The 'hardest city in the world': Where 170,000 people can't connect with the outside

The city of Norilsk in the Siberian province of northern Russia is geographically the northernmost region on the planet. For a long time, this place has been given a sad name, which is "the harshest city in the world".

Forgotten land in the cold

Home to more than 170,000 inhabitants, the small city of Norilsk is extremely remote and almost isolated from the outside world. Even though it is only 930 miles from the Siberian capital Krasnoyarsk and 1,800 miles from Moscow (Russia), but because of the rugged terrain, it is difficult for people to move. Because of its isolation, Norilsk also does not attract tourists or settlers.

To get here, one has to take a train or choose to go by sea.

There is no road leading to Norilsk. To get to the city, one had to take a train or choose to go by sea from the city of Dudinka 40 miles away, but in winter it was impossible because the water was frozen. The people of Norilsk often joke that they "go to the mainland" every time they go elsewhere. It was not until 2017 that the city had a complete Internet connection.

Not only the harsh geographical location, the scariest point in Norilsk is the cold climate. The average temperature of the year is minus 10 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature is minus 53 degrees Celsius. Only about 320km from the North Pole, in winter, the city has 2 months of the whole sky dark, no clouds. the light. In the summer, there are 2 months of the sun shining 24/7, causing people's lives to be turned upside down continuously. When the cold winter reaches its peak, almost no residents dare to step out of their houses for fear of freezing on the road.

The average annual temperature here is minus 10 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature is minus 53 degrees Celsius.

Pollution record

Norilsk's modern history begins at the beginning of the 20th century. Beneath the thick snow and ice lies many very rare metal ores. To date, Norilsk is one of the world's largest producers of nickel and palladium. One-fifth of nickel production and half of global palladium production come from this neglected region.

 Norilsk is one of the world's largest producers of nickel and palladium.

After the city's abundant resources were discovered by geologists, a series of factories sprang up close by. Despite the harsh climate, over a long period of time, hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to Norilsk to mine minerals. According to statistics, in 1936, the city had half a million workers. Having to work in extremely cold weather, in just about 20 years, more than 18,000 people have died from hunger, cold, metal poisoning or exhaustion.

Norilsk has become the most polluted city in Russia.

Placing too many factories, exploiting minerals at a rapid rate in a short time has left a lot of consequences. Currently Norilsk has become the most polluted city in Russia and the 5th most polluted in the world, despite its very small area. Each year, nickel industries emit more than 2 million tons of toxic gases. About 1% of all global sulfur dioxide emissions come from this "most extreme city".

In addition to cold blizzards, the people of Norilsk often experience acid rain. They wipe out the already poor flora and fauna of the land. The average life expectancy of the Norilsk people is therefore much lower than normal, only 59 years old compared to 69 years for the whole of Russia. The city's cancer rate is also double that of other parts of the country. A statistic has shown that the Norilsk people have a significantly higher rate of blood, bone and psychological diseases than normal.

The people of Norilsk also regularly experience acid rain.

Even so, more than 170,000 people remained in Norilsk. Most of them are descendants of the hard laborers of the previous century. Although difficult and harsh, for many people, Norilsk is still their hometown and leaving to find new horizons is not a priority.