Murmansk is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far northwest part of Russia. It sits on both slopes and banks of a modest ria or fjord, Kola Bay, an estuarine inlet of the Barents Sea, with its bulk on the east bank of the inlet. It is in the north of the rounded Kola Peninsula which covers most of the oblast. The city is 108 kilometres (67 mi) from the border with Norway and 182 kilometres (113 mi) from the border with Finland.
View of Murmansk celebrating the 65th anniversary of liberation of the Soviet Transarctic
Central part of Murmansk
Aerial view of Murmansk, 1936
War destruction in Murmansk (1942)
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.
The Port of New York and New Jersey grew from the original harbor at the convergence of the Hudson River and the East River at the Upper New York Bay.
An Evergreen ship loading at Container Terminal Altenwerder, port of Hamburg, Germany
Izola Marina, Slovenia
A ship pumping bilge water into a harbor