The European Far North of Russia and Its Territorial Constructions in the Sixteenth–Twenty-First Centuries

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of the homogeneity and structure of the identity of the European Far North of Russia. The author comes to the conclusion that the structure of this territory has been determined since the sixteenth century by a rift between the Kola North and the Arkhangelsk North. While this rift deteriorated or was partially healed at different times, the differentiation of the European Far North of Russia into two territorial segments persisted over the periods of Muscovy, the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union. Although the Kola Peninsula was integrated for two centuries (1708–1921) into the vast province with a centre in the city of Arkhangelsk, it not only preserved features of its identity, but in fact managed to strengthen them, which eventually led to the administrative separation of the Kola North from the Arkhangelsk Province. The development of the two northern territories has been accompanied by competition, which is still there to a large extent. The phenomenon of the division of the Russian Far North in two parts is treated as a consequence of the importance which meridional strategic ties between the centre and the outlying northern areas acquired in the Russian State, in contrast to the weaker latitudinal peripheral ties between the provinces.