Siberia, the Yenisei River and the Ket Nation, a people of survivors.

The Siberian soul is made up of the Arctic desert, the endless tundra, the green taiga ocean and "Father Yenisei", the pride of the Krasnoyarsk region.

Many people admire its power and beauty, but few know that Yenisei is one of the largest rivers in Russia. Its length is 3487 km. It is the deepest river in the country, in some places the depth reaches 70 m. The width of Yenisei does not exceed 500-700 m, but when it joins Angara, which is 3 times wider than the Yenisei, it widens up to 2.5 km. but the widest part of the river is located near the archipelago of the Brekhovskie Islands, 75 km away.

The river occupies a vast territory. Its basin comprises 184,000 lakes and more than 20,000 rivers. The basin is not symmetrical: the right part is 5 times larger than the left. The largest tributaries are Angara, Lower Tunguska and Podkamennaya Tunguska that flow to Yenisei from the right bank. There are few tributaries on the left side and they are not very large: Abakan, Sym, Elogui and Turuhan.

The largest tributary is Lower Tunguska (2640 km), which begins on the northern slope of the Eminence of Upper Tunguska, not far from the Lena River. The lakes of the Lower Tunguska basin are Vivi, Tembenchi, Bajo Agata, Alto Agata, Nyagshinda and Pashkino. The current of Lower Tunguska can fascinate everyone.

 Another large tributary of the Yenisei is Angara (1826 km). The name of the river comes from Evenkia. "Anga" means "the jaws of an animal." It leaves Lake Baikal, one of the largest lakes in the world. The depth of the lake is 1265 m. Its flora and fauna are unique (82% can only be found in the territory of the lake).

Podkamennaya Tunguska (1614 km) is also a large tributary of Yenisei. It is open for navigation only in spring, although it is the only road south of Evenkia.

The tributaries of the upper Yenisei are much smaller. Abakan - 512 km, Kemchik - 323 km, Tuba - 121 km, Kan - 643 m.

Yenisei is a clear river. It is almost unaffected by human activity, although dams change their flow. There are several hydroelectric plants built in Yenisei and its tributaries. The water is clear, almost non-mineralized and is rich in oxygen that supports life. In the deepest lower part of the river, the water is rather confusing. But nevertheless the light reaches lower layers of water.

In the 1960s and 1970s, fish acclimatization and flow regulation works were carried out in Yenisei. Some species of fish were deliberately introduced into the river. They are Baikal omul, dorado, carp and northern white fish in the Krasnoyarsk water basin; Siberian salmon, humpback salmon and trout in the southern lakes of the region; Other species have reached the river independently.

 The acclimatization results have greatly influenced the fauna of many lakes and rivers of the Yenisei River. Today the fauna includes 46 species of fish.

  

Geographical description

The Yenisei River (in Russian: Енисей)? it is a long river of Russia (in Siberia that flows from the center of Asia to the north draining into the Kara Sea, Arctic Sea. It has a length of 4093 km, but counting the river system Yenisei-Angarà-Lake Baikao-Selengá- Ider reaches 5539 km, which places it among the five longest rivers in the world.Its basin covers about 2,580,000 km².

It is born in Kizil (in China) where the Bolshoi Yenisei (great Yenisei) and Maly Yenisei (small Yenisei) rivers that come from the Eastern Sayanes mountains along the Russian-Mongolian border meet, and flows into an estuary of about 400 km conformed by the bay of Yeniséi in the Arctic

 It runs through the center of Siberia in a South-North direction. Most of the river is navigable, except between November and May that remains frozen. Its upper course is turbulent, which has been used for the construction of hydroelectric plants, highlighting the Sayan and Krasnoyarsk dams.

The most important cities on its banks are Kizil, Shagonar, Syanogorstk, Abakan, Krasnoyarsk, Yeniseisk, Lesosibirsk, Igarza and Dudinka.

The Yeniséi River has a length of 4,093 km, although it is usually considered divided into sections, the upper part being the Upper Yenisei, which in turn is formed by the union of the Great Yeniséi (Bolshói Yeniséi) and the Small Yeniséi (Maly Yeniséi) . The Angará river has 1779 km, and joins Lake Baikal with the middle course of the Yenisei river. The largest tributary of Lake Baikal is the Selengá River, with a length of 992 km. The Ideriin River, which already runs through Mongolia, with 452 km, is the longest of the two rivers that originate the Selengá River. The Yeniséi-Angará-Baikal-Selengá-Ider total system is 5539 km long.

Ket ethnicity

One of the oldest natives of the Middle Yenisei are the kets, which are also called ostyak. Modern kets lived along the middle eastern section of the river before being politically assimilated to Russia between the 17th and 19th centuries. According to the 2010 census, there were 1,220 kets in Russia.

It is believed that the Ket are the only survivors of an ancient nomadic people believed to have originally lived in central and southern Siberia. In the 1960s, the yugh distinguished themselves as a separate, albeit similar, group. Today's kets are the descendants of the fishermen and hunter tribes of the Yenisei taiga who adopted some of the cultural forms of those original ket-tongue tribes of southern Siberia. The previous tribes were engaged in hunting, fishing and even the breeding of reindeer in the northern areas.

The Ket were incorporated into the Russian state in the seventeenth century. Their efforts to resist were useless, as the Russians deported them to different places to break their resistance. This also broke his strictly organized patriarchal social system and his way of life disintegrated. Ket people accumulated huge debts with the Russians. Some died of hunger, others of diseases introduced from Europe. By the 19th century, the kets could no longer survive without the food support of the Russian state. [4]

In the twentieth century, the Soviets forced collectivization in the Ket. They were officially recognized as Kets in the 1930s, when the Soviet Union began implementing the policy of self-definition with regard to indigenous peoples. However, Ket traditions continued to be suppressed and the initiative itself was discouraged. Collectivization was completed in the 1950s and the Russian lifestyle and language were imposed on the Ket people.

The population of Kets has been relatively stable since 1923. According to the 2002 census, there were 1,494 Kets in Russia. This compares to 1,200 in the 1970 census. Today, the Ket live in small towns along the banks of the rivers and are no longer nomads.

The Ket language has been linked to the Na-Dené languages ​​of North America in the Dené-Yeniseian language family. This link has resulted in some collaboration between the Ket and some villages in northern Athabaskan.

Ket means "man" (plural deng "men, people"). The Kets of the Kas, Sym and Dubches rivers use jugun as their self-denomination.

In 1926, there were 1,428 Kets, of which 1,225 (85.8%) were native speakers of the Ket language. The 1989 census accounted for 1,113 ethnic kets with only 537 (48.3%) native speakers.

As of 2008, only about 100 people continued to speak Ket fluently, half of them more than 50. [6] It is completely different from any other language in Siberia. [one]

The traditional Ket culture was investigated by Mathias Castrén, Vasiliy Ivanovich Anuchin, Kai Donner, Hans Findeisen and Yevgeniya Alekseyevna Alekseyenko. Shamanism was a living practice in the 1930s, but in the 1960s you could hardly find authentic shamans. Shamanism is not a homogeneous phenomenon, nor shamanism in Siberia. As for shamanism among the kets, he shared characteristics with those of the Turkish and Mongolian peoples. In addition, there were several types of Ket shamans that differ in function (sacred rites, healing), power and associated animals (deer, bears). In addition, among the Kets (as with other Siberian peoples such as the Karagas, there are examples of the use of skeletal symbols. Hoppál interprets this as a symbol of the shamanic revival, although it can also symbolize the bones of the loon (the shaman's auxiliary animal, which joins the aerial and underwater world, as well as the history of the shaman who traveled both to heaven and the underworld.The skeleton overlay also represented the shamanic revival among other Siberian cultures.

Of great importance for the Kets are the dolls, which are described as "a bone of the animal's shoulder wrapped in a piece of cloth that simulates clothes." An adult Ket, who had been neglected with a cigarette, said: "It is a pity that I do not have my doll. My house caught fire along with my dolls." The Kets consider their dolls as domestic deities who sleep in the during the day and protect them at night.

After the Russian invasion and colonization, most of the natives of the Yenisei basin became extinct. One of the few surviving ethnic groups is the Kets, also the Ostiaks streets that live in the Middle Yenisei region. Modern Kets used to live along the middle eastern section of the river before being politically assimilated to Russia between the 17th and 19th centuries. According to the 2010 census, there were 1,220 Kets in Russia.

It is believed that ket are the only survivors of an ancient nomadic people believed to have originally lived in central and southern Siberia. In the 1960s, the yugh distinguished himself

Articles on Siberia geographical region (Russia)

1) Aral Sea

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Aral%20Sea

2) Caspian Sea

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Caspian%20Sea2

3) Lake Baikal

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Lake%20Baikal

4) Sea of Okhostk

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Okhostk%20Sea

5) Kamchatka peninsula

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Kamchatka

6) Yamal peninsula

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Yamal%20peninsula2

7) Lena river

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Lena%20River

8) Yenisei river
https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Yenisei

9) Obi river
https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Obi%20River

10) Novaya Zemlya island

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Novaya%20Zemlya

11) Samoyed people
https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Samoyeds

12) Yakutia

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Yakutia

13) Kola borehole

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Kola%20drilling

14) Norilsk

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Norilsk2

15) Yamal megaproject

https://daniloanton-en.blogspot.com/search/label/Yamal%20megaproject

Lake Baikal, the deepest and one of the more pristine lakes of the world is threatened by contamination

Located in south-central Siberia, Russia, not far from the Mongolian border and surrounded by mountains, forests and wild rivers, Lake Baikal is the world’s largest freshwater lake in terms of volume.

It is about 640 km (397 miles) long, and 80 km (50 miles) wide. It is also the deepest lake in the world, at 1,620 meters (5,314 feet).

It contains 20% of the world’s total unfrozen freshwater reserve (23,600 km3). Its surface area is 31,722 km2 and the average depth is 744 meters. The catchment area is 560,000 km2 and the excess water outflows through its emissary the Angara river, which in turn is a tributary of the Yenisei river out pouring in the Arctic sea.

There are more than thirty rocky islands in Lake Baikal.One of them is the world’s second largest island in a lake, Olkhon..

On Lake Baikal about a hundred gas (“mud”) volcanoes were found.

The water of Lake Baikal is renowned for being some of the clearest in the world. When the lake freezes during the winter, an amazing phenomena takes place: large shards of transparent ice form on the surface of the lake, giving the amazing appearance of turquoise ice.

In the photographs taken from space on the ice of Lake Baikal were found dark rings with a diameter of 5-7 kilometers, which appear in the same places, but not every year.

On the shores of Lake Baikal there are many grottoes.When Lake Baikal freezes in winter, the waves create amazing icicles in grottoes.
The water of Lake Baikal is one the most transparent of all freshwater lakes. In some areas of the lake you can see the bottom of it at a depth of 40 meters(130 feet)!

Ice on Lake Baikal in many places is completely transparent.

Water in the Lake Baikal is completely renewed approximately every 383 years.

The water level in Lake Baikal is at 456 meters (1496 feet) above sea level.

Lake Baikal experiences some real storms, the wave height of which that reaches up to 4-5 meters!

Its age and isolation have produced one of the world’s richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science. Lake Baikal is home to more than 2,000 species of plants and animals, two-thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world, including the Baikal omul fish and Baikal oil fish as well as the nerpa, one of the world’s only freshwater species of seal

The lake was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Deep manned submersibles “Mir” found at the bottom of Lake Baikal huge amounts of gas hydrates.

However, during the last decades this pristine environment is becoming less immaculate with human effluents and debris.

More than 15,000 metric tons of toxic waste have flown into Russia’s Lake Baikal from its largest tributary, river Selenga, in the last decade, the state-run TASS news agency reported Monday.

Environmentalists have acknowledged pollution at the lake since at least 1998. Scientists warned last week that proposals by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to expand waste discharge limits violate Russian

The Selenga River — the largest to flow into Lake Baikal — received in excess of 15,000 metric tons of toxic substances since 2010, according to a Russian Academy of Sciences assessment on Lake Baikal obtained by TASS.

“The overall mass of pollutants released into the Selenga is even more dramatic” given the 56 million liters of sewage discharged daily into the river from the republic of Buryatia’s industrial city of Ulan-Ude, the assessment is cited as saying.

The scientists also blamed existing environmental regulations for preventing the launch of wastewater treatment facilities built in 2017.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry's proposals could enter into force as soon as May following public discussions.

Environmental concerns over Lake Baikal made headlines last month after public pressure forced local authorities to revoke a Chinese bottling plant’s construction license.

The extreme east of Siberia
Danilo Antón

Chukotka is the easternmost region of Siberia, contiguous with the Arctic and the Bering Strait. It has about 52,000 inhabitants in a surface of 720,000 km2 and rigorous subarctic climate. Its unfavorable climate for agricultural operations and a history of first Czarist and then Soviet colonization are the causes of the very low population density.
It is the traditional home of chukchi, chuvanos, evenos and inuits that lived (and still live) of reindeer husbandry, fishing and seal hunting.
In the 19th century it was colonized by Czarist Russia to incorporate it into the production and trade of furs through the cruel exploitation and elimination of native communities.
During the Soviet period, forced collectivization and sedentarization were imposed, reducing considerably the traditional ways of life that are still maintained. It has important mineral resources, including hydrocarbons and tungsten. Today it forms a federal autonomous district of the Russian Federation whose capital is the city of Anadir with 12,000 inhabitants. The census determined that 23.5% of the inhabitants were chukchi (23%), inuits 2.85% events 2.6% and chuvanos 1.77%. Russians and Ukrainians constituted 60% of the population.
The ex-Governor of Chukotka, Russian ultra-businessman Román Abramovich is known for buying the English football club Chelsea (one of the most expensive in the United Kingdom) to a large extent taking advantage of the country's riches. As you can see 70 years of Sovietism failed to eliminate the tremendous differences that persist between local populations and oligarchs.

Yamal megaproject

The largest gas production project in Russia

A new gas production center is actively evolving in the Yamal Peninsula. The center will eventually become a major contributor to the Russian gas industry development. Yamal will produce up to 360 billion cubic meters of gas per year.  In the region there are 32 gas fields, with 26.5 trillion cubic meters of gas, 1.6 billion tons of gas condensate, and 300 million tons of oil. The production in 2015 was 61.9 billion cubic meters of gas and the prospects at up to 360 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Bovanenkovo production zone

The Bovanenkovo production zone has the largest extraction potential and includes three fields: Bovanenkovskoye, Kharasaveyskoye, and Kruzenshternskoye (the licenses are held by Gazprom Group). Its overall production is projected to reach 217 billion cubic meters of gas and 4 million tons of stabilized condensate per year.

Tambey production zone

The Tambey production zone is comprised of six fields: Severo-Tambeyskoye, Zapadno-Tambeyskoye, Tasiyskoye, Malyginskoye (the licenses are held by Gazprom Group), Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye, and Syadorskoye.

Southern production zone

The Southern production zone includes nine fields: Novoportovskoye (the license is held by Gazprom Group), Nurminskoye, Malo-Yamalskoye, Rostovtsevskoye, Arkticheskoye, Sredne-Yamalskoye, Khambateyskoye, Neytinskoye, and Kamennomysskoye. The zone is considered to be a priority oil production asset with a maximum annual output of 7 million tons.

Hydrocarbon transportation system

A next-generation gas transmission corridor linking the Bovanenkovskoye field to Ukhta is in place to supply gas from the Yamal Peninsula to Russia’s Unified Gas Supply System. Year-round oil shipments are made from the Arctic Gate oil loading terminal.

Infrastructure

A comprehensive support system is in operation for industrial and residential purposes. The system includes motor roads, power plants, a shift camp, industrial facilities, the 572-kilometer Obskaya – Bovanenkovo – Karskaya railroad, and an airport.

Development

With 4.9 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves, Bovanenkovskoye is the largest field in Yamal. The Cenomanian-Aptian deposits of Bovanenkovskoye rank as a top-priority development project for the Company. In 2012, the field’s first gas production facility (GP-2), with an annual capacity of 60 billion cubic meters of gas, was brought onstream. December 2014 saw the commissioning of the second gas production facility (GP-1) with an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas. It is planned to put a third gas production facility into operation with a view to bring the total annual capacity to 115 billion cubic meters of gas. Bovanenkovskoye’s projected production will reach 140 billion cubic meters of gas per year as soon as the Company starts to develop the Neocomian-Jurassic deposits.

Advanced technologies

Overcoming the Yamal Peninsula’s harsh climate and environment, Gazprom has made Yamal its launch pad for efficient, safe and innovative technologies and technical solutions.

The Yamal megaproject is unparalleled in terms of complexity, as its hydrocarbon reserves are concentrated in a hard-to-reach area with exceedingly difficult climatic conditions. The region is characterized by permafrost, long winters, and low mean temperatures (up to minus 50 degrees Celsius). In summer, 80 per cent of Yamal’s territory is covered by lakes, swamps and rivers, which considerably limits the possibilities for industrial construction. Gazprom has been employing efficient, safe and innovative technologies and technical solutions in Yamal. Many of those innovations were developed at the Company’s request by leading Russian research institutions and companies.

Production technologies

For the first time in Russia, a single infrastructure is used to produce gas from the Cenomanian (at a depth of 520–700 meters) and Aptian-Albian (1,200–2,000 meters) deposits of the Bovanenkovskoye field. This approach helps save significant amounts of money on pre-development, accelerate construction processes, and improve field development efficiency.

Field development started with the lower gas deposits, which have a higher Formation pressure. As the pressure levels out, the upper deposits are brought into development. Lower-pressure Cenomanian deposits are developed last in order to compensate for the natural decrease in gas production from the Aptian deposits. Accordingly, separate groups of production wells are drilled for individual deposits and connected to a unified gas collecting network on a step-by-step basis.

Due to difficult terrain conditions, the regulatory framework for well design had to be updated. The new regulations allowed the Company to shorten the distance between wellheads in clusters from 40 meters to 15–20 meters and to reduce to a minimum the acreage of and pre-development operations for well clusters, access roads and other communications while ensuring industrial safety.

Processes at Bovanenkovskoye are highly automated thanks to the use of lightly manned technologies. For the first time in Gazprom’s history, automated well hookup modules (MOS-2) are being used in field development. The modules are employed to control and manage Christmas trees and ensure reliable well operation in case of hydrate formation.

To prepare gas for transmission, the Company uses the most cutting-edge and eco-friendly method of low temperatura separation with domestically-produced turbo expanders.

Transportation technologies

Gas from Yamal is injected into Russia’s Unified Gas Supply System via next-generation gas pipelines operating at a pressure of 11.8 MPa (120 atm). Gazprom managed to achieve the record-high pressure in its offshore pipelines primarily by using custom-made pipes. The 1,420-millimeter pipes with internal flow coating were made by Russian manufacturers from grade K65 (X80) steel.

The submerged crossing under Baidarata Bay proved to be the biggest challenge in the construction of the gas transmission system. Baidarata Bay is marked by unique environmental conditions: despite its shallow depth, it has frequent spells of stormy weather, with complex bottom sediments and frost penetration to the bottom in winter. For that section, the Company used 1,219-millimeter concrete-coated pipes designed for the working pressure of 11.8 MPa. As a result, Gazprom set a precedent for the national and global gas industries by laying pipes with such specifications in such a difficult environment.

The Arctic Gate offshore oil loading terminal, which is located in Ob Bay, is also unique. It is designed to operate under extreme conditions, as temperatures in the region can drop below minus 50 degrees Celsius and ice can grow over two meters thick. The terminal has a two-tier protection system and complies with the most stringent requirements for industrial safety and environmental protection. The terminal’s equipment is fully automated and safely protected from hydraulic shocks. A special system allows for prompt undocking without depressurizing the units undergoing disconnection. The zero discharge technology prevents foreign substances from getting into Ob Bay, which is of paramount importance to the preservation of the Arctic environment. Moreover, the subsea pipeline that connects the terminal to the coastal tank battery is protected with an additional concrete shell.

Infrastructure construction technologies

The 572-kilometer Obskaya – Bovanenkovo – Karskaya railroad built by Gazprom ensures reliable all-weather communication between the Yamal Peninsula and continental Russia, as well as year-round cargo and passenger transportation. It is the only railroad in the world that can operate in such a harsh climate.

With a view to preserve the load-bearing capacity of permafrost, all construction operations for the core facilities were conducted in subzero temperatures. The railroad embankment was made from damp silty sand, which solidifies under low temperatures. A unique multi-layered heat insulation system was developed and employed to ensure roadbed stability in summer: expanded polysterene was laid over frozen sand and geotextile reinforcements were made.

The bridge over the Yuribey River floodplain posed the most difficulty to railroad builders. It has no precedent in bridge-building practices in terms of design and the climatic and geocryological conditions of construction and operation. At 3.9 kilometers in length, it is the world’s longest bridge beyond the Arctic Circle.

The builders managed to set up the bridge on a surface that is practically unfit for construction, as it consists of permafrost interspersed with cryopegs (saline water lenses in permafrost bodies that do not freeze even at minus 10 to 30 degrees Celsius). The bridge’s beams and truss were installed on 1.2–2.4-meter-wide metal pipes filled with reinforced concrete. The bridge supports go down in permafrost to a depth of 20 to 40 meters. Thanks to modern technologies and a special freezing method (thermal stabilization), the supports are virtually frozen into the ice (permafrost), further reinforcing the structure.

Environmental activities

When constructing various facilities, Gazprom is primarily concerned wiith preserving Yamal’s unique natural environment. The Company reduces the acreage of its facilities to a minimum. The use of vapor-liquid heat stabilizers and heat-insulated pipes in wells helps considerably alleviate impacts on the permafrost. In-plant recycling systems are used to prevent pollution of water reservoirs and soil. The environmental situation is continuously monitored.

During gas well construction, drilling waste is processed via solidification, with the resulting materials used in construction. The technology is based on a cuttings capsulation method employed at specialized mixing units. The capsulated construction materials are used in pre-development activities at the Bovanenkovskoye field, namely to create earthworks for cluster pads and to set up and maintain embankments for road slopes.

As Yamal fields are located in the indigenous territories of nomadic reindeer herders, Gazprom takes the interests of tundra dwellers into account. The Company makes a point of arranging and holding events that facilitate social and economic development in the region and help preserve the traditions and culture of indigenous minorities of the North. To that end, Gazprom identified the camp sites of reindeer herding brigades and the reindeer migration routes and built special crossings for reindeer, so that they could pass through the communication.
Extracted and summarized from Gazprom
http://www.gazprom.com/about/production/projects/mega-yamal/

Nightmare in the Siberian Arctic: 

Norilsk, Russia's most polluted and coldest city

Russia colonizing in Siberia were related to the expansion of the Russian czarist state from principles of the XVII century. 

To a large extent, this advance was motivated by the fur trade. The process was followed by colonizing migrations that gradually modified the regional demographics.

The changes were accelerated by the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway, whose laying began in 1891 by a decision of Czar Alexander II and culminated in 1916 shortly before the Bolshevik revolution.

 The trans-Siberian railway system made it possible to know and have access to other natural resources besides skins and wood, in particular deposits of metallic minerals, gas and oil. 

In the 1920s and 1930s the Soviet state, which had replaced the Tsarist power, promoted the occupation of the Nordic and Arctic lands to obtain its mineral wealth.

The most important reservoir was discovered in the 1930s(1) in the Ienisei and Pyasina river basins in the far north. In them important volumes of nickel, and to a lesser extent of copper, cobalt, platinum and palladium were found. 

On this potential economic basis the Soviet government decided to establish a mining and industrial complex in northern Siberia called Norilsk.

During the following years immigration  to the new city was favored and its population grew considerably. 

At the same time, a port was built on the Ienisei River in the town of Dudinka about a hundred kilometers from the mining complex. Dudinka receives the minerals wholly or partly processed from Norilsk for export by river and sea to the port of Murmansk in northwestern Russia.

In less than half a century, due to the economic importance of mining activities, the city of Norilsk grew to have a maximum of 183,000 inhabitants in 1982. 

After that year there was the local mining industry suffered stagnation and the city entered a period of demographic decline that has continued to the present. In the 2005 census the population had declined to 135,000 people.

The geographical site of Norilsk has a very rigorous climate. The average January temperature is -33 degrees C and the annual average is -10 degrees C. There has been a minimum temperature of -58 degrees C. 

For this reason the natural ecosystems of the region are composed of low density boreal forests-northern taiga(2)- and areas of frozen subsoil (permafrost) with herbaceous summer vegetation devoid of trees (tundra) (3).

Due to the mining and industrial activity, the original ecosystems around Norilsk suffered greatly from the environmental point of view. There is practically not a single tree within a radius of 48 kilometers from the plants and quarries. The site has been stripped of its soils and surface formations.

There are large open-air excavations and stabilization ponds covering more than 10,000 hectares and the drainage has been completely modified with deep degradation of nearby Pyasino Lake and its river emissary, the Pyasina River. 

It is estimated that 4 million tonnes of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium and zinc have been released into the air.

Norilsk is the main producer of acid rain in Russia and its emissions affect an area of ​​more than 100,000 km2 .

From "Chronicles of Human Peripecie", Danilo Antón, .Piriguazú Ediciones.

1 The city of Norilsk was founded in 1935, but mining began four years later.

2 The word taiga comes from a Russian word that in turn derives from the yakuto and means "all uninhabited territory, covered with forests".

3 Tundra is derived from a Finnish word tunturia meaning "plain without trees".

4 The Pyasina River flows into the Kara Sea (Arctic Sea)

The world of the Yakuts

D.Antón
In Eastern Siberia, beyond the river Ienisei, extend the large undulating reliefs and plains of Yakutia.
The Yakuts, the main ethnic group of Yakutia, is adapted to the extreme weather conditions since  immemorial time. Their social and technological culture as well as their production practices allowed them to cope with extreme low temperature for long periods and relatively high warm weather in Summer.

 The absolute minimum Winter may be below -60 ° C, but can reach to more than 30 ° C on hot summer days. In Verkhoyansk, Yakut city of 1,400 inhabitants located in the center-north of the country, the average January temperature is -45.8ºC while the average  temperature for July is 16.9ºC. This temperature range is among the highest in the world: 62.5ºC.
The village of Oymyakon, also located in the north-central Yakutia, presents even more extreme temperatures in Winter:  average of -46.0ºC in January with an absolute minimum of -71.2ºC (registered on January 26, 1926). These thermal registers make Oymyakon the pole of cold in the Northern hemisphere. Paradoxically, the name comes from a Yakut word meaning "liquid water" because of the hot springs found in the area,

Despite the prevailing extreme cold in the Winter, the village of Oymyakon (which has about 500 inhabitants) had until recently a single hotel with no hot water and ouotside bathroom. The only school in Oymyakon only closes when the temperature drops below -52 ° C. Most village households heat their homes with coal and wood. Excessively low temperature require to keep engines of cars and trucks permanently on. Cell phones do not work. You can not wear contact lenses outdoors because they can freeze and stick in the eye. All provisions are obtained in a single store as there are not many jobs available, so most of the villagers are engaged in reindeer herding, hunting and fishing through the ice.

Life in the coldest village of Yakutia
Nikolay N. Krivoshapkin, a driver 50 years of age, who was born, grew up and lived all his life in the village of Oymyakon described his life in the village in this way:  U do not even know how to explain it. For me it's an endless struggle with nature. In the short Summer period we collect hay for cows and firewood to heat homes. The cows remain all winter in small stables. Daily we must bring hay and water and clean them three times per day.

In Winter we keep stocked chopped wood for the stove. We must combine housework with our job. All work at home is done manually. Our life is constant work. We run like a squirrel in a cage.

Russian colonization of Yakutia
The history of Russian colonization in Yakutia is dramatic. In 1620 the Russians invaded the territory establishing a tribute to the skins, which were the country's most important trade. This imposition provoked bloody rebellions in 1634-1642 which resulted in a true genocide of the Yakuts by the Russians.
The Russian military chief Golovin introduced an atmosphere of terror, Yakut villages were burned and hundreds of people were tortured and executed. In forty years (between 1642 and 1682) the Yakut population declined by 70%.

The discovery of gold and accelerated implementation of the Trans-Siberian Railway promoted Russian immigration which now accounts for over 40% of the population of the Republic.
At present, the Sakha Republic, or Yakutia, with 3,103,200 km2, is the largest sub-state political unity of the world. Its total population is less than one million inhabitants (950,000) so that its density is less than 0.3 inhabitants / km2. The capital, Yakutsk, has a population of 270,000. The Yakuts,  the people who ancestrally inhabited this harsh environment, make up about half the population of the Republic. In the North, hunting, fishing and reindeer husbandry are the main activities. In the South yakuts are engaged in horse and cattle breeding.
From "Chronicles of the Human Journey," Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Editiones

Nightmare in Northern Siberia: Norilsk : a very cold and contaminated city in Russia

The settlers advances in northern Siberia were related to the expansion of the Russian Tsarist Empire starting in the early seventeenth century. To a large extent, this development was driven by the fur trade. The process was followed by colonizing migrations that gradually changed the regional demographics.
The changes were accelerated because of the construction of the trans-Siberian railway which started in 1891 by a decision of Czar Alexander II and ended in 1916 shortly before the Bolshevik revolution.
The transiberian rail system allowed access to deposits of metallic minerals, gas and oil. In the 1920s and 1930s the Soviet state, which had replaced the Tsarist power, promoted the occupation of the Northern and Arctic lands for its mineral wealth.
The most important deposit was discovered in the late 19301 in the basins of the rivers Pyasina and Ienisei in the far north. Significant volumes of nickel, and to a lesser extent copper, cobalt, platinum and palladium were found. Based on this economic potential the Soviet government decided to establish a mining and industrial complex called Norilsk.

In the following years, immigration favored the new city that grew considerably. At the same time a port(Dudinka) was established on the river Ienise distant a hundred kilometers of the mining complex. Dudinka receives full or partially processed ore from Norilsk to export by river via the sea port of Murmansk in northwestern Russia.
In less than half a century, due to the economic importance of mining activities, the city of Norilsk grew to a maximum of 183,000 inhabitants in 1982. After that year there was a stagnation of the local mining industry and the city entered a period of demographic decline that has continued to the present. In the 2005 census of the population had decreased to 135,000 people.
The geographical location of Norilsk has a very harsh climate. The average January temperature is -33oC and the annual average is -10oC. There were recorded minimum temperatures of -58oC. For that reason the natural ecosystems of the region are made up of low density boreal forests (taiga septentrional) and areas of permafrost with summer treeless herbaceous vegetation (tundra).
Because the mining and industrial activity of the original ecosystems around Norilsk suffered greatly from the environmental point of view. Practically not a single tree grows within 48 kilometers from the plant and quarries. The site has been stripped of its soils and surface formations.
There are large open pits and tailings ponds covering more than 10,000 hectares and drainage has been completely modified deep degradation Pyasino nearby lake and its emissary river, the river Pyasina4. It is estimated that annually thrown into the air 4 million tons of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium and zinc. Norilsk is the main source of acid rain emissions Russia and affects an area of ​​100,000 km2 .
From "Chroicles of the Human Adventure" (Crónnicas de la Peripecia Humana), Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones.