KOLA

kola, a peninsula of northern russia, lying between the arctic ocean on the n. and the white sea on the s. it forms part of the region of lapland and belongs administratively to the government of archangel. the arctic coast, known as the murman coast (murman being a corruption of norman), is 260 m. long, and being subject to the influence of the north atlantic drift, is free from ice all the year round. it is a rocky coast, built of granite, and rising to 650 ft., and is broken by several excellent bays. on one of these, kola bay, the russian government founded in 1895 the naval harbour of alexandrovsk. from may to august a productive fishery is carried on along this coast. inland the peninsula rises up to a plateau, 1000 ft. in general elevation, and crossed by several ranges of low mountains, which go up to over 3000 ft. in altitude. the lower slopes of these mountains are clothed with forest up to 1300 ft., and in places thickly studded with lakes, some of them of very considerable extent, e.g. imandra (330 sq. m.), ump-jaur, nuorti-jarvi, guolle-jaur or kola lake, and lu-jaur. from these issue streams of appreciable magnitude, such as the tuloma, voronya, yovkyok or yokanka, and ponoi, all flowing into the arctic, and the varsuga and umba, into the white sea. the area of the peninsula is estimated at 50,000 sq. m. see a. o. kihlmann and palmen, _die expedition nach der halbinsel kola_ (1887-1892) (helsingfors); a. o. kihlmann, _bericht einer naturwissenschaftlichen reise durch russisch-lappland_ (helsingfors, 1890); and w. ramsay, _geologische beobachtungen auf der halbinsel kola_ (helsingfors, 1899). kolaba (or colaba), a district of british india, in the southern division of bombay. area, 2131 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 605,566, showing an increase of 2% in the decade. the headquarters are at alibagh. lying between the western ghats and the sea, kolaba district abounds in hills, some being spurs running at right angles to the main range, while others are isolated peaks or lofty detached ridges. the sea frontage, of about 20 m., is throughout the greater part of its length fringed by a belt of coco-nut and betel-nut palms. behind this belt lies a stretch of flat country devoted to rice cultivation. in many places along the banks of the salt-water creeks there are extensive tracts of salt marshland, some of them reclaimed, some still subject to tidal inundation, and others set apart for the manufacture of salt. the district is traversed by a few small streams. tidal inlets, of which the principal are the nagothna on the north, the roha or chaul in the west, and the bankot creek in the south, run inland for 30 or 40 m., forming highways for a brisk trade in rice, salt, firewood, and dried fish. near the coast especially, the district is well supplied with reservoirs. the western ghats have two remarkable peaks--raigarh, where sivaji built his capital, and miradongar. there are extensive teak and black wood forests, the value of which is increased by their proximity to bombay. the great indian peninsula railway crosses part of the district, and communication with bombay is maintained by a steam ferry. owing to its nearness to that city, the district has suffered severely from plague. kolaba district takes its name from a little island off alibagh, which was one of the strongholds of angria, the mahratta pirate of the 18th century. the same island has given its name to kolaba point, the spur of bombay island running south that protects the entrance to the harbour. on kolaba point are the terminus of the bombay & baroda railway, barracks for a european regiment, lunatic asylum and observatory.