city, Murmansk oblast (region), northwestern Russia, at the edge of the Khibiny Mountains. Until the opening of apatite and nephelinite mines in the region in 1929, Kirovsk was merely open tundra peopled by reindeer herders. It soon became a booming mining city and was incorporated in 1931. In addition to wood-using industries, Kirovsk has the Kola branch of the Academy of Sciences of Russia, a botanical garden of the academy, and mining and medical schools. Pop. (2006 est.) 30,925.