Arkhangelsk

Arkhangelsk, English Archangel, city and administrative centre of Arkhangelsk oblast (province), Russia, on the Northern Dvina River, 30 miles (50 km) from the White Sea. With its suburbs, Solombala and Ekonomiya, the city extends for 10 miles along the river. Founded in 1584 as the fortified monastery of the archangel Michael, it was the first port of the Russian Empire to conduct trade with England and later with other countries. The port reached the height of its prosperity in the 17th century but subsequently declined with the founding of St. Petersburg (1703) and the exorbitant customs dues introduced by Peter I the Great to divert trade to his new town. Arkhangelsk later revived with the building of a railway from Moscow in 1898. It is now the largest timber-exporting port of Russia. It has large-scale timber-processing industries, including sawmilling and pulp making and papermaking. Shipbuilding and repair are important. Arkhangelsk is the base for a fishing fleet and the western terminus of the Northern Sea Route. There are institutes of epidemiology and of forestry and a teachers college. Pop. (2006 est.) 349,772.