Salekhard ( ; Khanty language: Пуӆңават, Pułñawat; , , formerly Obdorsk) is a town and the administrative centre of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The town lies on the Arctic Circle, with the town centre being about south and suburbs stretching to the north of the circle. The population is .
History
The settlement of
Obdorsk (Обдорск) was founded in 1595, in the place of a
Khanty people settlement called
Polnovat-Vozh (Полноват-вож), by Russian settlers after the conquest of
Siberia. It was situated on the
Ob River, and its name supposedly derives from that. The land around Obdorsk was referred to as Obdorsky
krai, or
Obdoriya.
The town was often used as a place of exile during the Tsarist and Soviet periods. Among notable people who spent time here were the Doukhobor spiritual leader Pyotr Verigin and Leon Trotsky. At the port of Salekhard, approximately 1,500 prisoners were used as slave labor, loading and unloading goods at the dock, or mining metal ore. About 5,000 prisoners in two camps near Salekhard were forced to polish diamonds mined from Mir mine.
The nearest railway station is at Labytnangi on the opposite side of the river Ob. From 1949 to 1953, the Salekhard-Igarka Railway project made an unsuccessful attempt to extend the line to Igarka, claiming the lives of thousands of Gulag prisoners.
Salekhard was the host city for the 2006 Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in October 2006.
In April 2014, Rostelecom, a Russian Internet service provider, completed the final stretch of the Nadym-Salekhard optical Internet line, which stretches for almost .
In the Summer of 2016, temperatures as high as thawed anthrax-infected corpses that had been frozen since the soviet era near Salekhard, causing anthrax spores to infect reindeer herds and herders.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with one rural locality, incorporated as the
town of okrug significance of Salekhard—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.
[Law #42-ZAO] As a municipal division, the town of okrug significance of Salekhard is incorporated as
Salekhard Urban Okrug.
[Law #26-ZAO]
Demographics
As of 2021, the ethnic composition of Salekhard was:
Economy
Супермаркет_«Стерх»,_Салехард_-_panoramio.jpg|Sterh Supermarket
Building_under_construction_of_the_representative_office_of_PAO_Gazprom_in_Salekhard_(1).jpg|Building of the representative office of Gazprom
Рынок_«Дары_Ямала»,_Салехард_-_panoramio.jpg|Gifts of Yamal Supermarket
Headquarters_of_"Yamalneftegaz".jpg|Headquarters of Yamalneftegaz
Shopping_center_"Sezam"_at_Yamalskaya_Street_(3).jpg|Sezam Shopping center
Yamal_Airlines_Headquarters.jpg|Yamal Airlines Headquarters
Нефтебаза._Салехард_-_panoramio.jpg|Oil depot
Рыболовно-охотничий_магазин_«Сармик»._Салехард_-_panoramio.jpg|Sarmik Fishing and hunting shop
Yamal Airlines has its head office in Salekhard.
[ Yamal Airlines. Retrieved on February 27, 2012.] Most of residents are employed in reindeer herding, fishing and the services sector.
By 2015, about from the airport, near the Arctic Circle, authorities plan to build a large polar resort "Center of the Arctic tourism".
Transportation
Salekhard is located in the Ob river valley and is an important river port of the Russian Far North. The unfinished Salekhard–Igarka Railway was set to provide a rail connection between the
Ob River port of Salekhard and the
Yenisei River port of
Igarka. Currently, the nearest railway is at
Labytnangi, northwest on the opposite side of the river Ob. The project Northern Latitudinal Railway will provide Salekhard access to Russian railway and will further connect Salekhard to the
Konosha–
Vorkuta railway and other parts of
European Russia.
[Ямальская дорога в зеркале мнений — Парламентская газета «Тюменские известия». old.t-i.ru.] The
Salekhard Bridge project, a combined railway-road bridge over
Ob River, is the main component of Northern Latitudinal Railway that will connect
Labytnangi and Salekhard is to be constructed with the cost of 60 billion rubles.
–Salekhard road, a 344 km long road, was inaugurated in December 2020 to the 90th anniversary of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug,
it will facilitate the construction of a railway between the two cities and connects the eastern and western parts of Yamal Okrug.
For 9–10 months each year, the Ob river is frozen and cars and trucks can drive across the river ice. In the summer a ferry operates, however during the floating of ice, generally shortly before the start and shortly after the end of summer, Salekhard is effectively isolated from the outside world, regarding freight. During these periods, only helicopters are able to reach Salekhard in case of emergency. Native people, mainly the
Nenets people and
Khanty people, always build up stocks of food at home, in the shops, and in the markets during this period, but they still suffer from seasonal inflation. The city is also served by the Salekhard Airport, which is north of the main city.
Салехард._Паром_через_Обь_-_panoramio.jpg|Ferry across the Ob river
Салехард, аэропорт - panoramio.jpg|Salekhard Airport
Salehardobriver.jpg|Salekhard port on Ob river
Brodneva Street (03).jpg|Bus transport
Паромная переправа. Салехард - panoramio.jpg|Ferry service station
Мост_«Факел»,_Салехард_-_panoramio.jpg|Fakel (Torch) Bridge over Poluy river
Climate
Salekhard has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification
Dfc) with short, mild summers and severely cold winters. Precipitation is moderate, and is significantly greater in summer than in winter.
Gallery
Salekhard_-_Mammoth.JPG|Mammoth monument in Salekhard
Salekhard_-_Mammoth_2.JPG|Mammoth monument
Памятник северному оленю. Салехард - panoramio.jpg|Reindeer monument in Salekhard
Мечеть, Салехард - panoramio.jpg|Mosque in Salekhard
Ледовый дворец .Салехард - panoramio.jpg|Ice Palace of Salekhard
Развлекательный центр «Полярис», Салехард - panoramio.jpg|Polyaris Entertainment center
Дворец бракосочетания, Салехард, ул. Некрасова, 4 - panoramio.jpg|Wedding Palace
North Outskirts of Salekhard (02).jpg|Northern outskirts of Salekhard
Город Мастеров, Салехард - panoramio.jpg|"Craftsmen Village"
Гостиница «Арктика»,Салехард, ул. Республики, 38 - panoramio.jpg|Arctic Hotel
Спортивный комплекс «Студенческий». Салехард - panoramio.jpg|Students sports complex
International relations
Twin Town & Sister City
Salekhard is twinned with:
Notable people
-
Ion-Georgy Kostev (born 1990), professional ice hockey player
See also
Notes
Sources
External links
