Administrative divisions of Murmansk Oblast
| Administrative center: Murmansk | |
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| As of 2015: | |
|---|---|
| Districts | 6 |
| Cities/towns | 16 |
| Urban-type settlements | 11 |
| Rural localities | 112 |
| Uninhabited rural localities | 14 |
| Cities and towns | 1. Murmansk (administrative center) |
|---|---|
| Districts | 1. Kandalakshsky 2. Kirovsky 3. Kolsky 4. Lovozersky 5. Polyarny 6. Saamsky 7. Teribersky 8. Tersky |
| Cities and towns | 1. Murmansk (okrug administrative center) 2. Kandalaksha 3. Kirovsk 4. Monchegorsk 5. Severomorsk |
|---|---|
| Districts | 1. Kandalakshsky 2. Kolsky 3. Lovozersky 4. Pechengsky District 5. Polyarny 6. Saamsky 7. Teribersky 8. Tersky |
| Cities and towns | 1. Murmansk (oblast administrative center) 2. Kandalaksha 3. Kirovsk 4. Monchegorsk 5. Severomorsk |
|---|---|
| Districts | 1. Kolsky 2. Lovozersky 3. Pechengsky 4. Tersky |
| Cities and towns | 1. Murmansk (oblast administrative center) 2. Apatity 3. Kandalaksha 4. Kirovsk 4. Monchegorsk 5. Olenegorsk 6. Polyarny 7. Polyarnye Zori 8. Severomorsk |
|---|---|
| Districts | 1. Kolsky 2. Kovdorsky 3. Lovozersky 4. Pechengsky 5. Tersky |
| Cities and towns with jurisdictional territories | 1. Murmansk (oblast administrative center) 2. Apatity 3. Kandalaksha 4. Kirovsk 4. Monchegorsk 5. Olenegorsk 6. Polyarnye Zori |
|---|---|
| Closed administrative-territorial formations | 1. Ostrovnoy 2. Polyarny 3. Severomorsk 4. Skalisty 5. Snezhnogorsk 6. Zaozyorsk |
| Districts | 1. Kolsky 2. Kovdorsky 3. Lovozersky 4. Pechengsky 5. Tersky |
Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, which is located in the northwestern part of the country, occupying mostly the Kola Peninsula. The oblast itself was established on May 28, 1938, but some kind of administrative organization of the territory existed here since at least the 13th century. As of the 2002 Census, Russians account for the majority of the oblast's population (85.3%, or 760,862 people), with the indigenous Sami constituting only a 0.20% minority (1,769 people).
Since establishing and maintaining the structure of the administrative divisions of the federal subjects is not explicitly specified in the Constitution of Russia as the responsibility of the federal government, this task falls within the scope of the responsibilities of Murmansk Oblast itself. Changes of the administrative-territorial structure of Murmansk Oblast are authorized by the Murmansk Oblast Duma.
The oblast's administrative divisions remained largely unchanged from the structure used during the Soviet era, with the notable exception of selsoviets—a low-level administrative unit type abolished after the new law on the administrative-territorial divisions had been adopted in January 1998.
The territory on which modern Murmansk Oblast is located has been settled by humans since the 3rd millennium BCE, and by the end of the 1st millennium CE, it was settled only by the Sami people. In the 12th century, Russian Pomors from the shores of Onega Bay and in the lower reaches of the Northern Dvina River started regular hunting and fishing visits to the area and started barter trade with the Sami. They also called the White Sea coast of the peninsula Tersky Coast, or Terskaya Land. Pomors were soon followed by the tribute collectors from the Novgorod Republic, and the Kola Peninsula gradually became a part of the Novgorodian lands. A 1265 treaty of Yaroslav Yaroslavich with Novgorod mentions Tre Volost, which continued to be mentioned in other documents until as late as 1471. Another known administrative divisions in this area was Kolo Volost, which bordered Tre approximately along the line between Kildin Island and Turiy Headland of the Turiy Peninsula. Kolo Volost laid to the west of that line, while Tre was situated to the east of it.
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