or Pomory ( rus, помо́ры, p=pɐˈmorɨ, ''seasiders'') are an ethnographic group descended from Russian settlers, primarily from Veliky Novgorod, living on the White Sea coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a ...

who populated the coast of the Mezen Bay, were fishing along the coast. A sudden change of the weather could drive them off-shore. In this case, Morzhovets island was the last land before they got driven off to the Barents Sea and perish, and thus was considered to be the last resort. In particular, the father of the Russian

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

Mikhail Lomonosov, Vasily Lomonosov, died in the sea, and his body was found on the island. Pomor fishermen built a chapel on the island, which did not survive.

Bibliography

* B. Wwedenski et al. ''Bolschaja sowetskaja enziklopedija: Tom 28''. Isd-wo Bolschaja sowetskaja enziklopedija, Moscow 1954, p. 302 * G. Gilbo ''Sprawotschnik po istorii geografitscheskich naswani na pobereschje SSSR''. Ministerstwo oborony Soiusa SSR, Glaw. upr. nawigazii i okeanografii, 1985, pp. 217-218.

References

{{Barents Sea Islands Islands of Arkhangelsk Oblast Populated places of Arctic Russia