The White Sea is the arm of the
Arctic Ocean north of western
Russia, reaching into an area between the Russian mainland and the
Kola Peninsula to the east of
Finland. It's called "Beloye More" in Russian. It became one of Russia's major trade routes after some
English traders trying to get to
China by a Northeast Passage (going north of
Asia) ended up landing at the mouth of the Dvina River in
1553 and were taken to see the ruler,
Ivan the Terrible.
England and Russia traded this way for years despite the unpleasantness of the sea voyage around
Scandinavia and the fact that the port at the mouth of the Dvina, Arkhangelsk (
Archangel) is ice-bound for half the year, because at the time Russia had no other
ocean coast.
Sources:
Leslie Dienes, "White Sea," Discovery Channel School, original content provided by World Book Online, http://www.discoveryschool.com/homeworkhelp/
worldbook/atozgeography/w/601840.html
University Library of Tromsø, "The Northern Lights Route: The trade Route to the White Sea," http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/whitesea.htm