Kola Peninsula (kō`lə, Rus. kô`lə), peninsula, c.50,000 sq mi (129,500 sq km), NW European Russia, in Murmansk region. Forming an eastern extension of the Scandinavian peninsula, it lies between the Barents Sea to the north and the White Sea to the south. In the northeastern part are tundras; the southwestern area is forested. The peninsula has rich mineral deposits in the Khibiny Mts., which rise to c.4,000 ft (1,220 m). Hydroelectric plants have been built along the Tuloma, Voronya, and Niva rivers. The port of Murmansk Murmansk (m

rmänsk`), city (1989 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. and the mining center of Kirovsk Kirovsk (kē`rəfsk), city (1989 pop. 43,500), N European Russia, on the Kola Peninsula.
..... Click the link for more information. are the major cities of the peninsula. Along the coasts and in the mining centers, the population is primarily Russian; in the interior are Lapps, who until the Chernobyl Chernobyl (chĭrnō`byēl), Ukr. Chornobyl, abandoned city, N Ukraine, near the Belarus border, on the Pripyat River.
..... Click the link for more information. disaster subsisted largely on reindeer raising. Since the 1960s the peninsula has suffered severe ecological degradation from mining and smelting operations. Near Murmansk is the ancient town of Kola, founded in 1264 by Slavs from Novgorod.

Kola Peninsula

Promontory, northern Russia. It separates the White and Barents seas; it occupies 40,000 sq mi (100,000 sq km) and extends across the Arctic Circle. It consists of rock more than 570 million years old. The winter climate is severe; the largest town is the ice-free port of Murmansk on the northern coast. It has the world's largest deposits of apatite, used for fertilizer production.