|- City -
City under republic jurisdiction
View of the city from the Geological Institute collections area
Location of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic in Russia
|City Day||Second Sunday of September|
|Administrative status (as of June 2009)|
|Federal subject||Sakha Republic|
|Administratively subordinated to||city of republic significance of Yakutsk|
|Capital of||Sakha Republic|
|Administrative center of||city of republic significance of Yakutsk|
|Municipal status (as of December 2008)|
|Urban okrug||Yakutsk Urban Okrug|
|Administrative center of||Yakutsk Urban Okrug|
|Head||Aysen Nikolayev|
|Representative body||Okrug Council|
|Population (2010 Census)||269,601 inhabitants|
|- Rank in 2010||68th|
|Time zone||YAKT (UTC+10:00)|
|Postal code(s)||677xxx|
|Dialing code(s)||+7 4112|
Yakutsk (Russian: Якутск; IPA: [jɪˈkutsk]; Sakha: Дьокуускай, Jokūskaĭ, pronounced [ɟokuːskaj]) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about 450 kilometers (280 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. Population: 269,601 (2010 Census); 210,642 (2002 Census); 186,626 (1989 Census).
The Turkic Sakha people, also known as the Yakuts, settled in the area in the 13th and 14th centuries, migrating north from the Lake Baikal area to the middle Lena. According to their accounts,[specify]. From their new center along the middle Lena they gradually expanded northeast and west beyond the Lena basin towards the Arctic Ocean.
Russian Yakutsk was founded in 1632 as an ostrog (fort) by Pyotr Beketov. In 1639, it became the center of a voyevodstvo. The Yakutsk Voyevodstvo quickly became the most important Russian official in the region and directed expansion to the east and south.
Yakutsk did not grow into a city until the discovery of large reserves of gold and other minerals in the 1880s and 1890s. These reserves were developed extensively during industrialization under Stalin. The rapid growth of forced labor camps in Siberia was also a major factor encouraging Yakutsk's development.
Administrative and municipal status
Yakutsk is the capital of the republic. As an inhabited locality, Yakutsk is classified as a city under republic jurisdiction. Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with the settlement of Zhatay and eleven rural localities, incorporated as the city of republic significance of Yakutsk—an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, Yakutsk and the eleven rural localities are incorporated as Yakutsk Urban Okrug. The settlement of Zhatay is not a part of Yakutsk Urban Okrug and is independently incorporated as Zhatay Urban Okrug.
Yakutsk is a destination of the Lena Highway. The city's connection to the highway is only accessible by ferry in the summer, or in the dead of winter, directly over the frozen Lena River, as Yakutsk lies entirely on its western bank, and there is no bridge anywhere in the Sakha Republic that crosses the Lena. The river is impassable for long periods of the year when it contains loose ice, when the ice cover is not sufficiently thick enough to support traffic, or when the water level is too high and the river turbulent with spring flooding. The highway ends on the eastern bank of Lena in Nizhny Bestyakh (Нижний Бестях), an urban-type settlement of some four thousand people. Yakutsk is connected with Magadan by the Kolyma Highway.
A dual-use railroad and roadway bridge over the Lena is scheduled to be built by 2013, when the Amur Yakutsk Mainline, the North-South railroad being extended from the South, will finally connect the city with the East-West Baikal Amur Mainline. The railway reached the settlement of Nizhny Bestyakh, on the opposite bank of the Lena from Yakutsk, in November 2011.
The future combined rail and road bridge will be over 3-kilometer (1.9 mi) long and constructed 40 kilometers (25 mi) upriver at Tabaga, where the river narrows and does not create a wide flooded area in spring. In the dead of winter, the frozen Lena makes for a passable highway for ice truckers using its channel to deliver provisions to far-flung outposts. Yakutsk is also connected to other parts of Russia by Yakutsk Airport.
Education and research
Yakutsk State University is situated in the city. There is also a branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which contains, among other things, the Institute of Cosmophysical Research, which runs the Yakutsk Extensive Air Shower installation (one of the largest cosmic-ray detector arrays in the world), and the Permafrost Research Institute developed with the aim of solving the serious and costly problems associated with construction of buildings on frozen soil.
The city is home to the Yakutsk Permafrost Institute, which researches issues associated with construction of buildings on frozen soil.
Yakutsk produces a fifth of the world's production of diamonds, and is home to ALROSA and other mining companies. The city is also home to a significant food industry, to tanneries, to sawmills, and to factories for building materials.
With an extreme subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfd), Yakutsk has the coldest winter temperatures for any city. Average monthly temperatures range from +19.5 °C (67.1 °F) in July to −38.6 °C (−37.5 °F) in January, and only Norilsk has a lower mean annual temperature for any settlement of over 100,000. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast of Yakutsk. Although winters are long and extremely cold, summers are warm (though rather short), with daily maximum temperatures occasionally exceeding +30 °C (86 °F), making the seasonal temperature differences for the region among the greatest in the world. The lowest temperature recorded in Yakutsk was −64.4 °C (−83.9 °F) and highest +38.4 °C (101.1 °F). As the biggest city built on continuous permafrost, most houses in Yakutsk are built on concrete piles.
The climate is quite dry, with maximum precipitation occurring in the summer months, due to the intense Siberian High forming around the very cold continental air during the winter. Even during the summer, precipitation is not heavy since the moist southeasterly winds from the Pacific Ocean lose their moisture over the coastal mountains well before reaching the Lena valley.
With the Lena River navigable in the summer, there are various boat cruises offered, including upriver to the Lena Pillars, and downriver tours which visit spectacular scenery in the lower reaches and the Lena delta.
|Climate chart (explanation)|
|Climate data for Yakutsk, 1971-2000|
|Record high °C (°F)||−5.8
|Average high °C (°F)||−35.1
|Daily mean °C (°F)||−38.6
|Average low °C (°F)||−41.5
|Record low °C (°F)||−63
|Precipitation mm (inches)||9
|Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)||2.1||2.0||1.9||2.9||3.8||7.3||6.5||6.0||5.3||6.1||5.7||4.1||53.7|
|Mean monthly sunshine hours||18.6||98.0||232.5||273.0||303.8||333.0||347.2||272.8||174.0||105.4||60.0||9.3||2,227.6|
|Source #1: Pogoda.ru.net|
|Source #2: HKO|
The cultural life of Yakutsk is developing constantly.
There are several theatres: the State Russian drama theatre, named after A. S. Pushkin; the Sakha Theater, named after P. A. Oiyunsky; the Suorun Omoloon Young Spectator's Theatre; and the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, named after D. K. Sivtsev.
There are a number of interesting museums as well: the National Fine Arts Museum of Sakha; the Museum of Local Lore and History, named after E. Yaroslavsky; and the only museums in the world dedicated to the khomus and permafrost.
Twin towns and sister cities
Yakutsk is twinned with:
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012)|
- Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic
- Constitution of the Sakha Republic
- Law #174-Z #355-III
- "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
- Правительство Российской Федерации. Постановление №725 от 31 августа 2011 г. «О составе территорий, образующих каждую часовую зону, и порядке исчисления времени в часовых зонах, а также о признании утратившими силу отдельных Постановлений Правительства Российской Федерации». Вступил в силу по истечении 7 дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская Газета", №197, 6 сентября 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Resolution #725 of August 31, 2011 On the Composition of the Territories Included into Each Time Zone and on the Procedures of Timekeeping in the Time Zones, as Well as on Abrogation of Several Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation. Effective as of after 7 days following the day of the official publication.).
- Iuncker, Steeve (April 10, 2013). "Yakutsk: The Coldest City on Earth". LightBox (blog). Time. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
- (in Russian). Retrieved November 10, 2010.
- "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. May 21, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров." [All Union Population Census of 1989. Present population of union and autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and okrugs, krais, oblasts, districts, urban settlements, and villages serving as district administrative centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года (All-Union Population Census of 1989) (in Russian). Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- "In 2009 construction of the Bridge through Lena River will begin", Republic of Sakha Information Portal, March 29, 2007, reprint of an article by Aleksey Dmitriev in the newspaper “Yakutia”. Link accessed 2008-01-13. (English) (Russian)
- Russia Basel's wins tender to build Yakutia railroad Reuters, Thu Nov 6, 2008
- Russian Berkakit-Tommot-Nizhny Bestyakh line completed
- Nikolaev, Michael E. (January 7, 2007). "The Most Valuable Possession of a Society is Education". Yakutia Today. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- "About Us." Yakutia Airlines. Retrieved on July 18, 2010. "JSC "Air Company Yakutia" Address: 9, Bykovsky st., Yakutsk, Russia, 677014." Russian address: "Contact Us." "ОАО «Авиакомпания «Якутия» Адрес: Республика Саха (Якутия), 677014, г. Якутск, ул. Быковского, 9"
- "Pogoda.ru.net-Climate Data for Yakutsk 1981-2010" (in Russian). Retrieved April 26,2012.
||This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (April 2013)|
- Верховный Совет Республики Саха (Якутия). 4 апреля 1992 г. «Конституция (основной закон) Республики Саха (Якутия)», в ред. Конституционного закона №1077-З №1035-IV от 8 июня 2012 г. «О внесении изменений и дополнений в Конституцию (основной закон) Республики Саха (Якутия)». Опубликован: "Якутские ведомости", №7, 26 апреля 1992 г. (Supreme Council of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. April 4, 1992 Constitution (Basic Law) of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, as amended by the Constitutional Law #1077-Z No. 1035-IV of June 8, 2012 On Amending and Supplementing the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. ).
- Государственное Собрание (Ил Тумэн) Республики Саха (Якутия). Закон №174-З №355-III от 30 ноября 2004 г. «Об установлении границ территорий и о наделении статусом городского округа муниципальных образований Республики Саха (Якутия)», в ред. Закона №641-З №177-IV от 29 декабря 2008 г «О внесении изменений в Закон Республики Саха (Якутия) "Об установлении границ территорий и о наделении статусом городского округа муниципальных образований Республики Саха (Якутия)"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Якутия", №243, 29 декабря 2004 г. (State Assembly (Il Tumen) of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. Law #174-Z No. 355-III of November 30, 2004 On Establishing the Borders of the Territories and on Granting the Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formations of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, as amended by the Law #641-Z No. 177-IV of December 29, 2008 On Amending the Law of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic "On Establishing the Borders of the Territories and on Granting the Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formations of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
- Official website of Yakutsk (Russian)
- Sakha Life Information Agency
- Yakutsk State University
- Lena Pillars at Natural Heritage Protection Fund
- Yakutsk past and present: a photo gallery at the Ministry of Construction of the Sakha Republic website (Russian)
- Yakutsk at AskYakutia.com
- English Yakutia
- Flickr photos tagged Yakutsk
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