Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. Arkhangelsk Oblast also has administrative jurisdiction over the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Including the NAO, Arkhangelsk Oblast has an area of, it is the largest of first-level administrative divisions in Europe. Its population was 1,227,626 as of the 2010 Census.
The city of Arkhangelsk, with a population of 301,199 as of the 2021 Census, is the administrative center of the oblast. The second largest city is the nearby Severodvinsk, home to Sevmash, a major shipyard for the Russian Navy. Among the oldest populated places of the oblast are Kholmogory, Kargopol, and Solvychegodsk; there are a number of Russian Orthodox monasteries, including the Antoniev Siysky Monastery and the World Heritage Site of the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea.
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is one of three spaceports in Russia.
Geography
Arkhangelsk Oblast, which includes the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, borders Kirov Oblast, Vologda Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, and the White, Pechora, Barents and Kara Seas. Cape Fligely in Franz Josef Land and Cape Zhelaniya in Novaya Zemlya are both located within Arkhangelsk Oblast. Mount Kruzenshtern is the highest point of the oblast.Arkhangelsk Oblast is located on the East European Plain, and most of it is a forested, hilly landscape. The north-eastern part belongs to the Timan Ridge, a highland mostly situated east from the oblast. The Nenets Autonomous Okrug is essentially a flat tundra with several hill chains like Pay-Khoy Ridge. The Arctic islands including Novaya Zemlya and Franz Joseph Land are mountainous with glaciers and eternally snow-covered. This region has a genetically distinct population of polar bears associated with the Barents Sea area.
Almost all of the area of the Oblast belongs to the basin of the Arctic Ocean, with the major rivers being the Onega River, the Northern Dvina, Kuloy River, Mezen River, and Pechora Rivers. A minor area in the west of the Oblast, most notably the basin of the Ileksa River, drains into Lake Onega and eventually to the Baltic Sea. A very minor area in Kargopolsky District in the south-west of the Oblast drains into the Kema River which belongs to the basin of the Caspian Sea. The area in the Onega River basin containing the biggest lakes in the oblast, such as Lake Lacha, Lake Kenozero, Lake Undozero, and Lake Kozhozero. The tundra of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug also contains a number of bigger lakes. The river basin of the Pinega is characteristic of the karst, with a number of caves in the region.
The White Sea coast within the Oblast is split into the Onega Bay, the Dvina Bay, and the Mezen Bay. The Solovetsky Islands, as well as a number of smaller islands, are located in Onega Bay. Onega Bay and the Dvina Bay are separated by the Onega Peninsula. The Mezen Bay is separated from the main body of the White Sea by Morzhovets Island. Other major islands in the oblast include Shogly, Zhizgin, Yagry, Lyasomin, Layda, Nikolskiy, and Mudyugskiy islands.
Almost all of the oblast is covered by taiga, the coniferous forest dominated by pine, spruce, and larch. Large areas in the middle of taiga are devoid of trees and covered by swamps. In the floodplains of the rivers, there are meadows.
A number of areas in Arkhangelsk Oblast have been designated as protected natural areas. These are subdivided into national parks, nature reserves, and zakazniks of the federal level. The following protected areas have been designated,
- Kenozersky National Park;
- Onezhskoye Pomorye National Park
- Russkaya Arktika National Park ;
- Vodlozersky National Park ;
- Pinezhsky Nature Reserve;
- Siysky Zakaznik.
History
The area of Arkhangelsk Oblast has been settled by Finno-Ugric peoples since prehistoric times, and most of the toponyms in the region are Finno-Ugric. It was subsequently colonized by the Novgorod Republic. Kargopol was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1146, Shenkursk was mentioned in 1315, and Solvychegodsk was founded in the 14th century.By the 13th century the Novgorodian merchants had already reached the White Sea, attracted to the area for fur trading. The Novgorodians penetrated the area using the waterways, and this is why most of the ancient settlements were located into the main river valleys. The main historical areas of the Arkhangelsk region were Poonezhye along the Onega, the Dvina Land along the Northern Dvina, Pinezhye along the Pinega, Mezen Lands along the Mezen, and Pomorye on the White Sea coast.
The main waterway was the Northern Dvina, and Novgorod merchants used the Volga and its tributary, the Sheksna, along the Slavyanka River into Lake Nikolskoye, then the boats were taken by land to Lake Blagoveshchenskoye, from there downstream along the Porozovitsa River into Lake Kubenskoye and further to the Sukhona and the Northern Dvina. Portages from the Northern Dvina Basin led further to the Mezen and the Pechora.
After the fall of Novgorod in 1478, all these lands became a part of the Great Duchy of Moscow. Until 1703, the Northern Dvina served as the main export trading route of Muscovy. The local centers were Veliky Ustyug and Kholmogory; however, during the 17th century, Kholmogory lost its significance, and its role was gradually replaced by Arkhangelsk.
In 1708, when the governorates were established by Tsar Peter the Great, Arkhangelsk became the seat of one of the seven governorates of the Russian Empire.
At the same time, Arkhangelsk lands were one of the most remote areas in Russia. This fact was attractive for monks fleeing the crowds. In 1436, Solovetsky Monastery was founded, and it quickly became one of the richest and most influential Russian monasteries. Other monasteries followed. For instance, Kozheozersky Monastery, founded in 1552, still remains one of the most remote Russian Orthodox monasteries. After the great schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1653, the area attracted many Old Believers, who were persecuted by the state. Most would later flee to even more remote locations such as Siberia.
In 1703, with the construction of St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, which lacked St. Petersburg's geographical proximity to Europe and the non-freezing harbour of Murmansk, lost its significance as the main trading harbour of the Russian Empire. However, in the early 20th century Arkhangelsk was an important starting point for Russian Arctic expeditions. For instance, in the 1830s Pyotr Pakhtusov sailed twice from Arkhangelsk to investigate and map Novaya Zemlya.
File:Colonel George E. Stewart, commanding American forces in Northern Russia, passing by convoy through village of Chamova o - NARA - 531146.tif|thumb|left|Colonel George E. Stewart, commanding American forces in Northern Russia, passing by convoy through village of Chamovo
In 1918 and 1919, Arkhangelsk Governorate became one of the most active battlegrounds of the Civil War in Russia. On 2 August 1918 Arkhangelsk was occupied by British and American troops, allied with the White movement. Administratively, they established the Northern Oblast with the center in Arkhangelsk. This episode of the Civil War is known as the North Russia Intervention. The troops advanced to the south, occupied the station of Obozerskaya in September 1918, and moving along the Northern Dvina and the Vaga Rivers. The southernmost points occupied by the allies were Shenkursk and Verkhnyaya Toyma. The allies were hoping that the Aleksandr Kolchak's forces would move in the direction of Kotlas, however, the White Army was unable to advance in this direction. In January 1919, after the Battle of Shenkursk, the allied forces were driven out of the Shenkursk area. Battles around the station of Plesetskaya followed. On 20 February 1920 the Red Army entered Arkhangelsk, by which time all allied troops had already been evacuated.
In the 1930s, the Soviets carried out the same experiments in economics as elsewhere in Soviet Union. The peasants and fishermen were forcibly organized into collective farms. These were heavily subsidized, which eventually brought the agriculture to the collapse in the 1990s, when the subsidies stopped. Arkhangelsk Oblast was and remains attractive as an area for exile, forcible resettlement, and prison camps. Actually, the first prison camp, Solovki prison camp, was created in 1920 on the premises of the former Solovetsky Monastery. Novaya Zemlya from the 1950s, when its population was strongly recommended to leave, became the military ground for nuclear bomb testing.
In 1932, the icebreaker Sibiryakov under the command of Vladimir Voronin, sailing from Arkhangelsk, crossed the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation.
Arkhangelsk Oblast proper was established in 1937. Before 1991, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: the first secretary of the Arkhangelsk Oblast CPSU Committee, the chairman of the oblast Soviet, and the chairman of the oblast Executive Committee. In 1991 the CPSU lost all power. The head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor, came to be elected or appointed.
The economic crisis of 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, struck Arkhangelsk Oblast very badly. Although there remains a strong demand for timber, the basis of the oblast's economy, the population of Arkhangelsk Oblast has steadily declined, especially in rural areas. Many villages either have been deserted, or are on the verge of disappearing.
Politics
During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Arkhangelsk CPSU Committee, the chairman of the oblast Soviet, and the chairman of the oblast Executive Committee. 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 Arkhangelsk Oblast is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Arkhangelsk Oblast is the province's standing legislative 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 in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.