The Russian North is an ethnocultural region situated in the northwestern part of Russia. It spans the regions of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Murmansk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, Komi Republic and Vologda Oblast. It is known for its traditions of folk art - in particular, wooden architecture, wood and bone carving and painting. Due to its remoteness, the rural parts of Russian North preserve much of the archaic aspects of Russian culture during the 19th and 20th centuries, making it of particular interest to historians, culturologists and ethnographers.

Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. Arkhangelsk Oblast also has administrative jurisdiction over the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO). Including the NAO, Arkhangelsk Oblast has an area of 587,400 square kilometres (226,800 sq mi), it's the largest of first-level administrative divisions in Europe. Its population was 1,227,626 as of the 2010 Census.