20 Facts About Living In The Coldest City In The World

Our Redditor isn't the only local whose account of everyday life has recently gone viral. Last year, Aleksandr and Oksana Pavlov's story about raising 22 children in the suburbs of Yakutsk in eastern Siberia, where they have no access to a central water supply, also made the rounds on the internet.

Aleksandr gets up early in the morning to "harvest" ice, chopping it and melting it for use around the home. The water is put to good use, as their reserves are used not only for drinking but also in the family’s bathroom, which sees a long queue each morning.

Before Russian colonization began in the late 16th century, Siberia was inhabited by a large number of small ethnic groups whose members subsisted either as hunter-gatherers or as pastoral nomads relying on domestic reindeer. The largest of these groups, however, the Sakha (Yakut), raised cattle and horses.

The history of Yakutsk itself is closely tied to Russia’s system of exile and forced labor. It begins with a fort founded on the Lena River's low right bank in 1632, which was moved 43 miles (70 km) upstream to the present site of the city in 1642.

The settlement became a destination for political dissidents, criminals, and other undesirables exiled from European Russia. While some exiles were granted a degree of autonomy, many were subjected to harsh conditions and forced labor, contributing to the city's development and infrastructure. This practice was part of a broader imperial strategy to populate and develop Siberia.