The Umba (russian: Умба) is a river on the

Kola Peninsula sjd, Куэлнэгк нёа̄ррк , image_name= Kola peninsula.png , image_caption= Kola Peninsula as a part of Murmansk Oblast , image_size= 300px , image_alt= , map_image= Murmansk in Russia.svg , map_caption = Location of Murmansk Oblas ...

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast (russian: Му́рманская о́бласть, p=ˈmurmənskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, r=Murmanskaya oblast, ''Murmanskaya oblast''; Kildin Sami: Мурман е̄ммьне, ''Murman jemm'ne'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It discharges into the

Kandalaksha Gulf The Kandalaksha Gulf (, sms, Käddluhtt), fi, Kantalahti) is located in the Republic of Karelia, and Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia. Forming the north-western corner of the White Sea, it is one of four large bays and gulfs of this sea, ...

of the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...

. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .

Geography

The river's source is

Lake Umbozero Umbozero Lake (russian: Умбозеро, named after the adherent Umba River) is located in Murmansk Oblast of Russia, between the Khibiny on the west and Lovozero Tundras The Lovozero Massif (russian: Ловозёрские тундры, ' ...

, 100 km northeast of

Kandalaksha Kandalaksha (russian: Кандала́кша; fi, Kantalahti, also ''Kandalax'' or ''Candalax'' in the old maps; krl, Kannanlakši; sms, Käddluhtt) is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandal ...

, located between the mountains of the

Khibiny Massif The Khibiny Mountains (russian: Хиби́ны ; sjd, Umptek) is one of the two main mountain ranges of the Kola Peninsula, Russia, within the Arctic Circle, located between Imandra and Umbozero lakes. The range is also known as Khibiny Massif, ...

and the

Lovozero Tundras The Lovozero Massif (russian: Ловозёрские тундры, ''Lovozyorskiye Tundry'', named after the lake in that area – Lake Lovozero; the region is also known as , ''Lovozyorye'') is a mountain range located in the center of the Kola ...

on the Kola Peninsula. From there it flows south, through a landscape of forests and hills. The river alternates between rapids and more quiet sections, and it flows through several lakes, the largest of which is

Lake Kanozero Kanozero (russian: Канозеро) is a lake on the river Umba in Murmansk Oblast in Russia. The lake is 32 km long and between three and six kilometers wide. Ita area is . It is situated about halfway between Lake Umbozero and the White ...

. The river exits from Lake Kanozero through two separate outlet channels, about five kilometers apart. The outlets are called the Kitsa and the Rodvinga, and the latter again divides forming yet another channel called the Nizma. The Kitsa and Rodvinga rejoins in

Lake Ponchozero Ponchozero (russian: Пончозеро) is a lake on the Umba River in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is 10 km long and 3 km wide. The lake is located 25 km north of the urban-type settlement of Umba on the White Sea, and about 10 ...

, below which the river is again called the Umba, and it is rejoined by the Nizma a few kilometers further downstream. The river empties into the

at the

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

Umba Umba may refer to *Umba, Russia, an urban-type settlement in Murmansk Oblast, Russia *Umba (White Sea), a river on the Kola Peninsula, Russia *Umba River (Tanzania), a river in Tanzania *Umba sapphire, a sapphire from Tanzania *Umba Valley, a valley ...

. Its biggest tributary is the

Vyala Yali ( ta, யாளி, IAST: Yāḷi), also called Vyala, is a Hindu mythological creature, portrayed with the head and the body of a lion, the trunk and the tusks of an elephant, and sometimes bearing equine features. The creature is re ...

, which comes from

Lake Vyalozero Lake Vyalozero () is a large freshwater lake on the Kola Peninsula, Murmansk Oblast, Russia. The lake is mesotropic, with a slower water exchange than the neighboring Lake Inari. It has an area of 98.6 km². Vyala River, a tributary of the ...

and joins the Umba 15 km before the outlet to the sea.

Fishing

The Umba is known as a very good river for

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

fishing. Along with the Varzuga, it was the first river on the

to be made available for fishing tourism for foreign customers in the early 1990s, and infrastructure such as fishing lodges has been built along the river to accommodate this. However, in recent years the number of salmon has dropped, as a result of

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

by the local population, caused by an unemployment rate of a staggering 90% in the municipal centre of

, and made worse by the fact that drivable roads go along the banks of the entire length of the river, making it easily accessible

Other

The Umba is also used for Log driving, timber floating. Semi-precious stones found in the Umba river are used for high quality, very rare jewelry.

References

Jussi Soppela – The Distinctive Features of Fishing Tourism on the Kola Peninsula
*{{cite map , publisher=Russian Federation, Murmansk Oblast , title=Topographical map 1:200,000, edition=1992, section=12, 13, 15, 22 Rivers of Murmansk Oblast