Solovetsky Islands
Russia · Europe
About
The Solovetsky Islands (Russian: Соловецкие острова, IPA: [səlɐˈvʲetskʲɪj ɐstrɐˈva]), or Solovki (Russian: Соловки, IPA: [səlɐfˈkʲi]), are an archipelago located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea, Russia. As an administrative division, the islands are incorporated as Solovetsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Within the framework of municipal divisions, they are incorporated as Solovetskoye Rural Settlement within Primorsky Municipal District. The administrative center of both divisions is the settlement of Solovetsky, located on Bolshoy Solovetsky Island. Almost all of the population of the islands lives in Solovetsky. As of the 2010 Census, the district had a population of 861 inhabitants.
The Solovetsky Monastery (founded in 1436), in 1923 became the site of the first Gulag establishment, the Solovki prison camp.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.