Russia - Murmansk Oblast - Murmansk

Aurora Borealis in Murmansk.

Sent by Mashe from Murmansk, Russia.

Murmansk (Russian: Му́рманск; Kildin Sami: Мурман ланнҍ; Northern Sami: Murmánska; Skolt Sami:Muurman) is a port city and the administrative centre of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, an inlet of the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland. Regardless of how north it is, Murmansk tends to be nearly the same as any other Russian city of its size, featuring highway and railway access to the rest of Europe, a railway station, and a trolleybus system, in fact, the northernmost on Earth. Population: 307,257 (2010 Census); 336,137 (2002 Census); 468,039 (1989 Census). Despite its rapidly declining population, Murmansk remains the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. (read further)