Orotukan (russian: Оротука́н) is an urban locality (an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

) in

Yagodninsky District Yagodninsky District (russian: Я́годнинский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #1292-OZ and municipalLaw #511-OZ district (raion), one of the eight in Magadan Oblast, Russia. It is located in the western central part of the oblast. ...

Magadan Oblast Magadan Oblast ( rus, Магаданская область, r=Magadanskaya oblast, p=məgɐˈdanskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Far East region of the country, and is adminis ...

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 ...

, located in the

Kolyma region Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River ...

about north of

Magadan Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a port town and the administrative center of Magadan Oblast, Russia, located on the Sea of Okhotsk in Nagayev Bay (within Taui Bay) and serving as a gateway to the Kolyma region. History Maga ...

, on the right bank of the Orotukan River (a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Kolyma). Its population has declined since the fall of the Soviet Union:

History

In 1931, as geologists found gold reserves in the valleys of the Kolyma region, they built a camp on the river close to present location of Orotukan. Shortly thereafter the construction of the

Kolyma Highway The R504 Kolyma Highway (russian: Федеральная автомобильная дорога «Колыма», ''Federal'naya Avtomobil'naya Doroga «Kolyma»,'' "Federal Automobile Highway 'Kolyma'"), part of the M56 route, is a road throu ...

(also known as the ''Road of Bones'') began. The settlement was founded on its present site in the mid-1930s. It received its name from the river, whose name came from the Yakut word ''өртөөһүн (örtööhün)'' meaning ''small burnt meadow or forest area''. From 1935, a camp in the regional section of the

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

system operated by

Dalstroy Dalstroy (russian: Дальстро́й, ), also known as Far North Construction Trust, was an organization set up in 1931 in order to manage road construction and the mining of gold in the Russian Far East, including the Magadan Region, Chukotka ...

was located here. In the 1940s, a repair work and factory for mining equipment were established. Orotukan was granted urban-type settlement status in 1953.

Economy

During the Soviet era, the settlement was a center for gold mining and exploration.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

Entry on Orotukan

Transportation

The settlement lies on the

M56 Kolyma Highway The R504 Kolyma Highway (russian: Федеральная автомобильная дорога «Колыма», ''Federal'naya Avtomobil'naya Doroga «Kolyma»,'' "Federal Automobile Highway 'Kolyma'"), part of the M56 route, is a road throu ...

, which runs from Magadan through Susuman in the northwestern part of Magadan Oblast and onto

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 ...

, although the road is only completely passable during winter when the rivers en route are frozen. The road distance between Orotukan and Magadan is about , and almost to Yakutsk.

Climate

Orotukan has a severe subarctic climate (''Dfc'').

Notable people

Tina Karol , native_name_lang = uk , birth_name = Tetiana Hryhorivna Liberman , birth_date = , birth_place = Orotukan, Russian SFSR, USSR , alma_mater = R. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music National Aviation University , ...

(b. 1985), pop singer *

Matvey Korobov Matvey Georgiyevich Korobov (russian: Матвей Георгиевич "Мэтт" Коробов; born 7 January 1983) is a Russian professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO middleweight title in 2014, as well as the WBC interim mid ...

(b. 1983), boxer

References

{{Authority control Urban-type settlements in Magadan Oblast