Kirovsk is a Russian town located on the Kola Peninsula, to the north of the Polar Circle, on the southern outskirt of the massif Khibiny Mountains, on the bank of the lake Bolshoi Vudjyavr, in the Umptek Valley, 175 km to the South of Murmansk.

It is a railway station.

Antiavalanche Yuksporsk meteorological station is located in the town.

Kirovsk is a popular center for mountain skiing.

The town with the overall area of 3633 sq.km has the population of 28 625 people (as of 2010).

History of Kirovsk

In the 1920s fields of apatite - nepheline ores were discovered in Khibiny Mountains as a result of geological expeditions headed by A. E. Fersman. Development of the fields was started in 1929.

Kirovsk was founded in 1929 as a center for production of apatites and due to its location in the Khibiny Mountains was named Khibinogorsk.

It became a town in 1931. In 1934 it was renamed into Kirovsk after the Soviet political figure and Bolshevik leader S.M. Kirov (1886-1934).

In 1958 the settlement Kukisvumchorr (with the population of 16.3 thousand people) was integrated into Kirovsk.