The Murmanskaya oblast' is a border area. The most part of all its land boundaries are external borders. Full of turns and twists, the line of the Russian Federation state border extends through almost impassible polar tundras and forests along the western limits of the oblast'; this section of the state border is 550 km long; thus it is longer than the administrative border with the neighboring entity of the Federation – the Republic of Karelia. Each border has its own history.

The border with Norway (196 km) is one of the most stable of all Russia's external boundaries. The Convention on this border was signed in 1826, and since then it has not been changed, though for 20 years (1920-1940) this was a border between Norway and Finland (see below). The most part of this border coincides with natural boundaries –153 km go along rivers and lakes and only 43 km is a conventional line on dry-land.

The border with Finland (within the Murmanskaya oblast' – about 350 km) has quite another history. Firstly, along its whole the length it is a conventional line which does not coincide with any natural boundaries. Secondly, its location has been changed many times. Its «oldest» part (in the west of the Murmanskaya oblast') coincides approximately with the line of the Russian border with Sweden, which existed before the joining of Finland to Russia on March 20, 1808. Though we can regard the then border line only as a symbolic one because this area was hardly explored from the geographic point of view at that time. The northern section of the boundary between Russia and Finland was surveyed only in 1833-1849.

The eastern boundary of the Grand Duchy of Finland (within Russia) became the state border again after the declaration of independence of Finland on December 6, 1917. By the Peace Treaty of Tartu (October 14, 1920) the Petsamo (Pechenga) area and the western parts of the Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas (i.e. nearly the whole territory of the present-day Pechengskiy rayon and the western part of the Kol'skiy rayon) were given to Finland. Traces of that state border line, demarcated in 1920, can be seen even today – it is a cut-through leading to the north-east from the border Mount Korvatunturi and also an eastern straight part of the border of the Pechengskiy rayon from Lake Akkimono to Lake Layya. In 1920 Finland got access to the coasts of the Arctic Ocean. The so-called «right hand of Finland» was formed (on the analogy of another «hand of Finland» as the Finns call a narrow strip of their territory wedged between Norway and Sweden). Under the terms of the Peace Treaty of Tartu Finland promised not to have submarines, military aircrafts and ships, and not to build military ports and bases on the northern coast. The right of the free transit of Soviet Russia's citizens to Norway and back through Pechenga was specially stipulated.

By the peace treaty between the USSR and Finland (March 12, 1940) which ended the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940 the western part of the Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas was included into the USSR. In the south-western part of the oblast' a large territory with communities of Kuolayarvi (Kuolojдrvi) and Alakurtti was included into the USSR, the frontier moved about 70 km westward.

Under the terms of the armistice agreement of September 19, 1944, which assured the withdrawal of Finland from World War II, the Petsamo (Pechenga) area (which was conceded in 1920) was returned to the USSR, and the frontier acquired its present state in outline. The last changes were made by the treaty of 1947 when the part of Finland's territory (176 square km, adjoining the southern outshoot of the Norwegian border) was given to the USSR. In exchange for this territorial concession the USSR gave the Finnish side all former German assets in Finland which had been transferred to the USSR by the decision of the Allies after World War II.

Главная About the regionThe border area

Подписка на обновления