a Pomor’e maritime term for gulfs and bays in the northern USSR that extend far inland and into which large rivers usually flow (for example, the Onega Guba and the Ob’ Guba). Such gulfs are greatly affected by the rivers flowing into them. Their beds are covered with fluvial sediment, and their water has a low salt content, and its color is markedly different from that of seawater. Parts of a guba are differentiated as the head (the inland, usually narrower part) and the mouth (the part that merges directly with the sea).

a territorial district in the 16th- and 17th-century Russian state. The guba authorities performed judicial and police functions.