Kola Peninsula

Kola Peninsula, peninsula in the northwestern corner of Russia. It has an area of 100,000 sq km (40,000 sq mi), most of it lying north of the Arctic Circle. The peninsula is bounded by the Barents Sea on the north, the White Sea on the southeast, the Russian portion of the Saamiland region on the west, and the Kandalakshskiy Zaliv (an inlet of the White Sea) on the southwest. It consists of a crystalline plateau of 220-280 m (700-900 ft) average elevation, with the Khibiny Mountains in the west rising to 1,191 m (3,907 ft). The entire area is heavily glaciated, and the interior has provided the region with an immense variety and wealth of minerals. Total annual rainfall on the peninsula is less than 25 cm (10 in), and consequently the soil in the interior is largely infertile. The northern sections consist mainly of tundra with some low-grade coniferous trees.

Several towns lie along the coast of the Kola Peninsula, including Teribērka, Kharlovka, Ponoy, Chapoma, Umba, and Kandalaksha. The most important city is Murmansk (population, 2002, 336,700), the world’s largest city north of the Arctic Circle, located 40 km (25 mi) up the Tuloma River at 69° north latitude. The North Atlantic Drift (a continuation of the Gulf Stream) warms the waters of Murmansk and those of Kharlovka farther eastward. A rail line connects Murmansk with Saint Petersburg and Moscow.