the novgorod republic lost control of the peninsula to the grand duchy of moscow in 1471, but the russian migration did not stop. several new settlements were established during the 16th century, and the sami and pomor people were forced into serfdom. in the second half of the 16th century, the peninsula became a subject of dispute between the tsardom of russia and the kingdom of denmark–norway, which resulted in the strengthening of the russian position. by the end of the 19th century, the indigenous sami population had been mostly forced north by the russians as well as by newly arriving izhma komi and kominized nenets (so-called yaran people), who migrated here to escape a reindeer disease epidemic in their home lands in the southeast of the white sea. the original administrative and economic center of the area was kola, situated at the estuary of the kola river into the kola bay. however, in 1916, romanov-na-murmane (now murmansk) was founded and quickly became the largest city and port on the peninsula.