Norilsk

city Norilsk Норильск flag coat of arms Federal district Siberia region Krasnoyarsk Urban district Norilsk mayor Sergei Shmakov Founded 1935 City since 1953 surface 4500  km² population 175,365 inhabitants (as of Oct. 14, 2010) Population density 39 inhabitants / km² Height of the center 90  m Time zone UTC + 7 Telephone code (+7) 3919 Post Code 6633xx License Plate 24, 84, 88, 124 OKATO 04 429 Website www.norilsk-city.ru Geographical location Coordinates 69 ° 20 '  N , 88 ° 13'  E Coordinates: 69 ° 20 '0 "  N , 88 ° 13' 0"  E

Situation in Russia

Location in the Krasnoyarsk Territory

List of cities in Russia

Norilsk ( Russian Норильск ) is listed on the northwestern foothills of the central Siberian highlands located city in the north of the Krasnoyarsk region in Russia . It has 175,365 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010) and is the northernmost city on earth .

Because of nickel production, the city and its surroundings are highly polluted . According to some estimates, one percent of global sulfur dioxide emissions come from Norilsk's nickel smelters.

geography

Geographical location

Norilsk is located around 300 km north of the Arctic Circle on the northern foothills of the Lontokoiski-Kamen Mountains (max. 760  m ), the outer north-western foothills of the Central Siberian Mountains; a little to the east, beyond the Norilka , which flows a bit northeast of the city , rises the Putorana Mountains (max. 1701  m ) as a much larger northwest part of this mountainous region. Not far to the west is the district of Kajerkan and northeast of the Putorana Mountains, the district of Talnach . Towards the north-north-west, where the Pjassino Sea stretches a little further , the landscape gradually descends into the North Siberian Lowland and to the west gently into the great West Siberian Lowland ; both lowlands merge seamlessly to the northwest of the city. The ice-free port city of Dudinka lies 90 km west of Norilsk on the Yenisei ; from there there is 300 km downstream via an additional 200 km estuary connection with the Rand Sea Kara Sea to the Arctic Ocean and the Northeast Passage running there .

Between the center of the city of Norilsk and its north-northeastern district of Talnach, the Norilka flows northwest into the Pjassino Sea, which drains over the Pjassina to the Kara Sea

climate

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Norilsk Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) −23.6 −23.9 −18.4 −10.0 −1.7 10.4 18.2 15.0 6.9 −6.7 −16.9 −21.6 O −5.9 Record maximum ( ° C ) −3.0 −2.0 7.4 10.5 22.8 30.4 31.0 28.7 18.6 9.6 3.1 −1.0 ᐃ 31.0 Min. Temperature (° C) −30.7 −31.0 −26.4 −18.5 −8.4 3.2 10.0 7.6 1.2 −12.5 −23.9 −28.9 O −13.1 Record minimum (° C) −53.1 −52.0 −46.1 −38.7 −26.8 −9.8 0.4 −1.0 −14.0 −36.0 −43.1 −51.0 ᐁ −53.1 Temperature (° C) −26.9 −27.2 −21.9 −13.9 −4.8 7.0 14.3 11.4 4.0 −9.5 −20.2 −25.1 O −9.3 Precipitation ( mm ) 17.6 16.1 28.4 21.1 24.0 34.4 32.4 52.2 26.0 35.9 30.8 22.1 Σ 341 T e m p e r a t u r −23.6 −30.7 −23.9 −31.0 −18.4 −26.4 −10.0 −18.5 −1.7 −8.4 10.4 3.2 18.2 10.0 15.0 7.6 6.9 1.2 −6.7 −12.5 −16.9 −23.9 −21.6 −28.9 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec N i e d e r s c h l a g 17.6 16.1 28.4 21.1 24.0 34.4 32.4 52.2 26.0 35.9 30.8 22.1   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Source: weatherbase

Norilsk seen from Talnach (2016)

Districts

In 2004 the previously independent and nearby towns of Talnach and Kajerkan were incorporated into Norilsk, which means that the town now had over 200,000 inhabitants. In addition, the approximately 160 kilometers south on was Khantayka River Reservoir located snezhnogorsk in the urban district of Norilsk incorporated.

history

Oldest house in town, a log house made of logs (probably from the 1930s)

The region around Norilsk is extraordinarily rich in natural resources, in particular in nickel , copper , cobalt and platinum ores as well as high quality hard coal . In order to make these natural resources usable, the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union decided in 1935 to establish an industrial site in Norilsk. A nickel combination was supposed to smelt the ores on site and in some cases also refine them. In 1939 it was decided to build an entire city in Norilsk. Norilsk was granted the administrative status of a city in 1953.

Labor camp

Ruins of a Golgotha ​​church and at the same time a memorial to Gulag convicts who worked in Norilsk (2008)

In the first two decades, Norilsk and the local nickel combine were built and operated almost exclusively by Gulag prisoners who were incarcerated in the Norilsk corrective labor camp (Russian short form: NorilLag ), which existed from 1935 to 1956 . The number of inmates in this camp rose steadily until Stalin's death in 1953, reaching around 70,000 to 90,000 in the early 1950s. A total of 270,000 people passed through the camp, and 17,000 to 18,000 died in prison.

From 1948 to 1954 there was also “Special Camp No. 2” (also: “Gorny lager” / “ GorLag ”, German mountain camp ) in which an additional 20,000 (almost exclusively “political”) prisoners were interned under particularly strict conditions were. In the summer of 1953, a few months after Stalin's death, the inmates of this camp went into an uprising that lasted several months. Among other things, they called for the detention conditions to be relaxed, for crimes committed by the camp staff to be prosecuted, and for a general review of the cases of all prisoners convicted of political (“counter-revolutionary”) offenses. A commission specially traveled from Moscow held out the prospect of concessions on many, but not all, points. The inmates then returned to work in some of the camp departments. However, after the camp administration began to isolate the organizers of the uprising from the rest of the inmates, many of these inmates went on strike again. The camp administration then broke the resistance by storming every single camp division with guards and units of the Interior Ministry, killing dozen of prisoners. Many of the prisoners involved in the uprising were systematically mistreated, and there are isolated reports of executions. Over a thousand prisoners involved in the uprising were transferred to other prison camps.

In 1956, the forced labor camps in the Norilsk region were closed.

Population development

year	Residents
1939	013,886
1959	109,442
1970	135,487
1979	180.358
1989	174,673
2002	134,832
2010	175.365

Note: census data

Life expectancy in Norilsk is said to be about ten years below the Russian average.

economy

Norilsk region (2016): east of the Melkoje lake , west of the airfield, south-west of the city the metal works "Nadezhda" (exhaust plume), further south-west (red) a sewage basin.

Industry and the environment

Norilsk is characterized by nickel production. Nickel ore was discovered here in 1920 and mined from the Second World War. The underground production started in 1950. The sulphidic ore is between 500 and 1500 m deep. Some ores contain up to 32% copper. The ore is mined in Talnach north of the city, enriched and then smelted and refined in the “Nadezhda” metal works southwest of the city. Since 1993, the former Norilsk Nickel Combine has been the core component of the MMC Norilsk Nickel group , which belongs to the Interros Group , is one of the ten largest and at the same time most profitable companies in Russia and the world market leader in nickel production.

The company employs around 80,000 people in the region. In addition to nickel, copper and a number of precious metals are also extracted. The supplies last for another 50 years with current production.

There is a cement plant on the south-eastern edge of the city. The copper works (smelting and electrolytic refining of copper, supplier of 900,000 t / a sulfur and sulfuric acid) is located on the north-western edge of the city.

The nickel smelter is considered the largest single air polluter on earth. By acid rain , caused by sulfur dioxide emissions in roasting the ore, forests have died over a large area. In addition, there are dusts containing heavy metals and waste water from refining. The surrounding nature is extensively colored black. In 2003, Norilsk's total air pollutant emissions were over 2.02 million tons.

In October 2006, the Blacksmith Institute named the city one of the top ten "worst polluted places in the world". In 2007 and 2013 the place received this “award”. This information was confirmed again by a report by the Russian statistical office Rosstat in June 2011, according to which Norilsk is the most polluted place in Russia.

On September 5, 2016, the Daldykan River turned red in sections. Norilsk Nickel later stated that a defective filtration dam was the cause, but denied that it had caused major environmental damage. Russian environmental activists from Greenpeace criticized the fact that the information provided by Norilsk Nickel was practically impossible to verify, as the company controls access to the entire Taimyr Peninsula and thus prevents independent investigations.

→ Main article : Diesel oil disaster near Norilsk

The end of May 2020, there came through the phasing out of about 17,500 tons of diesel fuel of the thermal power plant HPP-3 of NTEK about 10 km west of Norilsk in the rivers Ambarnaja and Daldykan severe environmental degradation. Supports that had anchored a tank in the permafrost for 30 years had surprisingly sunk. According to the Russian Civil Protection Ministry, local officials tried for two days to stop the oil leaking before they informed the Ministry. The responsible regional governor reported that he had learned of the accident on social media. By June 4, 2020, the leaked oil formed a film about 12 kilometers long on the Ambarnaya River and partially colored it crimson . The floating diesel phase was delimited with floating dams. The Russian section of Greenpeace described the incident as "Russia's greatest environmental disaster".

Infrastructure

Norilsk can only be reached by plane or by boat across the Yenisei River or through the Arctic Ocean to Dudinka . The latter route is kept clear with icebreakers .

The Norilsk airport , which was also built for military reasons Located 34 kilometers (44 kilometers by road) west of the city. Like Dudinka, it can be reached all year round from the city thanks to snow removal work in winter.

Norilsk is not connected to the Russian railway network, as a line started under Stalin , the Arctic Circle Railway , was never completed. However, the city is connected to the inland and high-sea port of Dudinka by a railway line approximately 120 km long . From there the ores and metals extracted in Norilsk are shipped all year round (except usually in June, due to flooding after the ice melts) via the Yenisei and the northern sea route. The railway line was initially a narrow-gauge railway , which was later replaced by a broad-gauge line. Passenger traffic also took place until the 1990s. Although the railway line has often been referred to as the northernmost in the world (northernmost point near the end of the line in Talnach), both the line to Petschenga (about 100 km northwest of Murmansk ), which is connected to the Murman Railway and thus to the European network, and the short isolated railway line Kirkenes are sufficient –Bjørnevatn (Norway) a little further north. However, since 2010 the newly opened Obskaja – Karskaja railway line has been clearly the northernmost operating railway line in the world.

There is a monitoring station of the SDCM system on site , which improves GLONASS and GPS .

Culture and sights

• Attractions
• 

  Lenin Prospect main street, downtown Norilsk development complex (2016)

• 

  The Norilsk Theater (2007)

• 

  The Nurd-Kamal in Norilsk is the northernmost mosque in the world.

Educational institutions

• Branch of the Moscow Institute of Entrepreneurship and Law
• College for Management and Law
• Norilsk Industrial Institute
• Norilsk Economic Institute

Entry restrictions

Since November 2001, foreigners (with the exception of citizens of Belarus ) have only been permitted to enter the city if they have received permits from the city administration and the nickel works. Airlines and shipping companies are instructed not to sell airline tickets and tickets to foreigners without such permits. Norilsk was granted closed city status by the Russian government at the request of local authorities and the largest employer, MMC Norilsk Nickel. According to the company's press spokeswoman, this was supposed to prevent migration problems.

Town twinning

• Minusinsk , Russia

sons and daughters of the town

• Boris Michailowitsch Pavlov (1933–1994), wildlife biologist and ornithologist
• Leonid Iljitschow (* 1948), swimmer
• Wladimir Bure (* 1950), swimmer and Olympic medalist
• Oleksandr Hlotow (* 1953), Ukrainian literary scholar and journalist
• Lyudmila Tschernowa (* 1955), sprinter
• Jurij Prodan (* 1959), Ukrainian politician
• Natalja Yurtschenko (* 1965), artistic gymnast
• Oleg Orechowski (* 1977), ice hockey player
• Dmitri Torbinski (* 1984), football player
• Nadeschda Tolokonnikowa (* 1989), performance artist and political activist
• Anna Schtscherbinina (* 1991), biathlete and cross-country skier

literature

• Simon Ertz: Forced Labor in Noril'sk. An atypical, ideal-typical camp complex . In: Eastern Europe , 6-2007, pp. 289-300.
• Simon Ertz: Building Norilsk , In: The Economics of Forced Labor: The Soviet Gulag , edited by Paul Gregory, Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2003, pp. 127–150, see: PDF
• Leonid Borodkin, Simon Ertz: Coercion versus Motivation: Forced Labor in Norilsk. In: The Economics of Forced Labor: The Soviet Gulag , edited by Paul Gregory, Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2003, pp. 75-104, see: PDF

Web links

Commons : Norilsk  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the city administration (Russian)
• Norilsk on mojgorod.ru (Russian)
• Labor camp in Northwest Siberia on the GULAG website of Memorial Deutschland e. V. (overview map, including the camps around Norilsk)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Itogi Vserossijskoj perepisi naselenija 2010 goda. Tom 1. Čislennostʹ i razmeščenie naselenija (Results of the All-Russian Census 2010. Volume 1. Number and distribution of the population). Tables 5 , pp. 12-209; 11 , pp. 312–979 (download from the website of the Federal Service for State Statistics of the Russian Federation)
2. ↑ Norilsk, Siberia . NASA. July 8, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
3. ^ Map of the Gulag near Norilsk
4. ↑ Simon Ertz: Forced Labor in Noril'sk. An atypical, ideal-typical camp complex , p. 293.
5. ↑ Simon Ertz: Forced Labor in Noril'sk. An atypical, ideal-typical camp complex , p. 295.
6. ↑ Discovered! Mysterious places - Norilsk - the dirtiest city in Russia. June 3, 2018, accessed on November 14, 2019 (Austrian German). 
7. ↑ ^{a b} [1] Communication from Kable Intelligence Limited: Norilsk Mining Center , accessed on June 5, 2020
8. ^ [2] Message from DKL Engineering, Inc. on the copper plant in Norilsk, accessed on June 5, 2020
9. ↑ Top 10 Most Polluted Places 2006
10. ↑ Top 10 Most Polluted Places 2007
11. ↑ Top Ten Threats 2013 of the Blacksmith Institute (PDF)
12. ↑ По данным Росстата, самым грязным городом России стал Норильск
13. ↑ Russia's Norilsk Nickel admits 'red river' responsibility. September 12, 2016, accessed June 4, 2020 . 
14. ^ Diesel fuel spill in Norilsk in Russia's Arctic contained. June 5, 2020, accessed on July 21, 2020 . 
15. ↑ Leak in Russian power plant - 20,000 tons of diesel leaked. June 4, 2020, accessed June 4, 2020 . 
16. ↑ WORLD: Leak in Russian power plant - thawing permafrost ground could be to blame . In: THE WORLD . June 5, 2020 ( welt.de [accessed June 5, 2020]).
17. ↑ Arctic Circle oil spill prompts Putin to declare state of emergency. BBC News, June 4, 2020, accessed June 4, 2020 . 
18. ↑ ala / dpa: Leak in thermal power station - 20,000 tons of diesel leaked. Der Spiegel, June 3, 2020, accessed on June 3, 2020 . 
19. ↑ Unstoppable , taz.de, June 5, 2020.
20. ↑ Arctic mosque stays open but Muslim numbers shrink . In: Reuters . April 15, 2007 ( reuters.com [accessed June 4, 2020]).
21. ↑ Gabor Szabo, Vladimir Kitov: Russia's closed cities are open and shut case (PDF; 375 kB) ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: The Russia Journal, 16.-22. November 2001 (accessed January 5, 2013) 
22. ↑ Eugeniusz Nowak, Scientists in Turbulent Times , Neue Brehm Bücherei, Vol. 676, Hohenwardsleben, 2010, pp. 386–393
23. ↑ Leonid Ilyichov in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
24. ↑ Продан Юрий , file.liga.net
25. ↑ Natalia Yurchenko (USSR) , gymn-forum.net