” Yakutsk, Russia is generally considered the coldest city on earth. During the winter the temperature averages -30 degrees Fahrenheit and lower. In fact, besides June, July and August, it doesn’t get warm at all, but that doesn’t slow life down. Patrick Jones (@Patrick_E_Jones) has the rest.”
For the adventurous among you Lonely Planet offers a collection of links and travel tips should you decide to make the trek to witness real cold .
” For somewhere that’s over 1000km from any- where much, Yakutsk comes as a pleasant, and sometimes surreal, surprise. Over half of its inhabitants are Yakut – and a good portion of the remainder are Chinese immigrants – so it feels (despite the Lenin statue) less Russian than many places across the Far East. Most of its buildings stand on stilts above a cruel permafrost that never thaws. It’s most isolated when the weather’s misbehaving – as winter frozen-river highways thaw, and earth turns into an unnavigable slop.
People are particularly friendly in Yakutsk. Visitors often find themselves quickly connected with the local scene. “
Here is a little research for those of you considering the journey …
” Yakutsk was founded by Pyotr Beketov in 1632. A detachment of cossacks under his command founded the city as the Lenskii fort, on the right bank of the Lena River (the tenth longest river in the world), which grew into (and changed its name to) Yakutsk in 1647.
As one of the most important Russian outposts in eastern Siberia, Yakutsk became the economic and administrative center of the region—a base for probes (and later scientific expeditions) into the Far East and the extreme North.
In 1822, Yakutsk was officially designated a city, and in 1851 became the official administrative capital of the Autonomous Republic of Yakutia. Today Yakutsk is a major administrative, industrial, cultural, and research center—standing out as one of the most dynamic and fast-developing cities in the Russian Far East.”
” Yakutsk is situated at the extreme latitude of 62°N. Its climate is definitively continental, leading to summer highs in the 90s (+32° Celsius), and extreme winter lows in the negative 80s (-64° Celsius)—that’s a range of over 100° Celsius! The average temperature in January is around -45°(-42°C); in July—+66° (19°C). The ideal time to visit (unless you’re traveling here purposely to experience the extreme cold) is from March to July. The sunny spring months will allow you to enjoy winter sports like skiing, ice-skating, dog sledding, ice sculptures, etc., under temperatures permitting outdoor human life. The average March temperatures, of course, are still cold at an average of -8.5° (-22.5°C). The summer months of June-July are great for the opportunities to see the Northern wilderness in its full glory, to enjoy the White Nights when the sun never sets, to set off on adventures along the Yakut rivers, and to experience the Yakut national holiday “Ysyakh.” “
For those of you that wonder what would make people choose to live in such an inhospitable environment , the answer might be found in the fact that Yakutsk is also known as the City Of Gold And Diamonds …
” Siberia is a living museum, a testament to more prosperous times. Buildings crumble where they stand. Roads wind through villages long deserted. Everything is a relic.
Not in Yakutsk. Yakutsk is the capital city of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), a region unimaginably wealthy in diamonds, gold, oil and gas. Sakha is the world’s second largest producer and exporter of diamonds, and around 30 tons of gold are mined within its borders yearly. The area’s vast mineral wealth got to the head of Mikhail Nikolaev, Sakha’s former president, who made noises about seceding from the Russian Federation. Yakutsk, with its population of slightly over 200,000, would be too tiny to make it on to a map of China, Russia’s southern neighbor. In north-eastern Siberia at 61.5° N, it is a megalopolis, and a wealthy one.”
” Signs of Sakha’s wealth abound. Brand-new, modern buildings such as the Polar Star Hotel are sprouting up around the city. Many, like Polar Star, are financed by Alrosa, the region’s diamond interest. The sheer number of hotels – 11 – speaks to Yakutsk’s status as a regional center. In contrast, Birobidzhan, the 90,000-person capital of the nearby Jewish Autonomous Republic, is home to a single, lone hotel, which certainly does not match the “money” look of the Polar Star.”
Irregardless of the wealth , there is always the ever-present cold looming in the background in the coldest city on Earth as witnessed by the current 5 day forecast …
No matter how you feel , life in Siberia and Yakutsk is not for the feint of heart . The people of Yakutsk probably wouldn’t object to a little global warming .
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