ABSTRACT
Murmansk is unique among Russia’s Far North cities. It is the largest Arctic city in terms of population (300,000 inhabitants), an urban engineering feat that stretches for more than 20 kilometers along the rocky coast of the Kola Bay at an extreme latitude (68º N). Yet, for an Arctic city, Murmansk benefits from a relatively friendly environment: just 50 kilometers from the Barents Sea, the city hosts the only Arctic warm-water port thanks to the Gulf Stream. Even if life is regulated by polar nights and days, Murmansk’s mild winters and its relative proximity to central Russia make it a unique place on Russia’s Arctic coasts, less remote than other big cities such as Norilsk or Yakutsk.
