Yakutsk (English) Якутск (Russian) Дьокуускай (Sakha)
-  City[1]  - City under republic jurisdiction[1]
View of the city from the Geological Institute collections area
Location of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic in Russia
Yakutsk Location of Yakutsk in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic
Coordinates: 62°02′N 129°44′E / 62.033°N 129.733°E / 62.033; 129.733Coordinates: 62°02′N 129°44′E / 62.033°N 129.733°E / 62.033; 129.733
Coat of arms	Flag
City Day	Second Sunday of September[citation needed]
Administrative status (as of June 2009)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Sakha Republic[2]
Administratively subordinated to	city of republic significance of Yakutsk[1]
Capital of	Sakha Republic[2]
Administrative center of	city of republic significance of Yakutsk[1]
Municipal status (as of December 2008)
Urban okrug	Yakutsk Urban Okrug[3]
Administrative center of	Yakutsk Urban Okrug[3]
Head[citation needed]	Yury Zabolev[citation needed]
Representative body	Okrug Council[citation needed]
Statistics
Area	121.93 km2 (47.08 sq mi)[citation needed]
Population (2010 Census, preliminary)	269,486 inhabitants[4]
- Rank in 2010	68th
Population (2002 Census)	210,642 inhabitants[5]
- Rank in 2002	89th
Density	2,210 /km2 (5,700 /sq mi)[6]
Time zone	YAKT (UTC+10:00)[7]
Founded	September 25, 1632[citation needed]
Postal code(s)	677xxx[citation needed]
Dialing code(s)	+7 4112[8]
Official website
Yakutsk on WikiCommons

Yakutsk (Russian: Яку́тск; IPA: [jɪˈkutsk]; Sakha: Дьокуускай, pronounced [ɟokuːskaj]) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about 450 kilometers (280 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. Population: 269,486 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[4] 210,642 (2002 Census);^[5] 186,626 (1989 Census).^[9]

Yakutsk is a major port on the Lena River. It is served by Yakutsk Airport as well as the smaller Magan Airport. It is a major supplier of diamonds.

History[link]

Yakutsk was founded as an ostrog (fort) by Pyotr Beketov in 1632.^{[citation needed]} 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[link]

As an inhabited locality, Yakutsk is classified as a city under republic jurisdiction.^[1] Administratively, along with the settlement of Zhatay and eleven rural localities, it is incorporated as the city of republic significance of Yakutsk—an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the districts.^[1] Municipally, Yakutsk and the eleven rural localities are incorporated as Yakutsk Urban Okrug.^[3] The settlement of Zhatay is not a part of Yakutsk Urban Okrug and is independently incorporated as Zhatay Urban Okrug.^[3]

Transportation[link]

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,^[10][11] 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.^[12]

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[link]

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.

At the primary and secondary levels, the city has a number of UNESCO Associated Schools, including the Sakha-Turkish College, Sakha-French School, Sakha-Korean School, and School #16.^[13]

Yakutsk is also home of some theaters and museums such as Sakha theater and the Mammoth Museum.

Economy[link]

Many mining companies have offices in Yakutsk including ALROSA, whose diamond mines in Yakutia account for about 20% of the world's rough diamond output.^{[citation needed]}

The airline Yakutia Airlines has its head office in the city.^[14]

Climate[link]

With an extreme subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfd), Yakutsk has the coldest winter temperatures for any city, though not for any inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from +19.5 °C (67.10 °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 10,000. 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 +32 °C (90 °F), making the seasonal temperature differences for the region among the greatest in the world. 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.

International relations[link]

Twin towns and sister cities[link]

Yakutsk is twinned with:

References[link]

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Верховный Совет Республики Саха (Якутия). 4 апреля 1992 г. «Конституция (основной закон) Республики Саха (Якутия)», в ред. Конституционного закона №692-З №275-IV от 17 июня 2009 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 #692-Z No. 275-IV of June 17, 2009 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.).

External links[link]

• 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

v t e Administrative divisions of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic Capital: Yakutsk Cities and towns Aldan · Lensk · Mirny · Neryungri · Nyurba · Olyokminsk · Pokrovsk · Srednekolymsk · Tommot · Udachny · Verkhoyansk · Vilyuysk · Yakutsk Districts Abyysky · Aldansky · Allaikhovsky · Amginsky · Anabarsky · Bulunsky · Churapchinsky · Eveno-Bytantaysky National · Gorny · Khangalassky · Kobyaysky · Lensky · Megino-Kangalassky · Mirninsky · Momsky · Namsky · Neryungrinsky · Nizhnekolymsky · Nyurbinsky · Olenyoksky · Olyokminsky · Oymyakonsky · Srednekolymsky · Suntarsky · Tattinsky · Tomponsky · Ust-Aldansky · Ust-Maysky · Ust-Yansky · Verkhnekolymsky · Verkhnevilyuysky · Verkhoyansky · Vilyuysky · Zhigansky

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