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The Barents Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean located north of Norway and Russia. It is named after the Dutch navigator Willem Barents.
The ports of Murmansk (Russia) and Vardø (Norway) remain ice-free year round due to the warm North Atlantic drift. Islands on the sea include Novaya Zemlya (Russia) and Svalbard (Norway).
Until the Winter War, Finland's territory also reached to the Barents Sea, with the harbor at Petsamo was Finland's only ice-free winter harbor.
Nuclear contamination from dumped Russian naval reactors is an environmental concern in the Barents Sea.