Norilsk

Norilsk (English) Норильск (Russian)
-  City[1]  -
The first house built in Norilsk, in 1921
Location of Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia
Norilsk Location of Norilsk in Krasnoyarsk Krai
Coordinates: 69°20′N 88°13′E / 69.333°N 88.217°E / 69.333; 88.217Coordinates: 69°20′N 88°13′E / 69.333°N 88.217°E / 69.333; 88.217
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status (as of January 2014)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Krasnoyarsk Krai[1]
Administratively subordinated to	krai city of Norilsk[1]
Administrative center of	krai city of Norilsk[1]
Municipal status (as of December 2004)
Urban okrug	Norilsk Urban Okrug[2]
Administrative center of	Norilsk Urban Okrug[2]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census)	175,365 inhabitants[3]
- Rank in 2010	102nd
Time zone	KRAT (UTC+07:00)[4]
Founded	1935[5]
City status since	1953[5]
Postal code(s)[6]	663300-663341
Dialing code(s)	+7 3919[7]
(Russian) Official website
Norilsk on Wikimedia Commons

Norilsk (Russian: Норильск; IPA: [nɐˈrʲilʲsk]) is an industrial city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located above the Arctic Circle, east of the Yenisei River and south of the western Taymyr Peninsula. It has a permanent population of 175,000. With temporary inhabitants included, its population reaches 220,000.

Norilsk was closed in November 2001 to all non-Russians, except for Belarusians.^[8]

It is the world's northernmost city with more than 100,000 inhabitants and the second largest city (after Murmansk) inside the Arctic Circle. Norilsk, Yakutsk, and Vorkuta are the only large cities in the continuous permafrost zone.

History

False-color satellite image of Norilsk and the surrounding area (more information)

Norilsk was founded at the end of the 1920s, but the official date of founding is traditionally 1935, when Norilsk was expanded as a settlement for the Norilsk mining-metallurgic complex and became the center of the Norillag system of GULAG labor camps. It was granted urban-type settlement status in 1939 and town status in 1953.^[9]

Norilsk is located between the West Siberian Plain and Central Siberian Plateau at the foot of the 1,700-meter (5,600 ft) high Putoran Mountains, on some of the largest nickel deposits on Earth. Consequently, mining and smelting ore are the major industries. Norilsk is the center of a region where nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium and coal are mined. Mineral deposits in the Siberian Craton had been known for two centuries before Norilsk was founded, but mining began only in 1939, when the buried portions of the Norilsk-Talnakh intrusions were found beneath mountainous terrain.

Talnakh is the major mine/enrichment site now from where an enriched ore emulsion is pumped to Norilsk metallurgy plants.

To support the new city, a railway to the port of Dudinka on the Yenisei River was established, first as a narrow-gauge line (winter 1935–36), later as 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in) Russian standard gauge line (completed in the early 1950s).^[10] From Dudinka, enriched nickel and copper are transported to Murmansk by sea and, then, to the Monchegorsk enrichment and smelting plant on the Kola Peninsula, while more precious content goes up the river to Krasnoyarsk. This transportation only takes place during the summer. The port of Dudinka is closed and dismantled during spring's ice barrier floods of up to 20 meters (66 ft) in late May (a typical spring occurrence on all Siberian rivers).^[11]

In the early 1950s, another railway was under construction from the European coal city Vorkuta via the Salekhard/Ob River, and Norilsk got a spacious railway station built in the expectation of train service to Moscow,^[10] but construction stopped after Joseph Stalin died.

According to the archives of Norillag, 16,806 prisoners died in Norilsk under the conditions of forced labor, starvation and intense cold during the existence of the camp (1935–1956).^[12] Fatalities were especially high during the war years of 1942–1944 when food supplies were particularly scarce. Prisoners organised the nonviolent Norilsk uprising in 1953. Unknown but significant numbers of prisoners continued to serve and die in the mines until around 1979. Norilsk-Talknakh continues to be a dangerous mine to work in: according to the mining company, there were 2.4 accidents per thousand workers in 2005.^[13] Since the early 2000s the city has been rebuilding itself and reshaping its image. Bars on the top floors of apartments are appearing and buildings are getting renovated.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with the urban-type settlement of Snezhnogorsk, incorporated as the krai city of Norilsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] As a municipal division, the krai city of Norilsk is incorporated as Norilsk Urban Okrug.^[2]

Demographics

Religion

There is a mosque in Norilsk. Built in 1998 belonging to the local Tatar community, it is considered to be the northernmost Muslim prayer house in the world.^[14] There is also a Russian Orthodox cathedral, several Russian Orthodox churches and a Ukrainian Orthodox church.

Population

175,365 (2010 Census)^[3]:^[15] after the fall of the USSR, its population went down by 40,000, but this was offset by the subsequent merger of the towns of Kayerkan and Talnakh into Norilsk, maintaining a permanent population of 175,000. Including temporary residents, the population reaches 220,000 people. Around 80% of the permanent population are thought to be Russified Ukrainians.

Geography, climate, and natural environment

Winters in Norilsk are cold and long

Considerable snow can accumulate

Norilsk is the world's northernmost city with more than 100,000 inhabitants and the second largest city (after Murmansk) inside the Arctic Circle. Norilsk, Yakutsk and Vorkuta are the only large cities in the continuous permafrost zone. It lies between Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District to the north, and Turukhansky District to the south. Norilsk has an extremely harsh subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc), and is covered with snow for about 250–270 days a year, with snow storms for about 110–130 days. The "midnight sun" is above the horizon from 21 May to 24 July, and the period when the sun does not rise, polar night, is from approximately 30 November to 13 January. Temperatures can sometimes rise above 25 °C (77 °F) in July.

Much of the surrounding areas are naturally treeless tundra. Only a few trees exist in Norilsk.

Landscape near Norilsk

Pollution

Nickel ore is smelted on site at Norilsk. The smelting is directly responsible for severe pollution, generally acid rain and smog. By some estimates, 1 percent of global emissions of sulfur dioxide comes from Norilsk's nickel mines.^[16] Heavy metal pollution near Norilsk is so severe that mining the surface soil is now economically feasible due to the soil acquiring such high concentrations of platinum and palladium.^[17]

The Blacksmith Institute included Norilsk in its 2007 list of the ten most polluted places on Earth.^[18] The list cites air pollution by particulates (including radioisotopes strontium-90, and caesium-137 and metals nickel, copper, cobalt, lead and selenium) and by gases (such as nitrogen and carbon oxides, sulfur dioxide, phenols and hydrogen sulfide). The Institute estimates four million tons of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium and zinc are released into the air every year.^[19]

The Russian Federal State Statistics Service named Norilsk the most polluted city in Russia. In 2010, Norilsk produced 1.924 million tons of carbon pollutants, nearly six times more than the 333 thousand tons generated by Russia's second most polluted city, Cherepovets.^[20]

According to an April 2007 BBC News report,^[21] Norilsk Nickel accepted responsibility for what had happened to the forests, and insisted they were taking action to cut the pollution. For the period up to 2015–2020 the company expects to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by approximately two-thirds, but claims it is hard to guarantee this pace of reduction because they are still developing the technology.

In September 2016, images surfaced on social media of the nearby Daldykan River which had been turned red. Russia's Environment Ministry issued a statement claiming that preliminary evidence pointed towards wastewater pipes from a nearby smelting plant owned by Norilsk Nickel.^[22]

Norilsk-Talnakh nickel deposits

Rich platinum-copper ore, Oktyabersky Mine, Norilsk. Click image for details.

The nickel deposits of Norilsk-Talnakh are the largest known nickel-copper-palladium deposits in the world. The deposit was formed 250 million years ago during the eruption of the Siberian Traps igneous province (STIP). The STIP erupted over one million cubic kilometers of lava, a large portion of it through a series of flat-lying lava conduits below Norilsk and the Talnakh Mountains.

The ore was formed when the erupting magma became saturated in sulfur, forming globules of pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and other sulfides. These sulfides were then "washed" by the continuing torrent of erupting magma, and upgraded their tenor with nickel, copper, platinum and palladium .

The current resource known for these mineralized intrusion exceeds 1.8 billion tons.^[23] MMC Norilsk Nickel, headquartered in Moscow, is the principal mining operator in Norilsk-Talnakh. The ore is mined underground via several shafts, and a decline. The ore deposits are currently being extracted at more than 1,200 m (3,900 ft) below ground and drilled from the surface. Nickel production for 2008 amounted to 299.7 thousand metric tonnes. Copper production for 2008 amounted to 419 thousand metric tonnes.

The deposits are being explored by a Russian government-controlled company. The company is known to be using electromagnetic field geophysics, with loops on surface which are over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) on a side. They are conclusively able to image the conductive nickel ore at depths in excess of 1,800 m (5,900 ft).

Economy

Leninskiy avenue in Norilsk

MMC Norilsk Nickel, a mining company, is the principal employer in the Norilsk area.^[18]

The city is served by Norilsk Alykel Airport and Norilsk Valek Airfield. There is a freight-only railway, the Norilsk railway between Norilsk and the port of Dudinka. There is a road network around Norilsk (such as the A-382 which links to Dudinka and Norilsk Alykel Airport), but no road or railway to the main cities of Russia. Freight transport is by boat on the Arctic Ocean or on the Yenisei River.

Culture

Among its cultural highlights, Norilsk boasts a history museum and an art gallery,^[24] the Norilsk Polar Drama Theater,^[25] a zoo,^[26] a cultural center,^[27] a sports and entertainment complex and arena,^[28] many monuments and historical buildings^[29] and other attractions.

Norilsk Polar Drama Theater  Lenin Monument in Norilsk  Nurd Kamal, the world's northernmost mosque  Monument to the city's builders in downtown Norilsk  Norilsk Golgotha, a memorial to Gulag prisoners who labored at Norilsk

Twin towns and sister cities

Norilsk is twinned with:

• Minusinsk, Russia

Notable people

• Andrey Bartenev, artist^[30]
• Vladimir Bure, swimmer
• Natalia Yurchenko, gymnast
• Walter Ciszek, Jesuit missionary priest and political prisoner
• Dmitri Torbinski, association football player
• Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Russian political activist and member of the punk band Pussy Riot

References

Notes

Sources

• Законодательное собрание Красноярского края. Закон №10-4765 от 10 июня 2010 г. «О перечне административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Красноярского края», в ред. Закона №7-3007 от 16 декабря 2014 г. «Об изменении административно-территориального устройства Большеулуйского района и о внесении изменений в Закон края "О перечне административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Красноярского края"». Вступил в силу 1 июля 2010 г. Опубликован: "Ведомости высших органов государственной власти Красноярского края", №33(404), 5 июля 2010 г. (Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Krai. Law #10-4765 of June 10, 2010 On the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Territorial Units of Krasnoyarsk Krai, as amended by the Law #7-3007 of December 16, 2014 On Changing the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Bolsheuluysky District and on Amending the Krai Law "On the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and the Territorial Units of Krasnoyarsk Krai". Effective as of July 1, 2010.).
• Законодательное собрание Красноярского края. Закон №12-2697 от 10 декабря 2004 г. «О наделении муниципального образования город Норильск статусом городского округа», в ред. Закона №5-1826 от 21 ноября 2013 г. «О внесении изменений в Законы края об установлении границ и наделении соответствующим статусом муниципальных образований Красноярского края». Вступил в силу через десять дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Ведомости высших органов государственной власти Красноярского края", №34, 19 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Krai. Law #12-2697 of December 10, 2004 On Granting Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the City of Norilsk, as amended by the Law #5-1826 of November 21, 2013 On Amending the Krai Laws on Establishing the Borders and Granting an Appropriate Status to the Municipal Formations of Krasnoyarsk Krai. Effective as of the day ten days after the official publication.).
• "Norilskaya golgofa"(Russian) "Memorial", regional Branch "Siberia", publisher: "Klaretianum", Krasnoyarsk, 2002

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Norilsk.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Norilsk.

• Official website of Norilsk (Russian)
• MMC Norilsk Nickel

Administrative divisions of Krasnoyarsk Krai
Administrative center: Krasnoyarsk
Cities and towns	Achinsk Artyomovsk Bogotol Borodino Divnogorsk Dudinka Igarka Ilansky Kansk Kodinsk Krasnoyarsk Lesosibirsk Minusinsk Nazarovo Norilsk Sharypovo Sosnovoborsk Uyar Uzhur Yeniseysk Zaozyorny Zelenogorsk* Zheleznogorsk*
Urban-type settlements	Balakhta Beryozovka Bolshaya Irba Bolshaya Murta Dikson Dubinino Goryachegorsk Insha Kedrovy Koshurnikovo Kozulka Krasnokamensk Kuragino Mazulsky Motygino Nizhny Ingash Nizhnyaya Poyma Novochernorechensky Podgorny Podtyosovo Razdolinsk Sayansky Severo-Yeniseysky Shushenskoye Snezhnogorsk Solnechny** Strelka Yemelyanovo Zelyony Bor
Administrative districts	Abansky Achinsky Balakhtinsky Beryozovsky Birilyussky Bogotolsky Boguchansky Bolshemurtinsky Bolsheuluysky Dzerzhinsky Evenkiysky Idrinsky Ilansky Irbeysky Kansky Karatuzsky Kazachinsky Kezhemsky Kozulsky Krasnoturansky Kuraginsky Mansky Minusinsky Motyginsky Nazarovsky Nizhneingashsky Novosyolovsky Partizansky Pirovsky Rybinsky Sayansky Severo-Yeniseysky Sharypovsky Shushensky Sukhobuzimsky Taseyevsky Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky Turukhansky Tyukhtetsky Uyarsky Uzhursky Yemelyanovsky Yeniseysky Yermakovsky
*Closed cities and towns under the federal governance **Closed urban-type settlements under the federal governance

Closed cities of  Russia
Fokino Gadzhiyevo Krasnoznamensk Lesnoy Mezhgorye Mirny Norilsk Novouralsk Omutninsk Ostrovnoy Ozyorsk Polyarny Raduzhny Sarov Severomorsk Seversk Shikhany Snezhinsk Snezhnogorsk Tryokhgorny Tsiolkovsky Vilyuchinsk Zaozyorsk Zarechny Zelenogorsk Zheleznogorsk Znamensk