Murmansk Oblast is a
federal subject of
Russia, which is located in the northwestern part of the country, occupying mostly the
Kola Peninsula. The oblast itself was established on May 28, 1938, but some kind of administrative organization of the territory existed here since at least the 13th century. As of the
2002 Census,
Russians account for the majority of the oblast's population (85.3%, or 760,862 people), with the indigenous Sami constituting only a 0.20% minority (1,769 people).