The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of the internal waters of Russia.

Between the 15th and early 18th centuries, the White Sea served as the major trade route in and out of Russia. This role decreased later after the foundation of Saint Petersburg (1703), which opened a more direct ice-free connection between Russia and the bulk of Western Europe via the Baltic Sea. From the 1920's, most northern Russian sea shipments diverted from the White Sea to the new port of Murmansk (officially founded in 1916), where the waters did not freeze in winter.

The sea hosts more than 700 species of invertebrates, about 60 species of fish, and five species of marine mammals, including friendly beluga, the white whale. Several other dolphin species, such as harbour porpoises, appear less frequently while larger whales such as bowhead, humpback and rorquals, northern bottlenose, orcas have been considered as rare visitors to the waters while actual frequency of occurrences within White Sea basin is not specified. The fishing industry is relatively small, mostly targeting harp seal, ringed seal, herring, saffron cod, European smelt, Atlantic cod and Atlantic salmon. There is a developing seaweed industry.

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