North-West Russia: Economics and Geography

From the administrative point of view, the north-west of Russia coincides with the North-Western Federal District. Some of the regions included in its composition have long historical and cultural ties. But the main argument in uniting the regions in the economic subregion was their territorial location.

Economic map of the north-west of Russia

In the economic sense, all the regions that make up the district have different degrees of development and integration into the global and Russian markets. Here it is necessary to name all eleven regions included in the federal district:

• Arhangelsk region;
• Vologda Region;
• Kaliningrad;
• The Republic of Karelia;
• Komi Republic;
• Leningrad region;
• Murmansk region;
• Nenets Autonomous Okrug;
• Novgorod region;
• Pskov region;
• St. Petersburg.

For example, among the regions that have access to the Arctic Ocean, the most developed is the Murmansk region with its mining industry, fishing and the world's largest city located beyond the Arctic Circle. Most residents of Murmansk are to some extent related to the activities of the port.

Murmansk is the only non-freezing port of the so-called Northern Route, which makes it extremely important not only for the Russian economy, but also for international trade. Under conditions of global warming, the ice of the Arctic Ocean retreated, and this increased the possibility of transporting goods from Asia to Europe.

As stated above, the European north-west of Russia has a very heterogeneous level of economic development. The Arkhangelsk Region and Komi, despite their incredible natural wealth, lag significantly behind their neighbors in terms of development and standard of living.

Among economists, it is widely believed that the backwardness of these regions is associated with a lack of expanded transport infrastructure, the development of which will allow establishing stronger ties between regions. It is expected that the expansion of the railway network in Komi will provide an opportunity to develop rich deposits of titanium and aluminum ores, precious metals and diamonds.

White Sea - the heart of the Russian North

Since the time of the first settlers' development of these lands, the north-west of Russia was formed around the White Sea, which served as the main transport route to the extreme north for the inhabitants of Veliky Novgorod. During the Soviet period, important ferry routes passed through the sea, which provided communication between the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, as well as Karelia. Today these connections are violated, the ferry service not only does not develop, but also irreversibly collapses every day.

In Karelia there is one of the important transport centers of the White Sea - the city of Belomorsk, created by the merger of several fishing villages in 1933. The city stands at the entrance to the White Sea-Baltic Canal, with the construction of which the history of the city is connected. From Belomorsk by boat you can get to the Solovetsky Islands, where after the liquidation of the Gulag monasteries began to revive.

Kaliningrad is a city overseas

Enumerating the cities of north-west Russia, one can not fail to mention Kaliningrad, which has a very special status associated with its geographical location. The Kaliningrad region is separated from the European part of Russia by the Baltic countries and borders on Poland in the west. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region's economy was firmly linked to the export of essential goods and clothing from neighboring countries. However, this provision, along with obvious economic bonuses, also created problems related to travel through the territory of the EU states.

The capital of the north-west

The map of the northwest of Russia is inconceivable without the largest city and an important cultural, economic and transport hub of the region. St. Petersburg has a special status of a city of federal significance and at the same time performs the functions of the administrative center of the federal district. It is in St. Petersburg is the residence of the presidential envoy.

North-West of Russia is considered one of the most developed economic-geographical regions of the country. The high standard of living, the quality of education and cultural opportunities make it attractive for relocating from other regions.