Arkhangelsk 1553; two disappeared, and one ended up in the White Sea, eventually coming across the area of Arkhangelsk. Ivan the Terrible found out about this, and brokered a trade agreement with the ship's captain, Richard Chancellor. Trade privileges were granted to English merchants in 1555, leading to the founding of the Company of Merchant Adventurers, which began sending ships annually into the estuary of the Northern Dvina. Dutch merchants also started bringing their ships into the White Sea from the 1560s. Scottish and English merchants also traded in the 16th century; however, by the 17th century it was mainly the
Arkhangelsk Oblast The oblast is administratively divided into six cities and towns under the oblast's jurisdiction (Arkhangelsk, Koryazhma, Kotlas, Novodvinsk, Onega, and Severodvinsk), one city under the federal jurisdiction (Mirny), twenty-one districts (one of which is Novaya Zemlya), and two island territories (Franz Josef Land and Victoria Island). Another six towns (Kargopol, Mezen, Nyandoma, Shenkursk, Solvychegodsk, and Velsk) have the status of the towns of district significance. Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which is administratively subordinated to the oblast, is administratively divided into one district (Zapolyarny District) and one town of okrug significance (Naryan-Mar). Huge areas within the limits of the oblast are included