Lensk ( rus, Ленск, p=lʲɛnsk; sah, Лиэнскэй, ''Lienskey'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

of Lensky District of the

Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 24,966.

Geography

Lensk is located on the left bank of the

Lena River The Lena (russian: Ле́на, ; evn, Елюенэ, ''Eljune''; sah, Өлүөнэ, ''Ölüöne''; bua, Зүлхэ, ''Zülkhe''; mn, Зүлгэ, ''Zülge'') is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean ...

, at the southern edge of the

Lena Plateau The Lena Plateau, also known as Prilensky Plateau ( rus, Приленское плато, ''Prilenskoye Plato''; sah, Өлүөнэтээҕи хаптал хайалаах сир), is one of the great plateaus of Siberia. Administratively it is m ...

, approximately west of

Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of ...

, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the republic.

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

History

The original settlement was founded as Mukhtuya () in 1663 by Russian fur traders, on the site of an older Evenk settlement known as Mukhtuy. The name of the original settlement was derived from an Evenk term meaning "great water". During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a place of political exile. It experienced a period of rapid growth during the 20th century as a result of the discovery and development of diamond deposits in the

Vilyuy River The Vilyuy ( rus, Вилю́й, p=vʲɪˈlʲʉj; sah, Бүлүү, ''Bülüü'', ) is a river in Russia, the longest tributary of the Lena. About long, it flows mostly within the Sakha Republic. Its basin covers about . History The river is fir ...

basin. As the closest significant settlement to the major

kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of ...

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

at the

Mir Mine The Mir mine (russian: кимберлитовая алмазная трубка «Мир» ''kimberlitovaya almaznaya trubka "Mir"''; English: kimberlite diamond pipe "Peace"), also called the Mirny mine, is an open pit diamond mine located in Mi ...

and the establishment of the associated town of Mirny, Mukhtuya became a major base of construction. In 1956, roads were built connecting Mukhtuya to the future Mirny and the port was established. On July 13, 1963, Mukhtuya was granted town status''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic'' and was given its present name, after the river on which it stands. In May 2001, Lensk briefly came to the world's attention when almost the entire town was flooded and a large amount of the buildings destroyed. The floods were caused by river ice blocking the river downstream, creating a dam. The town was largely rebuilt after the flooding. Lensk after the 2001 flood

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Lensk serves as the

of Lensky District. As an inhabited locality, Lensk is classified as a town under district jurisdiction. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Lensky District as the

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Lensk. As a municipal division, the Town of Lensk is incorporated within Lensky Municipal District as Lensk Urban Settlement.Law #173-Z #353-III

Economy

In addition to its association with the diamond industry and construction, Lensk has a significant

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

sector and a large-panel housing factory. The town is also home to the ''Yakutalmaz'' scientific research organization. Lensk is connected with Mirny by road and has scheduled air connections with Mirny,

, and

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

from the

Lensk Airport Lensk Airport is a public airport near Lensk in Russia. It works as focus city for Alrosa Mirny Air Enterprise. Airlines and destinations Accidents and incidents *On 4 July 2012, a helicopter operated by UTair Aviation Utair (russian: О ...

. As a major port on the Lena, the town has developed as a processing point for the regional

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

industry.

Culture and tourism

Lensk has a history museum and operates a branch of the Irkutsk Polytechnic Institute. A

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

cave with a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

and a karst lake is located southwest of the town.

Climate

Lensk has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Dfc''). Winters are severely cold and long with average temperatures ranging from in January, while summers are mild and brief with average temperatures ranging from in July.

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

is moderate and is significantly higher in summer than at other times of the year.

References

Notes

Sources

*Official website of the Sakha Republic. ''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic''
Lensky District
* *

External links

Unofficial website of Lensk

Website of the Secondary School #1 in Lensk
{{Use mdy dates, date=March 2013 Cities and towns in the Sakha Republic Populated places established in 1663 1663 establishments in Russia Populated places on the Lena River