суббота, 7 февраля 2009 г.

Russia in photos (The White sea)

The White Sea (Russian: Бе́лое мо́ре, Finnish: Vienanmeri) is an inlet of the Barents Sea on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast.

The important port of Arkhangelsk is located on the White Sea. For much of Russia's history this was Russia's main centre of international maritime trade, conducted by the so-called Pomors ("seaside settlers") from Kholmogory. In the modern era it became an important Soviet naval and submarine base. The White Sea-Baltic Canal connects the White Sea with the Baltic Sea.

The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be internal waters of Russia.

There are four main bays and gulfs in the White Sea. From west to east, they are the Kandalaksha Gulf, the Onega Bay, the Dvina Bay, and the Mezen Bay.

Islands
The White Sea has a very large number of islands, but most of them are small. The main island group in the White Sea is the Solovetsky Islands, located almost in its midst. Kiy Island in Onega Bay is significant due to a historic monastery. Velikiy Island, located close to the shore, is the largest island in the Kandalaksha Gulf

Karelia (Karelian and Finnish Karjala, Russian: Карелия (Kareliya), Swedish: Karelen), the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden. It is currently divided between the Russian Republic of Karelia, the Russian Leningrad Oblast, and Finland (the regions of South Karelia and North Karelia).

На Белом море
«На Белом море» на Яндекс.Фотках
Karelya

Архангельск.Белое море.
«Архангельск.Белое море.» на Яндекс.Фотках
The Solovetsky Islands (Russian: Солове́цкие острова́, Соловки́) are located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea, Russia. The islands are administrated from Arkhangelsk as Solovetsky District and are served by the Solovki Airport. Area: 347 km². Population: 968 (2002 Census); 1,317 (1989 Census).

Залив Белого моря
«Залив Белого моря» на Яндекс.Фотках
The bay of the White sea

Острова Белого моря
«Острова Белого моря» на Яндекс.Фотках

Соловецкие острова
«Соловецкие острова» на Яндекс.Фотках
The Solovetsky Islands

Белое море бывает черным ...
«Белое море бывает черным ...» на Яндекс.Фотках

3 комментария:

Chernevog комментирует...

I have always had a fondness for places like this. Distant and relatively isolated.

lastochka комментирует...

Russian north is such a beatiful and amazing place.May be I like it so much because my grandmother from my mother side was born in a very small village near Lake Peipus.))
I was there when I was a little girl but I could remember it so clear like it was only yesterday ...huge stones in the depth, clear water of the lake, primeval forests...

Chernevog комментирует...

I grew up in a very large city, the largest one in the world at the time, and though we occasionally went to the ocean or to lake areas in our state, I never saw a mountain, or really isolated areas until I was in my early 20's and I sort of fell in love with them. Any opportunity to travel in areas like this I have taken. The first time I saw a mountain it was the Alps, between France and Slovenia. This was of a long time ago when Yugoslavia was an eastern bloc nation. I had no problem with the idea of getting out of the train and just stopping, but back then this was not possible. You at least needed to get a visa before you went, so the simple idea of getting off of the train in some small village that was not close to any big city wasnt possible. Europe is rather densely populated, but there are some areas where there are still small villages that are only close to other places because of trains and such. But I would have greatly enjoyed walking from one town to another.

I would have liked to walk from my grandmothers village which is in the western part of Slovakia,in the Little Carpathians to my grandfathers which is just a few kilometers from the Ukrainian border, now in Poland in the eastern Carpathians But back then this was a very restricted area, so it would have been almost impossible to do. It was always a dream of mine to do this, but now I am a bit too old to do something this strenuous. I have always had a sort of liking for the Karelian area. I studied the history and folklore of Karelia. I do not know why, because I have no real family connection with this area, but the stories and the myths always fascinated me.


The furthest extreme of that only trip I made to Europe was to Vienna, and I sort of sat by the edge of the Danube, knowing that my grandmothers village was about 70 kilometers away, and while I was prepared to try to visit, no one I was with wanted to go, so I put it off. Then things like jobs got in the way of taking the sort of time it would take to do something like this, so its one of those dreams that never get to be reality.

I envy you your childhood