The Mezen Bay () is located in

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...

and

Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (; ) also known as Nenetsia ( ) is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Its administrative center is the town of Naryan-Mar. It has an area of and a population of 42,090 ...

Northwestern Russia Northwest Russia, or the Russian North is the northern part of European Russia, western Russia. It is bounded by Norway, Finland, the Arctic Ocean, the Ural Mountains and the east-flowing part of the Volga. The area is roughly coterminous with th ...

. It is one of four large bays and gulfs of the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

, the others being the Dvina Bay, the

Onega Bay The Onega Bay () is located in the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwestern Russia, west of the city of Arkhangelsk. It is the southernmost of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Dvina Bay, the Mez ...

, and the

Kandalaksha Gulf The Kandalaksha Gulf (, , ) is located in the Republic of Karelia, and Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia. Forming the north-western corner of the White Sea, it is one of four large bays and gulfs of this sea, the others being the Onega Bay ( ...

. The Mezen Bay is the easternmost of these, as it lies to the west of the

Kanin Peninsula The Kanin Peninsula () is a large peninsula in Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Geography It is surrounded by the White Sea to the west and by the Barents Sea to the north and east. Shoyna (also spelled Shoina) is one of the few communities o ...

. Morzhovets Island lies at the entrance of the bay. The two main rivers emptying into the Mezen Bay are the Kuloy River, and the

Mezen River The Mezen (; Komi: ''n'') is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and in Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. Its mouth is located in the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. Mezen is one of the biggest rivers ...

. The area of the bay is . The Mezen Bay is long and wide. The tides in the Mezen Bay are up to high and are the biggest in the White Sea. The southern part of the bay, just south of Morzhovets Island, is crossed by the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. Historically, the Mezen Bay was the fishing area. The pomors who populated the coast fished along it. 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 The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

and perish, and thus was considered to be the last resort. Another traditional occupation of the pomors in the Mezen Bay was

seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of Pinniped, seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in nine countries: Canada, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Russia, the United States (above the Arctic Circle ...

. The south-western coast of the bay is known as ''Abramovsky Bereg'', and the eastern coast is known as ''Konushinsky Bereg''. The principal villages on the Abramovsky coast are Koyda and Dolgoshhelye, both of the

Mezensky District Mezensky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Arkhangelsk Oblast, twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.Law #65-5-OZ As a subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, municipal division, it is ...

of Arkhangelsk Oblast. On the Konushinsky Coast, the main villages are Yazhma and Chizha, both in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The entire coast of the Mezen Bay is included into a border security zone, intended to protect the borders of Russian Federation from unwanted activity. In order to visit the zone, a permit issued by the local FSB department is required. There was a project to construct a tidal power station, Mezenskaya Tidal Power Plant, in the Mezen bay which would exploit the great height of the tides. The project has not been realized.

References

{{coord, 66, 45, N, 43, 30, E, scale:3000000_source:frwiki, display=title Bays of Arkhangelsk Oblast Bays of the White Sea