Murmansk Oblast is a

federal subject The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation () or simply as the subjects of the federation (), are the administrative division, constituent entities of Russia, its top-level political division ...

(an

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

) of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the

Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...

to the south, and it is bordered internationally by

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

to the west and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

to the northwest and 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 ...

lies to the north and

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 ...

lies to the south and east. Its

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

is the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 795,409, but at the 2021 Census this had declined to 667,744.

Geography

Geographically, Murmansk Oblast is located mainly on the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...

almost completely north of 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 ...

''2007 Atlas of Murmansk Oblast'', p. 2 and is a part of the larger Sápmi (Lapland) region that spans over four countries.Ratcliffe, p. 1 The oblast borders with the

in Russia in the south, Lapland Region in

in the west, Finnmark County in

in the northwest, and is bounded by the

in the north and the

in the south and east.

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 ...

of Russia lies across the White Sea. Much of the oblast's relief is hilly, with the Khibiny and Lovozero ranges rising as high as above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

and stretching from west to east. The highest point of Murmansk Oblast is Yudychvumchorr, a flat-topped peak of the Khibiny.Физико-географическая статистика России (Physical and geographical statistics of Russia) – Yudychvumchorr
/ref> The north of the oblast is mostly covered by

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

; forest tundra prevails further south, while the southern regions are in the

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

zone. There are over 100,000 lakes and 18,000 rivers in the oblast. The coast contains the

Rybachy Peninsula Rybachy Peninsula (, ''poluostrov Rybachiy''; ; ; ) is the northernmost part of continental European Russia. Its name is translated as "Fisher Peninsula". It is connected with the Sredny Peninsula, "Middle Peninsula" by a thin isthmus. So the ...

and the Cape Svyatoy Nos peninsulas. The climate is harsh and unstable, due to the proximity of the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

on one side and Arctic cold fronts on the other. Sharp temperature changes, high winds, and abundant

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

are common throughout the year, with the heating season lasting for ten straight months. However, the waters of the Murman Coast in the south remain warm enough to remain ice-free even in winter.Field There is also a large number of islands belonging to the oblast, the main ones being (west to east) the Aynovy Islands, Bolshoy Oleny Island,

Kildin Island Kildin (also Kilduin; , North Sami: Gieldasuolu) is a small Russian island in the Barents Sea, off the Russian shore and about 120 km from Norway. Administratively, Kildin belongs to the Murmansk Oblast of the Russian Federation. Kildin ...

Malyy Oleniy Island, Kharlov Island, Vesknyak Island, Litskiye Island, Nokuyev Island, Vitte Island, Lumbovskiy Island, Goryainov Island and Sosnovets Island.

Lakes

* Lake Yurkhyamyayarvi

Climate

Most areas of the Kola Peninsula are

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dfc''). The nearby islands usually belong to

(

: ''ET'').

History

The

Saami The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...

, now a very small minority, are the indigenous people of the region.

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

started exploring the shores of the White Sea as early as in the 12th century, and in 1916 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

founded the Russian city of

as an ice-free supply port. As of 2010, Murmansk had people – nearly 40% of the oblast's population. Many

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

also immigrated to Murmansk during the Finnish famine, around the year 1860. The oblast was established on May 28, 1938 from Murmansk Okrug of

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

(comprising the city of Murmansk, Kirovsky, Kolsky, Lovozersky, Polyarny, Saamsky, Teribersky, and Tersky Districts) and

Kandalakshsky District Kandalakshsky District () is an administrative district (a raion), one of the six in Murmansk Oblast, Russia.Law #96-01-ZMO As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Kandalakshsky Municipal District.Law #538-01-ZMO It is located in the south ...

of the Karelian ASSR.Decree of May 28, 1938 The area of Pechengsky District (''Petsamo'' in Finnish), which was ceded to Finland by the 1920 Treaty of Tartu and gave Finland access to the

, became once again part of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

in 1940. After the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, the local Saami population was given the choice either of staying in Soviet Russia or resettling in Finland. Most of them chose the second option. On 30 October 1997, Murmansk, alongside

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

, Kirov,

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO Ci ...

, and

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

signed a power-sharing agreement with the government of Russia, gaining autonomy. The autonomous status operated until 31 May 2003.

Politics

During the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Murmansk CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament. The Charter of Murmansk Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Murmansk Oblast is the province's standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the oblast Charter by the

Constitution of Russia The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993 and enacted on 25 December 1993. The latest significant reform occurred in 2020, marked by extensive amendments that altered various sections ...

Governors of Murmansk Oblast

Chairmen of the Murmansk Oblast Duma

Source:

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Population: The indigenous people of the area, the

, are only a tiny minority today. As of the 2002 Census, 92.2% of the oblast's population live in urban areas. The most populous city is the Oblast's administrative center,

, with 270,000 inhabitants in 2021. Other large cities and towns include

Severomorsk Severomorsk (), known as Vayenga () until 18 April 1951, is a closed city, closed types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Severomorsk is the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet. The town is sit ...

, Apatity,

Kandalaksha Kandalaksha () is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandalaksha Gulf on the White Sea, north of the Arctic Circle. Population: 40,564 ( 2002 Census); Etymology According to the most common ...

Monchegorsk Monchegorsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kola Peninsula, south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 52,242 (Russian Census (2002), 2002 Census); ...

, and Kirovsk. Botanischer Garten in Kirovsk

Vital statistics for 2024: *Births: 5,108 (7.8 per 1,000) *Deaths: 8,068 (12.3 per 1,000) Total fertility rate (2024):
1.38 children per woman Life expectancy (2021):
Total — 68.29 years (male — 63.72, female — 72.85) In 2009, the urban areas were marked by natural population decline (−0.16% per year) and the rural areas were marked by natural population growth (+0.35% per year).

Religion

According to a 2012 survey 41.7% of the population of Murmansk Oblast adheres to the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, 3% are unaffiliated generic

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, 1% are Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to any church or are members of other (non-Russian) Orthodox churches, 1% are adherents of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, 0.4% are adherents of

Rodnovery The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery and sometimes as Slavic Neopaganism, is a modern Paganism, modern Pagan religion. Classified as a new religious movement, its practitioners hearken back to the Slavic paganism, historica ...

(Slavic native faith) and other indigenous folk religions, and 1% are members of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In addition, 28% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 12% is

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 12.5% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.

Economy

The Murmansk Oblast is very rich in natural resources and has deposits of over 700 minerals. The main industries of the region are in the sphere of raw material extraction and basic processing.Murmansk Oblast
Globalsecurity.org The largest industries are metallurgy (36,6%), electric power-production (22,9%) and food-industry, including fishing (13,7%). The icefree port of Murmansk plays an important role in marine transportation in Russia, and the oblast has a 41% share of the total Russian marine transport market.Economic Development in the Murmansk Region in 2007
/ref> The fishing industry is among the most profitable in the region, supplying 16% of Russia's total fish production. Murmansk is a key base for three fishing fleets, including Russia's largest, the Murmansk Trawl Fleet. Monchegorsk factories

The economy of the region is export-oriented. Main export items are nickel products,

apatite Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of Hydroxide, OH−, Fluoride, F− and Chloride, Cl− ion, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of ...

concentrate, copper and copper products, aluminium and ferrous metals. The Murmansk Region produces almost 100 percent of Russia's apatite concentrate (3.7 million tons in 1998), 43 percent of nickel, 15 percent of copper, 12 percent of iron ore and iron ore concentrate (17.7 million and 6.4 million tons in 1998), and 40 percent of cobalt. The largest companies of the region – constituting 90% of the oblast's production – are Pechenganickel, Olcon, the

Kola Nuclear Power Plant The Kola Nuclear Power Plant ( []), 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. If the floating nuclear power pl ...

, Sevrybkholodflot, Murmanrybprom, Murmansk Trawl Fleet and Murmansk Shipping Company. Large oil and gas resources have been discovered on the shelf of the Barents sea, including the massive Shtokman field – one of the world's largest gas fields with estimated reserves of 3.8 trillion cubic meters. Prospective oil fields could potentially yield up to 40 million tons in the next 10–15 years. However, the development of the oil and gas resources will require considerable investment. In 2006, the Murmansk Oblast's

gross regional product Gross regional domestic product (GRDP), gross domestic product of region (GDPR), or gross state product (GSP) is a statistic that measures the size of a region's economy. It is the aggregate of gross value added (GVA) of all resident producer unit ...

was 141.9 billion rubles, which amounts to about 0.4% of the Russian GDP. Unemployment in 2006 was 3,4%. GRP per capita in 2007 was 225,044 rubles.Валовой региональный продукт на душу населения
Федеральная служба государственной статистики Regional automobile code is 51.

Transport

* Airports in

(international), Kirovsk, Kandalaksha,

(military), Lovozero (military), Ponoy, and Krasnoshchelye (small planes and helicopters). * Strategic Oktyabrskaya Railway which connects Murmansk with

Saint-Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and central

. Main stations are Murmansk, Olenegorsk, Kandalaksha. There is also important shoulder to Nikel, the Murmansk-Nikel Railway. * Local one-way railways * Sea routes to small military towns and naval bases on Murman Coast (Ostrovnoy, Svyatoy Nos). * Automobile roads

Military

The Murmansk Oblast plays an important role for the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

, the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

having its headquarters in

, 25 km north of Murmansk. The Navy has several other bases and shipyards in the Murmansk Oblast. The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade is stationed at Pechenga.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * Wm. O. Field, Jr. ''The Kola Peninsula. Gibraltar of the Western Arctic''. ''The American Quarterly on the Soviet Union''. July 1938. Vol. I, No. 2.

External links

Official website of Murmansk Oblast

Directory of organizations in Murmansk
{{Authority control States and territories established in 1938 Fennoscandia 1938 establishments in Russia