Norilsk is a closed city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located south of the western Taymyr Peninsula, around 90 km east of the Yenisey River and 1,500 km north of Krasnoyarsk. Norilsk is 300 km north of the Arctic Circle and 2,400 km from the North Pole. It has a permanent population of 182,701 (2021), and up to 220,000 including temporary inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region after Krasnoyarsk. Since 2016, Norilsk's population has grown steadily. In 2017, for the first time, migration to the city exceeded outflow. In 2018, according to Krasnoyarskstat, natural population growth amounted to 1,357 people: 2,381 were born, and 1,024 died.
Leninsky Prospekt in central Norilsk (June 2016)
False-color satellite image of Norilsk and the surrounding area (more information)
The first house in Norilsk
Norilsk Golgotha, a memorial to Gulag prisoners who labored at Norilsk
A closed city or town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied so that specific authorization is required to visit or remain overnight. Such places may be sensitive military establishments or secret research installations that require much more space or internal freedom than is available in a conventional military base. There may also be a wider variety of permanent residents, including close family members of workers or trusted traders who are not directly connected with clandestine purposes.
Central entry checkpoint to the closed city of Seversk, Tomsk Oblast, Russia.
A checkpoint in the closed city of Zheleznogorsk, in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia
A view of Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast, Russia, which is home to the Northern Fleet.
A street in Snezhinsk, Russia