Aldan ( rus, Алдан, p=ɐlˈdan; ) is a gold-mining

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 ...

(the ''gorod'') and the

administrative center 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 Belgiu ...

of Aldansky District of the

Sakha Republic 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 ...

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 ...

, located in the Aldan Highlands, in the Aldan River basin, on the stream Orto-Sala near its mouth in the Seligdar River, about south of the republic's capital of Yakutsk. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 21,275.

History

It was founded in 1923 as Nezametny (), after discovery of rich gold deposits. It was granted town status and renamed in 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, an airfield was built here for the Alaska-Siberian ( ALSIB) air route used to ferry American Lend-Lease aircraft to the Eastern Front.Igor Lebedev. ''Aviation Lend-Lease to Russia''. Nova Publishers, 1997, pp. 44-49

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Aldan serves as the

of Aldansky District.''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic'' As an inhabited locality, Aldan is classified as a town under district jurisdiction. As an administrative division, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated within Aldansky District as the

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 ...

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

Economy

Aldan remains a productive

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and mica mining center, largely avoiding the large drop in population suffered by most other towns in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

in the years after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

Transportation

The town stands on the A360 Lena Highway, which connects Yakutsk and Never, as well as on the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline railway. It is served by the Aldan Airport.

Climate

Aldan has the typical eastern Siberian

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental 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 ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfc'') though it is affected by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

more than localities in the lower Lena basin, which gives it much heavier rainfall during the summer than most of the republic, as well as a little more snowfall and rather less extreme winter temperatures – though still extremely cold for the latitude and as much as colder than settlements actually on the Okhotsk coast. In spite of the less extreme winters vis-à-vis more northerly parts of Sakha, Aldan has never seen any day above freezing from 22 November to 7 March inclusive. Although winters are somewhat less extreme than Yakutsk, summers are actually somewhat cooler, and cloudier, than those northerly areas. The coldest temperature recorded in Aldan since the weather station was opened in 1937 has been on 20 January 2023 and the hottest on 3 July 2021. February 1969, with a mean temperature of , has been the coldest month on record, shading the preceding January which averaged . The hottest month has been July 1941 which averaged , the wettest August 2006 with of rain, and the driest March 1937 with only of water equivalent.

References

Notes

Sources

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

External links

Official website of Aldan

Directory of organizations in Aldan

Official website of Aldan Youth Theater
{{Authority control Cities and towns in the Sakha Republic Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union Populated places established in 1923