Kola Bay

{{Short description|Fjord in the Russian Arctic}}

{{More references needed|date=March 2025}}

File:Veer - 1605 - Waerachtighe beschryvinghe - UB Radboud Uni Nijmegen - 248643460 169 (cropped).jpeg's diary of Willem Barentsz' explorations.]]

Kola Bay ({{langx|ru|Кольский залив}}) or Murmansk Fjord is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 metres. The Tuloma,{{cite book |last1=United States Naval Institute |title=United States Naval Institute Proceedings |date=1918 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/United_States_Naval_Institute_Proceeding/7iVLAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1pg=PA1360&printsec=frontcover |access-date=6 June 2025 |language=en}}{{rp|1360}} Rosta and Kola Rivers discharge into the bay.

The eastern shore is craggy and precipitous, the western one is comparatively level. The ports of Murmansk and Severomorsk sit on the east side. Polyarny, the main base of Russia's Northern Fleet, is on the west side of the bay.{{cite journal |last1=Matishov |first1=Genady G. |last2=Matishov |first2=Dmitry G. |last3=Namjatov |first3=Alexey A. |last4=Carroll |first4=JoLynn |last5=Dahle |first5=Salve |title=Anthropogenic radionuclides in Kola and Motovsky Bays of the Barents Sea, Russia |journal=Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |date=April 1999 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=77–88 |doi=10.1016/S0265-931X(98)00096-4 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jolynn-Carroll-2/publication/223237412_Anthropogenic_radionuclides_in_Kola_and_Motovsky_Bays_of_the_Barents_Sea_Russia/links/6214e4594be28e145caa36e6/Anthropogenic-radionuclides-in-Kola-and-Motovsky-Bays-of-the-Barents-Sea-Russia.pdf |access-date=6 June 2025}}

Semidiurnal tides in the Murmansk Fjord are as high as 4 metres. In winter, the southern part of the bay may be covered in ice, though it is usually not thick enough to impede navigation, and Murmansk has traditionally been Russia's northernmost ice-free port.{{rp|1360}}{{cite book |title=Russia Route Zone A: Murman Railway and Kola Peninsula |date=1918 |publisher=Government Printing Office (U.S.) |location=Washington |pages=6-7 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Russia/8OkTAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Kola%20Bay%22%20-wikipedia&pg=PA6&printsec=frontcover |access-date=6 June 2025 |language=en}}{{rp|6-7}} The Kola Bay Bridge spans the Kola Bay near its southern end.