Chernyshevsky (; ) is an urban locality (an

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 ...

) in

Mirninsky District Mirninsky District (; , ''Miiriney uluuha'') is an administrativeConstitution of the Sakha Republic, Article 45 and municipalLaw #172-Z #351-III district (raion, or ''ulus''), one of the thirty-four in the Sakha Republic, Russia. It is locate ...

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 from Mirny, 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 the district,''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic'' on the southern edge of the

Central Siberian Plateau The Central Siberian Plateau (; ) is a vast mountainous area in Siberia, one of the Great Russian Regions. Geography The plateau occupies a great part of central Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It is located in the Siberian Plat ...

on the

Vilyuy River The Vilyuy ( rus, Вилю́й, p=vʲɪˈlʲʉj; , ''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 first mentioned in ...

, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of the

Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 5,025.

History

It was founded in 1959 with the construction of the dam and hydroelectric plant on the

and granted

status in 1961. It was named after

Nikolay Chernyshevsky Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky ( – ) was a Russian literary and social critic, journalist, novelist, democrat, and socialist philosopher, often identified as a utopian socialist and leading theoretician of Russian nihilism and the N ...

, who was exiled in Siberia from 1864 until 1883, including from 1871 in nearby

Vilyuysk Vilyuysk ( rus, Вилюйск, p=vʲɪˈlʲʉjsk; , ''Bülüü'') is a town and the administrative center of Vilyuysky District in the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the Vilyuy River (left tributary of the Lena), about from Yakutsk, the ...

. After the hydroelectric project was completed in 1976, a large number of inhabitants moved away, with the population falling by almost a third between 1970 and 1979 but remaining fairly stable in the following years.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, the

of ChernyshevskyAccording to Article 7 of the Law #77-I, lower-level administrative divisions with the status of a settlement have their administrative centers in an inhabited locality with the status of an urban-type settlement. According to the ''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic'', Chernyshevsky is the administrative center of the Settlement of Chernyshevsky. is incorporated within

as the

Settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

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

Economy and infrastructure

Chernyshevsky is the site of the Vilyuy Dam, the first major hydroelectric project in the world to be built on

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 with the coldest operating conditions of any hydroelectric plant in the world. The dam and the associated hydroelectric plant (Vilyuyskaya GES) are the main employers. The plant has a capacity of 680 MW and supplies power for the diamond mining activities in the nearby Udachny and Mirny. There is also some

fish farming Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of ...

in the reservoir behind the Vilyuy Dam, as well as some timber production and a geological research organization.

Transportation

Chernyshevsky lies on the road leading from

Lensk Lensk ( rus, Ленск, p=lʲɛnsk; , ''Lienskey'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Lensky District, Sakha Republic, Lensky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia. As of the Russian Census (201 ...

on the

Lena River The Lena is a river in the Russian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers of Siberia which flow into the Arctic Ocean, the others being Ob (river), Ob and Yenisey. The Lena River is long and has a capacious drainage basi ...

to Mirny and Udachny. This is currently being upgraded as the future

Anabar Highway Anabar may refer to: * Anabar Bay, Laptev Sea * Anabar Constituency, Nauru * Anabar District, Nauru * Anabar District, Russia, Sakha, Russia * Anabar Highway, Russia * Anabar Plateau, Russia * Anabar (river), Sakha, Russia * Anabar Shield The An ...

, which will connect up to the

Anabar River The Anabar (, in its upper course: Большая Куонамка ''Bolshaya Kuonamka''; ) is a river in Sakha, Russia. It is long ( counting the long Bolshaya Kuonamka ("Big Kuonamka") stretch of its upper course) and has a drainage basin of ...

and the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

Climate

Chernyshevsky has a harsh

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 ...

(''Dfc'').

References

Notes

Sources

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

External links

Unofficial website of Chernyshevsky
{{Use mdy dates, date=November 2015 Urban-type settlements in the Sakha Republic Mirninsky District