The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is bordered by the Barents Sea to the north and by the White Sea to the east and southeast. The city of Murmansk, the most populous settlement on the peninsula, has a population of roughly 270,000 residents.
View of the Kola Peninsula near Murmansk
The Khibiny Mountains have an Arctic-moderate climate
Ripe cloudberry
An Arctic fox
Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of 144,900 square kilometres (55,900 sq mi). Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, as well is bordered internationally by Finland to the west and Norway to the northwest and the Barents Sea lies to the north and White Sea lies to the south and east. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 795,409, but at the 2021 Census this had declined to 667,744.
Vaidagubsky lighthouse in Murmansk Oblast
Oblast Administration (right) and City Administration (left) buildings on Lenina Avenue, Murmansk
The Polar Alpine Botanical Garden (Полярно-альпийский ботанический сад-институт) in Kirovsk
A Norilsk Nickel plant (formerly, Severonikel) in Monchegorsk