The lowest temperature ever recorded in an inhabited area is -71.2º Celsius (-96,2ºF). Not only that, it’s also the lowest temperature ever measured in the Northern Hemisphere, although it is about 20 degrees warmer than the -91ºC (-131,8ºF) of Antarctica. Even so, it is so cold that there are no words to accurately describe it.

That record of -71.2º was reached on January 26, 1926, in a tiny village in the far eastern part of Siberia, in the remote Republic of Sakha—now part of the Russian Federation—called Oymyakon (Оймякон), a place I personally hope I never have to travel to. There, time and winter must pass unbearably slowly, although the beauty of the surroundings probably makes up for it.

The village is located on the western bank of the extremely long Indigirka River, which runs 1,700 kilometers toward the Siberian Sea, flanked along the way by abundant gold deposits.

Oymyakon coldest inhabited place on earth
Oymyakon falls in this area. Credit: Google Maps

It lies 1,100 kilometers from the republic’s capital on a plateau 741 meters above sea level, where the ground is permanently frozen with permafrost reaching a depth of up to one and a half kilometers. The Arctic Circle lies just three degrees to the north.

Interestingly, the name of the village in the region’s indigenous language apparently means water that doesn’t freeze, which would seem like a small joke by the locals if it weren’t for the claim that there are hot springs somewhere nearby. Of course, some say the correct translation is place where the fish spend the winter, which is much more poetic.

There, surrounded by mountain ranges that reach 3,000 meters in height, it’s rare for anyone to want to live. But the fact is that at least 500 people were living in Oymyakon in 2021, the last year for which we have data.

Oymyakon coldest inhabited place on earth
Oymyakon is a quiet village, especially in winter. Credit: Ilya Varlamov / Wikimedia Commons

They endure long nine-month winters, storing the fish they catch in the river in the cellars of their houses—fish that freeze thirty seconds after being pulled from the water.

It is said that local buses have to keep their engines running at all times so the diesel doesn’t freeze, and since nothing can be grown, people eat meat and fish all day (raw and frozen is the typical dish), along with wild berries, as well as hajak (a type of butter) and kiorchekh (ice cream), because it’s impossible to drink liquid milk. They obtain nearly everything by their own means, as there is only one store in the village.

Why live in a place like this? The truth is that Oymyakon was originally just a shelter for reindeer herders and hunters until the Soviet government decided it was a good idea to settle the nomadic Siberian peoples back in the 1920s and 1930s.

Oymyakon coldest inhabited place on earth
Waiting for the bus in Oymyakon is a challenge. Credit: Ilya Varlamov / Wikimedia Commons

So they built a village with houses and some basic infrastructure and kindly asked the Yakuts to move there.

They mainly raise reindeer and wild horses, fish, and work in the numerous gold mines, in an environment where modern technology is practically nonexistent. They don’t even have mobile phone coverage, as electronic equipment would fail in such low temperatures.

But it’s not all cold and isolation—after a long, dark winter with only three hours of daylight per day, summer eventually arrives. And it comes in full force, with nights where darkness lasts just three hours and temperatures can easily reach 30 degrees. Luckily, there are several lakes nearby where people can cool off, and there is hardly any rain or wind.

Oymyakon coldest inhabited place on earth
Small horses with thick coats survive in Oymyakon. Credit: Ilya Varlamov / Wikimedia Commons

The few tourists who dare to make it there—just a few dozen per year—are rewarded with a curious certificate that attests to their survival in the coldest inhabited place on Earth, and in the most extreme conditions of the Northern Hemisphere.

But also with a unique and contrasting landscape, permanently white, where firs and larches endure, and small horses with long, thick coats defy the cold and the silence.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on May 13, 2025: Oimiakón, el lugar habitado más frío del mundo, donde los peces se congelan a los 30 segundos de pescarlos

SOURCES

Nina A. Stepanova, On the lowest temperatures on Earth

Christopher C. Burt, The coldest places of Earth

World Meteorological Organization, World Weather and Climate Extremes Archive

Wikipedia, Oimiakón

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