"In 1989, in the last national census of the Soviet Union, Murmansk still had 460,000 permanent population. By 2018, there were only 290,000 left in the census again, which was equivalent to an average of 3 permanent residents fleeing this city every day."
The Russian guide continued slightly in a low voice: "Murmansk is the last city established by the Russian Empire . It was originally named after the Romanov dynasty established by Tsar Ivan the Terror, and successively established the War during the War , the Civil War and the World War II . Yue Gongxun was awarded the title of Hero City in 1985. "
Mormansk is located in the northeast of the Kola Peninsula. It is the northernmost first-class administrative state in Russia. It has a total area of about 145,000 square kilometers and a population of 750,000, of which 290,000 live in the capital city of Murmansk, the capital along the coast of the Barents Sea. Because it penetrates more than 2,300 kilometers deep into the Arctic Circle, the city is also defined as the "largest city in the Arctic Circle". During World War I, World War II and the Civil War, it attracted much attention from various war countries.
Mormansk's original indigenous people were the Nordic ethnic Sami people, who belonged to the mixed-race descendants of the marriage of Mongols and Europa. Around the 10th century AD, they were excluded by Finns and before moving north to live along the Barents Sea coast, mainly reindeer and fishing and hunting.
In the second stage of the outbreak of World War I, the supply of raw materials in Russia is far from being able to ensure wartime demand. Therefore, a railway was selected in the Barents Sea to build a railway, so that the military supplies aided by the allies could not be threatened and reached the Eurasian battlefield directly.
1916, Russia's ports, railways, highways and naval bases on the Barents coast were all completed. In order to avoid being bombed by German troops, it was renamed Murmansk, which means the Russian folk saying "Norwegian", and all the supplies and weapons that Russia has used to deal with the German Navy to blockade the Baltic Sea were stored here. Tens of thousands of civilians sent aid materials to the front line day and night, providing powerful supplies for Russia to win the war.
When the Russian civil war was in order to withdraw from the World War as soon as possible, the Soviet Union chose to sign the "Brest Peace Treaty" with German , which brought a subversive strategic impact to the Allies. The Allies turned to support Bai Army . The White Army was very clear about the strategic significance of Murmansk, so the United Allied forces began to constrain the Soviet army from the occupation of Murmansk. In this battle, Britain invested 13,000 soldiers, 4,000 US troops, 2,000 French troops, and more than a dozen warships including the Olympia cruiser, frigate, , and other battleships participated in the battle.
Germany was defeated in November 1918 and signed an armistice agreement. The Soviet Union announced the abolition of the Treaty of Brest the next day, but this move was not recognized by the Allied forces. It has entered a period of Russian civil war between 2.7 million Soviet troops and 700,000 foreign interference troops.
Five-year civil war caused 1.9 million Soviet troops and nearly 10 million civilian casualties. Although Murmansk was remote, the battle between the two sides was never interrupted from beginning to end. The newly built naval bases, ports and railway roads were bombed beyond recognition. It was not until the British and French coalition forces evacuated the entire line. However, the Soviet army dared to publicly announce that Murmansk had been liberated with confidence until after driving away the Japanese interference army in 1922.
In order not to repeat the mistakes of the civil war, the Soviet Union prepared to set up the Northwest Industrial Center here. After four years of construction, it established the Northern Fleet headquarters in Murmansk in 1937, and expanded it into the largest and most powerful naval fleet among the five Soviet fleets. During its peak period, it had 15 submarines, 8 destroyers , 7 cruisers and icebreakers, as well as more than 200 auxiliary ships, as well as more than 400 transport ships (gross tonnage exceeds one million), and 1,300 fighter jets were on standby at any time.
However, Murmansk, who claims to have the "strongest naval combat power on the surface", was bombarded 792 times by the Luftwaffe during World War II, and the degree of damage he suffered was no less than that of Stalingrad .The reason why the German army threw more than 200,000 bombs to defeat Murmansk was because this city was the main transportation line between the Soviet Union and the Western world in World War II, and 80% of the materials aided by Western countries were sent to various fronts of the Soviet Union from here.
In the next 40 months, 90% of Murmansk's buildings were blown up, losing more than 100 warships, more than 300 transport ships, more than 500 aircraft and tens of thousands of soldiers. The tragic battle situation and heavy losses forced Britain and the United States to send hundreds of warships to assist in escort. While 200,000 Murmansk civilians fought bloody battles to ensure the supply of ammunition on the front line, they also secretly went out to sea to catch 850,000 tons of fish in dense artillery fire, and made 3.6 million cans of canned fish and sent it to the Soviet front line.
During the entire World War II, Murmansk's ship and troops more than doubled. After the end of World War II, 90,000 soldiers were added. From then on, the Northern Fleet nuclear submarine and missile boats were on standby duty and ocean-going preparations.
1955 ballistic missile was successfully launched, nuclear submarines were enlisted in 1958, K-3 nuclear submarines formed combat power in 1959, nuclear submarine teams around the world in 1966 (range 40,000 kilometers does not come out of the water), and the deployment of the third-generation aircraft carrier Kuznetsov in 1991, etc., are all inseparable from the assistance of the heroic city of Murmansk.
is both a hero city (with policy support and special benefits) and a northwestern industrial center. Why has the permanent population of Murmansk decreased year by year? The guide
was obviously choked by my question, and thought for a while before answering: The gradual decline of Murmansk is first determined by its military status. The Northern Fleet is still an independent military administrative unit (Russia Fifth Military Region), and is also Russia's most important and top-secret nuclear strategic deterrent. Since the establishment of the Soviet Union, only one exclusive interview has been opened to a certain Chinese media. Such an important strategic position naturally restricts economic development and convenience of life.
must be approved by at least three departments
Take the tourism industry as an example. If a foreign tourist wants to travel to Murmansk, he must apply to the Russian Federal Border Administration three months in advance. After the application is approved, a registration form will be sent, and personal information will be filled in, the hotel, guide, route, time and flight and other information will be sent to the Murmansk Tourism Administration for the second step of review. After approval, the Northern Fleet Headquarters must also be consulted to avoid important activities and sensitive time periods.
If you have a trip to drive or go to sea, you must seek additional double-layer consent from the Safety Committee and the Northern Fleet. You can only set off after entering the vehicle or ship identification code. There are military towns such as , Jeribelkar, and you also need to apply for a personnel license and vehicle/ship pass .
Arctic Hotel
Art Museum
It doesn’t seem complicated, but it is quite difficult to implement it. The local guide recommended by a Russian friend has helped more than 1,500 people apply in the past ten years, and only 75 people passed, with a success rate of less than 5%. According to its claims, Murmansk opened tourism to the public in 2001, and by 2017, only more than 800 foreigners entered the city.
Simply put, this strict review procedure has indeed blocked the tourism industry and business channels, but for the security of Murmansk and even the entire Russia, it is very necessary to do so. Therefore, the Arctic Hotel, known as the "highest building in the Arctic Circle", is almost closed down. The Murmansk Art Museum, built specifically for foreign tourists, has sold less than 500 tickets so far (free for Russians).
The brightest sky in the early days of polar night
Winter snow lasts for 7 months
"In addition, the harsh natural climate is also the main reason why people escape from Murmansk." The guide pointed to the Arctic latitude on the navigator and said: "Murmansk has 103 days each year polar day polar night (63 days polar day, 40 days polar night). The winter lasts from October to April of the following year. Only the daytime from May to September will there be zero temperatures. The highest average temperature in July is only 17℃, and the lowest temperature in January can reach -39.4℃.”
In such a snowy environment, the planting and growth time of crops is already very cramped. What’s more sadly is that the highest temperature months are extreme night . Crops that lack sunlight and are located in the low temperature zone will not be harvested even if they are barely planted.
no agricultural foundation Even if the income is high, it is difficult for permanent residents to obtain a high quality of life. The prices of all necessities of life must double. Even if the grain and meat produced in Russia have to increase the high cost of long-distance transportation, directly leading to the consumption of Murmansk's prices being comparable to that of Norway (only 108 kilometers from Norway and 2182 kilometers from Finland).
Although Murmansk has abundant ore reserves, it is exported to more than 130 cities around the world to exchange for a large amount of foreign exchange; Fishing also benefits a lot, especially the super high-profit sturgeon breeding industry (average price of 1 gram is US$4), but it cannot stand the oligopolis and the high cost of living, which has forced more and more low-income civilians to flee. The high-income group also directly immigrated to Europe after making enough money, among which Norway is the most. It is said that there are more than a thousand high-income people who immigrate to Norway every year.
So, what is Murmansk's real life like?
I have tried to describe this Arctic city as "depressed and closed". Because it is cold and inconvenient (visitors have to report or apply when going to many places), but the scenery of Murmansk is incomparable, especially the aurora that can be seen when lying on the bed, which is also impressed by Murmansk's various incredible architecture and styles of conduct (next article).
