The pole of the cold of the Northern Hemisphere is located inzone of sharply continental climate. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the city of Verkhoyansk and the village of Oymyakon, which are part of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), argue for the right to be so called. Recently, the village of Tomtor, located 20 km from Oimyakon, joined this dispute.
Extreme Yakutia: An Overview
The geographical position of the republic (to the north andsouth of the Arctic Circle - 66 ° 33′44 ″) and its remoteness from warm currents (Gulf Stream) due to the presence of low temperatures, therefore, the cold pole of the Northern Hemisphere is located there. The extreme continental point of the republic is located on Cape Nordvik (74 ° N lat.), The south is the border with the Amur Region along the Stanovoi Range (55 ° N lat.).
Republic of Sakha (or Sakha RepublicYakut) is the largest administrative and territorial unit not only in Russia, but also in the world, and makes up almost one fifth of the Russian Federation (Yakutia is 3.1 million km², the Russian Federation is more than 17.1 million km²).
Forty percent of the republic’s territory is located in the Arctic, that is, beyond the Arctic Circle.
Yakutia is 25% of the diamonds mined in the world, and it is from them that the richest jewelry and, accordingly, women of fashion in the world prefer to wear jewelry.
The main population of the republic is Yakuts (almost 46%), Russians (almost 42%), Ukrainians (about 4%), Evenks (2%), Evens (slightly more than 1%). The total population is just under one million people.
The climate of the republic, where the pole of the cold of the Northern Hemisphere
Only extreme weather conditions canexplain that the pole of cold is in Yakutia. The sharply continental climate of the south of the republic passes into the subarctic, then into the arctic on the coast of the Arctic Ocean.
Relative mildness of the winter temperature (-35 ...-25 ° C), winds, humidity of the northern coast are in sharp contrast with the continental conditions of the territories of Yakutia, located near the Arctic Circle and to the south. The winter temperatures of this part fluctuate mainly in the range of -55 ...- 35 ° C, and the snow cover is small - only thirty centimeters. Such a phenomenon as frosty fog (from small crystals) occurs in the continental part of the Republic of Sakha.
Are considered the coldest territorylocated near Verkhoyansk, and Oymyakon, where temperatures can drop to -70 ° C. Summer thermometer indicators (albeit briefly) can rise to +30 ° C. Such annual temperature fluctuations (one hundred degrees) were not observed in any other point of the Earth.
Verkhoyansk - the officially recognized pole of the cold of the Northern Hemisphere
Verkhoyansk (in Yakutsk) - one of the most northern(in the Arctic Circle) and the smallest cities in Russia (in third place from the end): only 1,150 people live there. You can reach it as follows: first by plane from Moscow to Yakutsk, then by plane of local airlines across the Lena River and the Verkhoyansk Range to the village of Batagai (this is the center of the Verkhoyansk ulus (district)), then along a dirt road to Verkhoyansk. There is no airfield in the city, or rather, it does not work - it was closed when the USSR collapsed.
Life in the city is difficult: seven months a year (from October to April) is winter, the thermometer drops to minus 67 degrees Celsius.
In the spring, the snow begins to melt, and if someone does not stock up on ice from the lakes (there are a lot of them here), then there will be nothing to drink - the melted water is muddy, but the fishing is excellent.
Verkhoyansk began its history as a Cossackthe settlement then became the place of exile for many political prisoners. One of them, S.F. Kovalik, in 1885, on the fifteenth of January, recorded (recorded in the observation journal of a meteorological station) a minimum air temperature of −67.1 ° C. And in 1892 an even lower temperature was noted: −67.8 ° C. In 2005, in honor of registering the lowest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere, the city authorities erected a memorial plaque.
Verkhoyansk Museum of Local History "Pole of Cold"
Since 1957, the school (she is alone in the city) begancollect exhibits on the history of the region. On this base today there is a city museum of local lore. The exposition of the museum - "The Pole of Cold of the Northern Hemisphere of Russia" - has materials of a historical nature about a unique aerohydrometeorological station opened in Verkhoyansk.
The museum is also interesting for displaying objects of cultural heritage of the Verkhoyansk Yakuts, and the old dwelling - the yurt - is set next to the main complex.
Oymyakon: why tourists go there
The official name is the North Pole of Cold.hemisphere - and Oymyakon claims. The village is located below the Arctic Circle, but the winters there are much harsher Verkhoyansk. The Oymyakon Territory is located in a mountain hollow, where cold air descends at night and stagnates there, which explains the position of the cold pole of the Northern Hemisphere, although not officially recognized. Weather observations are conducted not in the village of Oymyakon, but at the airport of the same name (40 km from the village and 2 km from the village of Tomtor).
As a cold pole of the Northern Hemisphere, Oymyakon is mastered by tourists much more efficiently than Verkhoyansk: the airport contributes to the rapid achievement of the goal.
In the village of Tomtor (where writer V. Shalamov was serving the last two years of exile), a tourist rally is held annually, and in Oymyakon itself the Santa Clauses gather annually.
Schools are closed in winter if the temperature drops to -56 ° C.
The name Oymyakon means “non-freezing water” - either as a joke or in honor of a local hot spring.
Scientists have not yet decided which locality should be called the cold pole of the Northern Hemisphere: either Oymyakon, or Tomtor, or Verkhoyansk.
