Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . 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. Geography Geographically, Murmansk Oblast is located mainly on the Kola Peninsula almost completely north of the Arctic Circle and is a part of the larger Sápmi (Lapland) region that spans over four countries. The oblast borders with the Republic of Karelia in Russia in the south, Lapland Region in Finland in the west, Troms and Finnmark County in Norway in the northwest, and is bounded by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the south and east. Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia lies across the White Sea. Much of the oblast's relief is hilly, with the Khibiny and Lovozero ranges rising as high as above sea level and stretching from west to east. The highest point of Murmansk Oblast is Yudychvumchorr, a flat-topped peak of the Khibiny. The north of the oblast is mostly covered by tundra; forest tundra prevails further south, while the southern regions are in the taiga zone. There are over 100,000 lakes and 18,000 rivers in the oblast. The coast contains the Rybachy Peninsula and the Cape Svyatoy Nos peninsulas.