Oymyakon is the famous Pole of Cold. Considered the most cold spot Northern Hemisphere and the coldest inhabited area on Earth.

Translated from the Yakut, Oymyakon means “mad cold”.

Oymyakon in Yakutia is called the whole area, which includes several settlements, including a village with by the same name. Currently, a little more than 500 people live in the village of Oymyakon. Despite its remoteness, there is life in the city, though it’s not easy to live in such conditions, and people are slowly dispersing in all directions ...

Life at the Pole of Cold.

Temperature

Officially registered minimum temperature-69.6 ° C, but there are other, not official data. So, in 1938, the temperature was -77.8 degrees, but these values ​​\u200b\u200bare not included in the official chronicles.

In summer, the temperature stays around 10-15 degrees, but even here there are records. On July 28, 2010, a heat record was recorded in the village of Oymyakon - the air warmed up to +34.6 °C.

There is snow in Oymyakon from 213 to 229 days a year. The temperature difference between summer and winter reaches 104 °C Oymyakon occupies one of the first places in the world according to this indicator!

Life in the cold

Civilization in Oymyakon: there is internet and cellular, and the airport, which was created during the Second World War. There are a school, a hospital, a club, a kindergarten, School of Music, library, bakery, gas station, gym and shops.

The average salary here, of course, is not small, higher than even the average in Moscow, but prices are 5-10 times higher than in other regions, and life in Oymyakon is a real test.

Work on "fresh air".

main fear- problems with energy, because if there is no energy for at least a week, then the entire infrastructure in the village will simply freeze and it will have to be changed.

Cars are parked in heated garages; the engine is warmed up for 10–15 minutes before leaving. If there is no garage, then the engine is not turned off, but, as they say in Yakutia, they rumble. Additional stoves are installed in the cabs of the vehicles, arctic diesel fuel is used (diesel oil is mixed with kerosene).

Yakut truckers do not turn off their engines for months.

Gas station on the road to Oymyakon.

In Oymyakon, the most ordinary objects and things acquire a very unusual shapes. For example, the police here never carry batons - in the cold they harden and burst on impact, like glass. Fish taken out of the water in the cold turns glassy in five minutes. Linens also need to be dried very carefully. In a couple of minutes in the cold, it becomes a stake, and after two hours, things already need to be brought back. If you do this carelessly, then the pillowcase or duvet cover can break in half.

There is a special attitude towards clothes: beautiful or ugly - it doesn’t matter, the main thing is to be warm. A real Oymyakon wears high fur boots made of camus, the skin of the lower part of the reindeer leg. The length of the fur coat must reach the boots. Otherwise, you can freeze your knees and lower leg. On the head is a fur hat made of arctic fox, mink or fox. You can't go out without a scarf. In severe frost, you can breathe on the street only through a scarf. Thus, at least some amount of warm air enters the lungs.

A woman sells a live hare and frozen fish in the market.

Children

Children in Oymyakon are not the same as on big earth. From childhood, they are ready for frost and harsh Yakut weather. When it's cold outside, no heating helps.

Small children are dressed according to the principle of cabbage, leaving only their eyes open, you can only walk on a sled, since the baby is unlikely to be able to walk independently in such uniforms.

Schoolchildren sit in the classroom in coats and warm gel pens, which, in theory, do not freeze in the cold ...

Training in primary school canceled at -52 °C, and at -56 °C the whole school is not studying.

Animals

Despite the fact that the temperature here is extremely low, people first settled here precisely because they found food for livestock here. Mostly small tundra horses graze here, which even in winter perfectly find food for themselves, digging grass from under the snow.

A cow can only be let out of a warm barn at -30 ° C, putting on a special bra on the udder so that it does not freeze. Previously, in these parts there were “burenki” of the Yakut breed, in which the udder was covered with wool, and they did not suffer so much from the cold. But this breed has practically disappeared - in Soviet time she was stopped breeding due to low milk yields.

Also, near Oymyakon, there used to be a large livestock farm and a farm where silver fox was bred. Her fur was the best. Probably not in vain they say that the stronger the frost, the better the fur. Now both the complex and the farm are closed.

Out of all domestic animals, only dogs, horses and, of course, reindeer can endure winter on the street ... There are also cats here. True, cats are not allowed out of the house in frost, because. they freeze immediately.

Livestock.

Nature and attractions

Beautiful in Oymyakon unique nature: there are streams that do not freeze in 50-degree frost, and ice that does not melt in 30-degree heat.

Natural landscapes of Oymyakon.

AT recent times tourism is highly developed. Foreigners and Russian travelers come from all over the country.

Among the local attractions museums, Gulag camps, full of secrets and legends Moltan rock and Labynkyr lake and, of course, the bitter frost itself.

Held annually in the spring festival "Oymyakon - Pole of Cold", which attracts Santas from all over the world.

How to get there

Despite its location, regular excursions and tours are held here and this is the only way to get to this region. It’s better not to risk it yourself, it’s too dangerous, except in the summer you can try to go on your own. A trip to Oymyakon in winter can be easily compared to a flight to Mars.

• 20 January, 2016

Hello, readers of our site "I and the World"! Today we are going with you on a journey to the cold, icy distances, the coldest place in Russia: Oymyakon is a village in the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia.

Here is a place on the planet where the thermometer falls below the record cold. In 1938, a temperature of -77.8 degrees was recorded in these places. So try not to complain about the cold this winter, we are not at the Pole of Cold!

Before the maximum low temperatures were set in Oymyakon, Verkhoyansk was considered the "Pole of Cold". And if one of the geologists did not begin to explore weather in a village, then Verkhoyansk would remain the coldest on the planet.

If you look at the map, the village is located to the left of the Indigirka River, in the eastern part of the republic.

The distance from Oymyakon to the city of Yakutsk, the capital of the region, is two days' drive. Imagine how long it will take Ambulance? Therefore, the village has a small airport.

Why Oymyakon is considered the coldest place on the planet. The village is hidden in the earth's hollow, and mountains rise around it, so that it is like in a ditch. Therefore, the cold here lingers for a long time, and the air heats up very slowly.

Local population so accustomed to the cold that -50 degrees is considered a pleasant warming. If we compare the weather here and on the northern point Arctic Ocean, on Rudolf Island, then in Oymyakon it is 10 times colder. Moreover, permafrost reigns on the island.

By the way, the name of the village is translated as “non-freezing water”. Most likely, in honor of the hot spring, beating from the ground nearby. And the water heats the air around so much that in summer the temperature rises to +35 degrees.

There are few civilized amenities: houses are heated by wood and coal, probably no pipes can withstand such cold weather. Even to the toilets you have to go through the yard.

It's funny, but some travel companies are trying to lure tourists here so that they try to live for several days in such "inhuman" conditions. It is clear that the queue does not line up for those who want it, and mainly journalists and scientists come here.
Civilization here is in the form of a Wi-Fi network, but there is no mobile connection at all.

Every day, in the cold here, the ink in the pens freezes, and the batteries die. Sometimes local residents who have cars leave them running, otherwise they simply won’t be able to start them later. And although this is the coldest settlement in Russia, there are enough people here. They are very friendly and always welcome guests.

There is only one small shop in the village - a dilapidated, wood-heated building. Buses do not run, so parents carry children to school in their cars or on sleds, it is difficult for the kids to move around themselves - they are so wrapped up in clothes.
A sunny day here depends on the season: in summer it lasts 21 hours, and in winter only 3 hours. Because in the warm season, the length of the day is increased by the beautiful white nights. And the difference in temperature differences is also large - minus 67-70 in winter, and 30-35 in summer.

The local flora and fauna are also amazing. Rather, there is nothing to be surprised here - practically nothing grows, and there are very few animals in the forests. There is no production here, so the locals breed and herd deer, fish and hunt in the forests. Only professionals in their field hunt, they know the exact places with game, otherwise you can freeze to death.

The inhabitants are engaged in breeding not only deer, but also cute undersized horses with very long hair up to 15 cm in length. Therefore, horses perfectly tolerate the most terrible cold, the main thing is to feed them well.

So, friends, you have found out which place on the planet is the coldest. Many people have now left here, where they constantly have to fight for survival. The most persistent remained, and those who are already used to it.

Get together and test your endurance and frost resistance, go boldly - spring is coming soon and warming is coming. Today and in the next couple of days the temperature will stay below -30, but in a couple of weeks it will rise to +18.

See also video:

The Pole of Cold is a place on planet Earth where the air temperature drops to record lows. In other words, it is the coldest place on earth.

On the territory of Russia, the Pole of Cold is located in the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia near the village of Oymyakon. The most low temperature, which was officially recorded here in February 1933, is -67.7 °С. According to other sources, the minimum recorded temperature at Oymyakon was -77.8 °C in 1938, although this information is disputed.

Why is Oymyakon called the cold pole of the northern hemisphere?

Since 1926, two settlements have been competing for the title of "Pole of Cold" in the Northern Hemisphere - the village of Oymyakon, and more specifically the village of Tomtor, 30 kilometers to the southeast, and the city of Verkhoyansk, in which the absolute minimum of the Northern Hemisphere was recorded -67.8 ° С in January 1885. After that, a meteorological station and the local history museum "Pole of Cold" were organized here.

The Russian Pole of Cold - the history of discovery.

If the geologist Sergei Obruchev had not begun to conduct research on the Indigirka River, then it is likely that Verkhoyansk would have remained the only contender for the role of the coldest city in the Northern Hemisphere. During the expedition, the scientist noticed a strange noise, which turned out to be his own breathing. According to him, this noise resembled the sound of spilling grain or snow falling from tree branches. This unusual sound occurs when the air temperature drops below -50°C, the locals call it the "whisper of the stars". Hearing this "whisper", Obruchev began to think that because of his geographical location this area can break the records of Verkhoyansk. The Yakut village of Oymyakon is located in a depression, surrounded on all sides by mountains, its geographical position interesting enough. In fact, Oymyakon is located higher above sea level than the competitor city, but because of the mountains surrounding it, it is located in a pit, because of this cold air here it lingers longer and heats up more slowly. Based on all this, Obruchev concluded that it was here that temperature records should be expected.

The question is what locality after all, it will be called the pole of cold by right, to this day it is considered open. Supporters of Oymyakon and supporters of Verkhoyansk continue their disputes over this issue. The absolute minimum temperature of -68°C at Oymyakon in Verkhoyansk was included in SNiP 23-01-99 "Construction Climatology" from January 1, 2003.

Weather in Oymyakon, Yakutia.

Interestingly, the village has a somewhat ironic name. The word "oymyakon" in translation into Russian means "non-freezing water", although this name may have been given in honor of a hot spring located nearby. The locals are accustomed to the harsh Oymyakon climate, for them -50°C is considered warming, since the average temperature for these places is -65°C.

In 2012, the population of Oymyakon was 512 people, today this number has not changed much. Terrible frosts of these areas do not particularly attract tourists. Most of the people who come here are either scientists or journalists. Only a few thrill-seekers and lovers of unusual sensations choose these regions for recreation. Oymyakon residents heat their houses with wood or coal, there are practically no amenities, but the entire territory of the village is covered with a Wi-Fi network, but mobile communications at the Pole of Cold in Oymyakon, Unfortunately no.

Oymyakon climate and day length.

The length of the day in Oymyakon varies depending on the season, in summer it is almost 21 hours, and in December no more than 3. Summer in this severe cold pole is beautiful with its white nights, when the sun shines throughout the day. In addition to fluctuations in the length of the day, the largest fluctuations in air temperature per year for Eurasia are also observed here - over 100 degrees, that is, in winter from -67.7 ° С and up to + 45 ° С in summer.

Surprising in Oymyakon is not only the climate, but also the local fauna. Unusual horses are bred here, whose body is covered with thick hair 8-15 cm long. Thanks to this, the Yakut breed of horses is incredibly frost-resistant, even in winter they continue to live in the fresh air, no matter how much the temperature drops.

There is almost no living creatures in these areas, you need to be an experienced hunter in order to know where and whom to look for, otherwise you can freeze to death, trying to track down at least some game. Also, almost nothing grows here, so people eat the meat of deer and horses. At the Pole of Cold in Oymyakon, a single store is open, and local residents work as fishermen, shepherds or hunters.

The village of Oymyakon (Yakut. Өymөkөөn) is located in the eastern part of Yakutia and is the center rural settlement"Borogonsky 1st Nasleg". Naslegs in Yakutia are called villages or settlements, which are the lowest administrative divisions and are part of the uluses. At present, there are 364 naslegs in Yakutia. What is the famous village of Oymyakon in Yakutia? It is known for being the so-called "Pole of Cold" - the coldest place in Russia, with the most harsh conditions for living. Nevertheless, the Oymyakonsky ulus cannot be called deserted. Only in the village itself in 2010, there were 462 residents. National composition- Russians and Yakuts. The people in Oymyakon are very friendly and are already accustomed to tourists who often visit this village.

Not everyone knows where Oymyakon is located on the map of Russia. The village stands on the left bank of the Indigirka River, in the eastern part of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). These are subpolar latitudes, a little south of the Arctic Circle, to be more precise - 63 ° 27′00 ″ northern latitude. The height above sea level is 745 m. In this valley, this is of particular importance, since the altitude of the site lowers the temperature by 4 degrees in relation to theoretically observed at sea level.

The closest to Oymyakon is the village of Khara-Tumul. It is located in the same ulus, and the distance between settlements is only 4 km along the highway or 3 km in a straight line. Much further than the villages of Bereg-Yurdya, Tomtor, Yuchyugey. To get to Yuchugey from Oymyakon, one would have to make an arc through Tomtor on the road. The length of the route will be 100 km. In a straight line - about 28 km. It is 38 km to Tomtor along the highway and 20 km in a straight line. Oymyakon is located in a place where these 38 km can be considered either close proximity or a very large distance. Close because it's only 1h 48m by car. Far away, because if something happens to the car, and help does not arrive in time, then natural conditions will not joke.

The coldest place in Russia

Three population centers of Yakutia are fighting for the opportunity to call themselves the coldest place in Russia. These are Oymyakon, Tomtor and Verkhoyansk. The authorities of Yakutia decided this issue in favor of Verkhoyansk. In favor of Tomtor is the fact that there is an airport 2 km from it, where they usually measure the air temperature regularly. Oymyakon, on the other hand, went down in history largely due to the fact that this is the name of not only the village, but the whole ulus, the whole place.

So, climatic conditions at the Pole of Cold are complex, and they are determined by several factors. Firstly, the village of Oymyakon is located in a valley, and it is located in a small pit, a lowland where cold air rushes. Secondly, it is quite far from the ocean, so the climate of Oymyakon is sharply continental. Thirdly, the height above sea level. Fourth, proximity to Arctic Circle. As a result, the absolute minimum in December and January is -65.4 °C, and in February -64.6 °C. The average temperature in Oymyakon during these months is -42°C to -50°C. Summer, on the other hand, can be very hot. Hearing the phrase "Oymyakon tan" should not be in a hurry to smile. The heat at the Pole of Cold does not last long, but in July the temperature can reach up to +34.6 °C. The average July temperature is from +14 to +22 °C.

According to unofficial data, the temperature record in Oymyakon was recorded in 1938 and amounted to -77.8 °C. One could say that this is the lowest temperature in Oymyakon, but no one knows, but what if it was even less. The fact is that there are very few thermometers in the village that can reflect frost below -60 ° C. Approximately such marks (below -70 °C) are marked on two temperature monuments. One stands in the center of the village, and above it are capital letters- "The Pole of Cold" Oymyakon.

Translated from Yakut, the word "oymyakon" means "non-freezing waters". They are actually on the edge of the village. Locals take their livestock there to drink. In any frost, the temperature of the water of the thermal spring does not fall below + 30 °C.

How to get to Oymyakon

The length of the route from to Oymyakon is approximately 928 km. Travel time is about 22 hours.

The section of the route in the immediate vicinity of the Pole of Cold is called the "Bone Road". This is connected not so much with the danger of the path in our time, but with the stages of prisoners who walked along this road on foot in Stalin's time, but far from all reached the camps. There is and continues to operate an airport in Oymyakon, but air traffic is not regular.
The distance from Moscow to Oymyakon is approximately 9200 km. highway. Travel time will take 130 hours.

Despite the long distance, tourists very often visit this place. People come here even from other countries.

Life in Oymyakon

The history of the Oymyakon Pole of Cold is rooted in the deep past. It is impossible to specify the period of occurrence of the camp in this valley. Once upon a time, Yakut reindeer herders, who used to lead a nomadic lifestyle, stopped here. Soviet authority looked extremely negatively at the nomads, since they are extremely difficult to control. For this reason, they were forced to turn the parking lot into a permanent settlement and abandon nomadic reindeer herding. Later, the "Gulag archipelago" contributed to the development. Dozens of camps were located at the mouth of the Indigirka and further along the region. Many prisoners, immediately after their release, could not leave the place and remained in the settlements. Exiles were also sent here. For example, the writer Varlam Shalamov spent the last two years of exile in Tomtor. In the village of Oymyakon, high school, even a local history literary and historical museum was opened, which is by no means dedicated to the Yakut culture, but to writers, poets, artists, cultural figures and scientists who were serving prison terms in these parts or were sent into exile. There is also a monument to the victims Stalinist repressions"Bell of Remembrance".

If the traveler nevertheless arrives by plane, he will see a strange dilapidated wooden structure with two boarded up windows. Above the door is a shield with the inscription "Oymyakon Airport". Below the inscription are broken doors, and there is no furniture inside the room. This is the waiting room. No need to try to set the length of the runway. It has no length, or it is equal to the width of a large abandoned field, which receives aircraft. The most common model is the An-2. Less often - An-24. The fact is that once, back in the years of the Great patriotic war, there was a military air base, which was built by prisoners and served by civilians. A flat and relatively reliable area has been preserved in our time. Flights exist only between the city of Yakutsk and the center of the ulus, the village of Ust-Nera.

Life in Oymyakon is quite difficult, and much goes in the direction of decline, but not development. frost at the Pole of Cold leaves its mark on everything. The population of Oymyakon has never been surprised that a car engine started during the day does not turn off all night, because a trip is planned for the morning, but in the morning it may not be started. There is a school in the village, and children are released from classes only when the temperature is below -60 °C.

There is no public transport in the village of Oymyakon, so parents take students to school on sleds or sledges. This is done mainly due to the fact that they have to be wrapped up so that they lose the ability to move independently. In the classroom, schoolchildren sit in outerwear and constantly warm the paste in their hands with their breath. The place where Oymyakon is located creates difficulties in everything. It has long been abandoned by all those who are not ready to fight all their lives with natural conditions Cold Poles. However, the struggle is even for the possibility of burial. Digging a grave here is not easy at all. You have to warm the earth for a long time, then remove one layer, and then warm it again with fires.

One store in the village is not very different in design from the airport. The same dilapidated structure, but only the windows and doors are intact. The inhabitants of Oymyakon need it many times more, since it is practically the only way purchase a number of food products, cigarettes, alcohol. Main occupation local residents- Cattle breeding, reindeer breeding, hunting and fishing. Almost all the inhabitants of the Pole of Cold drive cattle, and they also catch fish, but there is nowhere else to find bread or tobacco, vodka.

By the way, alcohol winter time in Oymyakon you can drink only if there is full confidence that you don't have to go anywhere. It is better to do this in a house with a stove, because interruptions in heating happen all the time. Frost below -60 ° C completely denies warming with alcohol. A drunk person becomes helpless and can lose consciousness at any moment. This happens even if you drink very little. Falling on the snow in this case is fraught with frostbite and death. Here, after all, the Pole of Cold.

Photos of Oymyakon village

Below are unique photos"Poles of Cold" - the village of Oymyakon.

A photo: Amos Chapple

Oymyakon is the pole of cold, one of the harshest places on earth where people constantly live and work. Children go to school at -50 °C, streams do not freeze even at -70 °C, and on the street you can meet women in nylon stockings. "My Planet" has collected facts and opinions of local residents about this unique Russian region which is becoming more and more popular with tourists.

Population

In the Yakut village of Oymyakon, 512 people live (according to 2012 data). Mostly people are engaged in cattle breeding, reindeer herding, fishing. In summer, residents go for haymaking in the so-called letniki. There is civilization in Oymyakon: there is the Internet, and cellular communications, and an airport that was created during the Second World War. There are a school, a hospital, a club, a kindergarten, a music school, a library, a bakery, a gas station, a gym and shops. Prices are higher than in Moscow: for example, a loaf of bread costs 50 rubles.

Days and nights

A photo: Amos Chapple

The duration of the short day in December - three hours. But in the summer there are white nights - light around the clock. Summer is characterized by a large temperature difference: during the day it can be +30 ° C, and at night - below zero.

standing cold

A photo: Dmitry Chistoprudov

The village is located at an altitude of 741 m above sea level in a hollow where cold air flows in winter. There is no wind, but, according to the locals, the stagnant cold penetrates through and through.

The temperature minimum, according to various measurements, ranges from -77.8 to -82 ° C. Scientists and meteorologists are constantly arguing about which settlement of Yakutia is considered the main north pole cold: Oymyakon or Verkhoyansk. According to the latest data, the absolute annual minimums in Oymyakon are 3.5 °C lower than in Verkhoyansk.

The temperature difference in summer and winter reaches 104 ° C - according to this indicator, Oymyakon occupies one of the first places in the world. +34.6 °C - the most heat recorded in the summer of 2010.

There is snow in Oymyakon from 213 to 229 days a year.

Children

Small children are dressed according to the principle of cabbage, leaving only their eyes open, you can only walk on a sled, since the baby is unlikely to be able to walk independently in such uniforms. Education in elementary grades is canceled at -52 °C. At -56 ° C, the whole school does not study. Children are looking forward to the frosts so that they can spend the whole short polar day outdoors, riding downhill.

clothing

A photo: Amos Chapple

Adults dress in fur coats, down jackets, fur hats, high fur boots made of reindeer skin, put on two or three pairs of tights, pants and socks. A hat to the forehead and a scarf to the bridge of the nose save from frostbite of the face and nose. But cases of frostbite still happen. However, nothing will change the female nature: there were cases when women at -50 ° C put on nylon tights under a fur coat and managed not to freeze.

Cars

A photo: Olga Vodopyanova

Cars are parked in heated garages, before leaving the driver warms up the engine for 10-15 minutes. If there is no garage, then the engine is not turned off, but, as they say in Yakutia, they rumble. Additional stoves are installed in the cabs of the vehicles, arctic diesel fuel is used (diesel oil is mixed with kerosene). Many drivers make a special home-made pipe for heating fuel. Yakut truckers do not turn off their engines for months.

Nature

Oymyakon has a beautiful unique nature: there are streams that do not freeze in 70-degree frost, and ice that does not melt in 30-degree heat. Recently, tourism has been very developed: foreigners and Russian travelers come from all over the country. Among the local attractions are museums, Gulag camps, full of secrets and legends Moltan rock and Labynkyr lake and, of course, the bitter frost itself. In the spring, the festival "Oymyakon - the Pole of Cold" is held annually, which attracts Santa Clauses from all over the world. Tourists are advised to dress very warmly: do not interfere cotton pants, a pair of hats, fur sweaters, deerskin fur boots and a scarf to wrap around your face.

Animals

Of all animals, only dogs, horses and reindeer can endure the Oymyakon cold. A cow can only be let out of a warm barn at -30 ° C, putting on a special bra on the udder so that it does not freeze. Cats are not allowed outside in winter, but if the animal jumps out on its own, frostbite is guaranteed. On very cold days, the owners let the dogs into the house or in the garage, but the rest of the time they live on the street.

special effects

The locals claim that:

- in severe frosts (-65 ° C), if metal hits metal hard, sparks are cut out, because of this it is very dangerous to use gas stations;

- vodka freezes in the cold, just like mercury thermometers;

- the police do not have batons - in the cold they harden and burst on impact, like glass;

- a fish taken out of the water in the cold becomes glassy in five minutes;

Locals take washed clothes outside to freeze. In a minute it rises a stake. They are collected after two hours very carefully, otherwise you can break the pillowcase or tear off the collar of the shirt.

Because of permafrost very difficult to dig graves. People pray that loved ones do not die in winter.

Evgenia Zibinskaya, originally from the neighboring village of Nelkan, Oymyakonsky District, abolished in 2008 Until 1997, I lived in the village of Nelkan. Our village was surrounded by a ring of mountains, because of which we had no wind and the cold was tolerated quite easily. But in Yakutsk -30 ° C is a real torture because of the winds constantly blowing, as if from all directions at the same time. The polar day is very short. Walking, we grabbed a piece polar night- so children roaming around in pitch darkness were not uncommon. I still have no fear of night walks. The main northern device is deer fur. Reindeer fur is unique: each hair is a hollow tube filled with air. Thanks to such an air cushion, the fur retains heat very well. We had a gold mine, so the main activity of its inhabitants was focused on this, the rest provided the infrastructure. Gold, by the way, could be found right in the river (I'm not talking about a trifle, which is enough in the Urals, but about quite large nuggets), but it was of no interest to the inhabitants, because if someone decided to hand it over to the state, then paperwork would be more than enough, and taking it out, you know, was unrealistic.