TheRussian North (Russian:Русский Север,Russky Sever) is an ethnocultural region situated in thenorthwestern part ofRussia, north ofVologda. It spans the regions ofArkhangelsk Oblast (includingNenets Autonomous Okrug) andMurmansk Oblast.[1] It also includes parts of theVologda Oblast,Komi Republic, andRepublic of Karelia.
The region is known for its traditions of folk art – in particular,Russian wooden architecture, wood and bone carving and painting.[2] 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.[3]
The Russian North is also noted for its combination ofSlavic andFinnic cultural traits.[4] ThePomor dialects are still spoken in some parts of this region. It is likely that the region appeared inNorse sagas asBjarmaland.[5]
In theEarly Middle Ages, the area seems to have been settled by aFinno-Ugric population (possibly speaking the extinctBjarmian languages). The initial Russian colonization of the Russian North was launched independently fromNovgorod andRostov in the 11th and 12th centuries (at the latest).
Genetic studies show that the populations of Russian North still have a significant Finnic admixture, which is not typical for more southern Russian populations.[6] The pre-Russian populations of the region were recorded as "Beyond-the-VolgaChudes" in chronicles. Russian North is rich intoponyms andhydronyms of possibly Finno-Ugricsubstrate origin, which were extensively studied by many linguists, most notablyA. K. Matveyev.[7]
By the 13th century, most of the area was incorporated into theNovgorod Republic which, in its turn, was incorporated intoGrand Duchy of Moscow in the 1470s. The climate of the Russian North is harsh, with minimum possibilities for agriculture, therefore fishing, hunting for marine mammals, as well as the salt-cooking industry, became alternatives for the people living in the area. Most of the Russian North territories never hadserfdom, at least the way it existed in central Russian agricultural regions.[8]
By the late 16th century theWhite Sea port ofArkhangelsk became the major gateway for the Russian commerce with Europe. On the other hand, theStroganov merchant family from the salt-mining town ofSolvychegodsk started expanding eastwards, to thePrincipality of Perm and eventually intoSiberia. This explains why Siberia was explored and originally settled by the Russians from the Northern areas.[9]
Since the Russian North seemed the perfect place for a religious escape from the world,Orthodox monasteries, with their ambitions and possibilities (through religion and economic power), were critical for the Russian North economy.[10]Northern Thebaid is the poetic name of the northern Russian lands surroundingVologda andBelozersk (now comprising theRussian North National Park). It alludes toThebaid, a part ofEgypt which was home toearly Christian monks and hermits. TheKirillov Monastery was, by area, Europe's largest monastery.
In the mid-19th century,Sergey V. Maksimov first drew readers’ attention to the distinctive world of the Russian North with his 1859 bookA Year in the North, which was reprinted many times. In the Soviet period, writers such asMikhail Prishvin,Boris Shergin,Stepan Pisakhov,Yury Kazakov,Fyodor Abramov, andYury Koval continued to explore and celebrate the life and spirit of the Russian North in their works.
_(06).JPG)
TheWhite Sea coastal part of the Russian North is home toPomors, a unique subethnic group of Russians with a maritime culture not typical of other Russian subethnic groups. Moreover, the Russian North used to be home to numerousOld Believer communities fleeing persecution in Central Russia.[11]
Since the late 20th century, the Russian North has been suffering fromdepopulation, both urban and (especially) rural. For instance, the population ofUmba declined from 8,309 in 1989[12] to 4,031 in 2023.[13] Numerous villages have been entirely abandoned by their former inhabitants.
There is a crowdfunded documentary film about the region,Atlantis of the Russian North (2015).
Many award-winning feature films were shot on locations in the Russian North: e.g.,The Island (2006),The Postman's White Nights (2014), andLeviathan (2014).
| Key locations |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Monasteries | ||