Murmansk Oblast in the context of "Russian Census (2010)"

Lapland is the largest and northernmost region of Finland. The 21 municipalities in the region cooperate in a Regional Council. Lapland borders the Finnish region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Finnmark County and Troms County in Norway, and Murmansk Oblast and the Republic of Karelia in Russia. The topography of Lapland varies from vast mires and forests in the south to fells in the north. The Arctic Circle crosses Lapland, so polar phenomena such as the midnight sun and polar night can be viewed in this region.

Lapland's cold and wintry climate, coupled with its relative abundance of conifer trees such as pines and spruces, means that it has become associated with Christmas in some countries, most notably the United Kingdom, and holidays to Lapland are common towards the end of the year. However, the Lapland region has developed its infrastructure for year-round tourism. For example, in 2019, tourism during the snow-free period grew more than in the winter season. In recent years, Lapland has also become a major tourist destination for celebrities as well as royalty.

The Arctic (/ˈɑːr(k)tɪk/; from Ancient Greek ἄρκτος (árktos) 'bear') is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying north of the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway (Nordland, Troms, Finnmark, Svalbard and Jan Mayen), northernmost Sweden (Västerbotten, Norrbotten and Lappland), northern Finland (North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and Lappi), Russia (Murmansk, Siberia, Nenets Okrug, Novaya Zemlya), the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), and northern Iceland (Grímsey and Kolbeinsey), along with the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas.

Land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost under the tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places.

The White Sea (Russian: Белое море, romanized: Beloye more; Karelian and Finnish: Vienanmeri, lit. 'Dvina Sea'; Nenets: Сэрако ямʼ, romanized: Serako yam) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located 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 whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of the internal waters of Russia. Administratively, it is divided between the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk oblasts and the Republic of Karelia.

The major 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 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.

Fennoscandia (Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian: Fennoskandia; Russian: Фенноскандия, romanized: Fennoskandiya), or the Fennoscandian Peninsula, is a peninsula in Europe which includes the Scandinavian and Kola peninsulas, mainland Finland, and Karelia. Administratively, this roughly encompasses the mainlands of Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as Murmansk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, and parts of northern Leningrad Oblast in Russia.

Its name comes from the Latin words Fennia (Finland) and Scandia (Scandinavia). The term was first used by the Finnish geologist Wilhelm Ramsay in 1898.

Finnmark (Norwegian: [ˈfɪ̀nːmɑrk] ; Northern Sami: Finnmárku [ˈfinːˌmaːrːhkuː]; Kven: Finmarkku; Finnish: Finnmarkin lääni; Russian: Финнмарк) is a county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea (Atlantic Ocean) to the northwest, and the Barents Sea (Arctic Ocean) to the north and northeast.

The county was formerly known as Finmarkens amt or Vardøhus amt. Since 2002, it has had two official names: Finnmark (Norwegian) and Finnmárku (Northern Sami). It is part of the Sápmi region, which spans four countries, as well as the Barents Region, and is Norway's second-largest and least populous county.

The Extreme North or the Far North is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources. Its total area is about 5,500,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi), comprising about one-third of Russia's total area. Formally, the regions of the Extreme North comprise the whole of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Krai, Magadan Oblast, Murmansk Oblast and Sakha, as well as certain parts and cities of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Komi Republic, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Republic of Karelia, Sakhalin Oblast, Tuva, Tyumen Oblast, as well as all islands of the Arctic Ocean, its seas, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk.

Due to the remoteness and the harsh conditions of the area, since the Soviet times people who work there have traditionally been entitled by the Russian government to higher wages and many other benefits, including earlier retirement age, than workers of other regions. As a result of the climate and environment, the indigenous peoples of the area have developed certain genetic differences that allow them to better cope with the region's environment, as do their cultures.

The Russian North (Russian: Русский Север, Russky Sever) is an ethnocultural region situated in the northwestern part of Russia, north of Vologda. It spans the regions of Arkhangelsk Oblast (including Nenets Autonomous Okrug) and Murmansk Oblast. It also includes parts of the Vologda Oblast, Komi Republic, and Republic of Karelia.

The region is known for its traditions of folk art – in particular, Russian wooden architecture, wood and bone carving and painting. Due to its remoteness, the rural parts of Russian North preserved much of the archaic aspects of Russian culture during the 19th and 20th centuries, making it of particular interest to historians, culturologists and ethnographers.

Murmansk (Russian: Мурманск) is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Kola Bay, an estuarine inlet of the Barents Sea, with its bulk on the east bank of the inlet. The city is a major port of the Arctic Ocean and is about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the border with Norway, 180 kilometres (110 mi) from the border with Finland and 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) from Moscow.

Being a non-freezing port due to the warm North Atlantic Current, Murmansk resembles cities of its size across western Russia, with highway and railway access to the rest of Europe, and the northernmost trolleybus system on Earth. Its connectivity contrasts with the isolation of Arctic ports like the Siberian Dikson on the shores of the Kara Sea, and Iqaluit, in the Canadian Arctic. Despite long, snowy winters, Murmansk's climate is moderated by the generally ice-free waters around it.