Solovetsky Islands

Solovetsky Islands
	Kislaya Bay of Bolshoy Solovetsky Island
	Map of the White Sea showing the Solovetsky Islands
Geography
Location	Onega Bay, White Sea
Coordinates	65°05′N 35°53′E / 65.083°N 35.883°E
Area	347 km2 (134 sq mi)
Administration
	Russia
Oblast	Arkhangelsk Oblast
Capital and largest city	Solovetsky
Demographics
Population	861 (2010)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iv
Designated	1992 (16th session)
Reference no.	632
Region	Europe and North America

The Solovetsky Islands (Russian: Солове́цкие острова́), or Solovki (Соловки́), 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.^[1] Within the framework of municipal divisions, they are incorporated as Solovetskoye Rural Settlement within Primorsky Municipal District.^[2] 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.^[3]

The Solovetsky Monastery (founded in 1436), in 1923 became the site of the first Gulag establishment, the Solovki prison camp.

^ Law #65-5-OZ
^ Law #258-vneoch.-OZ
^ Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.