Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

Magadan Oblast Magadan Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East, Far East region of the country, and is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. Magadan ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The city is located on the

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

of the Staritsky Peninsula by the Nagaev Bay; it serves as a gateway to the

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

region. Magadan, founded in 1929, was a major transit centre for political prisoners during the

Stalin era Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and the administrative centre of the Dalstroy forced-labor gold-mining operation. The town later served as a port for exporting gold and other metals. Magadan plays a significant role in transportation with the Port of Magadan and Sokol Airport. The local economy relies on gold mining and fisheries, although gold production has declined. The town has various cultural institutions and religious establishments, such as the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic

Church of the Nativity The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine. The grotto holds a prominent religious significance to Christianity, Christians of various denominations as the Nativity of Jesus, ...

. The Mask of Sorrow memorial commemorates Stalin's victims. Magadan experiences a subarctic climate with prolonged and cold winters, causing the soil to remain permanently frozen.

History

The settlement of Magadan was founded in 1929 in the Ola river valley,Vazhenin, p. 4 near the settlement of Nagayevo. During the

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

era, Magadan was a major transit centre for inmates sent to

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

forced labour camps. From 1932 to 1953, it was the administrative centre of the Dalstroy organisation—a vast forced-labour gold-mining operation and forced-labour camp system. The first director of Dalstroy was Eduard Berzin, who between 1932 and 1937 established the infrastructure of the forced labour camps in Magadan. Berzin was executed in 1938 by Stalin, towards the end of the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. The town later served as a port for exporting gold and other metals mined in the Kolyma region. Its size and population grew quickly as facilities were rapidly developed for the expanding mining activities in the area. Town status was granted to it on July 14, 1939. Magadan was visited by U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace in May 1944. He took an instant liking to his

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

host, admired handiwork done by the enslaved political prisoners, and later glowingly called the town a combination of

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

and

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

Administrative and municipal status

Magadan is the

of the

.Law #1292-OZ Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with the

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

s of Sokol and Uptar, incorporated as the " town of oblast significance of Magadan"—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Magadan is incorporated as Magadan Urban Okrug.Law #489-OZ

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Kolyma_road01010038.jpg, R504 Kolyma Highway near Magadan Russian route R-504 map.svg, R504 Kolyma Highway Magadan-port.jpg, Port of Magadan Весенний аэропорт Магадан.jpg, Sokol Airport Магадан._Депо.jpg, former Train Station of Magadan-Palatka line The Port of Magadan is the second largest

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

in the North-East of Russia after Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky located on Nagaev Bay and

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...

. It operates all year round with the help of icebreakers. There is currently no operating railway in Magadan. However, the Magadan-Palatka line was operational between 1941 and 1956. Russian Railways are considering the possibility of building a railway from the Nizhny Bestyakh of the Amur-Yakutsk railway to Magadan by 2035, which will contribute to the development of an area with huge mineral deposits. Magadan is the final destination of the federal highway R504 Kolyma Highway, which connects the region with

Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

and other parts of Russia. Anadyr Highway, currently under construction, will provide access to

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukotka ( ; ), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an Autonomous okrugs of Russia, autonomous okrug situated in the Russian Far East, and shares a border wi ...

. Sokol Airport and Magadan-13 airport provide access to air transport for numerous destinations in Russia with the former being for big aircraft and the latter is mainly for small aircraft. Magadan is also the home of the Magadan/Sokol Flight Information Region (FIR) and Magadan Oceanic FIR, which controls the Northeastern part of the Russia and its Arctic airspace. Most of the westbound transpacific flights from North America to Asia will use those FIRs.

Economy

The principal sources of income for the local economy are gold mining and fisheries. By 2007, gold production had declined. Fishing production declined and was well below the allocated quotas, apparently as a result of an aging fishing fleet. Other local industries include pasta and sausage plants, and a distillery. Although farming is difficult owing to the harsh climate, there are many public and private farming enterprises.

Other

The

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

wrote a report on Ship Repair Yard No. 2 near Magadan in June 1965. Magadan was repeatedly reported as a base for the Soviet Navy during the Cold War.

Culture and religion

Culture

Магадан кинотеатр «Горняк».jpg, Gornyak Cinema Магаданская научная библиотека им. А. С. Пушкина.jpg, Pushkin Library Magadan, theater, pic1.jpg, Magadan Theatre Laika ac View from the Hotel Magadan (6457750839).jpg, Magadan Hotel Политехникум Магадан.jpg, Polytechnic Magadan It has a number of cultural institutions, including the Regional Museum of Anthropology, a geological museum, a regional library and a university. '' Magadanskaya Pravda'' is the main newspaper. The town figures prominently in the

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

literature of Varlam Shalamov and in the eponymous song by Mikhail Krug. Actor of film and stage Georgiy Zhzhonov worked at Magadan Theatre for two years after being released from a gulag in May 1945. Magadan was home to a Soviet and Russian rock group founded there in 1986. The town was a focal point of the '' Long Way Round'' TV series of a motorcycle journey made by

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British television presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made four long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in '' Long Way Round'' (20 ...

and their team in 2004.

Religion

Валаам - Гефсиманский скит.jpg, Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh Магаданский Троицкий собор. Фасад.jpg, Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity Собор Святого Духа в Магадане.png, Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Magadan-church-winter.jpg,

The town features the recent Orthodox Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity (completed in 2008), and the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

(completed in 2002), among others.

Memorials

Laika ac Magadan (6457749985).jpg, Magadan Coat of Arms Laika ac Lenin in Magadan (6457761441).jpg, Lenin monument (2011) Мемориальный_комплекс_жертвам_политических_репрессий.jpg, Mask of Sorrow Магадан, парк, памятник Ленину - panoramio.jpg, Lenin monument (2008) The Mask of Sorrow memorial, a large sculpture in memory of Stalin's victims, was designed by Ernst Neizvestny. The Church of the Nativity ministers to survivors of the labor camps. It is staffed by several priests and nuns.

Sport

Чаша. Марчеканская сопка.jpg, skiing in Marchekanskaya Магадан Дворец спорта.jpg, Magadan Palace of Sports

Geography

The , a 192 km long river flowing to the

, passes the city. The city is located on the isthmus of the Staritsky Peninsula by the Nagaev Bay. magadan, Gertner Bay.jpg, View of Gertner Bay, Cape Red and Kekurny Island Freezing_the_waters_of_the_Sea_of_Okhotsk._Magadan.jpg, Nagaev Bay Каменный_венец_в_профиль.jpg, Gorokhovoe Pole Laika ac Magadan beach (6457763827).jpg, Magadan beach, July 2011 Ecologically situated in the Northeast Siberian taiga, the town's arboreal flora is made up of

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

trees, such as

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

s and

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

es, and silver birches. The city is surrounded by mountains to the west and northeast.

Permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

and

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

cover most of the region. The growing season is only one hundred days long. The city of Magadan is on the same longitude as the suburbs of

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, which lie on the eastern end of the 150th meridian east line, bordering the 151st meridian and is on the same latitude as Southern

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, and the far north of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Climate

The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

of Magadan is

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfc''). Winters are prolonged and very cold, with up to six months of sub-zero high

temperatures Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making up a subst ...

, so that the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

remains permanently frozen; although they are still much milder than those of interior eastern Siberia. Average temperatures on the coast of the

range from in January to in July. Average temperatures in the interior range from in January to in July. Due to the wet nature of October and November, a snowpack is built up early, which then lasts throughout the winter even while the influence from the

Siberian High The Siberian High (also Siberian Anticyclone; (''Aziatsky antitsiklon''); zh, 西伯利亞高壓; Pinyin ''Xībólìyǎ gāoyā''; Kazakh Азия антициклоны (''Aziya antitsiklonı'')) is a massive collection of cold dry air that a ...

lowers precipitation throughout those months. *Highest temperature: on July 15, 2021 *Lowest temperature: on December 20, 1995 *Warmest month: in July, 2009 *Coldest month: in January, 1933 *Warmest year: in 2017 *Coldest year: in 1967 *Highest daily Precipitation: in July, 2014 *Wettest month: in July, 2014 *Wettest year: in 1950 *Driest year: in 1947

Education

* North-Eastern State University ( СВГУ, formerly Northern International University) The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) offers a scholarship to full-time students from Magadan as a part of thei
sister city tuition costs

Notable people

* Anton Belyaev (b. 1979), musician, lead singer of Therr Maitz *

Anya Garnis Anna "Anya" Garnis ( Russian: Анна "Аня" Гарнис; born May 26, 1982) is a Latvian ballroom dancer based in New York City. In 2007 she was a contestant on the American reality television show '' So You Think You Can Dance.'' In 200 ...

(b. 1982), professional dancer, raised in Magadan, but not born there. * Nikolai Getman (1917–2004), artist * Dimitry Ipatov (b. 1984), ski jumper * Inna Korobkina (b. 1981), actress * Vadim Kozin (1903–1994), tenor * Nina Lugovskaya (1918–1993), artist *

Sasha Luss Aleksandra "Sasha" Alexeyevna Luss () is a Russian-American fashion model and actress best known for portraying the titular character in the 2019 action thriller film ''Anna (2019 feature film), Anna''. Early life Luss was born in Magadan, M ...

(b. 1992), fashion model * Gena Marvin (b. 2000s), performance artist * Viktor Rybakov (b. 1956), former European amateur boxing champion *

Pavel Vinogradov Pavel Vladimirovich Vinogradov (; born 31 August 1953 in Magadan, USSR) is a former cosmonaut and commander of the International Space Station. He has flown into space three times, aboard Mir and the International Space Station, and was one of t ...

(b. 1953), cosmonaut * Yelena Vyalbe (b. 1968), Olympic cross-country skier

Twin towns and sister cities

Magadan is twinned with: *

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(1991) *

Tonghua Tonghua ( zh, s=通化 , p=Tōnghuà) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It borders North Korea's Chagang Province to the south and southeast, Baishan to the east, Jilin City to the north, ...

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(1992) * Zlatitsa,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

(2012) * Shuangyashan,

(2013) *In 2022 Jelgava,

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

(2006) suspended the cooperation agreements with Magadan due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

.Jelgava suspends cooperation agreement with twin cities Magadan (Russia) and Baranovichi (Belarus)
/ref>

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * Ryszard Kapuscinski, ''Imperium'', Granta, 2019, *McGregor, E & Boorman, C: ''Long Way Round''. Time Warner Books, 2004. *David J. Nordlander: ''Origins of a Gulag Capital: Magadan and Stalinist Control in the Early 1930s'', Slavic Review, Vol. 57, No. 4 (Winter, 1998), pp. 791–812

External links

* * *Б. П. Важенин (B. P. Vazhenin). "Магадан: к историческим истокам названия" (''Magadan: The Historical Sources of Its Name''). Российская академия наук, Дальневосточное отделение. Магадан, 2003.
Map of Magadan
* Documentary ''*** GOLD*** - lost in Siberia'
GOLD - lost in Siberia / GOUD - vergeten in Siberië / ЗОЛОТО/БОЛЬ - потеряно в Сибири (1994)
by Gerard Jacobs and Theo Uittenbogaard (VPRO/The Netherlands/1994) was filmed in the summer of 1993 in Magadan, along the ''Road of Bones'', through Ust-Umshug and Susuman and at the Sverovostok Zoloto gold mine, Siberia, by the first foreign film crew ever, visiting the Kolyma District -which had been under control of the Soviet secret service-, under the company name Dalstroj, for over 60 years.
The road up to the Kolyma river.
Documentary: repressed in Magadan recall. To watch the video. {{Use mdy dates, date=December 2011 Cities and towns in Magadan Oblast Port cities and towns in Russia Populated coastal places in Russia Sea of Okhotsk Russian Far East Russian and Soviet Navy bases Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1929 1929 establishments in Russia 1929 establishments in the Soviet Union