Belomorsk is located on three large and several small islands, at the place of the exit of the Belomorsk-Baltiysk channel to the White Sea (the so-called Pomorsky Coast), by the mouth of river Vyg, 376 km to the north of Petrozavodsk.

It is a seaport and a railway station. The town takes the area of 258 sq km.

History of Belomorsk

It became a town in 1938. Belomorsk was formed from the Soroki Village, the Solunin Settlement of timber workers (two sawing plants were constructed at the mouth of River Vyg in the early 20th century), a settlement of water-transport workers of the Belomorsk-Baltiysk Channel and a settlement of railroad workers of Sorokskaya Station.

Soroki Village was known from the 12th century; it appeared at the inflow of River Vyg into the White Sea. It was named after one of the branches of River Vyg, which was called Soariyoki - "the fiery river" by Karelians. Folk etymology also connects the name Soroki to "forty islands" (“sorok” = 40) or to “soroka”, i.e. “magpie”.

In 1941-1945 it was the capital of the Karelian-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic.

Sightseeing

Near Belomorsk, at the Sheiruksha waterfalls, at the lower reaches of River Vyg, there have remained petroglyphs - rock drawings of people and animals, hunting scenes, etc. (altogether about 470) dating back to the 3-1st millennia BC. A branch of the city museum Belomorsk Petroglyphs was built there.