Ust-Nera


Ust-Nera is an urban locality and the administrative center of Oymyakonsky District in Yakutia, Russia, located in one of the coldest permanently inhabited regions on Earth, approximately northeast of Yakutsk, the capital of the republic. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 6,463.

Geography

Ust-Nera is located at the confluence of the Nera and Indigirka Rivers, from which it takes its name. Ust-Nera is located about north of the selo of Oymyakon, which one of two places in the Sakha Republic which lays claim to being the northern Pole of Cold, the coldest location in the northern hemisphere.
The Tas-Kystabyt and the Nera Plateau are located in the district.

Climate

Ust-Nera has an extremely cold subarctic climate '' with mild, wet summers and severely cold, dry winters.

History

Ust-Nera was founded in 1937 in conjunction with gold mining and exploration in the Indigirka and Kolyma regions. In the Soviet era, it served as a base for forced labor camps of the gulag. Urban-type settlement status was granted to Ust-Nera in 1950.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, the urban-type settlement of Ust-Nera serves as the administrative center of Oymyakonsky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Oymyakonsky District as the Settlement of Ust-Nera. As a municipal division, the Settlement of Ust-Nera is incorporated within Oymyakonsky Municipal District as Ust-Nera Urban Settlement.

Economy

Gold mining is the main occupation. The Kolyma Highway was extended northwest to Ust-Nera in 1937; this section is now the main route between Yakutsk and Magadan. The Ust-Nera Airport is serving air traffic. River traffic on the Indigirka is limited by the rapids downstream.

Culture

There is a small museum in Ust-Nera.