Discover the Coldest City in the World

The coldest city in the world is surprisingly populous and busy. This burg is a mineral and natural resources powerhouse despite the practical challenges of living most of life below freezing. Yet, with its absolutely piercing temperatures, this location isn’t even technically an Arctic region!

While there are a few permanently inhabited locations in the earth’s coldest reaches, the Far East city of Yakutsk is the coldest urban community in the world. Minus 80.9 F (-62.7 C) is a recent record, and -50 F (-45.5 C) is normal for winters. There are 339,000 citizens, an international airport, and even pizza delivery in this coldest city in the world. This capital of Yakutia province is the largest habitation of it’s size with temperatures routinely among the earth’s coldest.

Defining Coldest City Versus Coldest Permanent Habitation

Some other locales might want to compete for the title of the coldest city in the world. Contenders include Barrow, AK in the US; Longyearbyen, Norway; or places in the Nunavut province of Canada. The population size required to classify a town as a city varies widely from country to country. But, with the infrastructure (just avoid driving there), economy, population size and history, Yakutsk is a city by almost any measure.

And by any measure—Celsius or Fahrenheit—Yakutsk is the coldest city of its size anywhere in the world.

Just How Cold Is It?

A common anecdote surfaces among nature reporters and others sent to the coldest city in the world. Residents can’t reliably give their own recollection of the lowest temperature. This is because most of their available thermometers apparently stop at minus 81.4 F (-63 C).

Other facts and daily considerations illustrate just how cold the city is.

Stone Cold Facts About the Coldest City in the World

• According to the BBC, the warmth of real fur is so valued that banks will finance the purchase of hyde coats—starting above $1,000—for people needing one
• The open-air fish markets do not need refrigeration; in photos, the vendors’ wares stand upright like dowels, frozen solid in baskets
• Citizens sometimes leave their cars running all night to prevent the engine from freezing up
• Fun bonus: one website lists over 60 pizza restaurants in Yakutzk

Location, Climate and More in the Coldest City in the World

Yakutsk sits in the Russian Far East and is part of the Sakha Republic (Sakha is cognate with Yakutia.) The province is enormous. Anyone looking at a map quickly sees that it dwarfs bordering Mongolia and, zooming out, might even be bigger than Australia. Yakutsk sits in the lower middle of the province along the Lena River.

The city coldest city in the world itself, though frigid, is not so high up geographically. Its latitude is roughly in line with the Alaskan metropolis of Anchorage. And Yakustk is just barely above the Nordic city of Oslo.

The interplay of its elevation while being situated in an inland location within a valley gives it a continental climate. Technically, it’s “hemiboreal“—between continental and subarctic. This inland weather pattern means there are fewer variations in temperature than coastal weather would bring: when it gets cold, it stays cold. Yakutsk citizens indeed have warm summers, but that heat is short-lived.