January 17, 2023 – Yakutsk

We’ve had a pretty mild winter here in Rochester, but other places in the world have not been so lucky! Right now, Yakutsk, Russia is having an abnormally long cold snap, with temperatures hitting -58 degrees! That’s not even the coldest it’s been there. The record low is -83.9! There’s a reason it’s known as the coldest city in the world! Despite the inhospitable temperatures, the city is one of Russia’s most rapidly growing areas, with a population of just over 355,000. The driving force behind it’s growth is certainly not the weather – mining, especially coal, gold, and diamonds. In fact, the region produces around 1/5 of the world’s diamonds. And the gold mining operations are so large there, they can be seen from space! Learn more here.