Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a port town and the

administrative centre 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 is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

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. The city is located on the isthmus of the Staritsky Peninsula by the

Nagaev Bay Nagaev Bay or Nagayev Bay (russian: Бухта Нагаева, Нагаевская бухта), also known as Nagayeva Bay, is a bay within Taui Bay in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, Magadan Oblast, Russia. Geography It is 6.4 km (4 mi ...

; it serves as a gateway to the

Kolyma 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 an ...

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

Stalin era Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

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 and was visited by U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace in 1944. Magadan plays a significant role in transportation with the

Port of Magadan The Sea Port of Magadan ( rus, links=no, Морской порт Магадан, r=Morskoy port Magadan) is a maritime port in the city of Magadan, Magadan Oblast, Russia, located in the Nagaev Bay on the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. ...

and

Sokol Airport Sokol Airport, formally Vladimir Vysotsky International Airport (russian: Аэропорт Сокол) is an airport in Sokol in Magadan Oblast, Russia. The airport is located 50 km (31 mi) north of the Magadan city center. The airpor ...

. 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 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

Magadan was founded in 1930 in the Ola (river) valley,Vazhenin, p. 4 near the settlement of

Nagayevo Nagayevo may refer to: * Nagayevo, Magadan, one of the settlements—predecessors of the city of Magadan, Russia; now a port area in Magadan * Nagayevo, Ivanovo Oblast, a village in Ivanovo Oblast Ivanovo Oblast (russian: Ива́новская � ...

. During the Stalin era, Magadan was a major transit centre for political prisoners sent to 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 town later served as a port for exporting gold and other metals mined 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 ...

. 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 host, admired handiwork done by the enslaved political prisoners, and later glowingly called the town a combination of Tennessee Valley Authority and Hudson's Bay Company.

Administrative and municipal status

Magadan is the

of the oblast.Law #1292-OZ Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with the urban-type settlements of Sokol and

Uptar Uptar (russian: Уптар) is an urban locality (an ''urban-type settlement'') under the administrative jurisdiction of the Town of Magadan in Magadan Oblast, Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinent ...

, 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 o ...

. 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,

Весенний аэропорт Магадан.jpg,

Магадан._Депо.jpg, former Train Station of Magadan-Palatka line The

is the second largest seaport in the North-East of Russia after Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky located on

and

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

. 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 Nizhny Bestyakh (russian: Ни́жний Бестя́х; sah, Аллараа Бэстээх) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Megino-Kangalassky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the east bank of the Lena Riv ...

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 and other parts of Russia.

Anadyr Highway The Anadyr Highway is a highway on the territory of Magadan Oblast and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug from the R504 Kolyma Highway to the city of Anadyr with branches to Bilibino, Komsomolsky and Egvekinot. In the Magadan Region it is numbered ...

, currently under construction, will provide access to

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukotka (russian: Чуко́тка), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug,, ''Čukotkakèn avtonomnykèn okrug'', is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an autonomous okrug situated in the Russian ...

and

Magadan-13 airport Magadan-13 Airport () is a small airport in Russia located 10 km northeast of Magadan. It handles most propeller-driven transports. Regular passenger Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft were flying here in the 1950s and early 1960s. In the 1970s and 1 ...

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. Recently, gold production has declined. Fishing production, although improving from year to year, is still well below the allocated quotas, apparently as a result of an aging 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 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 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 famous 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,

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British TV presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made three long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in ''Long Way Round'' (2004), ''Lo ...

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, Church of the Nativity The town features the recent

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity (completed in 2008), and the Roman Catholic Church of the Nativity (completed in 2002), among others.

Memorials

Laika ac Magadan (6457749985).jpg, Magadan Coat of Arms Laika ac Lenin in Magadan (6457761441).jpg, Lenin monument Мемориальный_комплекс_жертвам_политических_репрессий.jpg, Mask of Sorrow Магадан, парк, памятник Ленину - panoramio.jpg, Lenin monument The Mask of Sorrow memorial, a large sculpture in memory of Stalin's victims, was designed by Ernst Neizvestny. Th
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

. 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 single ...

trees, such as

fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

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

Permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

and tundra 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, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropoli ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, which lie on the eastern end of the

150th meridian east The meridian 150° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 150th meridian east forms a g ...

line, bordering the 151st meridian and is on the same latitude as Southern Scandinavia, and the far north of Scotland.

Climate

The climate of Magadan is

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...

( Köppen climate classification ''Dfc''). Winters are prolonged and very cold, with up to six months of sub-zero high temperatures, so that the soil 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 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)

Notable people

* Anton Belyaev (b. 1979), musician, lead singer of Therr Maitz * Anya Garnis (b. 1982), professional dancer, raised in Magadan, but not born there. *

Nikolai Getman Nikolai Ivanovich Getman or Mykola Ivanovich Hetman (russian: Николай Иванович Гетман, uk, Микола Іванович Гетьман), an artist, was born in 1917 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and died at his home in Orel, Russia ...

(1917–2004), artist *

Dimitry Ipatov Dimitry Gennadyevich Ipatov (russian: Дмитрий Геннадьевич Ипатов) (born June 30, 1984 in Magadan) is a Russian ski jumper who has been competing since 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of eig ...

(b. 1984), ski jumper *

Inna Korobkina Inna Korobkina is a Russian Canadian actress. She has acted in Russian and English. Career Korobkina is known for her appearance in the 2004 remake film '' Dawn of the Dead''. She also appeared in several T.V. series like '' Beautiful People' ...

(b. 1981), actress *

Vadim Kozin Vadim Alekseyevich Kozin (russian: Вадим Алексеевич Козин; March 21, 1903 – December 19, 1994) was a Russian tenor, songwriter, and an openly homosexual man until 1934 when male homosexuality became a crime in USSR. Vadim Al ...

(1903–1994), tenor *

Nina Lugovskaya Nina Sergeyevna Lugovskaya (russian: Нина Серге́евна Луговская; 25 December 1918, Moscow – 27 December 1993, Vladimir) was a Soviet painter and theatre designer, in addition to being a survivor of the GULAG. During Joseph ...

(1918–1993), artist *

Sasha Luss Alexandra "Sasha" Alexeyevna Luss (russian: Александра "Саша" Алексеевна Лусс; born 6 June 1992) is a Russian model and actress best known for portraying Anna Poliatova in the 2019 film ''Anna''. Early life Luss w ...

(b. 1992), fashion model *

Gena Marvin Gena Marvin (born ) is a Russian performance artist known for her surreal and creature drag. Her art focuses on themes of identity, self-acceptance, different forms of beauty, and the surreal. Early life and education Gena Marvin was born i ...

(b. 2000s), performance artist *

Viktor Rybakov Viktor Grigorievich Rybakov (russian: Виктор Григорьевич Рыбаков) (born May 28, 1956 in Magadan) is a retired boxer, who represented the USSR twice at the Summer Olympics during his career as an Olympian. He ...

(b. 1956), former European amateur boxing champion * Pavel Vinogradov (b. 1953), cosmonaut *

Yelena Vyalbe Yelena or Jelena is a feminine given name. It is the Russian form of Helen, written Елена in Russian. Notable people called Yelena *Yelena Afanasyeva (born 1967), former Russian athlete who competed in the 800 metres * Yelena Vladimiro ...

(b. 1968), Olympic cross-country skier

Twin towns and sister cities

Magadan is twinned with: *

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, United States (1991) * Tonghua, Jilin,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(1992) * Zlatitsa, Bulgaria (2012) *

Shuangyashan Shuangyashan () is a coal mining prefecture-level city located in the eastern part Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, bordering Russia's Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais to the east. The city's name means a pair-of-ducks mountains ...

(2013) *In 2022 Jelgava,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

(2006) suspended the cooperation agreements with Magadan due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Jelgava suspends cooperation agreement with twin cities Magadan (Russia) and Baranovichi (Belarus)
/ref>

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * *

Ryszard Kapuscinski Ryszard () is the Polish equivalent of "Richard", and may refer to: *Ryszard Andrzejewski (born 1976), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer *Ryszard Bakst (1926–1999), Polish and British pianist and piano teacher of Jewish/Polish/Russian ...

, ''Imperium'', Granta, 2019, *McGregor, E & Boorman, C: ''Long Way Round''.

Time Warner Books Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Grou ...

, 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 Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

and

Theo Uittenbogaard Theo Uittenbogaard (born Amstelveen, Nieuwer-Amstel, Netherlands, 1946 – 2022) was a Dutch radio & TV-producer, who worked for almost all nationwide public networks in The Netherlands since 1965. His training was on-the-job, since no school or a ...

(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