While the weather in Pakistan is gradually getting colder, do you know what the current temperature is in the world’s coldest inhabited place? It might be hard to believe, but the temperature in the coldest residential area is currently close to minus 40°C and may drop to minus 48°C in the coming days.
This place is the village of Oymyakon, located in the Siberian region of Russia. The village is home to between 500 and 900 people, and in 1924, a temperature of minus 71.2°C was reportedly recorded there, though it remains unconfirmed. The verified lowest recorded temperature here was minus 67.7°C in 1933.
During the winter, the average temperature here is minus 58°C, making it the coldest inhabited place on Earth. The village is 577 miles away from the city of Yakutsk, which is considered the coldest city in the world. A single road connects Yakutsk to Oymyakon, and it takes about two days to travel this road.
Interestingly, despite the name “Oymyakon,” which means “the place of never freezing water,” there is rarely any flowing water visible during the winter due to the extreme cold. The cold is so severe that people must eat frozen meat, and vehicles outside must run 24/7 to prevent them from freezing. When someone passes away, fire is lit on the ground for several days to make it possible to dig the grave.
Located just a few hundred miles from the Arctic Circle, Oymyakon experiences up to 21 hours of darkness in winter. Only three hours of limited daylight can be seen during a 24-hour period, and the sun rarely appears.
In such extreme temperatures, people adopt various methods to survive. There are no toilets inside the houses; they are built outside because the pipes freeze and burst. Due to the frozen ground, it’s impossible to grow crops, so people rely on the meat of reindeer, frozen fish, and horse blood ice cubes for food. When someone leaves their house, they don’t stop anywhere but walk as quickly as possible to avoid their body temperature dropping too low. In fact, frost forms on their eyelashes as soon as they step outside.
The village was founded in the 1920s, and prior to that, nomads used to come here during the winter to ensure their reindeer had access to warm spring water. Interestingly, in the summer, temperatures can sometimes reach up to 35°C. If a person dies in the winter, the ice must be melted before burial, as it’s impossible to dig a grave in the frozen ground.
A photographer, Amos Chapple, visited the region a few years ago and captured the lives of people there during the winter. He noted that air travel is not possible in winter, and people must travel by car.
Despite the extreme cold, the village has schools, a post office, a bank, and even an airport runway. But why do people live in such an inhospitable environment? Experts say the region is vast and sits at a high altitude above sea level, creating the extreme cold. During the five-month long winter, there are only 5 to 6 hours of sunlight a day.
Oymyakon is located in a valley surrounded by high mountains, which trap cold air close to the ground, causing record-low temperatures. Despite the harsh conditions, Oymyakon is a popular destination for adventurous tourists, who take part in the annual Oymyakon Marathon, which covers a distance of 35 kilometers—making it the coldest marathon in the world.
Why do people live there despite the extreme weather? Experts believe that the residents take pride in their unique location and the ability to maintain their daily lives in such an unforgiving environment.
