History of geographical names of Rus'. Why is the White Sea called white, the Black Sea black, the Red Sea red, and the Yellow Sea yellow? Why the white sea

There are a sufficient number of seas in the world, the names of which coincide with certain colors: Silver, White, Black, Red, and so on. Let's find out the reasons why they were named that way, and not otherwise.

Why is the Black Sea called black?

There are several versions why the Black Sea was called black. According to the Turkish hypothesis, The Black Sea got its current name from the Turks, who, trying to conquer the coastal population, constantly met with very fierce resistance. Because of this, the sea was nicknamed "Karaden-Giz", which means inhospitable in translation.

According to sailors, the sea got its name because of the strong storms that turn the water dark. However, severe storms in this sea are quite rare, and violent disturbances(above 6 points) - no more than 17 days a year. The darkening of the water is characteristic of all seas. There is also a hypothesis that the Black Sea was so named because of the black silt that remains on the shores after storms, but, in truth, it is not so black, rather gray.

According to hydrologists who offered their version, the sea was so named due to the fact that any metal object that has been at great depths rises to the surface strongly blackened. All the fault is hydrogen sulfide, which is found in large quantities at a depth of more than 200 meters.

Unfortunately, history does not reveal the secret: who was the first to call the sea black.

Why is the Red Sea called red?

According to scientists, the sea was so named due to the seasonal reddening of the water, which is associated with reproduction. unicellular algae Trichodesium erythraceum. Some historians believe that the sea got its name from ancient travelers who were amazed by the reflection of the red mountains in the mirror water.

However, the "Red" Sea is called exclusively in European languages. For example, in Hebrew it has the name "Yam Suf" - reed, reed, most likely named because of the reed thickets of the Gulf of Suez.

The area of ​​the Red Sea is about 460 thousand square meters. kilometers, and the volume of water is 201 thousand cubic kilometers. The average depth of the Red Sea does not exceed 440 meters, and the maximum is 3039 meters.

For the whole year over the territory of the sea falls no more than 100 mm precipitation, and evaporates during the same period about 2000 mm (20 times more). Thus, more than one and a half centimeters of water annually evaporates from the surface of the Red Sea.

Why was the White Sea called white?

Many name researchers are trying to figure this out. Some believe that this is due to the fact that the sea is covered with ice for almost the entire year, others are of the opinion that the name comes from the whitish color of the water, which reflects the northern sky. But indeed, it remains white at any time of the year: either fog, or rain, or snow.

For the first time the name "White Sea" (MareAlbum) is found on the map of Peter Plaitsiy, created in 1592. In 1427, on the maps of Ptolemy, the bay Arctic Ocean, which in all coordinates coincides with the White Sea, was called the "Calm" Sea.

Russian population study White Sea started in the first half of the 17th century. And in 1770 the first map of the White Sea was created, more or less close to reality. It was based on earlier descriptions of the area.

Why is the Yellow Sea called yellow?

The Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosed margin of the Pacific Ocean, on the east coast of Asia (west of the Korean Peninsula). It forms the Bohai, Liaodong and West Korean bays. For the most part, the coastline is calm and paved with alluvial deposits. On the coasts of the Shandong and Liaodong peninsulas, there are calm harbors. The Yellow Sea is not deep, especially its western part, where a river flows into it, which carries out a huge amount of eroded forest and silt, the Huang He. This is where the name comes from: Huang He - Yellow River, Huang Hai - Yellow Sea.

No wonder the Yellow Sea is called yellow outside of Korea. Since the Yellow River, which flows into the sea from the western side, carries a lot of silt from the Central Chinese plains. As a result, all this silt falls into a shallow and closed sea, and the water begins to acquire a characteristic yellow-brownish hue. Note that all this muddy ligature, as well as tides that carry water for kilometers from the coast, are main reason that it is far from safe to swim everywhere.

Why is the Dead Sea called dead?

All white objects that can be seen on the shores of the Dead Sea are salt crystals that cover the entire surface of the earth. This is not table salt, but mineral salts, as in the water of the world's oceans, but in very high concentrations. The waters of the Dead Sea are deadly for most living organisms.

Due to the huge concentration of salt in water, its density is much higher than that of ordinary fresh water. That is why a person's body will be much more buoyant in the Dead Sea than in freshwater rivers. This way you will feel like a fishing bobber.

In addition, as it turned out, water dead sea positively affect the state of human health due to their special climatic characteristics: the oxygen content, in this region, in the air is 15% higher, as well as absolutely harmless ultraviolet radiation.

Why is the Laptev Sea so named?

The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean. The Laptev Sea is located just between the islands of Severnaya Zemlya and the Taimyr Peninsula on the western side and the New Siberian Islands on the eastern side. The area of ​​the sea is about 665 thousand square kilometers, and the average depth is 540 meters. The southern part of the sea is shallow (up to 50 meters), and the northern part is a territory of great depths (up to 3380 meters). Also, the location of the sea is different in that it is located in a seismically active zone, where earthquakes are observed up to 5-6 points.

The original historical name of the sea was "Siberian Sea". In 1878-79, it was renamed the Nordenskiöld Sea, in honor of the Swedish navigator, geographer, geologist, Arctic explorer and cartographer Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. In history, he is remembered as the first person who was able to pass along the Northern Sea Route from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean(in 1877-1878).

It received its final name "Laptev Sea" in honor of the Russian cousins ​​Khariton and Dmitry Laptev, who were polar explorers. It was they who made the first inventory coastline seas.

Which of us in childhood did not ask the question: why were the seas called White, Yellow and Red? After all, even kids know that water has a color from azure to deep blue, so the strange names of the seas do not go out of their heads for a long time. But over time, curiosity dries up, and the information once received is forgotten. Today we decided to remind why the White Sea was called the White Sea. And also talk about the origin of the names of some other seas on our planet.

Location of the White Sea on a geographical map

This reservoir is one of the smallest, washing the territory of our country. It is located in the north of the European part Russian Federation. Interestingly, on the one hand, the sea cuts very deeply into the land, but on the other, it belongs to the Arctic Ocean basin. The fact that most of the reservoir goes beyond the Arctic Circle and is cut into the land affects the fact that the White Sea is rightfully called the warmest of all the northern waters of our country.

Brief description of the White Sea

Hydrologists consider this reservoir to be very interesting, because the bottom topography here is heterogeneous, which makes the water area unique and one of a kind. There are a lot of islands in the White Sea, the most famous are the Solovetsky Islands.

Scientists divide the water area into several parts:

• pool (it is the deepest);
• throat (narrow part connecting to the Barents Sea);
• funnel;
• lips - Mezenskaya, Dvinskaya and Onega;

Interestingly, the climate within the White Sea combines several features:

• marine;
• continental;
• oceanic;
• mainland.

All of the above facts make the flora and fauna of this area unique. But they do not give an opportunity to answer the question of why the White Sea was called the White Sea. Therefore, we will continue the search for truthful information in the subsequent sections of the article.

The first annalistic references to the White Sea

If you are interested in why the White Sea was called the White Sea, history and chronicle sources will help you find information that sheds light on this topic. Scientists claim that for the first time the northern reservoir was mentioned in the eleventh century. Novgorod merchants very quickly assessed the possibilities of developing trade through the White Sea, moreover, these lands turned out to be rich in fur-bearing animals, and the waters - in fish. All together began to attract people here, so the coastal areas began to develop rapidly.

In the fourteenth century, the first large settlement, Kholmogory, was formed, which served as international port. Merchants equipped numerous merchant ships from here to Denmark for two centuries. But foreigners first came to the White Sea only in the sixteenth century.

From that moment on, trade between England and Russia began to develop along this waterway, and later trade relations were established with other foreign powers.

But over time, the White Sea (which, however, was not yet White) lost its significance as the northern waterway. The construction of St. Petersburg significantly reduced the attractiveness of this region for merchants. Most merchant ships began to sail through the Baltic.

Probably, you ask, where is the answer to the question of why the White Sea was called the White Sea? We will provide facts and information on this topic. Don't be in a hurry.

White Sea: why is it so named and when

Scientists know that until the seventeenth century, the reservoir changed several names. At one time he was called Studeny, and this is not surprising. After all, more than six months of the year the sea is completely covered with ice, and life around it freezes. This was one of the main reasons that served as the transfer of the northern trade route to the waters of the Baltic. After all, half a year is a very big break in trading, during which a lot of profitable offers and opportunities are lost.

Sometimes the sea was called Solovetsky in honor of the largest islands in its basin. Historians are aware of references to this sea as the North Sea. This is due to its location and characteristics, because the reservoir is located in the most severe place in our country.

In some chronicles it is noted that the sea was called Calm. And this was also a very accurate description of it - it is difficult to expect storms and storms when the water is ice-bound for more than six months. But still, why was the White Sea called the White Sea? And when did it happen? On this score, scientists have only one version.

Around the end of the sixteenth century, the northern sea acquired two well-established names. The Scandinavians called it - Gandvik (Bay of Monsters), and the Slavs - White. On old maps both designations occur. But still, after a hundred years, only Slavic name- White Sea. Underneath the body of water hit everything geographic Maps of that time and retained its name to this day.

Why was the White Sea called the White Sea?

Unfortunately, there is no unity in the scientific world about the origin of the name of the White Sea. This fact is not reflected anywhere in chronicle sources, but each of the following versions is quite viable on its own, and all of them together:

• The name was given by the ice. Since the sea is in ice shackles for more than half a year, it looks like a continuous white stripe. It is not surprising that our ancestors characterized the sea by the color it has for most of the year.
• Sky reflection. Many hydrologists claim that even in summer the color of the White Sea water has a milky hue. The same color and the northern sky, reflected in the pond. Therefore, they began to call it in honor of the shade, which is so characteristic of these places.
• Despite the fact that this version cannot be confirmed, it seems plausible to many. For people, each color carries certain information. For example, red symbolizes beauty, but white is the divine principle. It was in the north, according to many scientists, that the ancestral home of all Slavs was located - the country of Hyperborea. Its inhabitants were endowed with numerous talents, abilities and knowledge. This allowed the Hyperboreans to become the most powerful people on the planet. But as a result of natural disasters, their country died, but the sea, in memory of their ancestors, began to be called White.

It is not known which of the versions is the most truthful, but everyone can choose from them the one that is more in line with his worldview. What do we know about other seas? How did their names come about?

Red, Black and Yellow Seas: the origin of the names

No less interesting are the stories of other famous seas of the planet. For example, the Black Sea got its name due to hydrogen sulfide, which is rich in its depths. Even in ancient times, sailors noticed that almost any object that was in the water for a long time was covered with a dense black coating.

There are several hypotheses about the origin of the name of the Red Sea:

• The waters of the sea are rich in microscopic algae, which at certain intervals acquire a brown color. In this period sea ​​water resembles blood in color.
• Some scholars argue that the name of the sea was given by the rocks that surround it. They have a brown color and a bright red tint at the break.
• Another hypothesis about the name of the sea is associated with biblical Moses. Indeed, according to history, leading the Jews out of Egypt, he managed to push the waters of the Red Sea and expose its bottom, along which all the Jews crossed to the other side. But the Egyptian soldiers were buried under the water when, at the command of Moses, it closed over their heads. At that moment, the waters of the sea were stained with the blood of the dead. Since then, the name of the reservoir has stuck with it.

The Yellow Sea has very clayey shores, therefore, periodically, being washed away by the tides, they color the water in a yellow tint. Ancient people noticed this and gave the sea an appropriate name.

There are many places on our earth with unusual names which sometimes open interesting story local lands and waters.

The Vikings called the White Sea "Snake Bay" because of the sinuosity of its relief. wrong shape The sea is formed by its large curved bays. Other names for the sea are Serako Yam (Nenetian), Vienanmeri (Karelian). The ancient Scandinavians called the White Sea "Gandvik". More later titles- White, Studenoe, Solovetsky.

An accessible and simple explanation of the geography and hydrology of the White Sea in the presentation of 33 facts:

1. The White Sea is one of the 5 seas (White, Yellow, Black,), whose names indicate the color palette.

2. There is a version that sailors called the sea White because they often saw it shrouded in rain, in white fog, and by association with the white color of ice and snow. But it is also known that the pagans White color signifies the north direction on the compass. That is, the White Sea is the sea located in the north.

3. Among the Arctic seas, the White Sea is the only one that is located almost entirely south of the Arctic Circle.

4. Despite the fact that the sea is “frozen”, thanks to icebreakers, it remains navigable all year round. The thickness of the ice can reach one and a half meters. A thickness floating ice, within 35–40 cm.

5. The White Sea could be called the smallest sea on the planet, but this title is held by the Sea of ​​Marmara. And inside the country, the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov is smaller.

6. The length of the White Sea is 600 km. The surface area is 90 thousand km², which is 3 times the surface of Lake Baikal. But! , and therefore the volume of water in Baikal is 5 times greater than in the White Sea.

7. The average depth of the sea is 67m, maximum depth equal to 340 m. continental shelf The White Sea is known as the Baltic Shield.

8. This is an inland, enclosed sea. It makes its water exchange with the Barents Sea through the narrow strait "Girlo" (Gorlo) and is separated by waters Barents Sea from the Arctic Ocean.

9. Due to the abundance of flowing rivers, water enters the sea a large number of fresh water. The White Sea is practically not salty. The salinity of the White Sea is formed exclusively from currents salt water moving from the Barents Sea. If not for the salt currents of the Barents Sea, the White Sea would have turned into a freshwater lake.

10. Layers of water in the White Sea do not mix, despite storms. All fresh water, brought by rivers, forms upper layer White Sea. The White Sea is not salty, which actually allows it to freeze in winter, which lasts in these latitudes as much as 6-7 months during the year.

11. The relief of the bottom of the Central part of the sea is a closed basin, with rapids and shallow depths. And the shallowest areas are located in the northern part of the White Sea (50 m in narrow places). This is the reason that prevents the exchange of deep waters between the White and Barents Seas.

12. Warm Atlantic water does not reach the White Sea. For this reason, the waters of the White Sea are colder than the waters of the Barents Sea.

13. The border between the seas, the White and the Barents, a conditional line - on the map is drawn from Cape Svyatoy Nos (Kola Peninsula) to Cape Kanin Nos (Kanin Peninsula).

14. Water temperature in winter is from -1 to +3 °C. In summer, from the light of the midnight sun, the waters of the White Sea warm up quickly, but then cool down just as quickly. The surface of the sea never heats up above 15 ° C, and at a depth of 40-50 m the water temperature is always below zero.

15. The water area of ​​the White Sea is divided into several basins: Kandalashsky Bay, Onega Bay, Dvinskaya Bay, Throat, Mezenskaya Bay, Funnel.

16. Most big islands in the White Sea: Solovetsky (at the entrance to the Onega Bay), Veliky Island (in the Kandalaksha Bay), Morzhovets Island (at the entrance to the Mezen Bay), Mudyugsky Island (at the entrance to the Dvina Bay).

17. The Solovetsky Islands (the White Sea archipelago) are located 165 km from the Arctic Circle - the tourist center of the Russian North.

18. Belomorsk (a small Karelian town) turns into a scuba diving center for a short period when the White Sea is completely covered with ice.

19. Basic sea ​​port- Arkhangelsk. Other ports on the White Sea are Belomorsk, Kandalaksha, Kem, Mezen, Onega, Severodvinsk.

20. The most significant high-water Rivers flowing into the sea:

• Kem,
• Northern Dvina,
• Kula,
• Mezen,
• Onega,
• Niva,
• Umba,
• Varzuga,
• Ponoy.

21. A complex river network and the dug White Sea-Baltic Canal connects the White Sea with the northwestern part of Russia and foreign countries Baltic Sea. On the water route, in the pool Lake Onega, the Volga-Baltic route takes its direction - to the Black, Caspian and Seas of Azov. The White Sea is the "ship" artery of the country.

22. The diversity of species in the White Sea can be easily compared with the diversity of active marine life some tropical seas. The White Sea contains more than 700 species of invertebrates, about 60 species of fish and 5 species of marine mammals.

23. Lizun (view harp seal) equips its rookeries here. White whales breed their rare offspring here.

24. Friendly people enter the bays of the White Sea ( White whale), dolphins (); larger marine animals (and, Greenland and northern bottlenose,).

25. Fishing industry is relatively small, mainly on , ringed seal, herring, saffron cod, European smelt, Atlantic cod and Atlantic salmon. There is a developed seaweed industry.

26. Pomors (from Kholmogory), who have long lived in the region, on the shores of the White Sea, traditionally prepare cranberry, blueberry and cloudberry spirit tinctures.

27. The southeastern shores of the sea are low and flat; The northwestern shores of the sea are steep and rocky. Unique forests grow along the seashores.

28. The shores (according to the external forms of the landscape and geomorphological types) were given names: Summer, Winter, Tersky, Karelsky, Pomorsky, Onega, Mezensky, Kaninsky coast.

29. The weather has a pronounced semi-diurnal regime. The weather on the White Sea is never permanently stable. The winds are constantly blowing here. locals gave the winds proper names:

• northwest wind - deep, golomyanik;
• northeast wind - sea;
• southeast wind - dinner;
• north wind - siverko;
• south wind - noon, letnik;
• southwest wind - shelonik, paugnik.

30. The movement of the waters of the White Sea is counterclockwise. This is a property of all the seas of the northern hemisphere.

31. Climate and water exchange are influenced by tides, river runoff and bottom topography.

32. The tidal wave from the Barents Sea ranges from 0.6 to 3 meters. And in narrow bays (Mezensky and at the mouth of the Semzha River) it reaches 7-8 meters. The tide can penetrate in a wave upstream of coastal rivers for a distance of up to 120 kilometers.

33. Despite the small surface area of ​​the sea, its storm activity (especially in autumn) is expressed in the fact that the wave height reaches 6 meters.

Valeria Mikhailova about the Russian North

There is an easy way to learn more about life, and about God, about yourself: to see the mountains, the southern starry sky or the northern sea. And it's the northern one. Without churchkhela, without groups in striped bathing suits - calm, cold and harsh.

I saw him for the first time, this is the sea, on a campaign, and it was White. By evening, it became clear why this is so: in cloudy weather, closer to sunset or at dawn, the sky and the sea become the same color, the horizon line “sinks” into the sea, and it is absolutely impossible to distinguish where the water ends and the sky begins! Everything is white, smooth, cooled milk.

But it's not about dairy products. It's about the feeling of infinity: you look at this vast, calm expanse ... Silence rings in your ears, and everything spins and spins in your head an unusual question: “How? Such power, such breadth - and all this for us?! Little people! In a city where almost everything is man-made, you don't feel that everything is created .

The White Sea is called white because most of the year it is covered with white ice and snow. Agree that such an explanation seems logical? But comparative analysis maritime historical toponymy and a number of obvious facts from medieval Russian chronicles cast doubt on this explanation.

It is curious that in addition to the North Russian White Sea, there are other "White Seas" in the world. For example, words with an ancient root stem "Balt": "Baltoji - Baltijas" and "Baltoji - Baltijas" - in the translation of Lithuanian and Latvian mean "White". The name Baltic Sea is translated by Lithuanians and Latvians from their languages ​​as the White Sea. However, on this international list"White Seas" does not end there.

It is also curious that the southern Slavs, in particular the Bulgarians, today, like centuries ago, call the Greek Aegean Sea the White. Consequently, the Slavic name White Sea did not originate in the European north of Russia, but in the southern Bulgarian Mediterranean. So far, none of the domestic scientists have expressed this version. For the first time in this article, there is also an opinion that in Northern Russia The name White Sea could be brought from their travels by medieval Russian monks and pilgrims who went on long “walks” around Serbian and Bulgarian monasteries.
As evidence, we can cite three Russian chronicles, which record the fact that the name White Sea was used by the Bulgarians in the Middle Ages. In a medieval travel diary of 1419-1422, called "Zosima's Journey to Constantinople, Athos and Palestine", the Russian pilgrim deacon Zosima left an entry: "The Tsar's city stands at three corners, two walls from the sea, and the third from the West ... In the first corner from the White Sea is the Studian Monastery." The same text contains a clarification about which White Sea in question: “And that, byache, mouth, overlooking the great Ponetian (Aegean - I.M.) Sea, which is called the White Sea, that city of Troy stood at the very mouth. Leaving the Great Sea, go to the right in the Holy Mountain (Mount Athos - I.M.) and to Selun (the city of Thessaloniki - I.M.) and to the Amerean land (Peloponnese - I.M.) and to Rome, on the left to Jerusalem.

Based on this text, we can conclude that the Aegean Sea is called the White Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea is called the Great Sea.

Another medieval source, “The Journey of Barsanuphius to Egypt, Sinai and Palestine” 1461-1462, calls the White Sea not the Aegean, but the entire Mediterranean Sea, which his predecessor, deacon Zosimas, called the Great Sea. The Russian pilgrim Barsanuphius writes: “And the great river, the golden-streaming Nile, flows from the noon country at midnight into the White Sea.”
Four years after the “walking” of Barsanuphius, in 1465-1466, a clerk made a trip to the Middle East embassy order“Guest Basil”, which describes the Syrian city of Khoozm (Homs - I.M.) “... and a lake near the city and a cave from where the serpent crawled out, and near the lake of that mountain, and on the side of the country the mountain is the White Sea”, i.e. again the Mediterranean Sea is called the White Sea.

Renamed Sea

Orthodox Russian monks, who explored the Chudsky Zavolochye, actively transferred the tracing paper of the Christian southern Mediterranean toponymy to the Russian North. This, in particular, is evidenced by such southern Christian names of the northern mountains as Mount Golgotha ​​on Solovki, Mount Sinai near the Pomeranian village of Summer Navolok, and Mount Eleon near the village of Lopshengi.

It is obvious that the southern name of the White Sea was also brought to the North by the Solovetsky monks, replacing incomprehensible pagan names Pomorye into Orthodox Slavic.

When the English cartographer Anthony Jenkinson drew up the first map of the Moscow State in 1562, the name of the White Sea was not yet on it.
For the first time, the sea was called White only on the map of Peter Plaicius in 1592. It is no secret that initially it was not even considered a sea, but a large bay of the Arctic Ocean. This bay, which later became known as the White Sea, historical sources called differently. But of particular interest are the names with the toponymic base "Kanda" (in the Scandinavian transcription - "Ganda". Obviously, it is from this base that the ancient Scandinavian name of the Gandvik Bay comes.

Kanda Gulf

It is easy to see that the famous hydronyms of Pomorye - Kanda-guba, Kanda-vik (Gand-vik), Kandalaksha - consist of two parts. The sea bay is called “lip” in Pomeranian, “vik” in Scandinavian, and “Laksha” in Karelian-Pomor dialects.

As you can see, all these three multilingual names in translation mean Kanda Bay. Obviously, Kanda is an ancient, primary and therefore practically unchanged part in each of the three names mentioned. And the second part changed depending on the linguistic changes that took place during the last millennium among the indigenous population of the White Sea. I’ll make a reservation right away that any attempts to translate the toponymic substratum “Kanda” based on consonance with modern languages, I think are wrong. Nevertheless, versions of the origin of the name Kanda-Laksha can be mentioned.

The first version claims that the name is borrowed from the ancient Germanic languages, where Cando means "monster" ("wolf"), and the toponym Kanda-vik (Gand-vik), respectively, allegedly means "Monster Bay". As you can see, this explanation is absolutely incomprehensible and frivolous.
The second version derives the name Kanda-laksha from the Finnish words "kand" and "kantapää", which means "heel" in translation. The White Sea, allegedly, vaguely resembles a giant footprint from a human foot, and Kandalaksha Bay can be imagined as its heel. In this case, the name "Kanda-Laksha" means "Heel of the Bay." But this explanation, too, is not serious.

The river Kandalaksha

There is also a third hypothesis that is quite popular among researchers: the name allegedly comes from the name of the Kandalaksha River, which flows into the Kandalaksha Bay on the western coast near the village of Fedoseevka on the Karelian coast Murmansk region. However, logic suggests that the Kandalaksha River was named after the sea bay, and not vice versa. In general, it is unlikely that a large sea bay could be named after a small river by the standards of the North, especially since it is not the only one in this place. If the river was originally called Kanda, and not Kandalaksha, then the version would probably not have raised doubts. But almost all medieval maps and until the 20th century, the river was called Kandalaksha!

Wouldn't it be more logical to assume that the nameless river was named after the Kandalaksha Bay, or after the name of the settlement that bore the name of the bay? It is possible that, contrary to the standard ideas of scientists, the sea peoples who came to new lands from the sea could first name the sea bays, and only then the rivers that flowed into these bays. It is also worth emphasizing that the local name Kandalaksha Bay is a small sea bay inside the large oceanic bay of Kanda-laksha (Kanda-vika).

Kanda - ancient sea

It is curious that on the map of Willem Barents of 1598, and the map of Theodor de Brie of 1598, and the map of Gerhard Mercator (Gerard Kramer) of 1630, the largest White Sea cape Kanin-nos is called Kande-nos! And this cannot be an accident. The line connecting extreme point Kandina-nose and the extreme point of the Holy Nose on the opposite seashore was actually the border and gate to the Kanda Bay (Gand-vik).

It can be concluded that Kanda Bay (Kanda-laksha, Kanda-lip, Kanda-vik, Gand-vik) received its ancient name not from the river Kandalaksha, but by the name of Kanina-nose, which was originally called Kanda-nose. Of course, no one can say what this name of the cape meant in antiquity. The peoples who left us his name have long since disappeared, and their languages ​​are lost forever. To the east of Norway, medieval cartographers indicated a large peninsula, in outline reminiscent of Kanin, washed on all sides by a sea that resembles the White. In particular, on the Italian map of 1534 by Benedetta Bordone and on the map of Sebastian Munster, this sea is called Mare Congelato (Sea of ​​Conge-lato - I.M.), which is very consonant with the local seashore name Candelaksha (Cande-laksha - I.M.), distorted by Europeans, i.e. in fact - the name of Kanda Bay.
Curiously, the 16th-century maps by William Borough, Anthony Jenkinson, and Sebastian Munster show the name Condora in the area of ​​the Kanin Peninsula. The location of the name in the area of ​​the modern Kaninsky tundra suggests that Condora is the name Canda tundra (Kaninsky tundra - I.M.) distorted by European cartographers.]

Thus, based on the above facts, we can confidently say for the first time that the Slavic name White Sea is a direct borrowing and toponymic tracing paper from the South Slavic White Sea (i.e. the modern Mediterranean or Aegean - I.M.). Most likely, this name was brought to the northern land by the Solovetsky monks, who pursued a policy of increased assimilation of the local population in Orthodox culture in the 15th-16th centuries.

It is also obvious that before the White Sea was considered by the local population not as a sea, but as a large oceanic bay and was designated ancient, still not open word Kanda, which in the form of a toponymic substarate was preserved in the names of Kandalaksha and Gandvik.

It remains to be hoped that in the future, inquisitive researchers of the toponymy of Pomorye will be able to discover new interesting facts that will confirm or refute the reasoning given here about the origin of the mentioned names.

White Sea. Search for Hyperborea

Ivan MOSEEV
Director of the REC "Pomor Institute of Indigenous and Minorities of the North"
Northern Arctic Federal University (NArFU) named after M.V. Lomonosov