Cold, Colder, Coldest: Oymyakon
Siberia probably ranks high on the list of places where people would rather not live. Because yes, it’s cold there. Not everywhere (Siberia is quite large), but in some parts, it’s extremely cold. Oymyakon (in Yakutia) is famous for this. The thermometer has dropped to minus 71 degrees Celsius, making it the world record holder for the coldest inhabited place.
There are only (or despite that, still) about 500 souls living there; more of a village than a city. But ‘World’s coldest village or Coldest city in the world – it is очень холодно (very cold) there. Read/watch and shiver.
Visiting the coldest town in the world
(60 Minutes Australia, 2018, 13 m)
Visiting Oymyakon is possible, though it takes some effort. But why would you? There are (camera) people who have already done it and reported back in words and images. ‘60 Minutes’ in 13 minutes – you’d almost think the makers fled back to Australia within a quarter of an hour. Liam Bartlett certainly doesn’t regret returning home: ‘I’ve just returned from a place so piercingly cold, it gives me the shivers just thinking about it.’
Living in the Coldest Place on Earth
Report (59 m) about cold and survival in Oymyakon. Introduced with (starting at 2:49): ‘It’s truly impossible to imagine how any human being could or would choose to live in a region like this.’ Snow, reindeer, and people bundled up. Perfect for watching next to a heater, which not everyone has there.
World’s Coldest Inhabited Place: Oymyakon, Siberia
(W1sdom, 2017, 3 m)
Russian: Оймякон
For those who prefer to watch snow and cold in Russian: this is Russian-language content about Оймякон.
Оймякон, Якутия: здесь живут люди в минус 60 (Oymyakon, Yakutia: People live here at minus 60)
(Varlamov 2019, 22 m)
More Oymyakon
- From Yakutsk to Oymyakon in winter (Sebastian Balders, 2015, 36 m)
- Walking in Oymyakon at -50C (Sebastian Balders, 2014, 7 m)
- Most dangerous ways to School – Oymyakon (Free Documentary, 2013, 48 m)
More Оймякон
- Вот как выживают люди в самом холодном месте на Земле (This is how people survive in the coldest place on earth, 2019, 4 m)
- Уроки выживания: Жители Оймякона рассказали о правилах поведения в -60 (Survival lessons: Oymyakon residents talk about rules of conduct at minus 60, 2018, 9 m)
- Оймякон – Самый Холодный Посёлок в России (Oymyakon – Coldest settlement in Russia, 2018, 4 m)
- Одиночное путешествие на Полюс Холода Оймякон. Колыма. (A solo journey to the Pole of Cold. Oymyakon. Kolyma, 2017, 34 m)
- Интересные факты: Оймякон (Interesting facts: Oymyakon, 2015, 4 m)
More cold and Russia in How Cold Does Russia Get? (NFKRZ, 2020, 14 m).
last edited 31-03-2021
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