Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk region were Poonezhye () along the Onega, the Dvina Land along the Northern Dvina, Pinezhye () along the Pinega, Mezen Lands along the Mezen, and Pomorye () on the White Sea coast. The main waterway was the Northern Dvina, and Novgorod merchants used the Volga and its tributary, the Sheksna, along the Slavyanka River into Lake Nikolskoye, then the boats were taken by land to Lake Blagoveshchenskoye, from there downstream along the Porozovitsa River into Lake Kubenskoye and further to the Sukhona and the Northern Dvina. Portages from the Northern Dvina Basin led further to the Mezen and the
Port of Murmansk Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg (later renamed Petrograd). However, after the blocking of the Ottoman Empire's straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles to outside shipping and blockading of the Baltic Sea port of St. Petersburg, the Russian Empire could only use the northern port of Arkhangelsk. This port had limitations: when winter presented itself, navigation and shipping of any sort came to a halt. Therefore, it was decided to build a new port. The chosen location was in Murmansk due to its ability to accommodate sea traffic year-round, proximity to existing communities and relative ease to connect it to the empire's