In the cold, dark, and insecure Arctic Circle, there are cities that are less welcome than tourists are prohibited from visiting it.
Originally built on gulag, where prisoners were sent to gather nickel and other resources from the mines, Norilsk, Russia, is the northernmost city in the world and one of the “most melancholy” ones.
The city acquired more prisoners to the Glag gained more and more prisoners and gather resources until Norilsk was granted to the city in 1953.
According to Far Out Magazine, after the death of Joseph Stalin, the Gulags prisoners staged an uprising, and by 1956 they had been shut down.
However, Gulags insisted on the lives of nearly 17,000 prisoners. Much of it comes from hypothermia and starvation, as a result of the harsh winters in the city and poor supply links with other parts of the country.
Winters in Norilsk are long and very harsh – the city experiences negative temperatures for around 240 days a year, with snow coverings for seven to nine months and more than 50 days of snow. Summer is fleeting and mild, with temperatures rarely exceeding 15c.
For mining and smelting, the Russian Federation Statistics Service lists Norilsk as the most polluted city in Russia. In 2017, Norilsk produced 1.798 million tonnes of carbon contaminants. This is six times more than 304,600 tonnes produced by the city of Sherepovet, Russia's second most contaminated city.
Additionally, the Blacksmith Institute includes Norilsk in its list of the 10 most polluted locations on the planet. The average life expectancy of the people in Norilsk is 59 years, 10 years less than the Russian average of 69.
This is thought to be due to the fact that the risk of cancer here is doubled due to contamination from the plants.
Nevertheless, Norilsk has a population of 175,000 living within the brutal tower block, but there is a slight chance of visiting from tourists.
Not only is it brutal history, pollution and weather, Norilsk is a “closed city.” In other words, outsiders cannot visit without permission or permission from the Russian state.
Far Out Magazine reports: “Permission to visit Norilsk, like tourism in North Korea, is rarely permitted by individuals. Beginning a supervised guided tour means tourists seeking to experience the peak of geographical depression. It seems to be the only real option for me.”
