# Discover the Sakha Republic Саха Өрөспүүбүлүкэтэ: The coldest continuously inhabited region in the world



## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

*Sakha Republic Саха Өрөспүүбүлүкэтэ
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Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, is one of the 22 republics in the Russian Federation. It holds the title for a number of things


The largest administrative division in Russia
The largest sub-national administrative division in the world
The largest temperature differences in the world, from -93F to over 100F
The coldest continously inhabited towns in the world
Produces 99% of Russia's diamonds, and 25% of the world's

To understand how large Sakha Republic is, it is roughly the size of India, but with a population between Estonia and Cyprus.

Sakha: 3,287,590 sq km
India: 3,287,263 
Alaska: 1,717,856

Much of the settlements in the republic are found next to rivers, such as the Lena. There are a few in the far north and inland where you can find some of the coldest settlements in the world such as Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk

The reason I chose to cover this republic is primarily due to the fact that my department has begun doing projects there (on flood control), and the presence of a number of exchange students from Sakha in Japan. I'm not sure why specifically from there, must be some kind of exchange program between a local university and one in Sakha.

*The people of Sakha​*







[/url]Сардана Сыромятникова Мисс Якутия by Aleksandr Ivanov, on Flickr[/IMG]

DSC_0359 by Aleksandr Ivanov, on Flickr

Олонхо by Aleksandr Ivanov, on Flickr

Sakha delegates 6953 by Amanda Graham, on Flickr

Our hosts from the Sakha Republic by Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna- CAFF, on Flickr

The titular ethnic group of Sakha are the Sakhalar, also known as the Yakuts. They make up about 50%, with ethnic Russians about 38%, and the rest consisting of other indigenous groups like the Evenks and Even, and Ukrainians and Tatars.

The Sakhalar are a Turkic speaking people. Related to Tuvans in the south (who also have their own Republic in Russia), and distantly to Kazakhs, and more distantly to Turks. Turkic languages tend to have a high level of intelligibility with each other. However according to the Sakha students here, their language and the rest of the Turkic languages are pretty different and unintelligible. 

According to their oral legends, their people originated around Lake Baikal. However due to Mongol expansion under Genghis Khan, they moved northwards far out of their reach. However they came into conflict with reindeer herders, the Evenks and Even who are very distant cousins to Manchurians.

What I find interesting about the people is both the level of assimilation and cultural preservation. They are assimilated in the fact that most have adopted Russian names and many converted to Orthodox Christianity. Yet despite that, they still maintain shamanist traditions. Bilingualism is high as many speak both Russian and Yakut language. Even the Russian minority are bilingual. The ethnic Russians in Sakha also have an interesting history as many are descended from convicts who were imprisoned here (referred to as a prison with out walls due to the isolation and bitter cold..you won't make it far). In many areas of Russia, usually other ethnic groups don't speak the local language, but in this case they do.


*Major Cities
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Yakutsk - the capital of Sakha and where one third of the population lives in. It lies on the banks of the Lena River and is the largest city on the world built on permafrost. Accessibility is limited to air or river (more about that later)

Tiksi - the northern post port at the end of the Lena River (the river flows south to north)

Aldan - a southern city which is connected by rail, known for gold. The name Aldan, means gold in the local language.

Mirny - known famously (or infamously) for its huge open pit mine where diamonds are found.

Verkhoyansk - the pole of the cold with lowest recorded temperature at -93F. Only Vostok Base in Antarctica has recorded colder temperatures

*Access*​

















This really depends where you want to go in Sakha. As mentioned, this place is the size of India! Distances between cities are vast. However it is assumed most people will go to Yakutsk, the biggest city. It is best to reach Yakutsk by air because there are few roads into the city, and these roads are dirt. Meaning they turn to mud in spring, and are snowed in during winter. As Yakutsk is a river city, it can be reached by ferry when its liquid, or driven on when its frozen in winter. 


















Yakutsk is served by Yakutsk airport. The main airline here is Yakutia Airlines, but aeroflot and s7 airlines also flies here. Direct international flights exist to Beijing, Harbin, Seoul-Incheon, and sometimes Tokyo-Narita. Its connected to most major Russian cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, etc.










You can also take the ferry from Tiksi and go south or vice versa.

Rail links to Sakha Republic is limited to Aldan in the south. There are plans to connect Yakutsk to Amur, and thus the rest of the Trans-Siberian, but as of 2016 it's incomplete.


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

So is this going to be one of those threads that you open that only has 8 pictures total, or is it going to be an in depth thread? Because Sakha is a really fascinating place! opcorn:


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

musiccity said:


> So is this going to be one of those threads that you open that only has 8 pictures total, or is it going to be an in depth thread? Because Sakha is a really fascinating place! opcorn:


i'll probably update it on a weekly basis like I do the other thread.


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

ugly men but the girls are pretty!  

Great thread!


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## wangqi (Jan 29, 2016)

too cold! do they want to be independent?


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

wangqi said:


> too cold! do they want to be independent?


I've met a variety (but a very small sample) of ethnic groups from Russia.
those from Sakha say no, they like being a part of Russia. of course they know and don't like some things that occurred in history, and they experience racism in some Russian cities, but they prefer to be a part of Russia.

similarly, I asked two guys from Buryatia a similar question. First in regards to independence, another in regards to being with Mongolia. No to independence, as for Mongolia, they felt that they might be worse off if they re-united with them. Secondly, they didn't want to deal with the "big brother" complex the Mongolians have against the Buryat Mongols.

the only ones who seemed to want separation came from heavily Islamic regions.


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

*Mirny Мирнэй*​
With a population of 37,000, this city is famous for its very large diamond pit. Its one of the world's , if not the world's largest open pit



















There's been talk about building a covered eco city in the pit some time in the future


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

even the shape of the pit look like a diamond.


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

RyukyuRhymer said:


> There's been talk about building a covered eco city in the pit some time in the future


For a location with such a harsh climate, it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea. The pit is already there so those expenses would be already covered.


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

*Olonkho Олоҥхо*​
Olonkho is an epic story that is associated with Sakha. At first I thought it was one tale, but it is actually multiple tales that explain the history of the Sakha people, from its origins to more contemporary subjects. It is renown to be a very very long tale, consisting of tens of thousands of verses that are portrayed over the span of several days.
Such tales seem to be common place among Turkic people, like Manas with the Kyrgyz.

In 2005 it was recognized by UNESCO.


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## wangqi (Jan 29, 2016)

this place looks very barren. would not go.


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

that diamond pit and the people attract me.


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

*Verkhoyansk District Верхоянскай*​
Haven't updated on time, but this week is one of the two most coldest populated towns in Sakha (as well as the world!)

Verkhoyansk is notable chiefly for its exceptionally low winter temperatures and some of the greatest temperature differences on Earth between summer and winter. Average monthly temperatures range from −45.4 °C (−49.7 °F) in January to +16.5 °C (61.7 °F) in July. Mean monthly temperatures are below freezing from October through April and exceed +10 °C (50 °F) from June through August, with the intervening months of May and September constituting very short transitional seasons. Verkhoyansk has an extreme subarctic climate (Köppen Dfd) dominated much of the year by high pressure. This has the effect of cutting off the region from warming influences in winter and together with a lack of cloud cover leads to extensive heat losses during the cooler months. (Wiki)









Known as pole of the cold


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## Zhukovsky (Apr 30, 2016)

cool thread. did not expect anyone to make one.
my maternal side is from an area near here!
maybe i'll make a thread too.


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