Belushya Guba (russian: Белу́шья Губа́, lit. ''

beluga whale The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the ...

'' ''bay''), also Belushye (), is a work settlement and the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of Novaya Zemlya District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Gusinaya Zemlya peninsula of the

Yuzhny Island Yuzhny (russian: Южный остров, lit. southern island) is the southern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , which while smaller than the northern island of Severny, makes it one of the larg ...

of the Novaya Zemlya arctic

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

. Its population was reported as a decline of more than 20% from It is the largest settlement on the island. It is the main permanent settlement of the island territory of Novaya Zemlya. A large proportion of its population is made up of military personnel associated with the

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, Nuclear weapon yield, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detona ...

sites located on the island. The whole Novaya Zemlya archipelago, including Belushya Guba, is an area of restricted access (formally, as part of border security zone), and a special permit is needed to visit the archipelago. About northeast of Belushya Guba is the settlement of Rogachevo, the second largest in the archipelago, along with the Rogachevo air base.

History

Upon visiting Novaya Zemlya in 1894, Arkhangelsk Governor decided to create a new encampment. In 1896, an expedition conducted a survey of the west coast of Novaya Zemlya. The following year Belushya Guba was founded. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Belushya Guba was a focus of both German and Soviet attention. German

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

used Belushya Bay as a resting area in 1941. The German military contemplated establishing a weather station or other land-based facilities nearby, but increasing Soviet military presence in the area prevented that. On July 27, 1942, shelled Malye Karmakuly near Belushia Bay, damaging seaplanes, living huts, and storage huts. ''U-601'' torpedoed and sank the Soviet merchant ship ''Krestianin'', carrying coal, as it neared Belushya Guba. On August 19, tried to enter Belushya Guba, but was detected and attacked by a motor boat and two Soviet minesweepers. ''U-209'' departed when a Soviet coast guard ship and icebreaker ''SKR-18'' (formerly ''Fedor Litke'') approached from Belushuya Guba. Belushya Guba was used as an anchorage by Russian convoys between the Barents Sea and Archangelsk. A Soviet naval base was established in Belushya Guba in 1944. The settlement started to flourish in 1954, when Novaya Zemlya became established as a nuclear test site. In 1956, the whole indigenous population of Novaya Zemlya, mostly Nenets, were resettled from the islands.

Geography and climate

Belushya guba novaya zemlya russia nasa photo

Belushya Guba is located on a deep bay with the same name, within a geographical area that is influenced by warm ocean currents. The natural conditions allow year-round sailing of all types and classes of vessels with minimal cost for icebreaking support. The bay is well protected from high surf and drifting ice. The temperature in Belushya Guba ranges from to in the summer months. The area of the southern island of Novaya Zemlya experiences from eight to ten cyclones per month during the winter, with the main direction of the cyclone trajectories from the west and south-west to north-east. The "

midnight sun The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...

" is above the horizon from 10 May to 3 August (86 days), and the period of continuous night is slightly shorter at 66 days. The

polar night The polar night is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours that occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midni ...

runs from 19 November to 23 January.

Economy

Belushya Guba has schools, apartment buildings, three hotels, a cashpoint ATM, a television station, a 200-bed Naval Hospital, a polyclinic, military officers' center with a base sailor's club, 25-meter pool, recreational center, and an Orthodox church.

Transportation

There are two regular flights weekly from

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...

to Rogachevo Airport, located north-east of the settlement (in the time-tables, Rogachyovo is designated as Amderma-2, though the settlement of Amderma is not even located on Novaya Zemlya). There is no regular passenger navigation.

References

{{Authority control Urban-type settlements in Arkhangelsk Oblast Novaya Zemlya Populated places of Arctic Russia Populated places established in 1897 1897 establishments in the Russian Empire