Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world, is the capital of the Sakha Republic in the Sakha Autonomous Region of Russia. The city has over 300.000 inhabitants who live in temperatures as low as -71°C. During the Soviet era, Yakutsk was known as a land of exile, and anyone who contradicted Joseph Stalin's views was sent there. Today, however, life in the city is relatively normal, though it is still considered a "frozen hell."
In this article, we'll tell you everything you need to know about Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world.
Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world
Life in Yakutsk is full of hardship. No matter how warm it gets, the cold is ever-present. You have to be very careful not to touch metal surfaces, as they can stick to your skin. Owning a car becomes a problem here, since winter lasts six to seven months, and you can't drive during that time. If you insist on doing so, your car could end up stuck in a thick layer of ice.
The Discover With Cenet team encountered major snags while conducting this investigation. The heat affected the recording equipment, and their hands were seriously injured when they took off their gloves to record for a few minutes.
Although life in the city is very difficult, Yakutsk residents are able to adapt and even make the most of the low temperatures. It's also interesting to note that there are countries with extremely cold climates that are less populated than this city. You can also learn about other places so cold they seem impossible to inhabit.
Problems in Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world
These are some of the problems suffered by the inhabitants of Yakutsk, the coldest city in the world:
- The houses are not built directly on the ground, instead, they are supported by concrete piles up to 15 meters deep. This must be done because the ground is permafrost, that is, it is frozen all year round.
- Drainage and water systems are also built above ground, outside.
- The permafrost is 350 meters deep. In 2013, a mammoth that froze to death 32.000 years ago was found with blood spilling onto the ice.
- Winter lasts from October to May. Apart from Sakha-Yakutia, no other region in the world experiences such drastic temperature changes from winter to summer. In the latter temperatures were recorded above 30°C and 20 hours of sunlight per day could be maintained. When the hot season arrives, flooding can occur due to melting ice.
- According to the Slate website, one big mistake you can make in Yakutsk is wearing glasses outside the house. The metal freezes and sticks to your face, so you have to rip them off, which isn't very nice.
- People stay outside as little as possible. Just 10 minutes outdoors can lead to fatigue, facial pain, and sore fingers. Even Yakutsk locals don't stay outside for more than 20 minutes.
- According to Wired, a reporter who visited the coldest big city in winter felt "intense pain" after spending just 13 minutes outside and even wore multiple layers of winter clothing. The reporter said that the first place he felt the tingling was in his face, and then his face began to go numb; this is dangerous because "it means that the blood flow to the skin has stopped."
Extreme cold situation
The ideal way to live in the city without feeling cold, Slate explains, is to wear fur clothing: reindeer boots, muskrat hats and fox fur coats. The boots alone cost the equivalent of $600.
Car owners should park in a heated garage with a blanket over the battery. If you're going to drive, you need to keep the engine running all day.
According to the Siberian Times website, in the city of Yakutsk, if the temperature reaches -45°C with no wind or -42° to -44°C (depending on the wind), children aged 7 to 11 will be suspended from attending school. Older students will stop attending school if the temperature reaches -48°C with no wind, or between -45° and -47°C with wind.
In winter, no picnic is complete without fishing, because no one can resist the most delicious snack and national dish of the Sakha Republic: stroganina . On frozen rivers and lakes, simply drill a hole in the surface to catch the fish. Leave the fish to rest at room temperature (-40°C or lower) for a few minutes, freeze it, and then slice it thinly.
Perhaps it is because of these extreme temperatures that the local diet is rich in protein. Horse meat and reindeer meat dominate everyday dishes. At the same time, there has been little interest in fruit and vegetables, probably because locally produced produce does not include consumption. The same goes for dairy products. In the Sakha-Yakutia region, there are cows adapted to life at -45°C, but they produce little strong milk.
Curiosities
As the capital of the eastern republic of Sakha in Russia, it is one of the most populated cities in the region. According to the latest census, although 450 kilometers from the Arctic Circle , Yakutsk still has a population of around 300.000. Many of them are specialists in various scientific fields.
According to Live Science reported that Siberia is "one of the coldest and most sparsely populated areas in the world." However, hundreds of thousands who live in Yakutsk still work for a diamond mining company. To avoid the constant floods that melt the ice, a local civil engineer had to build a concrete ramp, the building will rise 2 meters above the ground.
According to research by Alex DeCaria, a professor of meteorology at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, temperatures are so extreme in this region because "the land heats up and cools down faster than the oceans." Yakutsk is at the point known as 'the Siberian Heights', where these phenomena are expressed with much more intensity.
