Vorkuta
Russia /
Komi /
Vorkuta /
World
/ Russia
/ Komi
/ Vorkuta
, 2 km from center (Воркута)
World / Russia / Komi
city, district center, City of Labour Valour
Vorkuta (Russian: Воркута́; Komi: Вӧркута, 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.[11] A report in March 2021 described the villages in the area as "ghost towns" with many "abandoned structures".
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.
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.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkuta
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 67°29'49"N 64°1'8"E
- Labytnangi 127 km
- Naryan-Mar 472 km
- Dudinka 923 km
- Igarka 953 km
- Kirovsk 1277 km
- Murmansk 1279 km
- Monchegorsk 1304 km
- Kandalaksha 1344 km
- Tromsø 1806 km
- Harstad 1927 km
- Комсомольская площадь 0.3 km
- Vorkuta Airport 1.6 km
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