As the coldest place on Earth, many people would think life in Yakutsk is always bleak and dull. But how do people actually live here?
Overview of Yakutsk
Yakutsk is known as the "coldest place on Earth" that is inhabited. With a population of about 300,000, the Russian city of Yakutia in eastern Siberia records an average annual temperature of around -8°C. In winter, the temperature can even drop to -70°C or more. One thing that will probably come as a surprise to many visitors is that in Yakutsk there is also a summer with an average temperature in July of 24°C. This makes it one of the only places in the world where the temperature difference between seasons is so large.
Life in Yakutsk
As the coldest place on Earth, many people would think life in Yakutsk is always bleak and dull. But the reality is exactly the opposite. Here, people are very busy traveling because all infrastructure such as roads, markets, public transport, supermarkets, hotels, and restaurants are available here.
After a hard day's work, many locals will find bars or nightclubs, to soak up the music and excitement of the city at night.
What do Yakutsk people wear?
In winter, most people have to wear tight clothes with different layers of thickness to keep the body warm. They often opt for traditional boots made from reindeer skin, alongside mink or fox fur coats.
However, on really cold days, even thick layers of clothing do not help much, so people can almost only stay indoors to ensure health and safety.
Although the amount of clothes needed to wear takes up to 15 minutes, being outdoors for 5 to 10 minutes can make people tired, throbbing in the face and aching fingers and feet. And 20 minutes is the time when even the fittest people think they should come in.
Drinks and food
Drinking water is obtained by the people of Yakutsk from frozen rivers. They often cut small stones from the river and bring them home and put them in a container to melt them into water.
Refrigerators are an unnecessary appliance in Yakutsk. Food such as meat, fish or fruit is often hung outside the window because the outdoor temperature is even colder than high-tech freezers.
Everything freezes easily
From the trees on the street to the fish in the market, almost everything in this city is easily frozen. Even soft fruits like bananas can freeze and harden like a rock. If you leave items outside for more than 10 minutes without a protective lid, there is a high chance that everything inside will be frozen.
Car maintenance
Cars are the main means of transportation in Yakutsk. But to maintain cars in this city is not a simple matter. Cars left outdoors for a long time often have the phenomenon of car oil frozen, making it very difficult to start the engine.
Many families have to install a heating system in the garage to protect their cars from inclement weather.
City architecture
The architecture in Yakutsk is also different from other cities in the world. Large buildings here are often installed with large pillars to cope with the extreme temperatures that can deform the building. Even so, after a few years, there are still buildings that are tilted to one side.
The pipeline is built on the ground
Pipelines for transporting water and natural gas are built above ground because it is virtually impossible to penetrate the ground ice and put pipelines under it. This is probably what the city built on permafrost up to 140 m deep must accept.
