Vorkuta

Vorkuta (Russian: Воркута́; Komi: Вӧркута, romanized: Vörkuta) is a coal-mining town and the third most-populous city in the Komi Republic of Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin, at the river Vorkuta. Population: 56,985 (2021 census); 70,548 (2010 census); 84,917 (2002 census); 115,646 (1989 Soviet census). Vorkuta is among the five most populous cities north of the Arctic Circle and the easternmost town in Europe. It has the coldest recorded temperature of any European city, at −52 °C (−61 °F). Vorkuta's population has dropped steadily since the fall of the Soviet Union, when mines were privatized and many people began moving farther south. Many of the mines have been abandoned, and by September 2020, the city's estimated population was only about 50,000. In 2026, it was reported that its population is shrinking faster than any other city in Russia.