Onega, Russia of Onezhsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is, together with three rural localities, incorporated separately as the town of oblast significance of Onega—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Onega is incorporated within Onezhsky Municipal District as Onezhskoye Urban Settlement. The economy of the town is based on timber industry. There is also production of construction materials. Onega is a minor port on a bay on the White Sea, which routinely freezes in winter. 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