Kola Peninsula
Early history

The Rybachy Peninsula in the north of the Kola Peninsula was already settled in the 7th – 5th millennium BCE. In the 3rd – 2nd millennium BCE, the peninsula was settled by the peoples who arrived there from the south (the territory of modern Karelia). Bolshoy Oleny Island in the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea is the location of an important Bronze Age archaeological site where ancient DNA has been recovered.

By the end of the 1st millennium CE, the peninsula was settled only by the Sami people, who did not have their own state, lived in clans ruled by elders, and were engaged mostly in reindeer herding and fishing. In the 12th century, Russian Pomors from the shores of the Onega Bay and in the lower reaches of the Northern Dvina discovered the peninsula and its game and fish riches. The Pomors organized regular hunting and fishing visits and started barter trade with the Sami. They also called the White Sea coast of the peninsula Tersky Coast (Те́рский бе́рег) or Terskaya Land (Те́рская земля́).

By the end of the 12th century, the Pomors explored all of the northern coast of the peninsula and reached Finnmark (an area in the north of Norway), necessitating the Norwegians to support a naval guard in that area. The name given by the Pomors to the northern coast was Murman —a distorted form of Norman meaning "Norwegian".
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