Special people live at the Russian Antarctic station Vostok, where the lowest temperature record on the planet (-89.2 ⁰С) was recorded. Prepared morally and physically, they agree to live and work in such conditions for a certain period of time and for a decent remuneration.
And where the world's coldest city is, people live all the time, and it's hard to hope that their salary is so high that it can compensate for extreme conditions…
The Coldest Republic
In order to be officially considered the inhabitants of the coldest place on earth, the inhabitants of several settlements argue, and they are all located in the same region of Russia - in Yakutia. It is possible to distribute the title of the coldest city in the world in different ways, based on various formal interpretations, but taking away the title of the coldest republic from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is unfair.
Capital of Cold
On the Lena River there is a city that occupies the third place in terms of population in the vast Far Eastern District. Lives in Yakutsk300 thousand people, and this number has been growing lately. The Yakut population of the surrounding settlements, many migrants from Central Asia and China, are moving to the capital of the republic.
Visitors are not afraid of cold weather. The average January air temperature in Yakutsk is -40 ⁰С, the cold record is -64.4 ⁰С, sometimes snow fell in June, spring and summer are short-lived, like the life of a moth. At the same time, the annual temperature amplitude is the largest on the planet and exceeds a hundred degrees. In a short summer, the maximum can reach the same forty degrees, but with a plus sign. And yet, short hot days cannot saturate the Yakut land with warmth, and it is Yakutsk that is the coldest city in the world, according to those exotic lovers who find themselves on the banks of the Lena in winter.
This city is the largest settlement located in the permafrost zone. Here, many things differ specifically from cities located in zones with a less aggressive climate. Here they build in a special way (it is impossible to build an ordinary foundation under a house: there is ice below), they lay communications in their own way, lay the road surface.
But the federal authorities should pay more attention to the frost-resistant Siberian republic, to make sure that people do not leave these extremely cold places. Yakutian diamonds alone are enough for people to gradually appear, taking this area away from state and, in general, Russian control.
Pole of Cold
According to some reports, a hundred years ago, the air temperature was measured in Oymyakon - 82 ⁰С. Considering thatthe village is located at 741 m above sea level, and the Antarctic station "Vostok" is five times higher, the Yakut village holds the record for the minimum temperature on the planet, even if the official minimum is -68.3 ⁰С.
Remoteness from the ocean, location in a basin where cold air masses flow from the surrounding space, make Oymyakon really the coldest place on Earth where people live permanently, but it is not the coldest city in the world. According to the status, about a thousand people should live in the city, and in this village there are about 450 inhabitants.
Record holder in all respects
But in another Yakut settlement - Verkhoyansk - 1150 people live. The city with the coldest winter is also one of the smallest settlements in the Russian Federation with city status.
Official temperature minimum -67.8 ⁰С, Average January minimum -48.3 ⁰С, frosts are possible at any time of the year, even in July. At the same time, there is a huge contrast between the highest and lowest temperatures during the year, which is typical for the climate of these harsh places, and the amount of precipitation makes Verkhoyansk look like some kind of African desert.
It is not surprising that those who protested against state power have long referred to the settlement here. The first to recognize the potential of Verkhoyansk was Alexander II, who exiled the participants of the Polish uprising of 1863 here to “cool off”. It was the political exiles who became the first intellectuals and simplyeducated people who have established regular scientific observation of the weather. They recorded low temperatures, unprecedented throughout the vast empire.
The dispute between Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon about which city is the coldest is still going on, causing purely sporting interest among local residents. Another thing seems more important: is it possible to resist the elements of nature so that people living in such harsh conditions do not feel inferior, that they fully lived, and did not survive, struggling with mighty nature.
