Susuman

The town lies in the Upper Kolyma region near where the Susuman River joins the Byoryolyokh.[http://www.tourism.ru/docs/desc/38/70/12/ Верхнеколымское нагорье] The town sits on the M56 Kolyma Highway, an unsealed track often known as the "Road of Bones", which connects Yakutsk with Magadan.

It was founded in 1936 as a settlement of a sovkhoz called Susuman, named after the nearby river of the same name.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} In 1938, the settlement was greatly expanded to become a center of gold mining in the western part of what is now Magadan Oblast under the control of Dalstroy.

Gold mining and other industrial operations in the region were largely reliant on corrective labor camps of the Gulag system, with a large number operating in Susuman's vicinity. From 1949 until 1956, Susuman was the base for one of the Soviet Union's largest corrective labor camps, the Zaplag of the Dalstroy program. During this time, up to 16,500 prisoners were kept in the camps.

Susuman was granted town status in 1964.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} In the post-Soviet period, the population dropped significantly, from a high of around 18,000 inhabitants in 1991, down to 4,439 as of the 2021 Census.

Susuman has an extreme dry-winter subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dwd/Dwc) with extremely cold, dry winters and short, very mild summers. It is one of the coldest permanently inhabited settlements in the world, with a yearly mean temperature of {{convert|−11.5|C}}. All 12 months have experienced a frost, and above-freezing temperatures during December, January, and February are unheard of.

{{Weather box

|width=auto

|location=Susuman (1991-2020)

|metric first=yes

|single line=yes

|Jan record high C=-4.1

|Feb record high C=-1.6

|Mar record high C=1.4

|Apr record high C=12.1

|May record high C=26.1

|Jun record high C=33.2

|Jul record high C=35.0

|Aug record high C=33.0

|Sep record high C=24.4

|Oct record high C=11.3

|Nov record high C=2.1

|Dec record high C=−1.6

|Jan high C=−32.9

|Feb high C=−26.9

|Mar high C=−15.3

|Apr high C=-3.4

|May high C= 9.5

|Jun high C = 19.7

|Jul high C = 22.4

|Aug high C = 18.1

|Sep high C = 9.2

|Oct high C = −6.7

|Nov high C = −23.2

|Dec high C = −32.6

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = −37.4

|Feb mean C = −33.2

|Mar mean C = −23.6

|Apr mean C = −10.9

|May mean C = 3.5

|Jun mean C = 12.2

|Jul mean C = 14.9

|Aug mean C = 10.8

|Sep mean C = 2.9

|Oct mean C = −12.6

|Nov mean C = −27.8

|Dec mean C = −36.5

|year mean C =

|Jan low C = −41.5

|Feb low C = −38.3

|Mar low C = −31.1

|Apr low C = −19.2

|May low C = -3.1

|Jun low C = 4.5

|Jul low C = 7.5

|Aug low C = 4.0

|Sep low C = -2.4

|Oct low C = −17.8

|Nov low C = −32.1

|Dec low C = −40.4

|year low C =

|Jan record low C = −60.6

|Feb record low C = −59.9

|Mar record low C = −53.7

|Apr record low C = −44.0

|May record low C = −27.5

|Jun record low C = −8.3

|Jul record low C = −4.6

|Aug record low C = −11.1

|Sep record low C = −24.3

|Oct record low C = −44.7

|Nov record low C = −53.8

|Dec record low C = −58.5

|precipitation colour=green

|Jan precipitation mm = 9.4

|Feb precipitation mm = 7.6

|Mar precipitation mm = 5.4

|Apr precipitation mm = 6.1

|May precipitation mm = 14.6

|Jun precipitation mm = 42.3

|Jul precipitation mm = 59.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 65.9

|Sep precipitation mm = 34.9

|Oct precipitation mm = 20.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 17.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 9.8

|Jan precipitation days = 13.9

|Feb precipitation days = 11.8

|Mar precipitation days = 8.1

|Apr precipitation days = 6.1

|May precipitation days = 7.4

|Jun precipitation days = 12.7

|Jul precipitation days = 13.7

|Aug precipitation days = 13.2

|Sep precipitation days = 10.2

|Oct precipitation days = 11.6

|Nov precipitation days = 13.5

|Dec precipitation days = 13.1

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan sun = 20

|Feb sun = 89

|Mar sun = 213

|Apr sun = 283

|May sun = 273

|Jun sun = 291

|Jul sun = 274

|Aug sun = 223

|Sep sun = 152

|Oct sun = 132

|Nov sun = 53

|Dec sun = 10

|source 1 = climatebase.ru (1937-2012){{cite web|url=http://climatebase.ru/station/24790?lang=en|title=climatebase.ru| accessdate = February 15, 2017 |language=Russian}}

|source 2 = pogodaiklimat.ru (temperatures){{cite web|url=http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/24790.htm|title=Roshydromet |accessdate = February 15, 2017 |language=Russian}}

|date=August 2010

}}{{Historical populations|7=1959|8=13310|9=1970|10=12643|11=1979|12=16025|13=1989|14=16818|15=2002|16=7833|17=2010|18=5855|19=2021|20=4439|type=|footnote=Source: Census data}}

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Susuman serves as the administrative center of Susumansky District, to which it is directly subordinated.Law #1292-OZ As a municipal division, the town of Susuman is incorporated within Susumansky Municipal District as Susuman Urban Settlement.Law #512-OZ

The town's economy relies mainly on its status as one of the centers of gold mining in the Kolyma region.

The town is served by the Susuman Airport, with four flights a week from Magadan.

Susuman and its nearby Dalstroy goldmine is portrayed in the prizewinning documentary on the Gulag in the far east of Siberia GOLD Lost in Siberia (VPRO/The Netherlands 1994) YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apbN2qypLM8] www.imdb.com [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0827767] by a Dutch filmteam, led by author Gerard Jacobs and filmmaker Theo Uittenbogaard

{{Reflist}}

• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|mag|adm|list}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|mag|mun|list1}}
• {{RussiaAdmMunRef|mag|mun|list2}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140325205557/http://www.magadan.ru/ru/municipal/rnsusuman/susuman.html Official website of Susuman] {{in lang|ru}}
• [http://www.susuman.com Unofficial website of Susuman] {{in lang|ru}}
• Documentary *** GOLD*** - lost in Siberia [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apbN2qypLM8] by Gerard Jacobs and Theo Uittenbogaard (VPRO/The Netherlands/1994) was filmed in the summer of 1993 in Magadan, along the Road of Bones, through Ust-Umshug and Susuman and at the Sverovostok Zoloto gold mine, Siberia, by the first foreign film crew ever, visiting the Kolyma District -which had been under control of the Soviet secret service, under the company name Dalstroj, for over 60 years.

{{Magadan Oblast}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2013}}

Category:Cities and towns in Magadan Oblast

Category:Cities and towns built in the Soviet Union

Category:Populated places established in 1936

Category:1936 establishments in the Soviet Union