Russia (Россия, Rossiya in Russian) is by far the world's largest country, spanning a little over 150° in longitude. It is organized as the Russian Federation (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) with members known as federal subjects (sub'yekty federatsii). Russia is primarily a continental nation but it has important coastlines on the Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas and very long coastlines on the Arctic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean. To guard these coasts it operates hundreds of lighthouses, many of them historic. The northwestern corner of Russia lies on the Barents Sea, an arm of the Arctic Ocean. The broad, eastward-pointing Kola Peninsula (Kolskiy Poluostrov) separates the Barents Sea from the nearly-enclosed White Sea, which extends southward more than 500 km (300 mi). Arkhangel'sk, located at the southeasternmost point of the White Sea, became Russia's chief port under Ivan the Terrible in the mid 1500s and there has been a lively trade between Western Europe and Arkhangel'sk through these northern waters for almost 500 years. This page lists includes lighthouses on the western coast of the White Sea in the Republic of Karelia, one of the members of the Russian Federation. Karelia borders Finland to the west and some of its residents speak Karelian, a language or dialect closely related to Finnish. It has 630 km (390 mi) of shoreline at the western end of the White Sea. Kem and Belomorsk are the most important ports on this coast. The White Sea-Baltic Canal (Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal or BBK) leads from Belomorsk through Lakes Onega and Ladoga to St. Petersburg, thus joining the White Sea and the Baltic Sea. Additional Karelian lighthouses are listed on the pages for Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga. The Russian word for a lighthouse is mayak (маяк); ostrov is an island, mys is a cape, bukhta or guba is a bay, zaliv is a larger bay or gulf, proliv is a strait, reka is a river, and gavan' is a harbor. Russian lighthouses are owned by the Russian Navy and maintained by the Navy's Office of Navigation and Oceanography (Управление навигации и океанографии). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Russian light list (RU) numbers are from Russian Navy Publication 2105, as reported by the Admiralty. Admiralty numbers are from volume L of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 115. The Russian light list, Огни и знаки (Lights and Signs), is not available online.
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![]() Rombakskiy Light (now lost), Kem', August 2008 ex-Panoramio photo by Dm!try_S; |
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Information available on lost lighthouses: |
Adjoining pages: North: Northern Kola Peninsula | South: Southern White Sea
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Posted December 7, 2005. Checked and revised May 22, 2025. Lighthouses: 17. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.