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Vorkuta Воркута
Town
Other transcription(s)
• Komi	Вӧркута
Central Vorkuta
FlagCoat of arms
Location of Vorkuta
VorkutaLocation of VorkutaShow map of Komi RepublicVorkutaVorkuta (European Russia)Show map of European RussiaVorkutaVorkuta (Arctic)Show map of Arctic
Coordinates: 67°30′N 64°02′E / 67.500°N 64.033°E / 67.500; 64.033
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Komi Republic
Founded	January 4, 1936
Town status since	November 26, 1943
Government
• Administration Manager	Yaroslav Shaposhnikov
Area
• Total	28.69 km (11.08 sq mi)
Elevation	180 m (590 ft)
Population
• Total	70,548
• Rank	224th in 2010
• Density	2,500/km (6,400/sq mi)
Administrative status
• Subordinated to	town of republic significance of Vorkuta
• Capital of	town of republic significance of Vorkuta
Municipal status
• Urban okrug	Vorkuta Urban Okrug
• Capital of	Vorkuta Urban Okrug
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK )
Postal code(s)	169900
Dialing code(s)	+7 82151
OKTMO ID	87710000001
Website	xn--80adypkng.xn--p1ai/english/

Vorkuta (Russian: Воркута́; Komi: Вӧркута, romanized: Vörkuta; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at the river Vorkuta. In 2010, its population was 70,548, down from 84,917 in 2002.

Vorkuta is the fourth largest city north of the Arctic Circle and the easternmost town in Europe. It is also the coldest city in all of Europe, boasting a record cold temperature of −52 °C (−61 °F).

Vorkuta's population has dropped steadily since the fall of the Soviet Union, when mines were privatized and many people began moving farther south. Many of the mines have been abandoned and by September 2020, the city's estimated population was only about 50,000. A report in March 2021 described the villages in the area as "ghost towns" with many "abandoned structures".

History

In 1930, the geologist Georgy Chernov (1906–2009) discovered substantial coal fields by the river Vorkuta. Georgy Chernov's father, the geologist Alexander Chernov (1877–1963), promoted the development of the Pechora coal basin, which included the Vorkuta fields. With this discovery the coal-mining industry started in the Komi ASSR. (At the time only the southern parts of the field were included in the Komi ASSR. The northern part, including Vorkuta, belonged to the Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Arkhangelsk Oblast.) In 1931, a geologist settlement was established by the coal field, with most of the workers being inmates of the Ukhta-Pechora Camp of the GULAG (Ухтпечлаг, Ukhtpechlag).

Forced labour camp

The origins of the town of Vorkuta are associated with Vorkutlag, one of the most notorious forced-labour camps of the Gulag. Vorkutlag was established in 1932 with the start of mining. It was the largest of the Gulag camps in European Russia and served as the administrative centre for a large number of smaller camps and subcamps, among them Kotlas, Pechora, and Izhma (modern Sosnogorsk). The Vorkuta uprising, a major rebellion by the camp inmates, occurred in 1953.

In 1941, Vorkuta and the labour camp system based around it were connected to the rest of the world by a prisoner-built rail line linking Konosha, Kotlas, and the camps of Inta. Town status was granted to Vorkuta on November 26, 1943.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with eight urban-type settlements (Komsomolsky, Mulda, Oktyabrsky, Promyshlenny, Severny, Vorgashor, Yeletsky, and Zapolyarny) and seven rural localities, incorporated as the town of republic significance of Vorkuta—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the town of republic significance of Vorkuta is incorporated as Vorkuta Urban Okrug.

Economy

By the early 21st century, many mines had closed as problems with the high costs of operation plagued the mine operators. Near the end of the 20th century there were labor actions in the area by miners; in the late '80s due to political changes, and during the '90s by those who had not been paid for a year.

Transport

The town is served by Vorkuta Airport. During the Cold War, an Arctic Control Group forward staging base for strategic bombers was located at Vorkuta Sovetsky.

Climate

Vorkuta has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with short cool summers and very cold, long, and snowy winters. The average February temperature is about −20 °C (−4 °F), and in July it is about +13 °C (55 °F). Vorkuta's climate is influenced both by its distance from the North Atlantic and the proximity to the Arctic Ocean, bringing cold air in spring. This extends winters well into May and hinders the characteristic interior Russian summer warmth from reaching the city but for rare instances. In spite of this, Vorkuta has less severe winters than areas a lot further south in Siberia courtesy of the minor maritime moderation that reaches it. This also means that temperatures below −50 °C (−58 °F) have never been recorded in any winter month but December. During the winter, above-freezing temperatures are rare, but have occurred in all 12 months. With winters being humid, snowfall is a lot more common than in areas further east and a sizeable snow pack is built up each year. Due to the moderately warm summers, Vorkuta lies below the Arctic tree line.

The polar day in Vorkuta lasts from 30 May to 14 July, the polar night lasts from 17 December to 27 December.

Crumbling permafrost

Vorkuta lies on the edge of the continuous permafrost boundary in Russia, and scientists predict that continued warming could advance the border of continuous permafrost hundreds of miles northward, weakening the earth beneath the vast infrastructure built during the days of the Soviet Union's industrialization of the Arctic.

Demographics

After peaking at 115,000 in 1989, Vorkuta experienced a steady population decline, with many parts of the town abandoned. By 2021, the population had declined by 50% to 57,000.

As of the 2021 Census, the ethnic composition of Vorkuta was:

• Russians – 81.7%
• Ukrainians – 4.2%
• Kyrgyz – 2.4%
• Tatars – 1.7%
• Komi – 1.3%
• Azerbaijanis – 1.1%
• Others – 7.6%

According to the former head of the executive committee of the local branch of the United Russia party, Anton Glushkov, the city's population statistics are very different from the real state of affairs. According to him, "25,000 to 35,000 people" allegedly live in the municipality of the urban district of Vorkuta. The rest, in his opinion, are registered by registration but have already moved to the regions of Russia south of the Arctic Circle. One way or another, Vorkuta is the leading city in the Komi Republic and Russia in terms of population reduction.

Notable people

• Pavel Kulizhnikov, Multiple gold medalist in World and European championship speed skating, The youngest speed skater to win and world record holder for fastest 500m speed.
• Nikolay Punin, Husband of poet Anna Akhmatova. Art scholar, writer and editor of Russian magazine publications. Co-founder of Department of Iconography in the State Russian Museum.
• Andrei Nikolishin, National Hockey League player
• Bella Ratchinskaia, ballet choreographer

Miscellaneous

One of the largest coal mine disasters in Russia occurred at Vorkuta coal mine on 28 February 2016, when leaking methane gas ignited and killed 32 people, including 26 trapped miners who had been stranded by a similar explosion three days earlier that had killed four miners.

In 2021, Moscow-based photographer Maria Passer photographed abandoned scenes in Vorkuta as part of a photography project that also included the villages of Cementozavodsky and Severny.

References

Notes

1. ^ Law #16-RZ
2. ^ Информационный портал администрации Воркуты - История Воркуты 1930-1945 годы (in Russian). Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
3. ^ Глава городского округа (in Russian). Retrieved May 23, 2013.
4. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1 [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
5. ^ Law #11-RZ
6. "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
7. Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
8. "About city". Retrieved February 11, 2016.
9. Numminen, Pekka: Vorkuta Pohjois-Venäjällä on Euroopan kylmin kaupunki – ja asukkaat eivät sitä enää kestä , Iltalehti 24 December 2021 (in Finnish). Accessed on 25 December 2021.
10. "Above the Arctic Circle, a once-flourishing Russian coal-mining town is in rapid decline". Washington Post. December 20, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2021. Many people left their houses and moved from Vorkuta to more southern cities of Russia
11. "Vorkuta - Russia's Dying City Above the Arctic Circle". Dark Tourist. September 22, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2021. abandoned ghost towns towns that surround the coal-mining center of Vorkuta
12. "Inside Russia's deep frozen ghost towns". CNN. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021. abandoned ghost towns towns that surround the coal-mining center of Vorkuta
13. ^ "История Воркуты"(in Russian)(retrieved August 3, 2004)
14. "История Воркуты"(in Russian)(retrieved August 3, 2004)
15. "Историческая справка. МО ГО "Воркута"" Archived February 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine(in Russian) (retrieved August 3, 2004)
16. Keller, Bill (August 27, 1990). "At Gulag Cemetery, a Struggle Against Forgetting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
17. "Vorkuta Miners Hold Authorities Prisoners". Russia Today. www.aha.ru. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
18. "Vorkuta". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
19. "Pogoda.ru.net" (in Russian). Retrieved February 16, 2012.
20. Myers, S.L. (October 20, 2005). "Old Ways of Life Are Fading as the Arctic Thaws". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
21. "Оценка численности постоянного населения по субъектам Российской Федерации". Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
22. "Национальный состав населения". Rosstat. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
23. "Очень скоро будет город-призрак" [There will be a ghost town very soon]. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
24. Olga Solovey (June 8, 2018). "Более шести тысяч человек покинули Воркуту в 2017 году" [More than six thousand people left Vorkuta in 2017]. Komi.kp.ru -. Komsomolskaya Pravda. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
25. Чернов, Валерий (March 31, 2017). "Воркута, Ухта, Печора стали лидерами по сокращению численности населения" [Vorkuta, Ukhta, Pechora became leaders in population reduction]. Komi.kp.ru -. Komsomolskaya Pravda. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
26. "Russian Coal Mine Accident in Vorkuta Kills 36, Including 5 Rescuers". Associated Press. February 28, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
27. Street, Francesca (March 5, 2021). "Inside Russia's deep frozen ghost towns". CNN. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.

Sources

• Государственный Совет Республики Коми. Закон №13-РЗ от 6 марта 2006 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Республики Коми», в ред. Закона №171-РЗ от 26 декабря 2014 г. «Об упразднении населённого пункта Верхняя Седка, расположенного на территории Прилузского района Республики Коми, и внесении в связи с этим изменений в некоторые Законы Республики Коми». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Республика", №44, 16 марта 2006 г. (State Council of the Komi Republic. Law #13-RZ of March 6, 2006 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Komi Republic, as amended by the Law #171-RZ of December 26, 2014 On Abolishing the Inhabited Locality of Verkhnyaya Sedka Located on the Territory of Priluzsky District of the Komi Republic, and on Amending Various Laws of the Komi Republic Accordingly. Effective as of the official publication date.).
• Государственный Совет Республики Коми. Закон №11-РЗ от 5 марта 2005 г. «О территориальной организации местного самоуправления в Республике Коми», в ред. Закона №171-РЗ от 26 декабря 2014 г. «Об упразднении населённого пункта Верхняя Седка, расположенного на территории Прилузского района Республики Коми, и внесении в связи с этим изменений в некоторые Законы Республики Коми». Вступил в силу 1 апреля 2005 г.. Опубликован: "Республика", №44–45, 17 марта 2005 г. (State Council of the Komi Republic. Law #11-RZ of March 5, 2005 On the Territorial Organization of the Local Self-Government in the Komi Republic, as amended by the Law #171-RZ of December 26, 2014 On Abolishing the Inhabited Locality of Verkhnyaya Sedka Located on the Territory of Priluzsky District of the Komi Republic, and on Amending Various Laws of the Komi Republic Accordingly. Effective as of April 1, 2005.).
• Adapted from the article Vorkuta, from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links

• The official website of Vorkuta (in Russian)
• Vorkutlag-Vorkuta. Double remembrance to the Soviet history of the city.
• Vorkuta. History (in Russian)
• First webcam Vorkuta overlooking the main street of the city (in Russian)
• Webcam Online
• Contemporary photographs of Vorkuta
  • Contemporary photographs of the city on the webpage of the local mine rescue association
  • 1996 photos of Vorkuta
  • Links to photos of Vorkuta and Usinsk, 1998 Archived August 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  • Rusko 2005 – Galerie: Vorkuta Archived December 10, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (in Czech)
• Historical photographs
  • Gulag report - Vorkuta Archived January 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  • Gulag settlement outside Vorkuta
• Other photographs
  • Wooden crosses of the German prisoners of the Gulag
  • Vorkuta coal mines
  • Places and mines - Vorkuta (in Russian)

v t e Administrative divisions of the Komi Republic
Capital: Syktyvkar • Rural localities
	Administrative districts	Izhemsky Knyazhpogostsky Kortkerossky Koygorodsky Priluzsky Syktyvdinsky Sysolsky Troitsko-Pechorsky Udorsky Ust-Kulomsky Ust-Tsilemsky Ust-Vymsky
	Cities and towns	Inta Mikun Pechora Sosnogorsk Syktyvkar Ukhta Usinsk Vorkuta Vuktyl Yemva
	Urban-type settlements	Blagoyevo Borovoy Izyayu Komsomolsky Kozhva Kozhym Krasnozatonsky Mezhdurechensk Mulda Nizhny Odes Oktyabrsky Parma Promyshlenny Puteyets Sedkyrkeshch Severny Shudayag Sindor Troitsko-Pechorsk Usogorsk Verkhnyaya Inta Verkhnyaya Maksakovka Vodny Vorgashor Voyvozh Yarega Yeletsky Zapolyarny Zheshart

• Cities and towns in the Komi Republic
• Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union
• Populated places of Arctic Russia
• Geography of Gulag
• Populated places established in 1936
• Road-inaccessible communities of Russia
• Former urban-type settlements of Komi