Northwest Russia is the northern part ofwestern Russia. It is bounded by Norway, Finland, the Arctic Ocean, theUral Mountains and the east-flowing part of theVolga. The area is roughly coterminous with theNorthwestern Federal District, which it is administered as part of.
Northwest Russia is the eastern part ofNorthern Europe and the northern part ofEastern Europe. In theMiddle Ages, the core of this area formed theNovgorod andPskov merchant republics. It includes the ethnocultural regions of theRussian North,Karelia,Ingria, as well asa substantial portion of formerEast Prussia.
Although the Northwest has never been 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 offur. The western side was the main source ofsquirrel, for which there was a large demand during the Middle Ages. Luxury fur, especiallysable, came mostly from the northeast.
TheWeichselian glaciation that came to cover much of northwestern originated most likely from smallice fields andice caps in theScandinavian Mountains before the ice spread eastward.[1]In northwestern Russia theFennoscandian Ice Sheet reached itsLast Glacial Maximum (LGM) extent 17 ka BP, five thousand years later than in Denmark, Germany and Western Poland. In Russia the LGM ice margin was highly lobate. Lobes originated as result of ice flow following shallow topographic depressions filled with soft sediment substrate. The whole of the basins of theLake Ladoga,Lake Onega and theWhite Sea were glaciated at the time of the LGM. These basins possibly canalized the Weschelian ice into streams that feed the lobes found further east and south.[2] Highlands made up of hardbedrock likeValdai andTikhvin had the opposite effect of diverting ice into basins.[3] The three main lobes of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet in Russia during the LGM followed the basins ofRybinsk and the rivers ofDvina,Vologda.[2]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 theKola 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 theKandalaksha Gulf, inMurmansk Oblast, the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet was mostly cold based while south of the gulf it was warm based.[2]
Before modern times most transport was by river. Therefore, much of its history and geography depends on the river system. From the site ofSaint Petersburg one route runs south to theBlack Sea and a shorter one goes to the headwaters of the Volga. The east–west routes are the Volga, theSukhona route across the center, a northerly route parallel to the Arctic coast and the Arctic. TheNorthern Dvina drains the center and flows northeast into theWhite Sea. In the east thePechora River flows northwest-north to the Arctic and theKama River flows southwest to the Volga bend at Kazan.
Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks: (this was the main axis ofKievan Rus'). From the site of Saint Petersburg (founded in 1703) east up theNeva River toLake Ladoga, south up theVolkhov River pastStaraya Ladoga toNovgorod (founded 860 or before), south acrossLake Ilmen and south up theLovat River. From the Lovat portage to the headwaters of theWestern Dvina, portage to the upperDnieper River and south to Kiev and the Black Sea. From portages around the Lovat one could go west down the Western Dvina toRiga or east to the upper Volga River.
Volga–Baltic Waterway: Gulf of Finland, Neva River to Lake Ladoga, then northeast up theSvir River toLake Onega, southeast up theVytegra River, portage, down theKovzha River toLake Beloye and southeast down theSheksna River toRybinsk at the northernmost point of the Volga River. Today the entire route is canalized and the lower Sheksna is part of theRybinsk Reservoir. TheNorthern Dvina Canal branches northeast to the Sukhona River (next section).
The Sukhona route andVeliky Ustyug: This route crosses the center along the Sukhona and Vychegda Rivers which join nearVeliky Ustyug and links Novgorod to the Kama River and Kazan. From Veliky Ustyug one can go west up the Sukhona, east up the Vychegda, northwest down the Northern Dvina to the White Sea, or south up the Yug River and down the Unzha River to the Volga and Kazan. From the upper Sheksna south of Lake Beloye, portage to the ? river and downstream toLake Kubenskoye. (This is now theNorthern Dvina Canal.Vologda is just south of lake Kubenskoye.) From Lake Kubenskoye east northeast down theSukhona River about 400 km toVeliky Ustyug where theYug River comes in from the south. The river now gains the name of Northern Dvina and flows about 60 km northeast to the modern town ofKotlas where theVychegda 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 theVodla River, portage to the Onega River basin, east across this, portage, down the Northern Dvina toKholmogory near the White Sea, east up thePinega River, portage to theKuloy and north to theMezen Bay of the White Sea. East up thePyoza River, portage, down theTsilma 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 thePechora River, up theUsa River, over the easy Kamen portage of the Urals and down the short Sob River to the lowerOb River. 2. From the middle Pechora, up the Shchugor River, over either of two Ural passes and down theNorthern Sosva to the Ob. 3. From the upper Pechora, over the Urals and down thePelym River. 4. From the headwaters of the Vychegda to branches of the upperKama River, across the middle Urals and down branches of theTavda River toTobolsk on the Ob.
North–South routes: 1. From Kazan northeast up theKama River, portage to the Pechora or Vyshegda. 2. From Kazan up the Volga past Nizhny Novgorod to the point where the river turns from east to south, north up theUnzha River, portage, down theYug River to Veliky Ustyug. 3. From the middle Vychegda, north up theVym River, portage, east down theUkhta River, north up theIzhma River to the Pechora. 4. From Moscow one route was northwest up theMoskva River toVolokolamsk and down theLama River andShosha River to the Volga. This was replaced by the currentMoscow Canal further east.
East Slavs expanded slowly from the southwest. Those Russians who settled along theWhite Sea came to be calledPomors. The original population spokeUralic languages. VariousBaltic-Finnic tribes were known in theRussian chronicles as theChudes. TheVes' lived east Lake Ladoga and were pushed toward the Dvina by the expansion of Novgorod after 1100. The VychegdaPermians lived on the Vychegda while the state ofGreat Perm was on the upper Kama. The Permians were later called Zyryans and laterKomi. The Arabic termWisu probably meant Great Perm, but it might have referred to the Ves'. TheVoguls lived on the upper Kama and Pechora and theOstyaks orYugra on the lower Pechora. TheSamoyeds lived in the far northeast. The Burtas were ancestors of theMordvins.[citation needed]
Zavolochye (meaning "beyond the portage") is a geographic term referring to some of the area between Lake Onega and the lower Dvina.
