Murmansk

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Murmansk

Murmansk (; ; ) is a city and seaport in the extreme northwest part of Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, on the Kola Bay

Kola Bay

Kola Bay is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 meters....
, 12 km from the Barents Sea

Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is a rather deep Continental shelf sea , bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya in the northeast and east....
on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula

Kola Peninsula

The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far north of Russia, part of the Murmansk Oblast. It borders upon the Barents Sea on the North and the White Sea on the East and South....
, not far from Russia's borders with Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
and Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
.

Murmansk is the administrative centre of Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , located in the north-western part of Russia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia of Murmansk....
. The port remains ice-free year round due to the warm North Atlantic drift

North Atlantic Drift

North Atlantic Drift is:* An ocean current that continues from the North Atlantic Current* An album by Ocean Colour Scene: North Atlantic Drift ...
ocean current

Ocean current

An ocean current is continuous, directed movement of ocean water. The currents are generated from the forces acting upon the water like the Earth's rotation, the wind, the temperature, salinity differences and the tide....
and is an important fishing and shipping port. Its satellite, Severomorsk

Severomorsk

Severomorsk is a closed city in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located about north of Murmansk along the Kola Bay. This is the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet....
, is an important navy base for the Russian Navy

Russian Navy

The Russian Navy or VMF is the Navy of the Russian Armed Forces. The international designation of Russian naval vessels is "RFS" - "Russian Federation Ship"....
.

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History

Murmansk was the last town founded in the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
. The Murman is a traditional Pomor name for the Barents Sea

Barents Sea

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock....
".

The city, known initially as Romanov-on-the-Murman , was founded on October 4, 1916 and named after the Russian royal dynasty of the Romanov

Romanov

The House of Romanov was the second and last monarchy dynasty of Russia, which ruled the country from 1613 to 1917. From 1762 until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian Empire was ruled for five generations by a line of the House of Oldenburg descended from the marriage of a Romanov grand duchess to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp....
s. The city, the only ice-free port in the Russian Arctic, was built as a terminus of the railway line to Kola

Kola (town)

Kola is a types of settlements in Russia in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kola River and Tuloma Rivers, 12 km south of Murmansk and 24 km south-west of Severomorsk....
designed to open the North Atlantic supply route to Russia in support of the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War I)

The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central Europe and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front ....
during the First World War. The city was renamed Murmansk after the February Revolution in 1917.

From 1918 to 1920, the city was occupied by the Western powers

North Russia Campaign

The North Russia Campaign was part of the Allied Intervention in Russia after the October Revolution. The intervention brought about the involvement of foreign troops in the Russian Civil War on the side of the losing White movement....
who had been allied

Allies

In general, allies are people, groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose....
in the First World War

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
and "White" forces during the Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed and the Bolshevik party assumed power in Saint Petersburg....
in Russia.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, Murmansk was a link with the Western world for Russia, and a vast commerce with the Allies

Allies

In general, allies are people, groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose....
, in items important to the respective military efforts passed through it: primarily manufactured and raw materials goods into the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
. These supplies were brought to the city in the Arctic Convoys.

A joint German and Finnish force launched an offensive against the city in 1941 as part of Operation Silver Fox

Operation Silver Fox

Operation Silver Fox was a joint Germany-Finland military operation during World War II. Its main goal was the capture of the key Soviet Union port at Murmansk through attacks from Finnish territory....
. Murmansk suffered profound destruction, second only to Stalingrad of all the Soviet cities. However, fierce Soviet resistance and unforgiving territory prevented the Germans from capturing the city and from cutting off the vital Karelian railway line. This resistance was eventually recognized in 1985 by the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
with the formal designation of Murmansk as a Hero City

Hero City

Hero City is a Soviet Union honorary title awarded for outstanding heroism during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945. It was awarded to twelve cities of the Soviet Union....
on May 6, 1985 . In commemoration of this event, the massive statue Alyosha, depicting a Russian soldier of World War II, was erected overlooking the city harbour. For the rest of the war, it served as a transit point for weapons and other supplies entering the Soviet Union from other Allied nations.

During the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
it was a centre of Soviet submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
activity, and since the breakup of the USSR, it remains the headquarters of the Russian Northern Fleet

Russian Northern Fleet

The Russian Northern Fleet is the part of the Russian Navy that has access to the Barents and Norwegian Seas, the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and is responsible for the defense of northwestern Russia....
.

To commemorate the 85th anniversary of the city's foundation, the snow-white church of the Saviour-on-Waters was modeled after the White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal

White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal

The White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal is the name of a World Heritage Site in Russian Federation. The patrimony embraces eight medieval limestone monuments of Zalesye:...
and built on the shore for sailors of Murmansk ().

Murmansk's evening newspaper is Vecherny Murmansk, published since 1991.

The city is home to world's northernmost Jewish synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
at 68°58' N latitude.

Arctic Bridge

Murmansk is set to be the Russian terminus of the Arctic Bridge

Arctic bridge

File:Arctic.svgThe Arctic Bridge or Arctic Sea Bridge is a potential sea route linking Russia to Canada, specifically the Russian port of Murmansk to the Hudson Bay port of Churchill, Manitoba....
(or Arctic Sea Bridge), a sea route that would link it to the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
port of Churchill

Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada, situated at the estuary of the Churchill River at Hudson Bay. The small community stands at an ecotone, on the Hudson Plains, at the juncture of three ecoregions: the boreal forest to the south, the Arctic tundra to the northwest, and the Hudson Bay to the north....
, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a prairie provinces in Canada, which has an area of 647,797 square kilometres and a population of 1,207,959 , with more than half located within the Winnipeg Capital Region ....
. This passage has not yet been fully tested for commercial shipping but Russia has shown interest in it. Once this bridge is further developed (along with the Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
) it is believed that it will serve as a major trade route between Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
.

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

Murmansk is twinned

Town twinning

Town twinning, also known as sister cities, is a concept whereby towns or city in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links between their inhabitants....
or has sister city relationships with:

Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea....
, Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....

Akureyri

Akureyri is a town in the northern part of Iceland; it is the second largest urban area after Greater Reykjav?k area but is the fourth largest Municipalities of Iceland in Iceland after Hafnarfj?r?ur, K?pavogur and Reykjav?k....
, Iceland

Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....

Vadsø

is a List of cities in Norway and Municipalities of Norway in Finnmark Counties of Norway, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality and the county of Finnmark....
, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....

Groningen

Groningen (city)

||-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |-| |}Groningen is the capital city of the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. With a population of 185,000, it is by far the largest city in the north of the Netherlands....
, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....

Jacksonville, Florida

Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...

Luleå

Lule? , is a Cities in Sweden with a population of 57 144 in the urban area, and 73 416 including connecting suburbs. The city is located at the coast of Norrbotten in northern Sweden....
, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....

Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is a List of cities and towns in Finland and Municipalities of Finland of Finland. It is the administrative Capital and the centre of commerce of Finland's northernmost Province, Lapland, Finland....
, Finland

Finland

Tromsø

is a List of cities in Norway and Municipalities of Norway in Troms Counties of Norway, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Troms?....
, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....

Szczecin

Szczecin is the Capital of West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest port in Poland on the Baltic Sea....
, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....

Murmansk

History

Arctic Bridge

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

Climate

Gallery

External links