Top 10 coldest cities in the world

In these places, despite the average annual sub-zero temperature and record frosts in winter, ARVI very rarely gets sick. Viruses and bacteria do not get along here, but people feel good. The list of the top 10 coldest cities in the world includes 5 Russian cities at the same time, excluding about. Svalbard, as well as a domestic research station in Antarctica. Which confirms that Russia is the coldest country on the planet.

10 Station “Vostok” – a city of polar explorers and penguins

Absolute maximum: -14С in January, minimum: -90С in July.

An inland Arctic station that has existed since 1957. The site is a small town made up of several complexes, including residential and research modules, as well as technological buildings.

Arriving here, a person begins to die, everything contributes to this: temperatures up to -90C, low oxygen concentration, solid snow whiteness causes blindness. Here you can not make sudden movements, experience prolonged physical exertion – all this can lead to pulmonary edema, death, guaranteed to lose consciousness. When the Arctic winter comes, temperatures drop below -80C, under such conditions gasoline thickens, diesel fuel crystallizes and turns into a paste, human skin dies in a matter of minutes.

9. Oymyakon is the coldest settlement on the planet

Absolute minimum: -78C, maximum: +30C.

A small settlement located in Yakutia is considered one of the “poles of cold” of the planet. This place is recognized as the most severe on Earth, in which the permanent population lives. In total, about 500 people took root in Oymyakon. The sharply continental climate is distinguished by hot summers and extremely cold winters, which is ensured by the remoteness from the oceans that warm the air. Oymyakon is also notable for the fact that the difference between the maximum temperatures, – and +, is more than one hundred degrees. Despite its administrative status – a village, the place is included in the world rankings of the coldest cities in the world. There is one shop, a school, a boiler house, a gas station for the whole Oymyakon. People survive on livestock.

8. Verkhoyansk is the northernmost city of Yakutia

Absolute minimum: -68C, maximum: +38C.

Verkhoyansk is recognized as another “pole of cold” and constantly competes with Oymyakon for this title, the competition sometimes comes to an exchange of accusations and insults. In summer, dry heat can change abruptly to zero or negative temperatures. Winter is windy and very long.

There are no asphalt pavements, they simply cannot withstand the temperature difference. The population is 1200 people. People are engaged in reindeer herding, cattle breeding, there is forestry, there is a tourism focus in the local economy. There are two schools, a hotel, a local history museum, a weather station, and shops in the city. The younger generation is engaged in fishing and the extraction of mammoth bones and tusks.

7. Yakutsk is the coldest large city on Earth

Absolute minimum: -65, maximum: +38C.

The capital of the Republic of Sakha is located at the foot of the Lena River. Yakutsk is the only major city in the ranking of the coldest cities in the world where you can pay with a bank card, go to a SPA, a restaurant with Japanese, Chinese, European, any cuisine. The population is 300 thousand people. There are about fifty schools, several higher educational institutions, theaters, an opera, a circus, an incalculable number of museums, and small and medium-sized industry is well developed here.

It is also the only settlement in the rating to which asphalt is laid. In summer and spring, when the ice melts, the roads are flooded, continuous canals similar to the Venetian ones are formed. Up to 30% of the world’s diamond reserves are concentrated in these parts, almost half of the gold of the Russian Federation is mined. In winter in Yakutsk it is very difficult to bring a car, you have to heat the fuel line with a flame or a soldering iron. Every local at least once in his life confused morning with evening and vice versa.

6. Norilsk is the northernmost city on the planet with a population of over 150 people.

Absolute minimum: -53C, maximum: +32C.

City-industrial, part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Recognized as the northernmost city on the planet, in which the permanent population exceeds 150 thousand people. Norilsk is included in the rating of the most polluted settlements on Earth, which is associated with a developed metallurgical industry. A state higher educational institution has been opened in Norilsk, and an art gallery is operating.

Guests and local residents are constantly faced with a number of problems: due to low temperatures in winter, it is customary to store cars in heated garages or not turn them off for a long time, the height of snowdrifts can reach up to the 3rd floor, the force of the wind can move cars and carry people away.

5. Longyearbyen – the tourist capital of the island of Barentsburg

Absolute minimum: -43C, maximum: +21C.

This place is as far from the equator as the Vostok station. The northernmost airport in the world with regular flights, Svalbard, is located here. Longyearbyen is an administrative unit of Norway, but visa restrictions do not apply here – at the airport they put a mark “I left Norway”. You can get there by air or by sea. Longyearbyen is the northernmost settlement with a population of more than a thousand people. The city can safely be called one of the coldest in the world, but it is more than suitable for a comfortable existence, compared to Verkhoyansk, for example.

What is remarkable: it is forbidden to be born and die here – there are no maternity hospitals and cemeteries. The corpses, which are most often the result of a meeting between a person and a bear, are transported to the mainland. In the city, as well as on the entire island of Svalbard, two types of transport prevail – a helicopter, a snowmobile. The main occupations of the locals are coal mining, dog sledding, skin dressing, research activities. The island has the world’s largest repository of male seed, which is supposed to save humanity in the event of a global catastrophe.

4. Barrow is the northernmost city in the United States

Absolute minimum: -47C, maximum: +26C.

This is where the oilmen live. The population of the city is 4,5 thousand people. In the summer, it is impossible to predict exactly what you will have to get to work tomorrow – by snowmobile or car. Snow and frost can come to the region at any time and replace warm rare days.

Barrow is not a typical American town, there are dressed skins on houses everywhere, large bones of marine animals on the roads. There is no asphalt. But, there is also a piece of civilization: a football field, an airfield, clothing and food stores. The city is immersed in polar blues and ranks fourth among the coldest cities on the planet.

3. Murmansk is the largest city built beyond the Arctic Circle

Absolute minimum: -39C, maximum: +33C.

Murmansk is the only hero city located beyond the Arctic Circle. The only place in the Arctic, where more than 300 thousand people live. The entire infrastructure and economy is built around the port, one of the largest in Russia. The city is heated by the warm current of the Gulf Stream, which comes from the Atlantic Ocean.

Local residents do not deny themselves anything, here are McDonalds, and Zara, and Bershka, and many other stores, including the largest Russian supermarket chains. Developed hotel chain. The roads are mostly paved.

2. Nuuk is the capital of Greenland

Absolute minimum: -32C, maximum: +26C.

From Nuuk to the Arctic Circle – 240 kilometers, but the warm ocean current warms up the local air and soil. About 17 thousand people live here, who are engaged in fishing, construction, consulting, and science. There are several higher education institutions in the city. In order not to plunge into depression associated with the peculiarities of the climate, houses are painted in different colors, gilding is often found on the streets, municipal transport is full of bright signs. Something similar can be found in Copenhagen, which was not included in the rating of the coldest cities on Earth due to warm currents.

1. Ulaanbaatar is the coldest state capital on the planet

Absolute minimum: -42C, maximum: +39C.

Ulaanbaatar is the first place in Central Asia from the list of the coldest cities on the planet. The local climate is sharply continental, which is explained by the very great distance from ocean currents. The capital of Mongolia is located much to the south of all the representatives of the rating, except for the Vostok station. More than 1,3 million people live here. The level of infrastructure is far ahead of the rest of Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar closes the rating of the coldest cities in the world.