Arkhangelsk

or Archangel

City (pop., 2002: 355,500), northwestern Russia. Located near the mouth of Northern Dvina River, it has a large harbour kept open in winter by icebreakers. The area was settled by Norsemen in the 10th century AD. In 1553 it was visited by the English who were looking for the Northeast Passage. Founded in 1584 as a monastery of Michael the archangel, it became a trading station of the Muscovy Co. It was opened to European trade by Tsar Boris Godunov and flourished as the sole Russian seaport until St. Petersburg was built in 1703. Arkhangelsk was the scene of British, French, and U.S. support of the northern Russian government against the Bolsheviks in 1918–20. During World War II it received convoys of lend-lease goods from Britain and the U.S. (1941–45). It is a major timber-exporting port and has extensive shipbuilding facilities.

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