Kola Peninsula
The
Kola Peninsula (Кольский полуостров,
Kol'skij poluostrov in
Russian) 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. The west border of the Kola Peninsula stretches along a meridian from the
Kola Gulf through the
Imandra Lake,
Kola Lake, and the
Niva River to the
Kandalaksha Gulf.
The peninsula covers an area of about 100 000 square km. The north coast is steep and high, the southern is flat. In the west part of the peninsula there are two mountain ranges: the
Khibiny Mountains, and the
Lovozero Tundra (up to 1120 m in height). In the central part of the peninsula lies the
Keyvy watershed.
Because the last
ice age removed the top
sediment layer of the soil, the Kola Peninsula is on the surface extremely rich in various ores and minerals, including
apatites,
alumina sources,
iron ore,
mica, ceramic raw,
titanium ore,
phlogopite, and
vermiculite, as well as ores of less-common and colored metals. The
Kola Superdeep Borehole which is the deepest
borehole in the world, is located here also, near the Norwegian border.
Despite its northern location, the Kola Peninsula has a relatively mild climate, because of the influence of warm Atlantic currents. The average temperature in January is about -10 °C, in July about +10 °C. The peninsula is covered by
Taiga in the south and
tundra in the north.
The Kola Peninsula has many fast-moving rivers with rapids. The most important of them are the
Ponoy River,
Varzuga River,
Teriberka River,
Voronya River, and the
Iokanga River. The major lakes are:
Imandra Lake,
Umbozero Lake,
Lovozero Lake. The rivers of the peninsula are an important habitat for the
Atlantic Salmon salmo salar, which return from
Greenland and the
Faroe Islands to spawn in fresh water. As a result of this a recreational fishery has been developed, with a number of remote lodges and camps hosting sport-fishermen throughout the summer months. Kola rivers become icebound during the winter.
Apart from the Russian
Pomors, the peninsula is also home to the
Sami (Lappish) peoples, who were forced to settle in the town of
Lovozero during the
Communist years, and who now herd reindeer across much of the region.
After the decline of
Kola, an ancient settlement which gives its name to the peninsula, the major port of the region has been
Murmansk. During the Soviet period, Murmansk was a significant submarine production center, and remains home to the
Russian Northern Fleet.
The Kola Peninsula as a whole suffered major ecological damage, mostly as a result of pollution from the military (particularly naval) production, as well as from industrial mining of apatite. There are currently about 250 nuclear reactors produced by the Soviet military which are no longer in use but still generate radiation and leak radioactive waste on the peninsula. [
1]
The Kola Peninsula is one of the key locations in the book
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, and Antony Horowitz's
Skeleton Key. It is also mentioned frequently in Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising.
*
Kola Norwegians*
Bjarmaland
