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57-688: Norilsk (Russian: Нори́льск , IPA: [nɐˈrʲilʲsk] ) is a closed city in Krasnoyarsk Krai , Russia , located south of the western Taymyr Peninsula , around 90 km east of the Yenisey River and 1,500 km north of Krasnoyarsk . Norilsk is 300 km north of the Arctic Circle and 2,400 km from the North Pole . It has a permanent population of 176,735 as of 2024, and up to 220,000 including temporary inhabitants. It

114-630: A Closed Area Permit. From 1951 to 2012, the FCA encompassed an area of 28 square kilometres, containing numerous villages. Following several stages of reduction, by 2016, the border town of Sha Tau Kok remained as the sole settlement within the FCA. Within the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea are two "peace villages" (one maintained by each nation): Daeseong-dong (South) and (possibly) Kijŏng-dong (North). Access by non-residents to Daeseong-dong requires

171-629: A city located beyond the Arctic Circle on the Taz River , which was an important regional trading and craft center. During the excavations of Mangazeya in 1972–1975, professor Mikhail Ivanovich Belov discovered a vast foundry yard. Platinoids were found in the remains of the copper wares unearthed there. Geologist and explorer Nikolay Urvantsev carried out further study of the Norilsk region during expeditions from 1919 to 1926, which confirmed

228-410: A dangerous mine to work in. According to the mining company, there were 2.4 accidents per 1,000 workers in 2005. In 2017, Norilsk Nickel claimed that it had reduced its overall lost time injury frequency rate ( LTIFR ) by almost 60% since 2013. In June 2020, 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled from the tank of an NTEK power plant, polluting hundreds of square kilometers and causing serious damage to

285-417: A factory. The name of such a facility was usually secret, as were the activities there. Incoming mail was addressed to "Mailbox #XXXX", thus the name of "mailbox". Most Soviet design bureaus (OKB) for weapons , aircraft, space technology, military electronics , etc., were "mailboxes". Russia has the largest number of closed cities globally. The policy governing these cities underwent significant changes in

342-566: A geological expedition, Urvantsev found evidence of the mysteriously disappeared Amundsen 's 1918 Arctic expedition crew members Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen . Urvantsev recovered the mail and scientific data that the two ill-fated Norwegians had been carrying. The valuable documents were lying abandoned on the Kara Sea shore near the mouth of the Zeledeyeva River . In 1930-1932 Urvantsev, together with Georgy Ushakov , explored

399-517: A milestone in the further development of the region. The mining settlement of Talnakh was founded at the same time. A new complex, the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant, was built 15 km west of Norilsk to process the raw materials from the new deposits. Work began in 1971 and the complex was finished in 1981. A number of Finnish companies assisted in the construction and automation of Norilsk's No. 2 copper and nickel smelters (in

456-449: A military escort, while Kijŏng-dong is not accessible to visitors. The Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center sits within a closed city that occupies 24.8 square kilometers (9.6 sq mi). The classification of a city being closed or not closed is dubious in a North Korean context, as North Korean citizens generally need a permit if they wish to travel outside of their county, and further permits required for entry to Pyongyang , thus

513-536: A permanent population of 175,000. Including temporary residents, the population can reach up to 220,000. Life expectancy for local residents is about 10 years less than average Russian life expectancy, which as of 2013 was around 69 years. The city has an ethnically diverse population. As of 2021, the predominant ethnic and cultural groups were Russians, Azerbaijanis, Ukrainians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Nogais, Lezgins, Kazakhs, Ossetians, Chuvash and Kyrgyz. The population of Norilsk consists almost entirely of people who moved to

570-603: A permit. An example of international cooperation in these cities is the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI), a joint effort of the United States National Nuclear Security Administration and Minatom , which involves, in part, the cities of Sarov , Snezhinsk , and Zheleznogorsk . The number of closed cities has been significantly reduced since the mid-1990s. However, on 30 October 2001, foreign travel

627-559: A settlement to accommodate the builders of the Ust-Khantai Hydroelectric Power Station. Access to Norilsk is restricted for foreign citizens, who are required to obtain special permission to visit the city. Norilsk owes its name to its geographical location. The Norilsk river flows near the city, which is located near the Norilsk mountains . The travelers Khariton Laptev , Alexander Fyodorovich Middendorf , and Fedor Bogdanovich Schmidt mentioned

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684-497: A special postcode, for example, Arzamas‑16, Chelyabinsk‑65. The actual settlement can be rather distant from its namesakes; for instance, Sarov , designated Arzamas-16, is in the federal republic of Mordovia , whereas Arzamas is in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (roughly 75 kilometres (47 mi) away). People not living in a closed city were subject to document checks and security checkpoints , and explicit permission

741-558: A total population of approximately 1.5 million people. Seventy-five percent are administered by the Russian Ministry of Defense , with the remainder under the administration of Rosatom . It is believed that about 15 additional closed cities exist, but their names and locations have not been publicly disclosed by the Russian government. Some Russian closed cities are open to foreign investment, but entry for foreigners requires

798-774: A year, and snow cover lasts from seven to nine months, with more than 50 days of snowstorms. Strong winds are common. The average temperature in January is about −27 °C (−17 °F). The midnight sun is above the horizon from May 20 to July 24, and the time when the sun does not rise, polar night , lasts from approximately November 30 to January 13. Summer is short (mid-July) and cool, with an average July temperature 14-15 °C (58 °F), though temperatures can sometimes rise above 25 °C (77 °F). Norilsk has an average annual air temperature of −8.3 °C (17.1 °F), with an annual variation of absolute temperatures of 85 °C (153 °F). The average annual relative humidity

855-561: Is a list of territories within Russia that do not have closed-city status but require special permits for foreigners to visit. The largest locality within such territory is the city of Norilsk . There were two closed cities in Estonia : Sillamäe and Paldiski . As with all the other industrial cities, their population was mainly Russian-speaking. Sillamäe was the site for a chemical factory that produced fuel rods and nuclear materials for

912-1006: Is about 76%. Though Norilsk is located south of the arctic tree line, much of the surrounding area is naturally forest tundra , and there are few trees in the city itself. Closed city Many closed cities existed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War . Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a number of them continue to exist in the post-Soviet states , especially in Russia . In modern Russia, such places are officially known as "closed administrative-territorial formations" ( Russian : закрытые административно-территориальные образования [ЗАТО] , romanized :  zakrytye administrativno-territorial'nye obrazovaniya [ZATO] ). Closed cities are sometimes represented only on classified maps that are not available to

969-614: Is for five years. In September 2021, the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory was updated. Sergey Sizonenko was elected deputy for Taymyr constituency No. 23. The population of Norilsk as of 2021 is 174,453. After the fall of the USSR the population dropped by 40,000, but this was offset by the subsequent merger of the towns of Kayerkan and Talnakh into Norilsk, maintaining

1026-435: Is the second-largest city in the region after Krasnoyarsk. Since 2016, Norilsk's population has grown steadily. In 2017, for the first time, migration to the city exceeded outflow. In 2018, according to Krasnoyarskstat, natural population growth amounted to 1,357 people: 2,381 were born, and 1,024 died. It is the world's northernmost city with more than 180,000 inhabitants, and the second-largest city (after Murmansk ) inside

1083-483: The Arctic Circle . Norilsk and Yakutsk are the only large cities in the continuous permafrost zone. Norilsk is located atop 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. The presence of mineral deposits in the Siberian Craton

1140-589: The Monchegorsk enrichment and smelting plant on the Kola Peninsula , while more precious content goes upriver to Krasnoyarsk . This transportation takes place only during the summer. The port of Dudinka is closed and dismantled during spring flooding in late May, when waters can rise by up to 20 meters (66 ft) (a typical spring occurrence on all Siberian rivers, caused by winter ice obstructing meltwater from upstream). Norilsk-Talnakh continues to be

1197-660: The Severnaya Zemlya archipelago where they discovered a number of islands. He published a book about the expedition, At the Severnaya Zemlya . He also explored other remote areas of Russia, Taimyr and Central Siberian Plateau . In 1933-34 the newly formed Glavsevmorput’ (Chief Administration of the Northern Sea Route) sent the steamer Pravda to Nordvik on the historical first oil exploration expedition to Northern Siberia. This venture

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1254-632: The Yenisei River was built, first as a narrow-gauge line (winter 1935–36), later as a 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ) Russian standard gauge line (completed in the early 1950s). Norillag was officially closed on August 22, 1956, by order No. 0348 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the Norillag archives, 16,806 prisoners died in Norilsk as a result of forced labor, starvation and intense cold during

1311-455: The period of communist rule in Albania, the towns of Çorovodë and Qyteti Stalin (now Kuçovë ) were closed cities with a military airport, military industry and other critical war infrastructure. The Frontier Closed Area (FCA) is a restricted zone along the northern border of Hong Kong, serving as a buffer between the closed border and the rest of the territory. Access to this area requires

1368-416: The world's most northerly settlements and is both the second largest city built on permafrost (after Yakutsk ), and the second largest city inside the Arctic Circle (after Murmansk ). Norilsk has an extremely harsh subarctic climate . It is one of the coldest cities in the world – far colder than Murmansk, which is located at almost the same latitude. As a result of Norilsk's geographical isolation on

1425-777: The Arctic coal-mining city of Vorkuta in European Russia to the Yenisei River via Salekhard and the Ob River . A spacious railway station was built in Norilsk, in the expectation that the city would eventually have a train service to Moscow, but construction of the Salekhard–Igarka Railway was halted after Joseph Stalin died in 1953. To support the new city, the Norilsk railway to the port of Dudinka on

1482-540: The Nadezhda complex), which led to substantial numbers of Finnish metallurgical and automation experts and their families coming to Norilsk from 1978 onward, creating a Finnish expat community of some hundreds of people for a couple of years. Today Talnakh is the area's major mining and ore enrichment site. Enriched ore emulsion is pumped from here to Norilsk's metallurgy plants. Enriched nickel and copper are transported from Dudinka to Murmansk by sea, and from there to

1539-468: The Russian Federation. Source — FEDERAL SERVICE OF STATE STATISTICS Orthodox Christianity is the main religion in Norilsk. There is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, several Russian Orthodox churches and a Ukrainian Orthodox church . There is also a mosque in Norilsk. Built in 1998 and belonging to the local Tatar community, it is considered to be the northernmost Muslim prayer house in

1596-587: The Soviet nuclear power plants and nuclear weapon facilities, while Paldiski was home to a Soviet Navy nuclear submarine training centre. Sillamäe was closed until Estonia regained its independence in 1991; Paldiski remained closed until 1994, when the last Russian warship left. Tartu , home to Raadi Airfield , was partially closed. Foreign academics could visit the University of Tartu , but had to sleep elsewhere. Moldova has one partially closed city:

1653-523: The Taimyr Peninsula, the rest of Russia is usually referred to as “the mainland”, and expressions like “move to the mainland” or “on the mainland” are common among locals. Despite being located inside the Arctic Circle , Norilsk has a subarctic climate ( Köppen : Dfc ; Trewartha : Ecld ) with very long, extremely cold winters (from early October to May) and very short, mild summers. Norilsk experiences negative temperatures for about 240 days

1710-443: The city in the second half of the 20th century and their descendants, but many of the descendants of prisoners who were amnestied in 1953 still live in the city. There are very few representatives of indigenous ethnicities - Nenets , Enets , Nganasans and Dolgans - in the city. There were 77 recognized ethnic groups in Norilsk as of 2021. As of January 1, 2021, in terms of population, the city ranked 103rd out of 1,116 cities in

1767-502: The closure of cities originated as a strictly temporary measure that was to be normalized under more favorable conditions, in practice the closed cities took on a life of their own and became a notable institutional feature of the Soviet system. Any movement to and from closed areas was tightly controlled. Foreigners were prohibited from entering them and local citizens were under stringent restrictions. They had to have special permission to travel there or leave, and anyone seeking residency

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1824-478: The district city of Norilsk is incorporated as the Norilsk Urban Okrug. Since 2005, the city of Norilsk has been divided into three geographically disparate administrative districts: The Norilsk City Council of Deputies was elected on September 11, 2022, with a five-year mandate. Its chairman is Aleksandr Pestryakov. The mayor of Norilsk has been Dmitry Karasyov since January 27, 2021. His mandate

1881-544: The feat of the Norilsk people who conquered the tundra, created our city and the plant". The foundation stone was laid recently by historical standards, on June 26, 1966 [...] On July 17, 2020, a monument to the Metallurgists of Norilsk was unveiled at the site of the foundation stone. The foundation stone itself is part of the sculptural composition. In the 1980s, the Norilsk Golgotha memorial complex

1938-500: The first category of closed cities were chosen for their geographical characteristics. They were often established in remote places deep in the Urals and Siberia , out of reach of enemy bombers. They were built close to rivers and lakes that were used to provide the large amounts of water needed for heavy industry and nuclear technology. Existing civilian settlements in the vicinity were often used as sources of construction labour. Although

1995-410: The general public. In some cases, there may be no road signs or directions to closed cities, and they are usually omitted from railroad timetables and bus routes. Sometimes, closed cities are indicated obliquely as a nearby insignificant village, with the name of the stop serving the closed city made equivocal or misleading. For mail delivery, a closed city is usually named as the nearest large city and

2052-539: The late 1940s, architects began to design a new city on the eastern shore of Lake Dolgoye, and Norillag prisoners started building work in 1951. In the summer of 1953, inmates from one of the Norillag camps, Gorlag , went on strike, sparking the Norilsk Uprising . In 1947, construction began on the Salekhard–Igarka Railway , a line intended to cross northern Siberia. The railway was to have linked

2109-440: The late 1980s and early 1990s. The adoption of a new constitution for the Russian Federation in 1993 prompted substantial reforms to the status of closed cities, which were subsequently renamed "closed administrative-territorial formations" (or ZATO, from the Russian acronym). Municipally , all such entities have the status of urban okrugs , as mandated by federal law. There are 44 publicly acknowledged closed cities in Russia with

2166-471: The local ecosystem. Norilsk remains a closed city , and foreign citizens require special permission to visit the area. Within the Russian system of administrative divisions , it is, together with the urban-type settlement of Snezhnogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory , incorporated as the district city of Norilsk—an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the districts . As a municipal division ,

2223-456: The most famous one: In the center of Norilsk, on Gvardeyskaya Square, "in an atmosphere of solemnity", a foundation stone was even set, promising the construction of a monument on this spot to those who created the basis of the plant and this miracle city. This basalt block, weighing 100 poods [1,638 pounds (743 kg)], delivered from Mount Rudnaya. On a plaque attached to it are the words: "An obelisk will be built here, an eternal reminder of

2280-548: The name of an Evenk tribe, the Nyurilians; or, from the name of the nearby Lake Murilskoye. People knew about the minerals in the Norilsk area as early as the Bronze Age. A site with primitive equipment for smelting and casting, as well as raw materials (balls of native copper ), has been discovered near Lake Pyasino. In the 16th–17th centuries, copper from the Norilsk deposits was used by the inhabitants of Mangazeya ,

2337-465: The presence of rich deposits of coal and polymetallic ores in the western spurs of the Putorana Plateau . In 1921, during one of Urvantsev's expeditions, a log cabin was built at the northern foot of Mount Schmidt. This hut is considered to be the first building in Norilsk. The cabin was later moved, and is now located near Norilsk Museum. It has the status of a historical monument. Norilsk

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2394-526: The river Norilsk and the Norilsk mountains in their accounts. According to the Soviet Arctic explorer Nikolay Urvantsev , the Norilsk river was probably given its former name, Norilka, in the 16th–17th centuries during the existence of the city Mangazeya , when the Taymyr was settled by Russian fishing people. It is likely that the name of the river comes from the word norilo , a long thin pole that

2451-565: The village of Cobasna ( Rîbnița District ), which is under the control of the unrecognized state of Transnistria internationally recognized as part of Moldova. The village, on the left bank of the Dniester river, contains a large Soviet-era ammunition depot guarded by Russian troops. Only the Transnistrian and Russian authorities have detailed information about this depot. Ukraine had eighteen closed cities, including: During

2508-695: The whole nation could be considered closed. Between 1957 and 1962, approximately one-third of the United States was closed to Soviet citizens. Only eight states were accessible in their entirety: Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, North Carolina, Arkansas, Vermont, Missouri, and Mississippi. The 2020 film Tenet prominently features a fictional Soviet-era closed city in Siberia called Stalsk-12. Nikolay Urvantsev Nikolay Nikolayevich Urvantsev ( Russian : Николáй Николáевич Урвáнцев ; 29 January [ O.S. 17 January] 1893 – 20 February 1985)

2565-546: The world. Since 2014, the city has been the center of the newly formed Norilsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. Norilsk is on Krasnoyarsk Time , seven hours ahead of UTC (UTC+07:00) and 4 hours ahead of Moscow Time (MSK+4) Norilsk sits between the West Siberian Plain and Central Siberian Plateau at the foot of the 1,700-meter-high (5,600 ft) Putorana Mountains. It is one of

2622-405: The years the camp was operational (1935–1956). Fatalities were especially high during World War II from 1942 to 1944 when food supplies were particularly scarce. An unknown, yet significant number of prisoners continued to work and die in the mines until around 1979. Several memorial structures have been erected in the city to commemorate Norilsk's Gulag past. Russian author Boris Ivanov wrote about

2679-661: Was fully exonerated in 1954. Until his death he worked as Chair of the Arctic Geology Department in the Scientific Research Institute of Arctic Geology (НИИГА, now All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of World Ocean Geology and Mineral Resources , VNIIOkeanologiya , ВНИИОкеанология). He was the recipient of two Orders of Lenin and several medals and the honorary title of Honored Worker of Science . The USSR Geographical Society elected him an Honorary Member and awarded him

2736-740: Was a Soviet geologist and explorer. He was born in the town of Lukoyanov in the Lukoyanovsky Uyezd of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire to the family of a merchant. He graduated from the Tomsk Engineering Institute in 1918. Urvantsev was among the discoverers of the Norilsk coal basin and Norilsk copper - nickel ore region in 1919-1922 and was among the founders of Norilsk town. In 1922, while leading

2793-461: Was built on the slope of Mount Schmidtikh to house the mass graves of the prisoners who founded the city. Poland and the (ex-Soviet) Baltic states have erected monuments to their countrymen who died here. Icon lamps also burn in an Orthodox chapel set on the mountainside. The discovery in 1966 of the Oktyabrskoye deposit of copper–nickel ores, located 40 kilometers northeast of Norilsk, was

2850-583: Was founded at the end of the 1920s, but the official date of the city's foundation is traditionally held to be 1935, when the Norillag system of Gulag labour camp was established and prisoners began construction work on the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant. Over the next few years Norilsk grew into a settlement for the Norilsk mining and metallurgical complex, and it was granted urban-type settlement status in 1939, and city status in 1953. In

2907-518: Was known for two centuries before Norilsk was founded, but mining began only in 1939, when subterranean portions of the Norilsk- Talnakh intrusions were found beneath mountainous terrain. In 2004, two satellite cities (Talnakh and Kayerkan ) became districts of the city of Norilsk, and Oganer became a suburb of Norilsk's Central District. The jurisdiction of Norilsk also extends to the settlement of Snezhnogorsk , which originated in 1963 as

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2964-562: Was led by Nikolay Urvantsev who travelled on the Pravda along with his wife, Dr. Yelizaveta Ivanovna. She was the officer in charge of the medical care of the expedition. During the Stalinism era Urvantsev was several times wrongfully accused of wrecking . He was convicted and had to serve in Karlag ( Karaganda labor camp system) and Norillag (Norilsk labor camp system). Urvantsev

3021-495: Was often compensated by better housing conditions and a better choice of goods in retail trade than elsewhere in the country. Also, in the Soviet Union, people working with classified information received a salary bonus . Closed cities were established in the Soviet Union from the late 1940s onwards under the euphemistic name of "post boxes", referring to the practice of addressing post to them via mailboxes in other cities. They fell into two distinct categories. The locations of

3078-481: Was required for them to visit. To relocate to a closed city, one would need security clearance by the organization running it, such as the KGB in Soviet closed cities. Closed cities were sometimes guarded by a security perimeter with barbed wire and towers . The very fact of such a city's existence was often classified, and residents were expected not to divulge their place of residence to outsiders. This lack of freedom

3135-449: Was required to undergo vetting by the NKVD and its successor agencies. Access to some closed cities was physically enforced by surrounding them with barbed wire fences monitored by armed guards. "Mailbox" ( Russian : Почтовый ящик , romanized :  Pochtovyy yashchik ) was the unofficial name of a secret Soviet facility much like the closed city, but smaller, usually the size of

3192-865: Was restricted without exception in the northern cities of Norilsk , Talnakh , Kayerkan , Dudinka , and Igarka . Russian and Belarusian citizens visiting these cities are not required to have permits; however, local courts have been known to deport Belarusian citizens. The number of closed cities in Russia is defined by government decree. The reasons for restrictions vary. These cities include: Altai Krai Amur Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast Astrakhan Oblast Republic of Bashkortostan Chelyabinsk Oblast Kamchatka Krai Kirov Oblast Krasnoyarsk Krai Moscow Oblast Murmansk Oblast Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Orenburg Oblast Penza Oblast Perm Krai Primorsky Krai Pskov Oblast Saratov Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast Tomsk Oblast Tver Oblast Vladimir Oblast Zabaykalsky Krai There

3249-618: Was used to stretch a string of trap nets from hole to hole under the ice. Some argue the name derives from the Yukagir word nerile , meaning "an earthen hill, consisting of some crags, cliffs" (the mountains around Norilsk do indeed resemble nerile s). Others suggest, the name of the river (Norilka) and, accordingly, the city name come from the Evenk word narus , or nioril in Yukaghir , which mean "swamps". It may also have originated from

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