Magadan is a port city and the capitol of Magadan Oblast, sitting in Northeast Russia, located
off of The Sea of Okhotsk. The
population of Magadan is 95,925 people (2010 Census).
History
Magadan
was founded in 1929 on the site of a previous settlement. Between 1941 and 1953
Magadan was used as a major transit center for prisoners sent to labor camps
within Siberia. From 1932 to 1953, Magadna was the capitol of
the Dalstroy Organization—a large and brutal forced-labor gold mining operation.
Later the town served as a port, exporting gold and other metal mined within
this region.
Economy
Ship building and fishing are both the major industries. Magadan
has a sea port (operational from May to December) and a small international
airport. The unpaved Kolyma Highway leads to the rich gold mining region of the
upper Kolyma River. Magadan is very isolated the nearest big city Yakutsk,
being 1,200 miles away.
The major sources of income for the local economy are gold
mining and fishing. Gold production has recently declined. However, fishing production
is improving each year. Other local industries include pasta and sausage plants
and a distillery. Farming is very difficult due to such a harsh climate,
however there are still many public and private farming enterprises.
Culture and Religion
Magadan houses numerous cultural institutions including the
Regional Museum of Anthropology, a geological museum, a regional library, and a
university. The town has a massive new Orthodox Cathedral Church of the
Trinity, a recently completed Roman Catholic Church of the Nativity, and the
Mask of Sorrow memorial, a huge sculpture in memory of all the victims who perished
within the labor camps.
Climate
