Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast Novgorod Republic. Novgorod merchants reached the White Sea in the 13th century; the Pomors, who inhabit the White Sea coast now, are the descendants of the original Novgorod population. After the fall of Novgorod, the area became a part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Until the 1700s, Arkhangelsk was the main trading harbor for the sea trade of Russia and Western Europe, and the Northern Dvina was the main trading route connecting central Russia with Arkhangelsk. The traditional occupation of the population of the Dvina Bay was fishery and trade. Peter the Great drastically changed the situation, by founding
Trams in Arkhangelsk Trams in Arkhangelsk A tramway system operated in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk from 1916 to 2004, when the last line closed down. During that period it was the most northerly such system in the world: before 1916 that distinction had been held by the city trams in Kiruna, Sweden; since 2004 the honour has belonged to the Trondheim Tramway in Norway. Work on the first tramway line started in 1914 and it was opened on 26 June 1916. Until 1956 Arkhangelsk had two separate tramway networks – one running on the mainland and the other on the island of