View source for Norilsk

{{Short description|City in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox Russian inhabited locality
| en_name                 = Norilsk
| ru_name                 = Норильск
| loc_name1               = 
| loc_lang1               = 
| loc_name2               = 
| loc_lang2               = 
| loc_name3               = 
| loc_lang3               = 
| loc_name4               = 
| loc_lang4               = 
| other_name              = 
| other_lang              = 
| image_skyline           = Norilsk 03.jpg
| image_caption           = Leninsky Prospekt in central Norilsk (June 2016)
| image_map               = 
| map_caption             = 
| coordinates             = {{coord|69|20|N|88|13|E|display=inline,title}}
| image_flag              = Flag of Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai.svg
| flag_caption            = 
| image_coa               = Coat of arms of Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai.svg
| coa_caption             = 
| anthem                  = 
| anthem_ref              = 
| holiday                 = 
| holiday_ref             = 
<!-- administrative status -->
| federal_subject         = [[Krasnoyarsk Krai]]
| federal_subject_ref     = <ref name="Ref66" />
| adm_district_jur        = 
| adm_district_jur_ref    = 
| adm_inhabloc_jur        = [[city of federal subject significance|district city]] of Norilsk
| adm_inhabloc_jur_ref    = <ref name="Ref66" />
| adm_citydistrict_jur    = 
| adm_citydistrict_type   = 
| adm_citydistrict_jur_ref = 
| adm_selsoviet_jur       = 
| adm_selsoviet_type      = 
| adm_selsoviet_jur_ref   = 
| capital_of              = 
| capital_of_ref          = 
| adm_ctr_of1             = district city of Norilsk
| adm_ctr_of1_ref         = <ref name="Ref66" />
| adm_ctr_of2             = 
| adm_ctr_of2_ref         = 
| adm_ctr_of3             = 
| adm_ctr_of3_ref         = 
| inhabloc_cat            = City
| inhabloc_cat_ref        = <ref name="Ref66" />
| inhabloc_type           = 
| inhabloc_type_ref       = 
<!-- municipal status -->
| mun_district_jur        = 
| mun_district_jur_ref    = 
| urban_okrug_jur         = Norilsk Urban Okrug
| urban_okrug_jur_ref     = <ref name="Ref763" />
| urban_settlement_jur    = 
| urban_settlement_jur_ref = 
| rural_settlement_jur    = 
| rural_settlement_jur_ref = 
| inter_settlement_territory = 
| inter_settlement_territory_ref = 
| mun_admctr_of1          = Norilsk Urban Okrug
| mun_admctr_of1_ref      = <ref name="Ref763" />
| mun_admctr_of2          = 
| mun_admctr_of2_ref      = 
| leader_title            = 
| leader_title_ref        = 
| leader_name             = 
| leader_name_ref         = 
| representative_body     = 
| representative_body_ref = 
<!-- statistics -->
| elevation_m             = 
| area_km2                =23.16 
| area_km2_ref            = 
| pop_2010census          = 175365
| pop_2010census_rank     = 102nd
| pop_2010census_ref      = <ref name="2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}</ref>
| pop_latest              =176735 
| pop_latest_date         =2024 
| pop_latest_ref          =<ref>{{Cite web|publisher=[[Federal State Statistics Service]]|date=27 April 2024 |title=The permanent population of the Russian Federation in municipalities as of January 1, 2024|url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/%D0%A1hisl_MO_01-01-2024.xlsx}}</ref> 
| population_demonym      = 
| time_zone_ref           = 
<!-- history -->
| established_date        = 1935
| established_title       = 
| established_date_ref    = <ref name="KozlovZvereva2009">{{Cite book |last1=Michail V. Kozlov |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMkeLcaGrtEC&pg=PA63 |title=Impacts of Point Polluters on Terrestrial Biota: Comparative analysis of 18 contaminated areas |last2=Elena Zvereva |last3=Vitali Zverev |date=28 July 2009 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-90-481-2467-1 |page=63}}</ref>
| current_cat_date        = 1953
| current_cat_date_ref    = <ref name="KozlovZvereva2009" />
| abolished_date          = 
| abolished_date_ref      = 
<!-- misc -->
| postal_codes            = 663300-663341
| postal_codes_ref        = 
| dialing_codes           = 3919
| dialing_codes_ref       = <ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ru:База телефонных кодов |url=http://sanstv.ru/codes/code-73919 |access-date=7 February 2016 |language=ru}}</ref>
| website                 = http://www.norilsk-city.ru/
}}
'''Norilsk''' ({{lang-rus|Нори́льск|p=nɐˈrʲilʲsk}}) is an industrial [[closed city]] in [[Krasnoyarsk Krai]], [[Russia]],  located south of the western [[Taymyr Peninsula]], around 90&nbsp;km east of the [[Yenisei|Yenisey River]] and 1,500&nbsp;km north of [[Krasnoyarsk]]. Norilsk is 300&nbsp;km north of the [[Arctic Circle]] and 2,400&nbsp;km from the [[North Pole]]. It has a permanent population of 176,735 as of 2024,<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 April 2024 |title=The permanent population of the Russian Federation in municipalities as of January 1, 2024 |url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/%D0%A1hisl_MO_01-01-2024.xlsx |publisher=[[Federal State Statistics Service]]}}</ref> and up to 220,000 including temporary inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://norilsk-city.ru/about/1242/index.shtml|title=О городе - Официальный сайт города Норильска|website=norilsk-city.ru|access-date=2022-03-05|archive-date=March 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305070814/https://norilsk-city.ru/about/1242/index.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.norilsk-city.ru/about/91891/91892/index.shtml#:~:text=%D0%9D%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%CC%81%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D0%BA%20%E2%80%93%20%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%20%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F%20%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%8F%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE,2400%20%D0%BA%D0%BC%20%D0%BE%D1%82%20%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%81%D0%B0.|title=Норильск туристический - Официальный сайт города Норильска|website=www.norilsk-city.ru|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref> It is the second-largest city in the region after Krasnoyarsk. Since 2016, Norilsk's population has grown steadily. In 2017, for the first time, migration to the city exceeded outflow. In 2018, according to Krasnoyarskstat, natural population growth amounted to 1,357 people: 2,381 were born, and 1,024 died.

It is the world's [[List of northernmost items#Cities and settlements|northernmost]] city with more than 180,000 inhabitants, and the second-largest city (after [[Murmansk]]) inside the [[Arctic Circle]]. Norilsk and [[Yakutsk]] are the only large cities in the [[continuous permafrost]] zone.

Norilsk is located atop some of the largest [[nickel]] deposits on Earth. Consequently, mining and [[smelting]] ore are the major industries. Norilsk is the center of a region where nickel, [[copper]], [[cobalt]], [[platinum]], [[palladium]], and [[coal]] are mined. The presence of mineral deposits in the [[Siberian Craton]] was known for two centuries before Norilsk was founded, but mining began only in 1939, when subterranean portions of the Norilsk-[[Talnakh]] intrusions were found beneath mountainous terrain.

In 2004, two satellite cities (Talnakh and [[Kayerkan]]) became districts of the city of Norilsk, and Oganer became a suburb of Norilsk's Central District. The jurisdiction of Norilsk also extends to the settlement of [[Snezhnogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai|Snezhnogorsk]], which originated in 1963 as a settlement to accommodate the builders of the Ust-Khantai Hydroelectric Power Station.

Access to Norilsk is restricted for foreign citizens, who are required to obtain special permission to visit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.norilsk-city.ru/38341/index.shtml|title=Въезд иностранных граждан - Официальный сайт города Норильска|website=www.norilsk-city.ru|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

== Name ==
Norilsk owes its name to its geographical location. The [[Daldykan|Norilsk river]] flows near the city, which is located near the Norilsk [[mountain]]s. The travelers [[Khariton Laptev]], [[Alexander von Middendorff|Alexander Fyodorovich Middendorf]], and [[Fedor Bogdanovich Schmidt]] mentioned the river Norilsk and the Norilsk mountains in their accounts.

According to the Soviet Arctic explorer [[Nikolay Urvantsev]], the Norilsk river was probably given its former name, Norilka, in the 16th–17th centuries during the existence of the city [[Mangazeya]], when the [[Taymyr Peninsula|Taymyr]] was settled by Russian fishing people.<ref>Урванцев Н. Н. Введение // Открытие Норильска. — М.: Наука, 1981. — 174 с. — (Страницы истории нашей Родины).</ref> It is likely that the name of the river comes from the word ''norilo'', a long thin pole that was used to stretch a string of trap nets from hole to hole under the ice.

Some argue the name derives from the Yukagir word ''nerile'', meaning "an earthen hill, consisting of some crags, cliffs" (the mountains around Norilsk do indeed resemble ''nerile''s). Others suggest, the name of the river ''(Norilka)'' and, accordingly, the city name come from the [[Evenk language|Evenk]] word ''narus'', or ''nioril'' in [[Yukaghir languages|Yukaghir]], which mean "swamps".<ref name=" Таймыр: ценный или плешивый?">{{Cite web |title=Таймыр: ценный или плешивый?|url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/2235300000-taymyir-tsennyiy-ili-pleshivyiy.html|access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда»}}</ref> It may also have originated from the name of an Evenk tribe, the Nyurilians; or, from the name of the nearby Lake Murilskoye.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.norilchanin.ru/67nom.htm | title = Norilsk resident, # 8 (67) 03.03.05 | access-date = 2009-07-20 | language = ru | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050423212857/http://www.norilchanin.ru/67nom.htm | archive-date = 2005-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|language=ru|url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/10311-skolko-let-norilsku.html|title=Сколько лет Норильску?|newspaper=Сайт Про Норильск «Заполярная Правда»|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nr-45-46-2nd-ed.jpg|thumb|Map of Norilsk (labeled as NORIL'SK) and the surrounding region ([[Army Map Service|AMS]], 1964)]]
[[File:Norilsk L7 20010809.jpg|thumb|False-color satellite image of Norilsk and the surrounding area ([[:File:Norilsk L7 20010809.jpg|more information]])]]

People knew about the minerals in the Norilsk area as early as the [[Bronze Age]].{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} A site with primitive equipment for smelting and casting, as well as raw materials (balls of [[native copper]]), has been discovered near [[Lake Pyasino]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://31marta.ru/norilsk-pritjazhenie-tajmyra-l-f-bagateeva/|title="Норильск. Притяжение Таймыра", Л.Ф. Багатеева.|website=31marta.ru|access-date=2022-03-05|archive-date=March 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305110224/https://31marta.ru/norilsk-pritjazhenie-tajmyra-l-f-bagateeva/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the 16th–17th centuries, copper from the Norilsk deposits was used by the inhabitants of [[Mangazeya]], a city located beyond the Arctic Circle on the [[Taz River]], which was an important regional trading and craft center.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru-RU|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/projects/artefaktyi/tigl-iz-sobranija-muzeja-norilska-artefakt-v-kube/|title=Тигель из собрания Музея Норильска – артефакт в кубе|website=Таймырский телеграф|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref> During the excavations of Mangazeya in 1972–1975, professor Mikhail Ivanovich Belov discovered a vast foundry yard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gorenka.org/index.php/bukinist/7418-robert-avotin-tajny-vekov?showall=&start=30|title=МАНГАЗЕЯ ЗЛАТОКИПЯЩАЯ - Страница 31|website=gorenka.org|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref> Platinoids were found in the remains of the copper wares unearthed there.

Geologist and explorer [[Nikolay Urvantsev]] carried out further study of the Norilsk region during expeditions from 1919 to 1926, which confirmed the presence of rich deposits of coal and [[polymetallic ore]]s in the western spurs of the [[Putorana Plateau]].<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/11141-sto-let-v-izyiskaniyah.html|title=Сто лет в изысканиях|website=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда»|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

[[File:Firsthouse.jpg|thumb|250px|The first house in Norilsk]]
In 1921, during one of Urvantsev's expeditions, a log cabin was built at the northern foot of Mount Schmidt.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru-RU|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/news/sto-let-nazad-na-nulevom-pikete-nachali-stroit-norilsk/|title=Сто лет назад на Нулевом пикете начали строить Норильск|website=Таймырский телеграф|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref> This hut is considered to be the first building in Norilsk. The cabin was later moved, and is now located near Norilsk Museum. It has the status of a historical monument.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru-RU|url=https://norilskmuseum.ru/pervi-dom|title=Первый дом Норильска — Музей Норильска|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

Norilsk was founded at the end of the 1920s, but the official date of the city's foundation is traditionally held to be 1935, when the [[Norillag]] system of [[Gulag]] [[labour camp]] was established and prisoners began construction work on the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant. Over the next few years Norilsk grew into a settlement for the Norilsk mining and metallurgical complex, and it was granted [[urban-type settlement]] status in 1939, and city status in 1953.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Life behind closed doors in the Arctic is.....fun! |url=http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/life-behind-closed-doors-in-the-arctic-is-fun/ |website=siberiantimes.com |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-date=November 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123065919/http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/life-behind-closed-doors-in-the-arctic-is-fun/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Main|Norillag}}

In the late 1940s, architects began to design a new city on the eastern shore of Lake Dolgoye, and Norillag prisoners started building work in 1951. In the summer of 1953, inmates from one of the Norillag camps, [[Gorlag]], went on strike, sparking the [[Norilsk Uprising]].

In 1947, construction began on the [[Salekhard–Igarka Railway]], a line intended to cross northern Siberia. The railway was to have linked the Arctic coal-mining city of [[Vorkuta]] in European Russia to the Yenisei River via [[Salekhard]] and the [[Ob River]]. A spacious railway station was built in Norilsk, in the expectation that the city would eventually have a train service to Moscow,<ref name=rail/> but construction of the Salekhard–Igarka Railway was halted after [[Joseph Stalin]] died in 1953.

To support the new city, the [[Norilsk railway]] to the port of [[Dudinka]] on the [[Yenisei River]] was built, first as a narrow-gauge line (winter 1935–36), later as a {{Track gauge|Russian gauge|lk=on}} Russian standard gauge line (completed in the early 1950s).<ref name="rail">[http://gazetazp.ru/cgi-bin/showissue.pl?n=2007/109&i=5 По рельсам истории] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929144501/http://gazetazp.ru/cgi-bin/showissue.pl?n=2007%2F109&i=5 |date=September 29, 2007 }}{{in lang|ru}} ("Rolling on the rails of history"), ''Zapolyarnaya Pravda'', No. 109 (July 28, 2007)</ref>

Norillag was officially closed on August 22, 1956, by order No. 0348 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the Norillag archives, 16,806 prisoners died in Norilsk as a result of [[forced labor]], starvation and intense cold during the years the camp was operational (1935–1956). Fatalities were especially high during World War II from 1942 to 1944 when food supplies were particularly scarce. An unknown, yet significant number of prisoners continued to work and die in the mines until around 1979.
[[File:Memorial belfry in Norilsk - edit.jpg|thumb|Norilsk Golgotha, a memorial to [[Gulag]] prisoners who labored at Norilsk]]
Several memorial structures have been erected in the city to commemorate Norilsk's Gulag past. Russian author Boris Ivanov wrote about the most famous one:
{{Blockquote | text = In the center of Norilsk, on Gvardeyskaya Square, "in an atmosphere of solemnity", a foundation stone was even set, promising the construction of a monument on this spot to those who created the basis of the plant and this miracle city. This basalt block, weighing 100 [[poods]] [{{convert|1638|lb|kg}}], delivered from Mount Rudnaya. On a plaque attached to it are the words: "An obelisk will be built here, an eternal reminder of the feat of the Norilsk people who conquered the tundra, created our city and the plant". The foundation stone was laid recently by historical standards, on June 26, 1966&nbsp;[...] | author = Boris Ivanov | title = ''Paying for Platinum'' }}

On July 17, 2020, a monument to the Metallurgists of Norilsk was unveiled at the site of the foundation stone. The foundation stone itself is part of the sculptural composition.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Сегодня на Гвардейской площади занял своё место монумент «Металлургам Норильска»|author=Заполярная Правда|url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/segodnya-na-gvardeyskoy-ploschadi-zanyal-svo-mesto-monument-metallurgam-norilska.html|website=gazetazp.ru|date=2020-07-17}}</ref>

In the 1980s, the Norilsk Golgotha memorial complex was built on the slope of Mount Schmidtikh to house the mass graves of the prisoners who founded the city. [[Poland]] and the (ex-Soviet) [[Baltic states]] have erected monuments to their countrymen who died here. Icon lamps also burn in an Orthodox chapel set on the mountainside.

Also see description of the Norilsk Golgotha and its commemoration in the early 21st century.<ref>{{cite web | title=NORILSK "Norilsk Golgotha" &#91;C&#93;** prisoners burials &#91;p&#93; | date=August 29, 2014 | url=https://en.mapofmemory.org/24-04 }}</ref>

*

The discovery in 1966 of the Oktyabrskoye deposit of copper–nickel ores, located 40 kilometers northeast of Norilsk, was a milestone in the further development of the region.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru-RU|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/news/40485-norilchane-smogut-posetit-unikalnuyu-vyistavku-podgotovlennuyu-nornikelem-v-god-80-letiya/|title=Норильчане смогут посетить уникальную выставку, подготовленную "Норникелем" в год 80-летия|website=Таймырский телеграф|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref> The mining settlement of [[Talnakh]] was founded at the same time. A new complex, the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant, was built 15&nbsp;km west of Norilsk to process the raw materials from the new deposits. Work began in 1971 and the complex was finished in 1981.

A number of [[Finland|Finnish]] companies assisted in the construction and automation of Norilsk's No. 2 copper and nickel smelters (in the Nadezhda complex), which led to substantial numbers of Finnish metallurgical and automation experts and their families coming to Norilsk from 1978 onward, creating a Finnish expat community of some hundreds of people for a couple of years.<ref>Minerals Yearbook 1978–79 Volume III Area Reports: International, United States Department of Mines, page 985, 1979.</ref>

[[File:Talnakh.jpg|thumb|left|[[Khrushchyovka]] apartment buildings in Talnakh, a district of Norilsk]]
Today Talnakh is the area's major mining and ore enrichment site. Enriched ore emulsion is pumped from here to Norilsk's metallurgy plants.

Enriched nickel and copper are transported from Dudinka to [[Murmansk]] by sea, and from there to the [[Monchegorsk]] enrichment and smelting plant on the [[Kola Peninsula]], while more precious content goes upriver to [[Krasnoyarsk]]. This transportation takes place only during the summer. The port of Dudinka is closed and dismantled during spring flooding in late May, when waters can rise by up to {{convert|20|m|sp=us}} (a typical spring occurrence on all Siberian rivers, caused by winter ice obstructing meltwater from upstream).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Sea Route Information Office |url=http://www.arctic-lio.com/dudinka |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215204828/http://www.arctic-lio.com/dudinka |archive-date=February 15, 2016 |access-date=8 February 2016}}</ref>

Norilsk-Talnakh continues to be a dangerous mine to work in. According to the mining company, there were 2.4 accidents per 1,000 workers in 2005. In 2017, [[Norilsk Nickel]] claimed that it had reduced its overall lost time injury frequency rate ([[LTIFR]]) by almost 60% since 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norilsk – Mining Hell |url=https://www.nornickel.com/upload/iblock/5b9/20171120_strategy_eng_2017_final_london.pdf |access-date=8 February 2016}}</ref>

In June 2020, 20,000 tons of [[diesel fuel]] [[2020 Norilsk oil spill|spilled]] from the tank of an [[Nornickel|NTEK]] power plant, [[pollution|polluting]] hundreds of square kilometers and causing serious [[ecological degradation|damage to the local ecosystem]].

Norilsk remains a [[closed city]], and foreign citizens require special permission to visit the area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/travel/330199-how-visit-chukotka-taymyr|title=Here's how a foreigner can visit Russia's restricted Chukotka and Taymyr Peninsulas|date=April 6, 2019}}</ref>

==Administrative and municipal status==
Within the [[subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions|Russian system of administrative divisions]], it is, together with the [[urban-type settlement]] of [[Snezhnogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai|Snezhnogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory]], incorporated as the [[city of federal subject significance|district city]] of Norilsk—an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the [[administrative divisions of Krasnoyarsk Krai|districts]].<ref name="Ref66">Law #10-4765</ref> As a [[subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions|municipal division]], the district city of Norilsk is incorporated as the Norilsk Urban Okrug.<ref name="Ref763">Law #12-2697</ref>

Since 2005, the city of Norilsk has been divided into three geographically disparate administrative districts:

* [[Tsentralny District, Norilsk|Tsentralny District]] (including Oganer), with a population of 107,351
* [[Talnakh]], with a population of 48,502<ref name="Муниципальное учреждение «Талнахское территориальное управление Администрации города Норильска»">{{Cite web |title=Муниципальное учреждение «Талнахское территориальное управление Администрации города Норильска»|url=http://norilsk-city.ru/regional/talnah/index.shtml|access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher= norilsk-city.ru}}</ref>
* [[Kayerkan]], with a population of 20,882<ref name="Муниципальное учреждение «Кайерканское территориальное управление Администрации города Норильска»">{{Cite web |title=Муниципальное учреждение «Кайерканское территориальное управление Администрации города Норильска» |url=http://norilsk-city.ru/regional/cayerkan/index.shtml |access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=norilsk-city.ru}}</ref>

== Government ==

=== Norilsk City Council of Deputies ===
The Norilsk City Council of Deputies was elected on September 11, 2022, with a five-year mandate. Its chairman is Aleksandr Pestryakov.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.norilsk-city.ru/mayor/personnel/index.shtml |title=Аппарат НГСД |website=Official website of the city of Norilsk |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|''Faction''
|''Number of deputies''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.norilsk-city.ru/delegate/index.shtml |title=Норильский городской Совет депутатов |trans-title=Norilsk City Council of Deputies |website=Official website of the city of Norilsk |access-date=2022-03-05 |archive-date=2022-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305113457/https://www.norilsk-city.ru/delegate/index.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[United Russia]]
|28
|-
|[[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]]
|3
|-
|[[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]]
|3
|-
|[[A Just Russia]]
|1
|-
|[[Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"]]
|1
|-
|[[New People (political party)|New People]]
|1
|}

=== Mayor of Norilsk ===
The mayor of Norilsk has been Dmitry Karasyov since January 27, 2021. His mandate is for five years.

=== Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory ===
In September 2021, the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory was updated. Sergey Sizonenko was elected deputy for Taymyr constituency No. 23.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://www.krsk.kp.ru/daily/28337/4482875/|title=Объявлен обновленный состав Законодательного Собрания Красноярского края|author=Елена СЕРЕБРОВСКАЯ|website=krsk.kp.ru|date=2021-09-30|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

==Demographics==

===Population===
{{Historical populations|1939|13886|1959|109442|1970|135487|1979|180358|1989|174673|2002|134832|2010|175365|2021|174453|type=|source=Censuses<ref>{{cite web|title=(USSR) Urban population of the union republics, and their territorial units|url=https://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/census.php}}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | url = http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls | title = Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года. Том. 1, таблица 4. Численность населения России, федеральных округов, субъектов Российской Федерации, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов - райцентров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120203125040/http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls | url-status = dead | archivedate = 2012-02-03 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | url = http://krasstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/krasstat/resources/20d7bd804eba60379580f5263284271d/1.10.xlsx | title = Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Итоги по Красноярскому краю. 1.10 Численность населения гор.округов, мун.районов, гор. и сел. поселе | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222093629/http://krasstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/krasstat/resources/20d7bd804eba60379580f5263284271d/1.10.xlsx | url-status = dead | archivedate = 2015-12-22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/tab-5_VPN-2020.xlsx | title = Таблица 5. Численность населения России, федеральных округов, субъектов Российской Федерации, городских округов, муниципальных районов, муниципальных округов, городских и сельских поселений, городских населенных пунктов, сельских населенных пунктов с населением 3000 человек и более - Итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2021 года | accessdate = 2021-10-01 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20220901194902/https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/tab-5_VPN-2020.xlsx | url-status = dead | archivedate = 2022-09-01 }}</ref>}}The population of Norilsk as of 2021 is 174,453.<ref>{{cite web |title=Table 5. Population of Russia, federal districts, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, urban districts, municipal districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements with a population of 3000 people or more|url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/tab-5_VPN-2020.xlsx|language=ru|publisher=[[Rosstat]]|date=2022-09-01}}</ref> After the fall of the [[USSR]] the population dropped by 40,000, but this was offset by the subsequent merger of the towns of [[Kayerkan]] and [[Talnakh]] into Norilsk, maintaining a permanent population of 175,000. Including temporary residents, the population can reach up to 220,000.

Life expectancy for local residents is about 10 years less than average Russian life expectancy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fiore |first=Victoria |date=November 8, 2017 |title=A Toxic, Closed-Off City on the Edge of the World |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/545228/my-deadly-beautiful-city-norilsk/ |access-date=2018-03-21 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}</ref> which as of 2013 was around 69 years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Bryan |date=2013-11-04 |title=See the world's 10 most polluted places (and learn how they got that way...) |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://science.time.com/2013/11/04/urban-wastelands-the-worlds-10-most-polluted-places/slide/norilsk-russia/ |access-date=2020-10-25 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref>

===Ethnic composition===
[[File:Dish Stroganina .jpg|right|thumb|[[Stroganina]], sliced raw fish, is one of the traditional foods eaten by Siberia's northern indigenous peoples.]]
The city has an ethnically diverse population. As of 2021, the predominant ethnic and cultural groups were Russians, Azerbaijanis, Ukrainians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Nogais, Lezgins, Kazakhs, Ossetians, Chuvash and Kyrgyz. The population of Norilsk consists almost entirely of people who moved to the city in the second half of the 20th century and their descendants, but many of the descendants of prisoners who were amnestied in 1953 still live in the city. There are very few representatives of indigenous ethnicities—[[Nenets people|Nenets]], [[Enets]], [[Nganasans]] and [[Dolgans]]—in the city.

There were 77 recognized ethnic groups in Norilsk as of 2021.<ref name=ethnic2021>{{cite web|title=Национальный состав населения|url=https://24.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/%D0%A2%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0%201.(25).xlsx|publisher=[[Federal State Statistics Service (Russia)|Federal State Statistics Service]]|accessdate=17 May 2023}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Ethnicity
!Population !! Percentage
|-
| [[Russians]]
|107,189 || 81.7%
|-
| [[Azerbaijanis]]
|4,694 || 3.6%
|-
| [[Ukrainians]]
|2,683 || 2.0%
|-
| [[Tatars]]
|1,792 || 1.4%
|-
| [[Bashkirs]]
|1,769 || 1.3%
|-
| [[Nogais]]
|1,748 || 1.3%
|-
| [[Lezgins]]
|1,588 || 1.2%
|-
| Others
|9,806 || 7.5%
|}

As of January 1, 2021, in terms of population, the city ranked 103rd out of 1,116 cities in the Russian Federation.

{| class="wikitable"
|
|'''2009'''
|'''2017'''
|'''2018'''
|'''2019'''
|'''2020'''
|-
|Born
|2,407
|2,478
|2,381
|2,120
|2,148
|-
|Died
|1,205
|1,055
|1,024
|841
|1,061
|-
|Natural population increase
|1,202
|1,423
|1,357
|1,279
|1,087
|-
|Migration inflow
|3,591
|13,395
|14,207
|12,585
|11,692
|-
|Migration outflow
|6,752
|13,233
|14,139
|13,024
|11,692
|-
|Increase/decrease due to migration
|<nowiki>-3,161</nowiki>
|162
|68
|<nowiki>-439</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-257</nowiki>
|}
<small>Source — FEDERAL SERVICE OF STATE STATISTICS<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gks.ru/dbscripts/munst/munst04/DBInet.cgi|title=База данных показателей муниципальных образований|website=gks.ru|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref></small>

===Religion===
[[File:Nurd Kamal Mosque.jpg|thumb|[[Nord Kamal Mosque]] is the world's northernmost mosque.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 April 2007 |title=Arctic mosque stays open but Muslim numbers shrink |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-muslims-russia-arctic-idUSL1072493620070415}}</ref>]]
[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] is the main religion in Norilsk. There is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, several Russian Orthodox churches and a [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Ukrainian Orthodox church]]. There is also a mosque in Norilsk. Built in 1998 and belonging to the local [[Tatars|Tatar]] community, it is considered to be the northernmost Muslim prayer house in the world.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paxton |first=Robin |date=2007-05-15 |title=Arctic mosque stays open but Muslim numbers shrink |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-muslims-russia-arctic-idUSL1072493620070415 |access-date=2015-02-28}}</ref>

Since 2014, the city has been the center of the newly formed Norilsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

==Time zone==
Norilsk is on [[Krasnoyarsk Time]], seven hours ahead of UTC (UTC+07:00) and 4 hours ahead of Moscow Time (MSK+4)

==Geography==
Norilsk sits between the [[West Siberian Plain]] and [[Central Siberian Plateau]] at the foot of the {{convert|1700|m|ft|-high|sp=us|adj=mid}} Putorana Mountains. It is one of the [[list of northernmost settlements#Cities and towns|world's most northerly settlements]] and is both the second largest city built on [[permafrost]] (after [[Yakutsk]]), and the second largest city inside the [[Arctic Circle]] (after [[Murmansk]]).<ref>{{Citation |last1=Nikolay I. Shiklomanov |title=A truly Arctic city: an introduction to the special issue on the city of Norilsk, Russia |date=30 October 2017 |journal=Polar Geography |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=251–256 |doi=10.1080/1088937X.2017.1387823 |last2=Marlene Laruelle |bibcode=2017PolGe..40..251S |s2cid=135434266}}</ref> Norilsk has an extremely harsh [[subarctic climate]]. It is one of the coldest cities in the world – far colder than Murmansk, which is located at almost the same latitude.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/photos/zima-v-norilske-bolshe-chem-zima/|title=Зима в Норильске – больше, чем зима|website=Таймырский телеграф|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

As a result of Norilsk's geographical isolation on the Taymyr Peninsula, the rest of Russia is usually referred to as “the mainland”, and expressions like “move to the mainland” or “on the mainland” are common among locals.

===Climate===
[[File:A car under snow in Norilsk.jpg|thumb|A car buried under snow due to Norilsk's extreme snowfall|alt=A car buried in a snowdrift with only the left side, from just below the windows, visible]]

Despite being located inside the [[Arctic Circle]], Norilsk has a [[subarctic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Dfc''; [[Trewartha climate classification|Trewartha]]: ''Ecld'') with long, snowy bitterly cold winters and short, cool and wet summers.

Average January temperature in Norilsk -26.5&nbsp;°C (-15.7&nbsp;°F), winter length reaches 8 months a year (since end of September to end of May), and snow cover lasts from 7 to 9 months, with more than 50 days of snowstorms.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/projects/tsifryi-i-faktyi/norilskaya-pogoda-razbeg-v-96-gradusov/|title=Норильская погода: разбег в 96 градусов|website=Таймырский телеграф|access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref> Norilsk winter is known for its length (>8 months a year), extreme snowiness, strong winds; it is not rare also when the hard freezing temperatures are combined with storm winds.

Spring, summer, autumn together fit into left 4 months (end of May - end of September)

Summer itself is short; takes about 1 month (July), cool; with an average July temperature 14.5&nbsp;°C (58.1&nbsp;°F), though temperatures can sometimes rise above {{convert|30|C}} and wet. Cloudy weather prevails at that time.

The [[midnight sun]] is above the horizon from May 20 to July 24, and the time when the sun does not rise, [[polar night]], lasts from approximately November 30 to January 13.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://voshod-solnca.ru/sun/%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D0%BA|title=Восход и заход солнца в г. Норильск — Россия (время на сегодня и завтра, долгота дня, календарь).|website=voshod-solnca.ru|accessdate=2021-02-04}}</ref>

Norilsk has an average annual air temperature of {{convert|-8.3|C}}, with an annual variation of absolute temperatures of {{convert|85|C-change}}. The average annual relative humidity is about 76%.
 
Although Norilsk is located south of the arctic tree line, much of the surrounding area is naturally [[forest-tundra]], and there are few trees in the city itself.

{{Weather box|location = Norilsk
| collapsed    = 
| metric first = y
| single line  = y
| width = auto
| Jan record high C = -0.6
| Feb record high C = -0.6
| Mar record high C = 7.4
| Apr record high C = 14.0
| May record high C = 23.0
| Jun record high C = 32.0
| Jul record high C = 32.0
| Aug record high C = 30.2
| Sep record high C = 24.5
| Oct record high C = 16.1
| Nov record high C = 2.8
| Dec record high C = -0.4
| Jan high C = -23.2
| Feb high C = -22.3
| Mar high C = -14.5
| Apr high C = -7.3
| May high C = 0.5
| Jun high C = 12.9
| Jul high C = 19.0
| Aug high C = 15.9
| Sep high C = 7.5
| Oct high C = -4.6
| Nov high C = -17.1
| Dec high C = -20.6

| Jan mean C = -26.5
| Feb mean C = -25.9
| Mar mean C = -18.7
| Apr mean C = -12.0
| May mean C = -3.2
| Jun mean C = 8.5
| Jul mean C = 14.5
| Aug mean C = 11.7
| Sep mean C = 4.4
| Oct mean C = -7.4
| Nov mean C = -20.5
| Dec mean C = -24.2
| year mean C = -8.3
| Jan low C = -30.0
| Feb low C = -29.4
| Mar low C = -22.6
| Apr low C = -15.9
| May low C = -6.5
| Jun low C = 5.0
| Jul low C = 10.7
| Aug low C = 8.3
| Sep low C = 2.0
| Oct low C = -10.1
| Nov low C = -23.8
| Dec low C = -27.7
| Jan record low C = -53.1
| Feb record low C = -52.0
| Mar record low C = -48.0
| Apr record low C = -38.7
| May record low C = -26.8
| Jun record low C = -9.8
| Jul record low C = 0.4
| Aug record low C = -1.7
| Sep record low C = -13.0
| Oct record low C = -36.0
| Nov record low C = -48.9
| Dec record low C = -51.0
| year record low C = -53.1
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 31
| Feb precipitation mm = 32
| Mar precipitation mm = 27
| Apr precipitation mm = 29
| May precipitation mm = 33
| Jun precipitation mm = 44
| Jul precipitation mm = 49
| Aug precipitation mm = 59
| Sep precipitation mm = 41
| Oct precipitation mm = 46
| Nov precipitation mm = 38
| Dec precipitation mm = 38
| year precipitation mm = 468
| Jan precipitation days = 11.7
| Feb precipitation days = 10.9
| Mar precipitation days = 14.0
| Apr precipitation days = 13.9
| May precipitation days = 15.7
| Jun precipitation days = 14.0
| Jul precipitation days = 13.4
| Aug precipitation days = 15.9
| Sep precipitation days = 16.3
| Oct precipitation days = 18.5
| Nov precipitation days = 13.7
| Dec precipitation days = 13.6
| Jand sun = 0
| Febd sun = 1
| Mard sun = 5
| Aprd sun = 8
| Mayd sun = 8
| Jund sun = 8
| Juld sun = 10
| Augd sun = 6
| Sepd sun = 3
| Octd sun = 2
| Novd sun = 0
| Decd sun = 0
| Jan uv = 0
| Feb uv = 0
| Mar uv = 1
| Apr uv = 2
| May uv = 3
| Jun uv = 3
| Jul uv = 4
| Aug uv = 3
| Sep uv = 1
| Oct uv = 0
| Nov uv = 0
| Dec uv = 0
| source 1 = Weatherbase<ref name="Weatherbase">{{cite web |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?refer=&s=592273&cityname=Noril%27sk-Krasnoyarsk&refer=&cityname=Noril%27sk-Krasnoyarsk&set=metric |title=Noril'sk climate |publisher=Weatherbase |access-date=16 May 2019 }}</ref> MeteoBlue<ref name="MeteoBlue">{{cite web |url=https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/forecast/modelclimate/noril%27sk_russia_1497337 |title=Climate Noril'sk |publisher=MeteoBlue |access-date=16 May 2019 }}</ref> Weather Atlas<ref name="Weather Atlas">{{cite web |url=https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/russia/norilsk-climate |title=Norilsk, Russia - Monthly weather forecast and Climate data |publisher=Weather Atlas |access-date=16 May 2019 }}</ref> OGMIET<ref name="October 2018">{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=23078&ano=2018&mes=10&day=8&hora=0&min=0&ndays=30
 |title       = Daily Data Report for October 2018
 |work        = Russian Climate Data
 |date = 20 February 2022
 |publisher   = OGMIET
 |language    = es
 }}</ref><ref name="September 2016">{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=23078&ano=2016&mes=9&day=11&hora=0&min=0&ndays=30
 |title       = Daily Data Report for September 2016
 |work        = Russian Climate Data
 |date = 20 February 2022
 |publisher   = OGMIET
 |language    = es
 }}</ref><ref name="June 2020">{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=23078&ano=2020&mes=6&day=30&hora=0&min=0&ndays=30
 |title       = Daily Data Report for June 2020
 |work        = Russian Climate Data
 |date = 20 February 2022
 |publisher   = OGMIET
 |language    = es
 }}</ref><ref name="August 2013">{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=23078&ano=2013&mes=8&day=5&hora=0&min=0&ndays=30
 |title       = Daily Data Report for August 2013
 |work        = Russian Climate Data
 |date = 20 February 2022
 |publisher   = OGMIET
 |language    = es
 }}</ref>
}}

===Norilsk-Talnakh nickel deposits===
[[File:Sperrylite in rich platinum-copper ore, Norilsk.jpg|thumb|Rich platinum–copper ore, Oktyabrsky Mine, Norilsk. Click image for details.]]
The [[nickel]] deposits of Norilsk-[[Talnakh]] are the largest known nickel–copper–palladium deposits in the world. The deposit was formed 250&nbsp;million years ago during the eruption of the [[Siberian Traps]] igneous province (STIP). The STIP erupted over one million cubic kilometers of lava, a large portion of it through a series of flat-lying lava conduits below Norilsk and the Talnakh Mountains.<ref>{{Citation |last=John V. Walther |title=Earth's Natural Resources |page=165 |year=2014 |chapter=Nickel |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers |isbn=9781449632342}}</ref>

The current resource known for these mineralized intrusion exceeds 1.8&nbsp;billion tons.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 3, 2008 |title=Mineral Reserves and Resources Statement |url=http://www.nornik.ru/en/about-norilsk-nickel/operations/mineral-reserves-and-resources-statement/minerals-resources-and-ore-reserves-of-taimyr-and-kola-peninsula-as-of-december-31-2014 |publisher=MMC Norilsk Nickel}}</ref>

Norilsk is a center of [[non-ferrous metallurgy]] and is home to mining giant [[Norilsk Nickel]]'s mining operations.<ref name="NORNICKEL IS RUSSIA’S LEADING METALS AND MINING COMPANY AND THE WORLD’S LARGEST HIGH-GRADE NICKEL AND PALLADIUM PRODUCER">{{Cite web |title=NORNICKEL IS RUSSIA'S LEADING METALS AND MINING COMPANY AND THE WORLD'S LARGEST HIGH-GRADE NICKEL AND PALLADIUM PRODUCER |url=https://www.nornickel.com/company/about/ |access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=www.nornickel}}</ref>  Nickel ore is smelted at a processing site in Norilsk. This smelting contributes to pollution, which is commonly observed in the form of acid rain and smog. By some estimates, Norilsk's nickel mines produce one percent of global [[sulfur dioxide]] ({{Chem|S|O|2}}) emissions.<ref name="Norilsk, Siberia">{{Cite web |date=November 30, 2015 |title=Norilsk, Siberia |url=https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1124.html |access-date=8 February 2016 |publisher=NASA}}</ref>

===Ecology===
Norilsk faces significant ecological and environmental challenges, though recent initiatives have been undertaken to address some of the region’s major pollution issues.

====Pollution====
Russia's [[Russian Federal State Statistics Service|Federal State Statistics Service]] lists Norilsk as the most polluted city in Russia. In 2017, Norilsk produced 1.798&nbsp;million tons of carbon pollutants—nearly six times more than the 304,600 tons that was generated by Russia's second-most polluted city, [[Cherepovets]]. Norilsk, the report states, decontaminates almost half of its emissions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Каталог публикаций::Федеральная служба государственной статистики |url=http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_main/rosstat/ru/statistics/publications/catalog/doc_1140094699578 |access-date=2018-01-29 |website=www.gks.ru}}</ref>

In addition, the [[Blacksmith Institute]] has included Norilsk in its list of the 10 most polluted places on Earth. The list cites [[air pollution]] by particulates, including [[radioisotope]]s [[strontium]]-90, and [[caesium]]-137; the metals nickel, [[copper]], [[cobalt]], and [[lead]]; [[selenium]]; and by gases (such as [[NOx|nitrogen]] and [[carbon]] [[oxide]]s, sulfur dioxide, [[phenols]] and [[hydrogen sulfide]]). The Institute estimates that 4 million tons of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium and zinc are released into the air every year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 14, 2015 |title=10 Places in Most Need of an Environmental Cleanup |url=https://whenonearth.net/10-places-in-most-need-of-an-environmental-cleanup/ |access-date=2018-01-29}}</ref>

Nickel ore is smelted at the company's processing site at Norilsk. This smelting is directly responsible for severe pollution, which generally comes in the form of acid rain and smog. By some estimates, Norilsk's nickel mines produce 1 percent of global sulfur dioxide emissions.<ref name="How an Arctic City Became One of the World’s Most Polluted Places">{{Cite web |title=How an Arctic City Became One of the World's Most Polluted Places|date=December 2021 |url=https://www.ecowatch.com/norilsk-arctic-pollution-2655904265.html|access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=www.ecowatch.com}}</ref><ref name="Norilsk, Siberia" /> [[Heavy metals|Heavy metal]] pollution near Norilsk is so severe that it has now become economically feasible to mine surface soil, as the soil has acquired such high concentrations of platinum and palladium.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kramer |first=Andrew E. |date=July 12, 2007 |title=For One Business, Polluted Clouds Have Silvery Linings |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/world/europe/12norilsk.html?ref=world |access-date=July 12, 2007}}</ref>

According to an April 2007 BBC News report,<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 5, 2007 |title=Toxic truth of secretive Siberian city |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6528853.stm |access-date=September 14, 2007}}</ref> Norilsk Nickel accepted personal responsibility for what had happened to the forests around the city, and insisted that the company was implementing measures to reduce pollution. In 2016, company chairman [[Vladimir Potanin]] admitted that environmental issues were the company's biggest problem.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-12-21 |title=Norilsk Nickel's Potanin says his company should be an environmental example - Bellona.org |language=en-US |work=Bellona.org |url=http://bellona.org/news/industrial-pollution/2016-12-norilsk-nickels-potanin-says-his-company-should-be-an-environmental-example |access-date=2018-01-29}}</ref>

In September 2016, images surfaced on social media of the nearby [[Daldykan]] River, which had turned red.<ref name="Investigation ordered as Russian river turns red">{{Cite web |title=Investigation ordered as Russian river turns red|date=September 7, 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/07/investigation-ordered-russia-daldykan-river-turns-red-norilsk|access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher= www.theguardian.com}}</ref> Russia's Environment Ministry issued a statement claiming that preliminary evidence pointed towards Nornickel-owned wastewater pipes from a nearby smelting plant as the source of the contamination. The company referred to intense rainfall and insisted that the incident of sedimentary coloring presented no danger to people or wildlife. The smelting plant, the company said, was in the process of being modernized.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-09-12 |title=Russia firm admits 'red river' spillage |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37345105 |access-date=2018-01-29}}</ref> Nonetheless, accusations of illegal waste dumping continue to plague the company.<ref name="Russian mining giant admits pumping wastewater into Arctic tundra">{{Cite web |title=Russian mining giant admits pumping wastewater into Arctic tundra|date=June 29, 2020 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/29/russian-mining-giant-admits-pumping-wastewater-into-arctic-tundra|access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher= www.theguardian.com}}</ref>

====Environmental initiatives====
The closure of the nickel plant in June 2016 was an important step toward the improvement of the environmental situation in the city, and made it possible to cut annual pollutant emissions from the plant by about 400,000 tons.

Norilsk Nickel has stated that the total emissions of its Russian operations were 6% lower in 2016 than in 2015, primarily thanks to the shutdown of the smelter. Following the completion of a large-scale project to upgrade the Talnakh concentrator, the enterprise's capacity has grown by more than 30%, from 7.6 to 10.2 million tons of ore per year. In addition to achieving higher production rates, the goal of the modernization was also to reduce the negative impact on the environment by increasing the recovery of sulfur from ore to tailings.

In 2017, Norilsk Nickel announced that it had invested $14&nbsp;billion in a major development program aimed at reducing sulfur dioxide emissions in Norilsk by 75% by 2023, using 2015 as a base year. One of the bigger steps taken to combat pollution was the closure of Nornickel's old smelter in Norilsk, the main source of SO<sub>2</sub> emissions within the city boundaries since 1942.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Nornickel on the Kola Peninsula |url=https://network.bellona.org/content/uploads/sites/2/2018/01/Nornickel-on-The-Kola-Peninsula.pdf |access-date=2019-11-07 |website=network.bellona.org}}</ref>

In 2018, Norilsk Nickel announced the Sulfur Project, which includes the modernization of the Copper Plant, located within the city, and the relocation of blister copper production to the Nadezhda plant, outside the city. Norilsk's Arena sports and entertainment complex has a showroom where you can see information about the Sulfur Program and Norilsk Nickel's other environmental projects.

In 2021, the Clean Norilsk project was launched, with the support of Federal Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov. The aim of the initiative is to demolish about 500 abandoned buildings and structures, and remove about 2 million square meters of industrial waste. The Clean Norilsk project was included in the nationwide environmental program Clean Arctic.

[[File:Putin fuel spill.jpg|thumb|right|President Putin chairing a meeting about the fuel spill on June 3, 2020<ref>{{Citation |title=Meeting on cleaning up diesel fuel leak in Krasnoyarsk Territory |date=3 June 2020 |url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/63450 |publisher=Kremlin}}</ref>]]

====May 2020 diesel spill====
{{Main|Norilsk oil spill}}
On May 29, 2020 a fuel reservoir owned by Nornickel subsidiary NTEK at CHPP-3 ruptured during depressurization, spilling approximately 21,000 tons of diesel fuel and directly threatening the [[ecosystem]] of the Arctic Ocean. It was one of the largest oil spills in Russian history. As a result of the leak, according to preliminary estimates, 6,000 tons soaked into the ground, and 15,000 tons leaked into the nearby [[Ambarnaya River]] and Daldykan River. By June 3, according to Rosprirodnadzor, the maximum permissible concentration of harmful substances in the water of the Ambarnaya River exceeded the norm by tens of thousands of times. [[Vladimir Putin]], the Russian president, declared a state of emergency.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 June 2020 |title=Putin orders state of emergency after huge fuel spill inside Arctic Circle |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/03/vladimir-putin-orders-state-of-emergency-huge-fuel-spill-siberia-power-plant-kerch |access-date=4 June 2020}}</ref> The fuel was a reserve used as a backup for the main gas supply to a power plant.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Skarbo |first=Svetlana |date=2 June 2020 |title=State of emergency in Norilsk after 20,000 tons of diesel leaks into Arctic river system |work=[[The Siberian Times]] |url=http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/state-of-emergency-in-norilsk-after-20000-tons-of-diesel-leaks-into-arctic-river-system/ |archive-date=June 9, 2020 |access-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609234644/https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/state-of-emergency-in-norilsk-after-20000-tons-of-diesel-leaks-into-arctic-river-system/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The storage tank was built on [[permafrost]], which, according to a statement by the company, could possibly have melted and become unstable due to climate change. An area of 350 square kilometers (135 square miles) was contaminated and it is proving difficult to clean up the area because there are no roads and the river is too shallow for boats and barges. [[Oleg Mitvol]], former deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor, estimated that the clean-up would cost about 100&nbsp;billion rubles (US$1.5&nbsp;billion) and take 5–10 years.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 June 2020 |title=Russia's Putin declares state of emergency after Arctic Circle oil spill |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52915807}}</ref>

Vice-speaker of the Taymyr Duma Sergey Sizonenko noted that about 700 of Taymyr's indigenous people live in the affected area.

As a result of the proceedings, Norilsk Nickel was obliged to pay a fine of 146 billion rubles, which went into the federal budget of the Russian Federation, rather than the budget of the municipality. On August 26, 2021, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation Alexander Chupriyan announced that clean-up work was complete.

===Water===

At the beginning of 2020, 43 water treatment facilities were operational in Norilsk. The system is constantly being upgraded. The modernization work is partly funded by Norilsk Nickel.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==Economy==
[[File:4Y1A0093 Norilsk (28929420786).jpg|thumb|Norilsk Nickel, Nadezhda Plant]]
[[Nornickel|MMC Norilsk Nickel]] (formerly the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine), a [[mining]] company, is the principal employer in the Norilsk area.<ref name="black">{{Cite web |date=September 2007 |title=World's Worst Polluted Places 2007 |url=http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/the-2007-top-ten-of-worst-polluted-places.html |access-date=August 10, 2010 |publisher=The Blacksmith Institute |archive-date=March 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313090154/http://blacksmithinstitute.org/the-2007-top-ten-of-worst-polluted-places.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Norilsk is a major center of non-ferrous metallurgy; the following non-ferrous metals are mined here: copper, nickel, cobalt; precious metals: palladium, osmium, platinum, gold, silver, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium; by-products: technical sulfur, metallic selenium and tellurium, [[sulfuric acid]]. The company produces 35% of the world's palladium, 25% of its platinum, 20% of its nickel, 20% of its rhodium, and 10% of its cobalt. In Russia, 96% of nickel, 95% of cobalt, and 55% of copper is produced by Norilsk Nickel. In 2007 the total volume of commodities produced and services carried out by the company in various manufacturing industries amounted to 321.5 billion rubles. In 2021 Norilsk Nickel's net profit increased by 92% to $6.974 billion.

The Norilsk industrial region has all the necessary infrastructure for the production of non-ferrous metals: electric power, hydropower, industrial construction and building material production, and repair and service enterprises.

Energy is supplied from the Norilsk CHPP-1, CHPP-2, and CHPP-3 combined cycle power plants, which are located in different parts of the city and are owned by Norilsk Nickel. The company's industrial enterprises are the principal consumers of electricity in the city.

==Transport==
The city is served by [[Alykel International Airport|Alykel Airport]] and [[Valek Airport]]. The [[Norilsk railway]] links Norilsk to the port of Dudinka on the [[Yenisey|Yenisei River]], but has been freight-only since 1998.

There is a road network around Norilsk (such as the [[Russian federal highways|A-382]] which links to Dudinka and Norilsk Alykel Airport), but the city is not connected to the rest of Russia by road or rail. In practical terms, Norilsk and Dudinka are isolated from the main Russian overland road and rail network. As there is no overland communication with the "Big Land", groups of enthusiasts make road trips to Norilsk in off-road vehicles from other cities in Russia.

Freight is transported to and from Norilsk via Dudinka by boat on the Arctic Ocean or on the Yenisei.<ref>{{Citation |last=Andrew Higgins |title=The Lure of a Better Life, Amid Cold and Darkness |date=3 December 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/03/world/europe/norilsk-arctic.html |work=New York Times}}</ref> Dudinka is connected by sea with [[Arkhangelsk]] and [[Murmansk]] year-round, and by river with [[Krasnoyarsk]] and [[Dikson (urban-type settlement)|Dikson]] during the summer navigation period.

Norilsk has a municipal bus network, and there is also a bus service to Dudinka. Several dozen taxi firms operate in the city. In bad weather, workers from Norilsk Nickel's industrial enterprises, which are located outside the city, are transported to and from the sites in off-road vehicles.

===Norilsk Airport===
[[File:Norilsk 2013.jpg|thumb|Norilsk Airport]]
[[Alykel International Airport|Norilsk (Alykel) airport]] is located 35 kilometers west of the city center. Large-scale reconstruction in 2005-2008 upgraded the passenger terminal building to a modern international standard. In 2016-2018, a large-scale project was carried out to upgrade the airport's runway. This has made it possible to increase the airport's capacity, offer more flights and increase air safety.

In the summer of 2020, reconstruction work began on the airport as part of a state program to develop Russia's transport network. Total investment amounts to more than 12.5 billion rubles (of which 5.8 billion rubles has been invested by Norilsk Nickel).

The vehicle license plate code for Norilsk is 24 RUS and 124 RUS.

==Communication==

Norilsk has a six-digit telephone numbering plan. All districts of the city are connected by a single telephone network.

Fixed-line communications for the population and organizations are provided by MTS, Norilsk Telecom, NN-Infocom, and Rostelecom.

Cellular communication began to develop relatively late in Norilsk: the first operator, Yeniseitelecom, began offering services only in December 2001. There are currently four mobile operators in the city: Yeniseitelecom (since 2001; since 2012 - under the Rostelecom brand; since July 31, 2015 - Tele2 Russia), Beeline (since 2002), MTS (since 2003) and MegaFon (since 2006). All of them, in addition to GSM communications, also provide third-generation services in the UMTS standards (Beeline, MTS and MegaFon, Tele2 Russia) and IMT-MC-450 (Tele2 Russia). Apart from MTS, all these mobile operators, built their own networks from scratch. MTS entered the Norilsk market as a result of the purchase of LLC Sibchallenge (the Taymyrsky Telefon (TT) brand) in 2003.

Since September 22, 2017, communication with the "mainland" has been carried out via fiber optic transmission; before that, communication could only be carried out via satellite channels; there were no cable lines connecting Norilsk with other cities.

A characteristic feature of Norilsk's cable network is the presence of communication cables in sewage pipes (on the surface); on the "mainland" the cables are laid in a cable duct.

Norilsk's troposcatter communication station was dismantled in the first half of the 2000s.

Since 2017, internet connection speeds have improved due to the installation of a 957-km (595&nbsp;mi) communications cable laid along the [[Yenisei River]] toward [[Krasnoyarsk]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 28, 2017 |title=Russia's remotest Arctic tundra city gets fiber-optic internet |url=https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2017/09/largest-city-russias-arctic-tundra-gets-fiber-optic-internet |access-date=February 18, 2018 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

On June 3, 2019, the city switched to digital television, and most TV channels stopped broadcasting using an analogue signal.

===Fiber optic communication===

Until 2017, Norilsk was the last major city in Russia without high-speed internet access - access to the network was provided by a satellite channel with a speed of only 1 GB/s. The laying of a fiber optic line was complicated by the long distance (956&nbsp;km) and severe weather conditions (up to -60 degrees in winter). The country's "big three" telecom operators did not dare to undertake the project, which was instead handled by the [[Norilsk Nickel]] subsidiary Unity. Broadband internet started working in the city in September 2017. The launch was attended by Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications Nikolay Nikiforov and President of Norilsk Nickel [[Vladimir Potanin]]. Connectivity is now 40 times faster - up to 40 GB/s. The construction of the fiber optic line cost Norilsk Nickel 2.5 billion rubles, an investment that will not pay off, according to Russian business daily ''[[Vedomosti]]''.

==Education==

Norilsk has a number of higher education institutions:

* {{ill|Fedorovsky Polar State University|ru|Заполярный государственный университет имени Н. М. Федоровского}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=В Норильске появился самый северный в России университет |url=http://www.nornickel.ru:3000/news-and-media/press-releases-and-news/v-norilske-poyavilsya-samyy-severnyy-v-rossii-universitet/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Норникель |language=ru}}</ref>
* Zabaikalsky State University Polytechnic College<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 March 2022 |title=О ПТК: История |url=https://norvuz.ru/institut/fakultety/ptk/istoriya/ |website=Norvuz.ru}}</ref>
* Norilsk College of Arts<ref>{{Cite web |title=Какие социальные северные проекты поддержал «Наш Норильск»? |url=https://ttelegraf.ru/news/kakie-soczialnye-severnye-proekty-podderzhal-nash-norilsk/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Таймырский телеграф |language=ru-RU}}</ref>
* Norilsk Pedagogical College<ref>{{Cite web |title=Норильские школьники творчески рассказали о профессиях, востребованных в «Норникеле». |url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/news/norilskie-shkolniki-tvorcheski-rasskazali-o-professiyah-vostrebovannyih-v-nornikele/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Таймырский телеграф |language=ru-RU}}</ref>
* Norilsk Medical College<ref>{{Cite web |title=Норильский медицинский техникум |url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/11045-norilskiy-meditsinskiy-tehnikum.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда» |language=ru}}</ref>
* Norilsk College of Industrial Technologies and Service<ref>{{Cite web |title=В Молодёжном центре состоялось награждение победителей и призёров соревнований «Полевой выход-2021» |url=https://gazetazp.ru/photos/obschestvo/v-molodjozhnom-centre-sostojalos-nagrazhdenie-pobeditelej-i-prizjorov-sorevnovanij-polevoj-vyhod2021.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда» |language=ru}}</ref>

There are also several branches of higher educational institutions based in other Russian cities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Вузы Норильска: институты Норильска, университеты Норильска, академии Норильска |url=https://eduscan.net/region/%D0%9D%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D0%BA |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=eduscan.net}}</ref>

The city has 80 institutions in the general education system: 38 pre-school educational and 29 secondary schools, six preparatory schools, one lyceum, and six further education institutions (the Station for Young Technicians, the Center for Extracurricular Activities, the House of Children's Creativity, the Social and Educational Center, the Station for Children's and Youth Tourism and Excursions, and the Palace of Creativity for Children and Youth).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Историческая справка - Официальный сайт города Норильска |url=https://www.norilsk-city.ru/administration/subdivision/uoido/1618/index.shtml |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=www.norilsk-city.ru}}</ref>

There are 41 municipal budgetary autonomous preschool educational institutions in Norilsk, including the Child Development Center. Ten of the city's general education institutions offer specialized professional development classes.

==Culture==
[[File:Theatrenorilsk.jpg|right|thumb|Norilsk Polar Drama Theater]]
Norilsk has a wide range of cultural institutions, including the Norilsk Museum and exhibition complex (which includes an art gallery and the "First House of Norilsk" house-museum),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Museums in Norilsk |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g670439-Activities-c49-Norilsk_Krasnoyarsk_Krai_Siberian_District.html#TtD |access-date=March 26, 2015 |website=Trip Advisor}}</ref> the Norilsk Municipal Cultural Center,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norilsk Town Cultural Center |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g670439-d2591398-Reviews-Norilsk_Town_Cultural_Center-Norilsk_Krasnoyarsk_Krai_Siberian_District.html |access-date=March 26, 2015 |website=Trip Advisor}}</ref> the Norilsk Polar Drama Theater,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norilsk Polar Drama Theater |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g670439-d2588208-Reviews-Norilsk_Polar_Drama_Theater-Norilsk_Krasnoyarsk_Krai_Siberian_District.html |access-date=March 26, 2015 |website=Trip Advisor}}</ref> the Norilsk Youth Theater & Studio, cinemas, a sports and entertainment complex,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sport Entertainment Complex Arena |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g670439-d7296282-Reviews-Sport_Entertainment_Complex_Arena-Norilsk_Krasnoyarsk_Krai_Siberian_District.html |access-date=March 26, 2015 |website=Trip Advisor}}</ref> a music school, and art schools for children and adults, as well as many monuments and historical buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norilsk Sights |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g670439-Activities-c47-Norilsk_Krasnoyarsk_Krai_Siberian_District.html#TtD |access-date=March 26, 2015 |website=Trip Advisor}}</ref>

The Norilsk Polar Drama Theater is one of the world's northernmost theaters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Самый Северный {{!}} Норильский Заполярный театр драмы им. Вл. Маяковского |url=http://www.northdrama.ru/samyy-severnyy |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=www.northdrama.ru |archive-date=March 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305173510/http://www.northdrama.ru/samyy-severnyy |url-status=dead }}</ref> Founded in 1941 in Norillag, the troupe originally consisted mainly of prisoners. Artists such as [[Georgiy Zhzhonov]] (1949-1953, after imprisonment), E. Urusova (1950-1954, after imprisonment), [[Innokenty Smoktunovsky]] (1946-1951), V. Lukyanov, and V. Abramitskaya, E. Mokienko, A. Shcheglov, and I. Rozovsky all performed in the Norilsk Drama Theater at one time. From 1954-1962, Honored Artist of the RSFSR Efim Gelfand was the chief director of the theater. The theater also collaborated with [[Grigori Gorin|Grigory Gorin]] and [[Yuliy Kim|Yuli Kim]], whose musical ''How the Soldier Ivan Chonkin Guarded the Plane'', based on [[Vladimir Voinovich]]'s novel ''[[The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin]]'', was staged in Norilsk for the first time and awarded the Golden Ostap Prize at a satire and humor festival in St. Petersburg (1997). In 2009, the Norilsk Polar Drama Theater was classified as a cultural heritage site of special value in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Об отнесении объектов культурного достояния к числу особо ценных объектов культурного наследия Красноярского края от 24 декабря 2009 - docs.cntd.ru |url=https://docs.cntd.ru/document/985017819 |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=docs.cntd.ru}}</ref>

The city hosts several annual major cultural and entertainment festivals, such as the Bolshoi Argish festival, the Land is Our Common Home festival, and others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Фестиваль «Большой Аргиш» |url=http://www.argish-fest.ru/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=www.argish-fest.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Край — наш общий дом |url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/kraj--nash-obschij-dom.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда» |language=ru}}</ref>

Norilsk's library system has been recognized as the best in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Норильская детская библиотека признана лучшей в крае |url=https://ttelegraf.ru/news/36402-norilskaya-detskaya-biblioteka-priznana-luchshey-v-krae/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Таймырский телеграф |language=ru-RU}}</ref> Libraries are found in every district of the city.

Exhibitions, concerts, creative gatherings, performances by local groups and touring artists regularly take place at the museum and exhibition complex, the Norilsk Municipal Cultural Center, and other cultural and leisure centers in the city.

As in other cities built around metallurgical enterprises, Metallurgist's Day (July 17) is an important festival. Members of indigenous northern ethnicities (Nenets, Dolgans, etc.) celebrate the festival of Heiro, which marks the return of the sun to the sky after the polar night.

In June 2021, Norilsk Nickel announced a RUB 4 billion project to create an Arctic Museum of Contemporary Art (AMMA), which includes the reconstruction of the House of Trade building and the opening of an 8,500-square-meter museum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=«Норникель» построит в Норильске Арктический музей современного искусства: каким он будет |url=https://www.forbes.ru/biznes-photogallery/431873-nornikel-postroit-v-norilske-arkticheskiy-muzey-sovremennogo-iskusstva |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Forbes.ru |date=June 10, 2021 |language=ru}}</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:Ленинский проспект Норильска.JPG|240px|thumb|Residential building on Leninsky Prospekt in Norilsk with premises for social and cultural institutions on the lower floors, built in the 1950s]]

The head of the Norilsk camps, [[Avraami Zavenyagin]], was made responsible for restructuring the camp barracks into a full-fledged city. The architects - Gevorg Kochar, Mikael Mazmanyan, Olgerd Trushinsh - were prisoners of [[Norillag]]. They were supervised by Vitold Nepokoichitsky, who arrived from Leningrad in 1939, so the first blocks to be constructed in the city were built in the neoclassical style and resemble St. Petersburg. Nepokoichitsky's wife, Lydia Minenko, also made a notable contribution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Дело было в Норильске |url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/9557-delo-byilo-v-norilske.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда» |language=ru}}</ref> Local features such as Lake Dolgoye and reservoirs in the southwestern district were taken into account in the masterplan. The layout of the city was based on a main avenue, interrupted in places by squares.

One of the main challenges was to minimize the impact of strong winds. The first solutions were unsuccessful (it was initially assumed that snow would be swept out along the city's streets, which were specially laid out along the axes of the prevailing winds, but the winds turned out to be too strong, and there was too much snow). After that, the decision was taken to use compact perimeter blocks, which determined the appearance of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sorokina |first=Anna |date=2018-07-27 |title=5 facts about Norilsk, one of the northernmost cities in the world |url=https://www.rbth.com/travel/328844-facts-about-norilsk |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Russia Beyond |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the 1960s, districts of standardized panel housing were built in the outskirts of Norilsk.

The city is unusual in that its gas and water pipes, which are typically laid underground elsewhere, run overground. This is due to the problems created by the seasonal melting and freezing of the top layer of permafrost.<ref name="onet">{{citation|title=Mróz, wieczna ciemność i czarny śnieg. Żeby wjechać do miasta, trzeba zgody FSB|publisher=[[onet.pl]] |author=Noizz|language=pl|date=11 December 2021|url=https://www.onet.pl/styl-zycia/noizz/norylsk-zeby-tu-wjechac-trzeba-miec-zgode-fsb-fragment-ksiazki-donikad-michal/ekxrxz9,3796b4dc}}</ref>

The city center is dominated by buildings in neoclassical style, with outlying residential areas consisting of [[High-rise building|tower blocks]].<ref name="onet"/>

===Effects of thawing permafrost===
Rising Arctic temperatures have been linked with thawing permafrost, which may cause infrastructure issues such as cracked foundations and increased building instability in the city. In response, regional authorities have announced a 650-million-ruble (€7.9 million) thermal stabilisation program for 10 Norilsk apartment buildings whose foundations are under threat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=В Норильске проведут заморозку грунта под 10 многоэтажками - ТАСС |url=https://tass.ru/obschestvo/12710379 |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=TACC}}</ref>

The system consists of a network of pipes through which refrigerant circulates, helping to freeze the foundations in the ground. Soil cooling systems were installed alongside two buildings in 2019 and 2020, and the thermal stabilisation program is scheduled to be completed in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norilsk starts cooling the ground to preserve buildings on thawing permafrost |url=https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2021/10/norilsk-starts-cooling-ground-preserve-buildings-thawing-permafrost |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=The Independent Barents Observer |date=October 22, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

==Media==

=== Television ===
The Norilsk Television Station broadcasts the signal from Russia’s First and Second Digital Multiplexes in the DVB-T2 format.

On November 16, 2020, the city launched Norilsk TV, its first municipal round-the-clock channel, broadcast by local cable operators MTS and Norсom under number 24.<ref name="Команда телеканала Норильск ТВ">{{Cite web |title=Команда телеканала Норильск ТВ|url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/komanda-telekanala-norilsk-tv.html |access-date=20 January 2016 |publisher=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда»}}</ref> Another local channel, Severny Gorod Norilsk (“The Northern City of Norilsk”) presents its news broadcasts on the Klyuch channel several times a day. Until August 2019, news was produced and broadcast by the GTRK Norilsk Television and Radio Company, a division of [[All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company|VGTRK]] that was subsequently closed due to reorganization.<ref name="Конец эфира ГТРК Норильск, начало вечернего блока Северного города (Декабрь 2003)">{{Cite web |title=Конец эфира ГТРК Норильск, начало вечернего блока Северного города (Декабрь 2003)| website=[[YouTube]] | date=June 2, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTjE2bVQZ1k|access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="Телеканал «Северный город» «переезжает» на новую кнопку.">{{Cite web |title=Телеканал «Северный город» «переезжает» на новую кнопку.|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/news/telekanal-severnyj-gorod-pereezzhaet-na-novuju-knopku/ |access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=Таймырский телеграф}}</ref>

=== Radio stations ===

* 72.68&nbsp;MHz — [[Radio Mayak]] (silent)
* 87.5&nbsp;MHz — [[Radio Mayak]]
* 87.9&nbsp;MHz — [[Radio Rossii]] / GTRK Krasnoyarsk ([[Kayerkan]])
* 90.3&nbsp;MHz — [[Vesti FM|Vesti FМ]]
* 91.1&nbsp;MHz — [[Nashe Radio]]
* 91.5&nbsp;MHz — Novoye Radio
* 101.0&nbsp;MHz — Hit FM
* 101.4&nbsp;MHz — [[Radio Rossii]] / GTRK Krasnoyarsk
* 102.0&nbsp;MHz — Love Radio
* 102.5&nbsp;MHz — Dorozhnoye Radio
* 103.0&nbsp;MHz — Delta Radio
* 103.5&nbsp;MHz — Megapolis FM
* 104.0&nbsp;MHz — [[Russkoye Radio]]
* 104.5&nbsp;MHz — Radio Iskatel
* 105.0&nbsp;MHz — [[Europa Plus]]
* 105.7&nbsp;MHz — [[NRJ Group|Radio ENERGY]]
* 106.0&nbsp;MHz — [[AvtoRadio]]
* 106.5&nbsp;MHz — Radio Dacha
* 107.0&nbsp;MHz — Radio Shanson
* 107.4&nbsp;MHz — Radio Vera
* 107.8&nbsp;MHz — Retro FM

=== Print publications ===
Norilsk’s city newspaper, ''Zapolyarnaya Pravda'', was founded in 1953. Since then, the newspaper has been a source of relevant information on the city's day-to-day life, the operation of its enterprises and organizations, and its residents’ lives.

Apart from ''Zapolyarnaya Pravda'', the local print-based press consists of free papers containing adverts and commercial information.

==Healthcare==
[[File:Городская больница №1 Г. Норильск.jpg|right|thumb|Municipal Hospital No. 1]]
Norilsk's residents enjoy a full range of public healthcare services offered by institutions that report to the Ministry of Healthcare of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. All city districts have outpatient clinics for children and adults, emergency rooms, and dentist clinics. An inter-district children's hospital is also available. The city operates a blood center.

The healthcare sector also features a broad range of private institutions offering a variety of services.

Norilsk's largest hospital is the general city hospital (KGBUZ Norilsk Interdistrict Hospital No. 1), located in the Oganer residential area.<ref name="Территориальное отделение министерства здравоохранения Красноярского края в городе Норильске - Официальный сайт города Норильска">{{Cite web|title=Территориальное отделение министерства здравоохранения Красноярского края в городе Норильске - Официальный сайт города Норильска|url=http://norilsk-city.ru/enterprise/kgbuz/index.shtml|access-date=5 March 2022|publisher=norilsk-city.ru|archive-date=March 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305174540/http://norilsk-city.ru/enterprise/kgbuz/index.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In December 2018, Norilsk completed the construction of a maternity center.<ref name="Перинатальный центр Норильска принял первых пациенток">{{Cite web |title=Перинатальный центр Норильска принял первых пациенток|url=https://kraszdrav.ru/news/6832|access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=kraszdrav.ru}}</ref>

December 2021 saw the inauguration of the first of five healthcare centers Nornickel had promised to build. The remaining four are expected to start operating before 2025.<ref name="«Норникель» открыл первый корпоративный медцентр в Норильске">{{Cite web |title=  «Норникель» открыл первый корпоративный медцентр в Норильске|url=https://www.vedomosti.ru/press_releases/2021/12/16/nornikel-otkril-pervii-korporativnii-medtsentr-v-norilske|access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=Ведомости}}</ref>

==Sport==
[[File:MFK Norilsk Nickel Logo.png|left|thumb|173x173px|The logo of MFK Norilsk Nickel, Norilsk's futsal club]]
The city has a [[Futsal|futsal club]], [[MFK Norilsk Nickel]], which competes in the [[Russian Futsal Super League|Super League]]. Founded in 1993, the club's current president is Pavel Belkin. Norilsk Nickel won the Russian championship in the [[Russian Futsal Super League|2001/2002]] and made it to the Russian Cup finals in 1999/2000, 2014/15, and 2017/18, eventually winning the trophy in 2019/20. In 2020/2021, the team came third in the Russian championship.<ref name="Ассоциация мини-футбола России.">{{Cite web |title=Ассоциация мини-футбола России.|url=https://amfr.ru/league/super/clubs/mfk-norilskij-nikel/history/|access-date=5 March 2022|publisher=amfr.ru.}}</ref>

In 2023, a professional ice hockey club [[HC Norilsk]] was founded in the city.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://www.sovsport.ru/hockey/articles/hokkej-na-rodine-lda-v-norilsk-vernulsya-professionalnyj-klub|title=Хоккей на родине льда. В Норильск вернулся профессиональный клуб|publisher=[[Sovetsky Sport]]|date=3 June 2024}}</ref> They compete in the second-tier [[All-Russian Hockey League]].

In 2021, Norilsk hosted a basketball match between a representative team from the Norilsk division and [[PBC CSKA Moscow]].<ref name=" Баскетболисты ЦСКА обыграли норильчан">{{Cite web |title= Баскетболисты ЦСКА обыграли норильчан|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/news/basketbolisty-czska-obygrali-norilchan/|access-date=5 March 2022|publisher=Таймырский телеграф}}</ref>

The city's range of sports amenities includes the Arktika multidisciplinary sports palace; swimming pools in the Central District, Talnakh, and Kayerkan; the Zapolyarnik outdoor stadium; the BOKMO sports complex; the House of Physical Education in the city center; the Ldinka indoor skating rink; and the Solnyshko stadium. For winter sports Norilsk has the Ol-Gul professional skiing center, the Oganer ski lodge, and the Gora Otdelnaya ski resort. In the summer, suburban tourist centers offer outdoor sports facilities for children and grown-ups. The city also has a junior sports academy.

In 2006, construction work began on a multi-purpose stadium in Metallurgov Square. It was later transformed into the Arena Norilsk shopping mall, which opened its doors in December 2013. In September 2015, the shopping mall welcomed visitors to the new X-Fit-Sever fitness center and the Tropicana water park and swimming pool.

Norilsk has nine municipal extracurricular sports centers, where schoolchildren can choose from a variety of sports and activities: basketball, volleyball, acrobatics, gymnastics, trampoline, track and field, cross-country skiing, fencing, boxing, wrestling, swimming, taekwondo, judo, weightlifting, karate, futsal, figure skating, hockey, and water polo.

Another popular local sport is curling. Norilsk and Dudinka host the international [[WCT Arctic Cup]], which features teams from Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and Estonia. The championship is supported by the Russian Curling Federation and Nornickel.<ref name="В Дудинке стартовал международный турнир по керлингу WCT Arctic Cup 2021">{{Cite web |title= В Дудинке стартовал международный турнир по керлингу WCT Arctic Cup 2021|url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/news/v-dudinke-startoval-mezhdunarodnyj-turnir-po-kerlingu-wct-arctic-cup-2021/|access-date=5 March 2022|publisher=Таймырский телеграф}}</ref>

On December 17, 2020, Nornickel announced the opening of Aika, a sports center of over 10,000 square meters. The company has invested 3.6 billion rubles into its construction.<ref name="Физкультурно-оздоровительный комплекс открылся в Норильске">{{Cite web|date=December 17, 2020 |title= Физкультурно-оздоровительный комплекс открылся в Норильске|url=https://tass.ru/v-strane/10286661|access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref>

==Social initiatives==

In 2021, the [[Government of Russia|Russian government]], the [[Krasnoyarsk Krai|Krasnoyarsk Territory]], Norilsk and [[Norilsk Nickel]] approved<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 14, 2021 |title=Правительство утвердило комплексный план социально-экономического развития Норильска до 2035 года |url=http://government.ru/news/44096/ |access-date=March 20, 2022}}</ref> a series of projects for the development of the city through to 2035 with a budget of 120.1 billion rubles (24 billion from the treasury, 14.8 billion from the budget of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 81.3 billion from Norilsk Nickel's funds). Projects include renovation of the housing stock, repairs to infrastructure, and the relocation of residents to areas with more favorable living conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Подписано четырехстороннее соглашение о развитии Норильска |url=https://www.ttelegraf.ru/news/pravitelstvo-rf-krasnoyarskij-kraj-norilsk-i-nornikel-dogovorilis-o-sotrudnichestve/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Таймырский телеграф |language=ru-RU}}</ref> As of January 1, 2021, 8,064 families from Norilsk and Dudinka had purchased apartments and moved to the "mainland".<ref>{{Cite web |title=В Норильске началась подготовка к реализации программы переселения {{!}} Северный город |url=https://sgnorilsk.ru/news/v-noril-ske-nachalas-podgotovka-k-realizacii-programmy-pereseleniya |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=sgnorilsk.ru |date=March 17, 2021 |language=ru-RU}}</ref>

==Notable people==
People born in Norilsk:
*[[Vakha Albakov]] (born 1985), footballer
*[[Ahmed Anarbayev]] (born 1948), swimmer
*[[Alexander Auzan]] (born 1954), economist
*[[Andrey Bartenev]] (born 1965), artist<ref name="Times">{{Cite news |last=Waldemar Januszczak |date=January 20, 2008 |title=Darker than it looks |work=Times Online |location=London |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3200272.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617012450/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3200272.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 17, 2011 |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 26, 2008}}</ref>
*[[Vladimir Bure]] (born 1950), swimmer<ref name="sr">{{cite Sports-Reference |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417055227/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bu/vladimir-bure-1.html |title=Vladimir Bure |archive-date=2020-04-17 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bu/vladimir-bure-1.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Mikhail Chachba]] (1930-1967), diver
*[[Oksana Cherkasova]] (born 1951), animator
*[[Oleksandr Glotov]] (born 1953), Ukrainian journalist
*[[Leonid Ilyichev (swimmer)|Leonid Ilyichov]] (born 1948), swimmer
*[[Vladislav Karapuzov]] (born 2000), footballer
*[[Mikhail Popkov]] (born 1964), prolific serial killer
*[[Yuriy Prodan]] (born 1959), politician
*[[Viktor Semchenkov]] (born 1942), swimmer
*[[Alexander Shikov]] (1948-2013), materials scientist<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alex Shikov &#124; Superconductivity News Forum |url=https://snf.ieeecsc.org/obituary/alex-shikov}}</ref>
*[[Sergey Smagin]] (born 1958), chess grandmaster
*[[Evgeny Solovyov]] (born 1992), ice hockey player
*[[Nadezhda Tolokonnikova]], political activist and member of ''[[Pussy Riot]]''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ottesen |first=K. K. |title=Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova reflects on the roots of her rebellion |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/pussy-riots-nadya-tolokonnikova-reflects-on-the-roots-of-her-rebellion/2019/03/18/38081d00-3474-11e9-a400-e481bf264fdc_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Viktor Tomenko]] (born 1971), statesman
*[[Dmitri Torbinski]] (born 1984), footballer
*[[Andrey Tveryankin]] (born 1967), Azerbaijani futsal player
*[[Natalia Yurchenko]] (born 1965), gymnast<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bio - Natalia Vladamirovna Yurchenko |url=http://www.nataliayurchenko.com/bio/ |website=Natalia Yurchenko}}</ref>
*[[Ivan Zaitsev (water polo)|Ivan V. Zaitsev]] (born 1975), Russian-born Kazakhstani water polo player

==Twin cities==

Norilsk is twinned with two other cities:

* {{Flagicon|Russia}}[[Minusinsk]], Krasnoyarsk Territory<ref>{{Cite web |title=Красноярский край. Подписана программа совместных действий городов-побратимов Норильска и Минусинска на 2002 год. |url=https://regnum.ru/news/17273.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=ИА REGNUM |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Здесь поставят часовню |url=https://gazetazp.ru/news/gorod/1534000000-zdes-postavyat-chasovnyu.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=Сайт про Норильск «Заполярная правда» |language=ru}}</ref>
* {{Flagicon|Bulgaria}}[[Nesebur|Nesebar]], Bulgaria<ref>{{Cite web |title=Норильск и болгарский Несебр стали городами-побратимами - Официальный сайт города Норильска |url=http://www.norilsk-city.ru/press/news/2014/document35910.shtml |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=www.norilsk-city.ru}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Colony]]
* [[Human outpost]]
* [[Mill town]]
* [[Talnakh ore field]]
* [[Tunguska Basin]]

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== General sources ===
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|kya|adm|list}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|kya|mun|list|norilsk}}
*[http://www.memorial.krsk.ru/Articles/Golgofa/0.htm "Norilskaya golgofa"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028233220/http://www.memorial.krsk.ru/Articles/Golgofa/0.htm |date=October 28, 2019 }}{{in lang|ru}} "[[Memorial (society)|Memorial]]", regional Branch "Siberia", publisher: "Klaretianum", Krasnoyarsk, 2002
*{{cite book|title=Donikąd. Podróże na skraj Rosji|publisher=Czarne|author=Dr Michał Milczarek|chapter=Dymy nad Arktyką|isbn=9788380499331|language=pl|year=2021|location=Wołowiec}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Norilsk}}
{{wikivoyage|Norilsk}}
* [http://www.norilsk-city.ru/ Official website of Norilsk] {{in lang|ru}}
* [http://www.nornik.ru/en/ MMC Norilsk Nickel]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks9E9XQp_2k "Would You Live in This Toxic, Closed-Off City?"], video profile of city by ''[[The Atlantic]]'' (2017)

{{Krasnoyarsk Krai}}
{{Closed cities of the former Soviet Union}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Norilsk| ]]
[[Category:1935 establishments in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Krasnoyarsk Krai]]
[[Category:Norilsk Urban Okrug]]
[[Category:Closed cities]]
[[Category:Monotowns in Russia]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1920s]]
[[Category:Populated places of Arctic Russia]]
[[Category:Road-inaccessible communities of Krasnoyarsk Krai]]
[[Category:Socialist planned cities]]
[[Category:North Siberian Lowland]]