Murmanks, Russia

Another card from Russia... but I really like them, and this one is rather special...



... it's from the lovely Katya, sent from a postcrossing meet-up in Moscow, and signed by the attendees, see:



I only recognise a few names... :(

I do love getting postcards of Moscow and St Petersburg, but they are also the most common ones you tend to receive on postcrossing, so it's always great to see other Russian places as well. This is only my second postcard of Murmansk.

Murmansk is a city and seaport in the extreme north-west part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 kilometres from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland.

Murmansk is the administrative centre of Murmansk Oblast. The port remains ice-free year round due to the warm North Atlantic drift ocean current and is an important fishing and shipping port.

Despite its rapidly declining population, Murmansk remains the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. Its population was 336,137 in 2002, down from 468,039 in 1989.