Arkhangelsk Oblast 2004. Arkhangelsk hosted the 1999 Bandy World Championship and the same in 2003. In 1998, the Arkhangelsk Regional Rescue Service was established by the governor. The responsibility of the Rescue Service is to handle emergency situations, such as forest fires. Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast (, "Arkhangelskaya oblast") is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. Arkhangelsk Oblast also has administrative jurisdiction over Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Including Nenetsia, Arkhangelsk Oblast has an area of 587,400 km. Its population (including
Onega Bay descendants) not later than in the 12th century. The selo of Soroki, currently Belomorsk, is known from that time. Most of the villages at the Onega Bay coast such as Purnema or Unezhma (now abandoned), are old Pomor villages, many of them still depend on fishery. Solovetsky Islands are on the World Heritage list, and there is intensive passenger sea traffic to the islands, mostly originating from Kem and Belomorsk. There are also regular but infrequent passenger connections between Arkhangelsk and the villages of the Onega Peninsula. Onega Bay The Onega Bay () is located in the Republic of Karelia