Norilsk is a city beyond the Arctic Circle near the Yenisei River. Norilsk is isolated from all major cities of Russia, and the distance to the nearest port city of Dudinka is about 90 kilometers.
Norilsk is located on the northern border of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 90 kilometers from the Yenisei River. North of Norilsk there is only the Taimyr Peninsula, where, due to the severity of the climate and the lack of transport infrastructure, there are no permanent settlements. Despite the harshest living conditions, 117,000 people still live in Norilsk and the population of this city is constantly growing, albeit at a slow pace.
The bulk of the city's residents are immigrants from other regions of Russia, who settled here only at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Also in the city there is a large proportion of shift workers. Despite all the difficulties in the development of the Far North regions, Norilsk is a quite modern developed city and is the center of the Norilsk industrial region, the largest in Russia.
Civil construction is very difficult in Norilsk, so many projects have to be developed specifically for this city. Most of the buildings stand on piles driven deep into the permafrost soil.
Where is Norilsk and how to get there
There used to be a railway in Norilsk that was not connected to the main network of Russia, but in the 90s the Norilsk railway completely stopped serving passenger trains, and the electrified sections of the track were dismantled. The Norilsk railway station finally ceased to exist in 1999. Today, the only way to get to the large cities of Siberia and European Russia is by air.
Norilsk airport is located about 52 kilometers west of the city, and you can get to it by bus or minibus from the bus station. Norilsk is connected by air with Moscow, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Belgorod, Dikson, St. Petersburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Baku, Rostov-on-Don and some other cities. Travel time by plane from Norilsk to Moscow will be about 4 hours 35 minutes.
Norilsk's problems
This northern city is home to the world's largest nickel ore processing plant, Norilsk Nickel, which provides local residents with basic jobs and mercilessly exploits the resources and ecology of the region.
Enterprises located in Norilsk provide about 60% of all revenues to the budget of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the level of explored natural resources in the vicinity of the city alone exceeds trillions of rubles.
Norilsk is the most polluted city in the world and the most ecologically unfavorable city in Russia. As a result, life expectancy here is ten years less than in the regions of the European part of Russia. Oncological diseases occur in Norilsk residents twice as often. In addition, Norilsk has a very long winter, which lasts from September to May.
