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Im 12. Jahrhundert hatte die Republik Novgorod, zu dieser Zeit der bedeutendste Staat ganz Russlands, damit begonnen, Siedler an die Küste des Weißen Meeres und der Arktis zu entsenden. Diese “Pomors” (“Maritime”) genannten Leute waren die ersten Russen, die sich dauerhaft in der Region Murmansk niederließen.
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Murmansk is the most accessible gateway to the Russian Arctic and Russian Lapland. With its 300,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city in the world located north of the Arctic Circle. It is situated at the bottom of a navigable fjord in the Barents Sea, and is one of the most important fishing, commercial, and military ports of Russia. It is connected to the rest of the country by road and rail, as well as by several regular daily flights to Moscow (1500 kilometres) and St. Petersburg (1000 kilometres). For centuries the Russians had called this coast “coast of Murman”; the word “Murman” meaning “Norwegian” (Norman) in Old Russian. In the 12th century, the Republic of Novgorod, then the most important Russian state, started sending colonists to the coasts of the White Sea and the Arctic. These people, called “Pomors” (“Maritime”), were the first Russians to settle permanently in the Murmansk region. From the 16th century, Russia strengthened its position in the region against Sweden and Norway; it built several forts and the small town of Kola, 12 kilometres south of present-day Murmansk. In 1916, Murmansk was founded as “Romanov on Murman”, in honor of the Russian Imperial Dynasty, and replaced Kola as the regional capital. It was the last Russian city founded before the communist revolution. It is located next to the fjord, in an area of hills and lakes. From here, one can easily access all the main points of interest of the region. Due to its latitude, in the far north of Europe, Murmansk is an ideal place to try and observe the Northern Lights. During the winter, between December 2 and January 10, it is “Polar Night” in Murmansk, with 40 days of uninterrupted night. The climate of Murmansk is moderated by the Gulf Stream, which makes the temperatures a little softer than in the interior regions of Lapland like Rovaniemi or Ivalo. The fjord stays ice-free all year round.
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