Onega Bay of the bay there are the town of Belomorsk and the outlet of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. From the east, the bay is limited by the Onega Peninsula. In the south-east, the town of Onega is located close to the shore of the bay. Administratively, the coast and the islands are shared between Kemsky and Belomorsky Districts of the Republic of Karelia, and Onezhsky, Primorsky, and Solovetsky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Most of the minor islands, including all of Sumsky Skerries, belong to Belomorsky District. The Onega Bay coast was populated by Russians (Novgorodians, of whom the pomors are the
Arkhangelsk Oblast and the non-freezing harbour of Murmansk, lost its significance as the main trading harbour of the Russian Empire. However, in the early 20th century Arkhangelsk was an important starting point for Russian Arctic expeditions. For instance, in the 1830s Pyotr Pakhtusov sailed twice from Arkhangelsk to investigate and map Novaya Zemlya. In 1932 the "Icebreaker Sibiryakov" under the command of Vladimir Voronin, sailing from Arkhangelsk, crossed the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation. In 1918 and 1919, Arkhangelsk Governorate became one of the most active battlegrounds of the Civil War in Russia. On August 2, 1918, Arkhangelsk was occupied