Polyarnye Zori (russian: Поля́рные Зо́ри, lit. ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in Murmansk Oblast,

Russia 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 ...

, located on the

Niva River The Niva (, ) is a river in the Murmansk Oblast in Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The Niva flows out of the Lake Imandra and into the Kandalaksha Gulf of the White Sea. The town of Kandalaksha is located in the estuary An ...

Lake Imandra Imandra ( sms, Âʹvverjäuʹrr, Russian: Имандра, Finnish: ''Imantero'') is a lake in the south-western part of the Kola Peninsula in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, slightly beyond the Arctic circle. It is located 127 m above sea level; its ar ...

, and Lake Pinozero, south of

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') ...

. The nearest settlements to Polyarnye Zory are: Zasheek (3km), Pinozero (4 km), Nivskiy (8km) and Afrikanda-1,2 (16 and 13 km). Population : 14,196 (2020 Сensus),

History

Polyarnye Zori was founded in 1968 as a settlement for workers of the

electric power industry The electric power industry covers the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electric power to the general public and industry. The commodity sold is actually energy, not power, e.g. consumers pay for kilowatt-hours, power multip ...

due to the construction of the

Kola Nuclear Power Plant The Kola Nuclear Power Plant (russian: Кольская АЭС []), also known as Kolsk NPP or Kolskaya NPP, is a nuclear power plant located 12 km away from Polyarnye Zori, Murmansk Oblast in Northwestern Federal District, north-western Russia. I ...

. Initially a work settlement subordinated to the town of

Apatity Apatity ( rus, Апатиты, p=əpɐˈtʲitɨ, lit. apatites) is a town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located along the Murman Railway, west of Kirovsk and south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. The town is named after one ...

, it was elevated in status to that of a town under oblast jurisdiction by the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was the collective head of state of the Russian SFSR and the permanent body of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR that was accountable to the Supreme Sovi ...

Decree of April 22, 1991.''Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast'', p. 58 A part of the territory in jurisdiction of Apatity was also transferred to Polyarnye Zori by the Decision of the Presidium of the Murmansk Oblast Soviet of People's Deputies of May 16, 1991.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated as Polyarnye Zori Town with Jurisdictional Territory—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.Law #96-01-ZMO As a municipal division, Polyarnye Zori Town with Jurisdictional Territory is incorporated as Polyarnye Zori Urban Okrug.Law #535-01-ZMO

Mayors of Polyarnye Zori

#Lyudmila Chistova (1994-1998) #Valery Mironov (1998-2001) #Vladimir Goncharenko (2001-2005) #Nikolay Goldobin (2005-2013) #Maxim Pukhov (since 2013)

Other notable residents

* Marina Sergina (born 1986 in Polyarnye Zori), ice hockey player * Ivan Yershov (born 1979 in Polyarnye Zori), footballer

References

Notes

Sources

* * * {{Use mdy dates, date=August 2012 Cities and towns in Murmansk Oblast Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1968