View source for Verkhoyansk

{{Short description|Town in Sakha Republic, Russia}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox Russian inhabited locality
|en_name=Verkhoyansk
|ru_name=Верхоянск
|loc_name1=Верхоянскай
|loc_lang1=Yakut
|image_skyline=Werchojansk Kältepoldenkmal II.JPG
|image_caption=Pole of Cold in Verkhoyansk
|coordinates={{coord|67|33|N|133|23|E|display=inline,title}}
|map_label_position=right
|image_coa=Coat of Arms of Verkhoyansk (Yakutia) soviet.png
|coa_caption=
|image_flag=
|flag_caption=
|anthem=
|anthem_ref=
|holiday=
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|federal_subject=[[Sakha Republic]]
|federal_subject_ref=<ref name="SakhaR_admlist" />
|adm_district_jur=[[Verkhoyansky District]]
|adm_district_jur_ref=<ref name="SakhaR_admlist" />
|adm_selsoviet_jur=Verkhoyansk
|adm_selsoviet_type=[[Town of district significance|Town]]
|adm_selsoviet_jur_ref=<ref name="SakhaR_admlist" />
|adm_ctr_of=Town of Verkhoyansk
|adm_ctr_of_ref=<ref name="SakhaR_admlist" />
|inhabloc_cat=Town
|inhabloc_cat_ref=<ref name="SakhaR_admlist" />
|inhabloc_type=Town under district jurisdiction
|inhabloc_type_ref=<ref name="SakhaR_admlist" />
|mun_district_jur=Verkhoyansky Municipal District
|mun_district_jur_ref=<ref name="Ref531" />
|urban_settlement_jur=Verkhoyansk Urban Settlement
|urban_settlement_jur_ref=<ref name="Ref531" />
|mun_admctr_of=Verkhoyansk Urban Settlement
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|pop_2010census=1311
|pop_2010census_ref=<ref name="2010Census" />
|pop_density=
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|established_date=1638
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|current_cat_date=1817
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|postal_codes=678530
|dialing_codes=41165
|dialing_codes_ref=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/24266.htm|title=Климат Верхоянска - Погода и климат}}</ref>
|website=
}}
{{Infobox
|bodystyle=width:23.5em
|title=Verkhoyansk population
|label1=[[Russian Census (2010)|2010 Census]]
|data1=1,311<ref name="2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}</ref>
|label2=[[Russian Census (2002)|2002 Census]]
|data2=1,434<ref name="2002Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2002Census}}</ref>
|label3=[[Soviet Census (1989)|1989 Census]]
|data3=1,883<ref name="1989Census">{{ru-pop-ref|1989Census}}</ref>
|label4=[[Soviet Census (1979)|1979 Census]]
|data4=1,709<ref name="1979Census">{{ru-pop-ref|1979Census}}</ref>
}}

'''Verkhoyansk''' ({{lang-rus|Верхоянск|p=vʲɪrxɐˈjansk}}; {{langx|sah|Верхоянскай|Verxoyanskay}}) is a [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|town]] in [[Verkhoyansky District]] of the [[Sakha Republic]], [[Russia]], located on the [[Yana River]] in the [[Arctic Circle]], {{convert|92|km|sp=us}} from [[Batagay]], the [[administrative center]] of the district, and {{convert|675|km|sp=us}} north of [[Yakutsk]], the [[capital city|capital]] of the Sakha republic. As of the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 Census]], its population was&nbsp;1,311.<ref name="2010Census">{{ru-pop-ref|2010Census}}</ref> Verkhoyansk holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded north of the Arctic Circle, with {{convert|38.0|C|F}}, and it also holds the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in [[Asia]], {{convert|-67.8|C|F}}. The cold record is shared with [[Oymyakon]].

==History==
[[Cossacks]] founded an [[ostrog (fortress)|ostrog]] in 1638,<ref name="gr">{{cite book|title={{lang|ru|Энциклопедия Города России}}|year=2003|publisher={{lang|ru|Большая Российская Энциклопедия}}|location=Moscow|isbn=5-7107-7399-9|page=69}}</ref> {{convert|90|km|sp=us}} southwest of the modern town. The ostrog's name "Verkhoyansky", roughly translating from Russian as ''[thing/ostrog] on the Upper Yana'' (grammatically, it's only a masculine adjective), derived from its geographical location on the upper reaches of the [[Yana River]]. In 1775, it was moved to the left bank of the Yana River to facilitate tax collection. It was granted town status in 1817.<ref>{{lang|ru|Поспелов Е.М. Географические названия России. Топонимический словарь.. — Москва: АСТ: Астрель, 2008. — С. 136.}}</ref> Between the 1860s and 1917, the town was a place of political exile, with some of the more prominent exiles including the [[Polish people|Polish]] writer [[Wacław Sieroszewski]], as well as Bolshevik revolutionaries [[Ivan Babushkin]] and [[Viktor Nogin]].

==Administrative and municipal status==

As an [[types of inhabited localities in Russia|inhabited locality]], Verkhoyansk is classified as a town under district level jurisdiction.<ref name="SakhaR_admlist">''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic''</ref> Within the [[subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions|framework of administrative divisions]], it is incorporated within [[Verkhoyansky District]] as the [[Town of district significance|Town]] of Verkhoyansk.<ref name="SakhaR_admlist" /> As a [[subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions|municipal division]], the Town of Verkhoyansk is incorporated within Verkhoyansky Municipal District as Verkhoyansk Urban Settlement.<ref name="Ref531">Law #173-Z #353-III</ref>

== Economy and infrastructure ==
There is a [[inland port|river port]], an airport, a fur-collecting depot, and the center of a reindeer-raising area.

== Geography ==
Verkhoyansk gives its name to the [[Verkhoyansk Range]], one of the main mountainous zones of the [[East Siberian Mountains|Eastern Siberian System]]. The town is located close to the northwestern edge of the [[Yana-Oymyakon Highlands]], a cold and sparsely populated area.<ref>[https://geosfera.org/aziya/russia-aziya/1262-verhoyanskiy-hrebet.html Верхоянский хребет — Россия — Планета Земля (in Russian)]</ref>

==Religion==
{{unreferencedsection|date=July 2025}}
[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] is the most widely professed faith in Verkhoyansk, with a significant [[Irreligion|non-religious]] population. [[Shamanism]] and [[Aiyy Faith]] also have a presence in the town.

== Climate ==
{{Main|Climate of Verkhoyansk}}
With an extreme [[subarctic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Dfd'', [[Trewartha climate classification]] ''Ecle''), Verkhoyansk has extremely cold winter temperatures and some of the greatest temperature differences on Earth between summer and winter. Average monthly temperatures range from {{convert|-44.7|C}} in January to {{convert|+16.5|C}} in July. Mean monthly temperatures are below freezing from October through April and exceed {{convert|+10|C}} from June through August, with the intervening months of May and September constituting very short transitional seasons. Located within the Arctic Circle, Verkhoyansk has an extreme [[subarctic climate]] rather than a [[tundra climate]], dominated much of the year by [[anticyclone|high pressure]]. This has the effect of cutting off the region from warming influences in winter and together with a lack of cloud cover leads to extensive heat losses during the cooler months.

Verkhoyansk is one of the places considered the northern [[Pole of Cold]], the other being [[Oymyakon]], located 629&nbsp;km (391 miles) away. The lowest recorded temperature was {{convert|-67.8|C|1}}, recorded on January 15, 1885, and both February 5 and 7, 1892.<ref name="Stepanova">{{cite web|author=N. A. Stepanova
|title=On the Lowest Temperatures on Earth|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/086/mwr-086-01-0006.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Burt">Weather Underground - The Coldest Places on Earth https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/the-coldest-places-on-earth</ref>  On 6 February 1933 however, the temperature at Oymyakon reached {{convert|-67.7|C|1}}, just barely above Verkhoyansk's record.<ref name="Stepanova"/><ref name="Burt"/> Only [[Greenland]] and [[Antarctica]] have recorded [[Lowest temperature recorded on Earth|lower temperatures]] than Oymyakon or Verkhoyansk: the lowest directly recorded temperature at ground level is {{convert|-89.2|C}}, recorded at the [[Vostok Station]] in Antarctica on 21 July 1983,<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Weather & Climate Extremes|url=http://wmo.asu.edu/#global|publisher=World Meteorological Organization|access-date=23 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=World: Lowest Temperature |url=http://wmo.asu.edu/world-lowest-temperature |publisher=[[World Meteorological Organization]] |access-date=23 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616025722/http://wmo.asu.edu/world-lowest-temperature |archive-date=16 June 2010 }}</ref> and a temperature of {{convert|-93.2|C}} was recorded via satellite observations at the [[East Antarctic Plateau]] in [[Antarctica]] on 10 August 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Coldest Place in the World|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/09dec_coldspot|publisher=NASA|access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref> The [[World Meteorological Organization]] has recently recognized a temperature of {{convert|-69.6|C|1}} measured in Greenland on 22 December 1991 as the lowest in the Northern Hemisphere. The record was measured at an [[automatic weather station]] and was uncovered after nearly 30 years.<ref>WMO verifies -69.6°C Greenland temperature as Northern hemisphere record [https://web.archive.org/web/20231218173115/https://public-old.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-verifies-696%C2%B0c-greenland-temperature-northern-hemisphere-record Press Release Number: 23092020; WMO, 23 September 2020].</ref>

In this area, [[inversion (meteorology)|temperature inversions]] consistently form in winter due to the extremely cold and dense air of the [[Siberian High]] pooling in deep hollows, so that temperatures increase rather than decrease with higher altitude. In Verkhoyansk it sometimes happens that the average minimum temperatures for January, February, and December are below {{convert|−50|C}}.

In its short summer, daytime temperatures over {{convert|+30|C}} are not uncommon. The average annual temperature for Verkhoyansk is {{convert|-13.7|C}}. On 20 June 2020 Verkhoyansk recorded a temperature of {{convert|+38.0|C}},<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.webcenter11.com/tvtv/content/news/A-small-town-in-Siberia-has-likely-broken-the-Arctic-high-temperature-record-571426651.html |title=A small town in Siberia has likely broken the Arctic high temperature record |last=Sinclare |first=Terry |date=2020-06-22 |website=Webcenter11 |publisher=Gray Television, Inc |access-date=2020-06-22 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626122452/https://www.webcenter11.com/tvtv/content/news/A-small-town-in-Siberia-has-likely-broken-the-Arctic-high-temperature-record-571426651.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/06/22/arctic-temperatures-hit-record-high-in-russia-amid-heat-wave-a70647 |title=Arctic Temperatures Hit Record High in Russia Amid Heat Wave |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2020-06-22 |publisher= The Moscow Times|access-date=2020-06-22 }}</ref> yielding a temperature range of {{convert|105.8|C-change}} based on reliable records, making it the largest temperature range in the world. It was also the highest temperature above the Arctic Circle ever recorded. Only a handful of towns in Siberia and Canada have temperature ranges of {{convert|100|C-change}} or more, and Verkhoyansk is the only place on earth with a temperature range of {{convert|105|C-change}} or higher. Verkhoyansk has never recorded a temperature above freezing between November&nbsp;10 and March&nbsp;14.<ref>{{cite web|title=Weather and Climate - Climate Monitor: The weather in Verkhoyansk|url=http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/monitor.php?id=24266&month=11&year=2013|publisher=www.pogodaiklimat.ru|access-date=25 December 2013|language=ru}} Daily records on the right of the page; December–March records can be accessed via buttons at the bottom of the page.</ref>

Verkhoyansk has an extreme latitude temperature anomaly when compared with [[Røst (island)|Røst]] off the coastline of [[Norway]]. Both settlements are on [[67th parallel north|67°N]] and almost on the same latitudal decimal. In spite of this, Røst is on average more than {{convert|45|C-change}} milder during winter. In summer and particularly during July, on the other hand, Verkhoyansk is significantly warmer than its Norwegian counterpart.

Verkhoyansk has a dry climate with little rainfall or snowfall; the average annual [[precipitation]] is {{convert|182|mm|sp=us}}. Although no month can be described as truly wet, there are strong seasonal differences in precipitation, with the summer being much wetter than the winter; because the driest month (April) is in the "summer" and has less than one-third the precipitation of the wettest "winter" month (October), Verkhoyansk's climate technically qualifies as Köppen ''Dsd'', a classification found only in parts of eastern Siberia.  The dryness experienced in winter is largely due to the dominance of high pressure at this time of year.

Finally, Verkhoyansk has very low [[seasonal lag]], with December being colder than February, and June warmer than August. This is similar to [[Patagonia]] in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], where June is the coldest month in many areas.

{{Weather box
|location = Verkhoyansk (1991–2020, extremes 1869–present)
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan record high C = -9.5
|Feb record high C = -0.3
|Mar record high C = 5.6
|Apr record high C = 14.3
|May record high C = 28.1
|Jun record high C = 38.0
|Jul record high C = 37.3
|Aug record high C = 33.7
|Sep record high C = 25.1
|Oct record high C = 14.5
|Nov record high C = 1.1
|Dec record high C = -5.3
|year record high C = 38.0
|Jan avg record high C = -26.6
|Feb avg record high C = -22.7
|Mar avg record high C = -4.5
|Apr avg record high C = 7.3
|May avg record high C = 21.2
|Jun avg record high C = 29.7
|Jul avg record high C = 31.5
|Aug avg record high C = 28.2
|Sep avg record high C = 17.8
|Oct avg record high C = 4.3
|Nov avg record high C = -13.6
|Dec avg record high C = -23.8
|year avg record high C = 4.1
|Jan high C = -41.6
|Feb high C = -36.7
|Mar high C = -18.8
|Apr high C = -1.8
|May high C = 10.3
|Jun high C = 20.6
|Jul high C = 23.4
|Aug high C = 19.2
|Sep high C = 8.7
|Oct high C = -8.5
|Nov high C = -30.0
|Dec high C = -40.6
|year high C = -8.0
|Jan mean C = -44.7
|Feb mean C = -42.1
|Mar mean C = -28.9
|Apr mean C = -10.9
|May mean C = 4.2
|Jun mean C = 13.9
|Jul mean C = 16.5
|Aug mean C = 12.1
|Sep mean C = 2.8
|Oct mean C = -13.4
|Nov mean C = -33.7
|Dec mean C = -43.6
|year mean C = -13.7
|Jan low C = -47.7
|Feb low C = -46.3
|Mar low C = -37.4
|Apr low C = -20.4
|May low C = -2.0
|Jun low C = 7.3
|Jul low C = 10.0
|Aug low C = 5.7
|Sep low C = -1.9
|Oct low C = -18.0
|Nov low C = -37.3
|Dec low C = -46.3
|year low C = -19.5
|Jan avg record low C = -55.2
|Feb avg record low C = -54.0
|Mar avg record low C = -49.2
|Apr avg record low C = -35.8
|May avg record low C = -13.2
|Jun avg record low C = -0.4
|Jul avg record low C = 1.9
|Aug avg record low C = -2.4
|Sep avg record low C = -10.9
|Oct avg record low C = -35.3
|Nov avg record low C = -47.6
|Dec avg record low C = -53.1
|year avg record low C = -56.4
|Jan record low C = -67.8
|Feb record low C = -67.8
|Mar record low C = -60.3
|Apr record low C = -57.2
|May record low C = -34.2
|Jun record low C = -7.9
|Jul record low C = -3.2
|Aug record low C = -9.9
|Sep record low C = -21.7
|Oct record low C = -48.7
|Nov record low C = -57.2
|Dec record low C = -64.5
|year record low C = -67.8
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 6
|Feb precipitation mm = 5
|Mar precipitation mm = 5
|Apr precipitation mm = 4
|May precipitation mm = 16
|Jun precipitation mm = 30
|Jul precipitation mm = 34
|Aug precipitation mm = 30
|Sep precipitation mm = 22
|Oct precipitation mm = 13
|Nov precipitation mm = 11
|Dec precipitation mm = 6
|year precipitation mm = 182
|Jan snow depth cm = 20
|Feb snow depth cm = 22
|Mar snow depth cm = 24
|Apr snow depth cm = 18
|May snow depth cm = 1
|Jun snow depth cm = 0
|Jul snow depth cm = 0
|Aug snow depth cm = 0
|Sep snow depth cm = 0
|Oct snow depth cm = 5
|Nov snow depth cm = 12
|Dec snow depth cm = 16
|year snow depth cm = 24
|humidity colour = 
|Jan humidity = 74
|Feb humidity = 74
|Mar humidity = 69
|Apr humidity = 63
|May humidity = 58
|Jun humidity = 57
|Jul humidity = 61
|Aug humidity = 69
|Sep humidity = 74
|Oct humidity = 78
|Nov humidity = 77
|Dec humidity = 75
|year humidity = 69
|Jan rain days = 0
|Feb rain days = 0
|Mar rain days = 0
|Apr rain days = 1
|May rain days = 8
|Jun rain days = 14
|Jul rain days = 14
|Aug rain days = 14
|Sep rain days = 10
|Oct rain days = 0.4
|Nov rain days = 0
|Dec rain days = 0
|year rain days = 61
|Jan snow days = 17
|Feb snow days = 16
|Mar snow days = 12
|Apr snow days = 9
|May snow days = 8
|Jun snow days = 1
|Jul snow days = 0.3
|Aug snow days = 0.4
|Sep snow days = 8
|Oct snow days = 17
|Nov snow days = 18
|Dec snow days = 16
|year snow days = 123
|Jan sun = 2
|Feb sun = 83.1
|Mar sun = 244.1
|Apr sun = 285.2
|May sun = 305.8
|Jun sun = 339.6
|Jul sun = 316.3
|Aug sun = 231.5
|Sep sun = 129.6
|Oct sun = 98.0
|Nov sun = 23.8
|Dec sun = 0
|year sun = 2099
|source 1 = Погода и Климат<ref name="climate">{{cite web
| url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/24266.htm
| title = Погода и Климат – Климат Верхоянск
| publisher = Weather and Climate (Погода и климат)
| language = ru
| access-date = 8 November 2021}}</ref> January record<ref>Verkhoyansk Monument image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JZsosJzSVV8/WJv6EuE-_QI/AAAAAAABRs0/BRgPwLTin-4/verkhoyansk-87.jpg?imgmax=1600</ref>
|source 2 = [[NOAA]],<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/4.4/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/RussianFederation/CSV/Verhojansk_24266.csv
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020
| publisher = World Meteorological Organization
| access-date = 2 August 2023}}</ref> Infoclimat<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie/annee/1991/verkhoiansk/valeurs/24266.html|title = Climatologie de l'année à Verkhoiansk|publisher = Infoclimat|language = fr|access-date = 11 October 2023}}</ref>
}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*Official website of the Sakha Republic. ''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131113122109/http://sakha.gov.ru/node/12523 Verkhoyansky District]. {{in lang|ru}}
*{{RussiaAdmMunRef|sa|mun|list1}}

{{Sakha Republic}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in the Sakha Republic]]
[[Category:Populated places of Arctic Russia]]
[[Category:Weather extremes of Earth]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1775]]
[[Category:Yana basin]]