Lensk ( rus, Ленск, p=lʲɛnsk; sah, Лиэнскэй, ''Lienskey'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

and the

administrative center 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, L ...

of Lensky District of the Sakha Republic,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 24,966.

Geography

Lensk is located on the left bank of the

Lena River The Lena (russian: Ле́на, ; evn, Елюенэ, ''Eljune''; sah, Өлүөнэ, ''Ölüöne''; bua, Зүлхэ, ''Zülkhe''; mn, Зүлгэ, ''Zülge'') is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean ...

, at the southern edge of the

Lena Plateau The Lena Plateau, also known as Prilensky Plateau ( rus, Приленское плато, ''Prilenskoye Plato''; sah, Өлүөнэтээҕи хаптал хайалаах сир), is one of the great plateaus of Siberia. Administratively it is m ...

, approximately west of

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 ...

, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of the republic. Google Earth

History

The original settlement was founded as Mukhtuya () in 1663 by Russian fur traders, on the site of an older Evenk settlement known as Mukhtuy. The name of the original settlement was derived from an Evenk term meaning "great water". During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a place of political exile. It experienced a period of rapid growth during the 20th century as a result of the discovery and development of diamond deposits in the

Vilyuy River The Vilyuy ( rus, Вилю́й, p=vʲɪˈlʲʉj; sah, Бүлүү, ''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 fi ...

basin. As the closest significant settlement to the major

kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of S ...

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

at the

Mir Mine The Mir mine (russian: кимберлитовая алмазная трубка «Мир» ''kimberlitovaya almaznaya trubka "Mir"''; English: kimberlite diamond pipe "Peace"), also called the Mirny mine, is an open pit diamond mine located in M ...

and the establishment of the associated town of Mirny, Mukhtuya became a major base of construction. In 1956, roads were built connecting Mukhtuya to the future Mirny and the port was established. On July 13, 1963, Mukhtuya was granted town status''Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of the Sakha Republic'' and was given its present name, after the river on which it stands. In May 2001, Lensk briefly came to the world's attention when almost the entire town was flooded and a large amount of the buildings destroyed. The floods were caused by river ice blocking the river downstream, creating a dam. The town was largely rebuilt after the flooding. Lensk after the 2001 flood

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Lensk serves as the

of Lensky District. As an inhabited locality, Lensk is classified as a town under district jurisdiction. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Lensky District as the

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

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

Economy

In addition to its association with the diamond industry and construction, Lensk has a significant

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...

sector and a large-panel housing factory. The town is also home to the ''Yakutalmaz'' scientific research organization. Lensk is connected with Mirny by road and has scheduled air connections with Mirny,

, and Irkutsk from the Lensk Airport. As a major port on the Lena, the town has developed as a processing point for the regional

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

industry.

Culture and tourism

Lensk has a history museum and operates a branch of the Irkutsk Polytechnic Institute. A karst cave with a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

and a karst lake is located southwest of the town.

Climate

Lensk has a subarctic climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Dfc''). Winters are severely cold and long with average temperatures ranging from in January, while summers are mild and brief with average temperatures ranging from in July.

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hai ...

is moderate and is significantly higher in summer than at other times of the year.

References

Notes

Sources

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

External links

Unofficial website of Lensk

Website of the Secondary School #1 in Lensk
{{Use mdy dates, date=March 2013 Cities and towns in the Sakha Republic Populated places established in 1663 1663 establishments in Russia Populated places on the Lena River