Yesterday on the evening news, I heard about the coldest village in the world. There, the temperatures can go down to minus 71 degrees, incredible no! We are full in Belgium when it freezes and it is -2 degrees, next to the coldest village in the world it's nothing, for them it must be hot here in winter in Belgium; o)
The village in question is called Oïmiakon, it is a village in the Republic of Sakha, Russia. Its population is about 500 inhabitants.
Its name comes from the Oïmiakon river.
Oïmiakon is located in eastern Siberia along the Indiguirka River near Labynkyr Lake.
The village is at an altitude of about 750 meters and is close to the Arctic Circle. The duration of the days varies from 3 hours in December to 21 hours in June.
Oimiakon is famous for arguing in Verkhoyansk the title of cold pole of the northern hemisphere and Asia.
On January 26, 1926, a temperature of -71.2 ° C was felt there. This temperature would have been the lowest temperature ever recorded in an inhabited area, as well as in the northern hemisphere and in the world, with the exception of Antarctica.
Another station that also claims the title of cold pole of the northern hemisphere is Eismitte, Greenland, with an average annual temperature of minus 30 degrees and a monthly average of the coldest month, February, minus 47.2 degrees, lower than those of Oïmiakon and Verkhoyansk but against, the place is not inhabited.
Oïmiakon is a pleasant stop for reindeer herders in the summer. The village did not become inhabited in winter until the 1930s, as part of the Soviet policy of sedentarization of the Siberian populations, for purposes of rationalization of livestock.
During the Second World War, an airfield was built in Oïmiakon for the Alaska-Siberian Air Route in order to allow the crossing of American planes to the Eastern Front.
The living conditions are extremely harsh for the population of this isolated village, which for a good part of the year never goes beyond a few minutes outside.
Outside cultures are of course not possible.
In this region, reindeer and horse breeding, hunting, fishing, harvesting and logging are common.
The road allows the transportation of external energy sources such as gasoline and coal. Because of the cold, planes do not land at Oïmiakon for several months of the year. Tourism is limited and the mineral resources of which Yakutia abounds are located far away, which is why the population of Oïmiakon decreased after the end of the Soviet Union.
In the region, the climate is continental and cold.
It is even colder where the village of Oïmiakon is located because it is in a valley between two mountain ranges that retain an icy and dense air.
Oïmiakon has an extreme subarctic climate. The soil of Oïmiakon is frozen permanently.
Nick Middleton, an Oxford geographer, relates his visit to Oïmiakon in a book and explains the living conditions in extreme climates. It describes the means used by villagers to live daily in such low temperatures.
When the fall arrives, people have to insulate the windows, so that the cold can not get inside through small cracks.
In Oymyakon some leave their guard dogs outside to protect their property. In this case, the dogs stay in hot kennels, isolated with layers of felt.
Farm animals and poultry are kept in special barns. Hunters say they often encounter elk, deer, reindeer, hares. No risk of meeting bears, they sleep in winter, indeed, they hibernate.
Local activities are agriculture, Yakut horse breeding, hunting, trade, housing and communal services, public administration, gardening.
The average monthly income is about 10000-15000 rubles (270-400 euros).
The people of Oymyakon also work as guides for tourists.
When it is below zero degrees, from October to April, most homes, not enjoying modern conveniences, heat either with charcoal or with wood fires. And with the gel, no plant can grow. So to feed, the residents, who are mainly fishermen, hunters or breeders, consume reindeer meat or horse and come to stock up on greenery in the only shop in the village.
According to doctors, no one suffers from malnutrition thanks to the nutrients present in the milk consumed by the inhabitants.
Not surprisingly, these Russians are used to freezing cold. The only school in Oïmiakon will close only if temperatures fall below minus 52 degrees. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, the extreme weather conditions make the telephone network unstable and prevent the inhabitants from using their car, cutting them off from the world.
I hope you liked this article? In any case, even if it's very cold there, it makes me want to go, we must have the impression of being in another world or in a movie set.
