Onega, Russia

The Pomor village of Ust-Onega (Усть-Оне́га) was first mentioned in Novgorodian documents in the 14th century.^[2] In 1699, it was designated as one of the 4 ports in Russia whose exports to Britain were subject to the monopoly enjoyed by the Russia Company.^[10] It was chartered on August 19,^{[citation needed]} 1780,^[2] after Pyotr Shuvalov had sold his rights to fell timber to English industrialists who built several sawmills there. Since 1784, Onega was the administrative center of Onezhsky Uyezd.

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Onega serves as the administrative centerofOnezhsky District, even though it is not a part of it.^[1] As an administrative division, it is, together with three rural localities, incorporated separately as the town of oblast significance of Onega—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[4] As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Onega is incorporated within Onezhsky Municipal District as Onezhskoye Urban Settlement.^[5]

The economy of the town is based on timber industry. There is also production of construction materials.^[11]

Onega is a minor port on a bay on the White Sea, which routinely freezes in winter. The town is also served by the Arkhangelsk–Murmansk rail line, which branches off in Obozerskaya railway station from the railroad between Moscow and Arkhangelsk and runs west to Onega and Belomorsk where it joins the railroad between Petrozavodsk and Murmansk. The railroad was built during World War II to secure the transport of goods from the harbor of Murmansk to central Russia.

Onega is connected to Severodvinsk by a road. There are no all-seasonal roads on the left bank of the Onega River.

The Onega is navigable downstream from the seloofPorog; there is regular passenger navigation. There is also limited passenger service on the Onega Bay.

The Onega is served by the Onega Airport which does not have regular flights. Close to the town, there is also an uncompleted military air base, Onega Andozero.

In 2003, the Russian inland oil shipping company Volgotanker started using the White Sea–Baltic Canal for exporting fuel oil. The scheme involved delivering oil by river tanker, over the canal and into a floating transfer terminal near the Osinki Island in the Onega Bay, 36 km north-west of the port of Onega, for transfer to Latvian seagoing tankers.

On September 1, 2003, a collision between Volgotanker's Nefterudovoz-57M and the Latvian Zoja-I during such a transfer caused an oil spill. As a result, fines were paid, and the company did not get a permit for similar operations in the following year.^[12]

As of 2005, plans were in the works, by a different operator (ARM-Nefteservis), to set up oil transfer operations at a floating terminal off Osinki Island again. This time, oil would be delivered by the railway to the Shendunets station nearby, and pumped to the floating terminal by an underwater pipeline.

The only state museum in the town is the Onega Historical Museum.^[13]

Kiy Island, offshore from Onega, and the surrounding ice fields were used as the location for filming A Captive in the Land in the winter of 1989–1990. The island is the site of a monastery, the Holy Cross Monastery, which was closed during the era of religious persecution by the Soviets.

Onega has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc) with mild to warm summers with cool nights and long, but not severely cold winters. Precipitation is very reliable year round.

Ill-fated young captain, oceanographer and linguist Alexander Kuchin (1888–1913?), was born in Onega. Bolshevik writer Nikolai Bukharin was exiled to Onega in 1911 and left for Germany in 1912.

• Архангельское областное Собрание депутатов. Областной закон №65-5-ОЗ от 23 сентября 2009 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Архангельской области», в ред. Областного закона №232-13-ОЗ от 16 декабря 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в отдельные Областные Законы в сфере осуществления местного самоуправления и взаимодействия с некоммерческими организациями». Вступил в силу через десять дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Волна", №43, 6 октября 2009 г. (Arkhangelsk Oblast Council of Deputies. Oblast Law #65-5-OZ of September 23, 2009 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Arkhangelsk Oblast, as amended by the Oblast Law #232-13-OZ of December 16, 2014 On Amending Various Oblast Laws Dealing with the Process of Municipal Self-Government and Relations with Non-Profit Organizations. Effective as of the day which is ten days after the official publication.).
• Архангельское областное Собрание депутатов. Областной закон №258-внеоч.-ОЗ от 23 сентября 2004 г. «О статусе и границах территорий муниципальных образований в Архангельской области», в ред. Областного закона №224-13-ОЗ от 16 декабря 2014 г. «Об упразднении отдельных населённых пунктов Соловецкого района Архангельской области и о внесении изменения в статью 46 Областного закона "О статусе и границах территорий муниципальных образований в Архангельской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Волна", №38, 8 октября 2004 г. (Arkhangelsk Oblast Council of Deputies. Oblast Law #258-vneoch.-OZ of September 23, 2004 On the Status and Borders of the Territories of the Municipal Formations in Arkhangelsk Oblast, as amended by the Oblast Law #224-13-OZ of December 16, 2014 On Abolishing Several Inhabited Localities in Solovetsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast and on Amending Article 46 of the Oblast Law "On the Status and Borders of the Territories of the Municipal Formations in Arkhangelsk Oblast". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).