Northwest Russia

Northwest Russia, or the Russian North is the northern part of western Russia. It is bounded by Norway, Finland, the Arctic Ocean, the Ural Mountains and the east-flowing part of the Volga. The area is roughly coterminous with the Northwestern Federal District, which it is administered as part of. Historically, it was the area of the Novgorod and Pskov merchant republics.

Although the Northwest was never a political unit there is some reason for treating it as a distinct region. The Volga marks the approximate northern limit of moderately dense settlement. The area to the north was valued mainly as a source of fur. The western side was the main source of squirrel, for which there was a large demand during the Middle Ages. Luxury fur, especially sable, came mostly from the northeast.

Last glacial period

The Weichselian glaciation that came to cover much of northwestern originated most likely from small ice fields and ice caps in the Scandinavian Mountains before the ice spread eastward.^[1] In northwestern Russia the

By 13 ka BP the ice margin had receded towards the west and northwestso that all of Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega were free of glacier ice as was almost all of the White Sea and the Kola Peninsula. As the ice margin continued to recede towards the west despite occasional re-advances by 10.6 years BP the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet had left Russia.^[2] North of the Kandalaksha Gulf, in Murmansk Oblast, the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet was mostly cold based while south of the gulf it was warm based.^[2]

Geography

Before modern times most transport was by river. Therefore, much of its history and geography depends on the river system. From the site of

flows southwest to the Volga bend at Kazan.

or east to the upper Volga River.

Sheksna River to Rybinsk at the northernmost point of the Volga River. Today the entire route is canalized and the lower Sheksna is part of the Rybinsk Reservoir. The Northern Dvina Canal

branches northeast to the Sukhona River (next section).

The Sukhona route and Veliky Ustyug: This route crosses the center along the Sukhona and Vychegda Rivers which join near

Vychegda River

comes in from the east. From Kotlas east at least 400 km up the Vychegda to its headwaters west of the Urals. From here portage north to the Pechora or south to the Kama, both of which lead to passes over the Urals.

Northern East–West route: This was the main axis of Novgorod's expansion. It skirts the southeast side of the White Sea and then crosses to the Pechora. Lake Onega, east up the

Tsilma River

to the west-flowing part of the Pechora.

Pechora River and Ural passes: 1. From the northern east–west route up the west-flowing part of the

Tavda River to Tobolsk

on the Ob.

North–South routes: 1. From Kazan northeast up the

Shosha River to the Volga. This was replaced by the current Moscow Canal

further east.

Peoples

Russians expanded slowly from the West. Those along the

Ostyaks or Yugra on the lower Pechora. The Samoyeds lived in the far northeast. The Burtas were ancestors of the Mordvins.^{[citation needed}

]

Zavolochye (meaning "beyond the portage") is a geographic term referring to some of the area between Lake Onega and the lower Dvina.

Notes and references

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Northwestern Russia.

1. doi:10.1016/s1040-6182(02)00031-9
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2. ^
   hdl:1956/11701
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3. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.10.022
   .

Janet Martin, Treasure from the Land of Darkness: The Fur Trade and its Significance for Medieval Russia, 1986, which this article partly summarizes.