Arhangelsk Region

General information

The Arkhangelsk Region is located in the north of the European part of Russia on the White, Barents, and Kara Seas.

The Arctic zone encompasses the following parts of the region:

The cities of Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, and Novodvinsk.
The Leshukonsky, Mezensky, Onega, Pinezhsky, and Primorsky Districts.
The archipelagos of Franz Josef Land (with no permanent population) and Novaya Zemlya.

Administrative centre: Arkhangelsk.

Population of the region: more than 1 million, including approximately 627,000 in the Arctic zone.

Area of the region: 589,913 km².

Area of the region’s Arctic territories: 222,926 km².

Time zone: UTC+3. Moscow and the Arkhangelsk Region are in the same time zone.

Cities

Arkhangelsk

Founded in 1584

Population: approximately 350,000

Severodvinsk

Founded in 1938

Population: approximately 180,000

Novodvinsk

Founded in 1935

Population: approximately 35,000

Economy

Fishing industry

The fishing industry is one of the historical and key sectors of the region’s economy. In 2021, the region’s enterprises caught 98,000 tonnes of fish and released 300,000 juvenile salmon into the rivers of the region.

Fish product exports amounted to

USD 165
million

Mineral extraction

Substantial reserves of limestone, dolomite, copper ore, zinc, lead, and jewellery agates have been discovered in the region. It is home to the only diamond-bearing province in Europe. In 2019, the largest diamond in Europe at 222.09 carats was discovered in the region.

222.09
carat

diamond found

Shipbuilding

Severodvinsk is the capital of nuclear submarine construction in Russia. More than half of the country’s entire nuclear fleet was built at Sevmash alone. In addition to building and repairing vessels, the plant also builds offshore drilling platforms and disposes of submarines.

Builds
Builds more than half of Russia’s entire nuclear fleet

Sightseeing attractions

Russian Arctic

The national park is Russia’s largest specially protected conservation area. It is located on the archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the park was visited by 1,306 tourists from 44 countries in 2019.

Solovetsky Islands

An archipelago of over 250 islands in the White Sea. The main cultural sites include sanctuaries from the 3rd–2nd millennium BC, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery (founded in the 15th century), a system of lake channels, stone labyrinths, and a boulder dam (15th–19th centuries).

Malye Korely

An open-air museum of wooden architecture and folk art on an area of 140 hectares. The exposition includes around 100 buildings from the 16th–17th centuries that have been transported from different parts of the Russian North.