Rybachy Peninsula (, ''poluostrov Rybachiy''; ; ; ) is the northernmost part of continental

European Russia European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russia, Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia ...

. Its name is translated as "Fisher Peninsula". It is connected with the

Sredny Peninsula Sredny Peninsula (, lit. ''middle peninsula'') is a peninsula at north part of continental European Russia. The peninsula is connected with the continent by a thin isthmus and with Rybachy Peninsula by a similar thin isthmus, making it nearly comp ...

, "Middle Peninsula" by a thin

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

. So the peninsula is in fact nearly completely surrounded by water. Administratively, it is included into

Pechengsky District Pechengsky District (; ; ; ; ) is an administrative district (raion), one of the six in Murmansk Oblast, Russia.Law #96-01-ZMO As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Pechengsky Municipal District.Law #539-01-ZMO It is located in the north ...

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...

and is within several hours of ride from

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 ...

. Main occupations of the population are

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

herding Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in ...

and (since 2003)

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

drilling.

History

The peninsula lies in an area where borders were marked relatively late; the Norwegian-Russian border was drawn in 1826, leaving Rybachy on the Russian side of the border. At the time, several Norwegian settlers lived on the peninsula. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the western parts of Sredny and Rybachy were ceded to Finland. After the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

of 1939–1940, Finland ceded them to the Soviet Union by the

Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...

.''Administrative-Territorial Division of Murmansk Oblast'', p. 53 The Norwegian settlers became "trapped" in Soviet Russia after the revolution; some of their descendants were allowed Norwegian citizenship after the fall of the Iron Curtain. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for three years it was an arena of a positional war between Germans and Soviets. The peninsula covered the access to Murmansk and

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

, which were the main gates for the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

. The front split the peninsula in two parts, both sides having heavily fortified positions. Before the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

the territory was heavily militarized because of the immediate vicinity of

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 ...

, a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

member. Now the military is removed, but in 2005 the territory was still closed to foreigners.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

News article regarding the dispute
{{Authority control Peninsulas of Murmansk Oblast

History

See also

References

Notes

Sources

External links