Murmansk

Murmansk (?????????) is a city in the extreme northwest of Russia (north of the Arctic circle) with a seaport on the Kola Gulf, 20 miles from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland. It has 308,100 inhabitants (2004) and is an important navy base. Geographical coordinates:{{coor dm|68|58|N|33|05|E|}}

History

The city, known initially as Romanov-on-Murman, was founded on September 21, 1916, when the railroad line to Kola was built, and named after the Russian royal dynasty of the Romanovs. Murman is the old Russian name for the Barents Sea and for Norwegians, derived from the ethnonym Normans. The city was renamed to Murmansk after the October Revolution in 1917.

Related Topics:
Murman - September 21 - 1916 - Railroad - Romanov - Normans - October Revolution - 1917

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From 1918 to 1920, the city was occupied by the Western powers who had been allied in the First World War and "White" forces during the Civil War in Russia.

Related Topics:
1918 - 1920 - Occupied - Allied - First World War - "White" - Civil War

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During World War II, Murmansk was a link with the Western world for Russia, and a vast commerce with the Allies, in items important to the respective military efforts passed through it: primarily manufactured goods into the Soviet Union, and raw materials out. These supplies were brought to the city in the Arctic Convoys.

Related Topics:
World War II - Allies - Arctic Convoys

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German forces launched an offensive against the city in 1941, but in the face of fierce Soviet resistance, neither capture of the city nor cutting off the vital Karelian railway line resulted. This resistance was eventually recognized in 1985 by the Soviet Union with the formal designation of Murmansk as a Hero City.

Related Topics:
1941 - Karelian - 1985 - Soviet Union - Hero City

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During the Cold War it was a centre of Soviet submarine activity, and since the breakup of the USSR, it remains the headquarters of the Russian Northern Fleet as well as its Nuclear powered icebreaker fleet.

Related Topics:
Cold War - Submarine - Nuclear powered icebreaker

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