Salekhard

The settlement of Obdorsk (Обдорск) was founded in 1595, in the place of a Khanty settlement called Polnovat-Vozh (Полноват-вож), by Russian settlers after the conquest of Siberia.^{[citation needed]} It was situated on the Ob River, and its name supposedly derives from that. The land around Obdorsk was referred to as Obdorsky krai, or Obdoriya.

The town was often used as a place of exile during the Tsarist and Soviet periods. Among notable people who spent time here were the Doukhobor spiritual leader Pyotr Verigin and Leon Trotsky. The town and nearby area contained three Soviet camps where approximately 6,500 prisoners were held, arrested for their belief in God.^[8] At the port of Salekhard, approximately 1,500 prisoners were used as slave labor, loading and unloading goods at the dock, or mining metal ore. About 5,000 prisoners in two camps near Salekhard were forced to polish diamonds mined from Mir mine.^{[citation needed]}

The nearest railway station is at Labytnangi on the opposite side of the river Ob. From 1949 to 1953, the Salekhard-Igarka Railway project made an unsuccessful attempt to extend the line to Igarka, claiming the lives of thousands of Gulag prisoners.^[9] The section of railway from Salekhard to Nadym was completed and remained in use for some time in the Soviet era, although it was later abandoned. It is currently^[when?] being rebuilt, along with a long-awaited bridge across the Ob between Labytnangi and Salekhard.^{[citation needed]}

Salekhard was the host city for the 2006 Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in October 2006.^[10]

In April 2014, Rostelecom, a Russian Internet service provider, completed the final stretch of the Nadym-Salekhard optical Internet line, which stretches for almost 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi).^[11]

In the Summer of 2016, temperatures as high as 95 °F (35 °C) thawed anthrax-infected corpses that had been frozen since the soviet era near Salekhard, causing anthrax spores to infect reindeer herds and herders.^[12]

 

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with one rural locality, incorporated as the town of okrug significance of Salekhard—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[1] As a municipal division, the town of okrug significance of Salekhard is incorporated as Salekhard Urban Okrug.^[3]

As of 2021, the ethnic composition of Salekhard was:^[13]

• Russians – 66.3%
• Tatars – 7.1%
• Khanty – 3.8%
• Ukrainians – 3.7%
• Nenets – 3.7%
• Komi – 2.0%
• Kyrgyz – 1.4%
• Others – 12%

  Historical population

  Year	Pop.	±%
  1897	1,249	—
  1926	1,872	+49.9%
  1939	12,764	+581.8%
  1959	16,567	+29.8%
  1970	21,929	+32.4%
  1979	24,935	+13.7%
  1989	32,334	+29.7%
  2002	36,827	+13.9%
  2010	42,544	+15.5%
  2021	47,910	+12.6%
  Source: Census data

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  Sterh Supermarket
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  Building of the representative office of Gazprom
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  Gifts of Yamal Supermarket
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  Headquarters of Yamalneftegaz
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  Sezam Shopping center
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  Yamal Airlines Headquarters
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  Oil depot
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  Sarmik Fishing and hunting shop

Yamal Airlines has its head office in Salekhard.^[14] Most of residents are employed in reindeer herding, fishing and the services sector.^[15]

By 2015, about 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) from the airport, near the Arctic Circle, authorities plan to build a large polar resort "Center of the Arctic tourism".^{[citation needed]}

Salekhard is located in the Ob river valley and is an important river port of the Russian Far North. The unfinished Salekhard–Igarka Railway was set to provide a rail connection between the Ob river port of Salekhard and the Yenisei river port of Igarka. Currently, the nearest railway is at Labytnangi, 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest on the opposite side of the river Ob. The project Northern Latitudinal Railway will provide Salekhard access to Russian railway and will further connect Salekhard to the Konosha–Vorkuta railway and other parts of European Russia.^[16] The Salekhard Bridge project, a combined railway-road bridge over Ob river, is the main component of Northern Latitudinal Railway that will connect Labytnangi and Salekhard is to be constructed with the cost of 60 billion rubles.^[17] Nadym–Salekhard road, a 344 km long road, was inaugurated in December 2020 to the 90th anniversary of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug,^[18] it will facilate the construction of a railway between the two cities and connects the eastern and western parts of Yamal Okrug.^[19][20] For 9–10 months each year, the Ob river is frozen and cars and trucks can drive across the river ice. In the summer a ferry operates, however during the floating of ice, generally shortly before the start and shortly after the end of summer, Salekhard is effectively isolated from the outside world, regarding freight. During these periods, only helicopters are able to reach Salekhard in case of emergency. Native people, mainly the Nenets and Khanty people, always build up stocks of food at home, in the shops, and in the markets during this period, but they still suffer from seasonal inflation. The city is also served by the Salekhard Airport, which is 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the main city.

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  Ferry across the Ob river
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  Salekhard Airport
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  Salekhard port on Ob river
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  Bus transport
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  Ferry service station
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  Fakel (Torch) Bridge over Poluy river

Salekhard has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc) with short, mild summers and severely cold winters. Precipitation is moderate, and is significantly greater in summer than in winter.

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  Mammoth monument in Salekhard
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  Mammoth monument
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  Reindeer monument in Salekhard
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  Mosque in Salekhard
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  Ice Palace of Salekhard
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  Polyaris Entertainment center
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  Wedding Palace
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  Northern outskirts of Salekhard
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  "Craftsmen Village"
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  Arctic Hotel
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  Students sports complex

Salekhard is twinned with:

• Azov, Rostov Oblast, Russia

• Ion-Georgy Kostev (born 1990), professional ice hockey player

•   Siberia portal

• Государственная Дума Ямало-Ненецкого автономного округа. Закон №42-ЗАО от 6 октября 2006 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ямало-Ненецкого автономного округа», в ред. Закона №123-ЗАО от 6 декабря 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в некоторые Законы Ямало-Ненецкого автономного округа в части изменения вида населённого пункт Тазовский путём отнесения его к сельским пунктам и наделении муниципального образования посёлок Тазовский статусом сельского поселения». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Красный Север", №119, 13 октября 2006 г. (State Duma of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Law #42-ZAO of October 6, 2006 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, as amended by the Law #123-ZAO of December 6, 2012 On Amending Various Laws of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Due to Changing the Status of the Inhabited Locality of Tazovsky to a Rural Locality and on Granting the Municipal Formation of the Settlement of Tazovsky the Status of a Rural Settlement. Effective as of the day upon expiration of ten days from the official publication date.).
• Государственная Дума Ямало-Ненецкого автономного округа. Закон №26-ЗАО от 22 июня 2004 г. «О наделении статусом, определении административного центра и установлении границ муниципального образования город Салехард», в ред. Закона №100-ЗАО от 31 октября 2012 г. «О внесении изменения в Закон Ямало-Ненецкого автономного округа "О наделении статусом, определении административного центра и установлении границ муниципального образования город Салехард"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Красный Север", №50, 23 июня 2004 г. (State Duma of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Law #26-ZAO of June 22, 2004 On Granting the Status, Determining the Administrative Center, and Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formation of the Town of Salkhard, as amended by the Law #100-ZAO of October 31, 2012 On Amending the Law of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug "On Granting the Status, Determining the Administrative Center, and Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formation of the Town of Salkhard". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).

• (in Russian) Official website of Salekhard
• Official website of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Information about Salekhard