closed city#Russia

File:Checkpoint in closed city Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai.jpg, a closed city in Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai, 2011]]

Closed cities are sometimes represented only on classified maps that are not available to the general public.

Sometimes, closed cities are indicated obliquely as a nearby insignificant village, with the name of the stop serving the closed city made equivocal or misleading. For mail delivery, a closed city is usually named as the nearest large city and a special postcode, for example, Arzamas‑16, Chelyabinsk‑65. The actual settlement can be rather distant from its namesakes; for instance, Sarov, designated Arzamas-16, is in the federal republic of Mordovia, whereas Arzamas is in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (roughly {{convert|75|km}} away). People not living in a closed city were subject to document checks and security checkpoints, and explicit permission was required for them to visit.{{cite web|url=http://photo-escape.ru/photo/backups/sarov-border/|title=City border|work=Photoarchives|publisher=FOTOESCAPE|access-date=2013-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115091243/http://photo-escape.ru/photo/backups/sarov-border/|archive-date=2013-11-15|url-status=dead}} To relocate to a closed city, one would need security clearance by the organization running it, such as the KGB in Soviet closed cities.

Closed cities may be guarded by a security perimeter with barbed wire and towers. The very fact of such a city's existence was often classified, and residents were expected not to divulge their place of residence to outsiders. This lack of freedom was often compensated by better housing conditions and a better choice of goods in retail trade than elsewhere in the country.

File:Map of Russia - Oblasts with Atomgrads.svg, with those highlighted in red containing closed cities for nuclear research and development, {{As of|2009|July|lc=y}}.]]

Closed cities were established in the Soviet Union from the late 1940s onwards under the euphemistic name of "post boxes", referring to the practice of addressing post to them via mailboxes in other cities. They fell into two distinct categories.

1. The first category comprised relatively small communities with sensitive military, industrial, or scientific facilities, such as arms plants or nuclear research sites.[http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/secret-cities.htm "Secret Cities".] [http://www.globalsecurity.org GlobalSecurity.org]. Accessed August 2011. Examples are the modern towns of Ozyorsk (Chelyabinsk-65) with a plutonium production plant, and Sillamäe, the site of a uranium enrichment facility. Even Soviet citizens were not allowed access to these places without proper authorization. In addition to this, some bigger cities were closed for unauthorized access to foreigners, while they were freely accessible to Soviet citizens. These included cities like Perm, a center for Soviet artillery, munitions, and also aircraft engines production, and Vladivostok, the headquarters and primary base of the Soviet Pacific Fleet.
2. The second category consisted of border cities (and some whole border areas, such as the Kaliningrad Oblast,{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} Saaremaa, and Hiiumaa), which were closed for security purposes. Comparable closed areas existed elsewhere in the Eastern bloc; a substantial area along the inner German border and the border between West Germany and Czechoslovakia was placed under similar restrictions (although by the 1970s foreigners could cross the latter by train). Citizens were required to have special permits to enter such areas.

The locations of the first category of closed cities were chosen for their geographical characteristics. They were often established in remote places deep in the Urals and Siberia, out of reach of enemy bombers. They were built close to rivers and lakes that were used to provide the large amounts of water needed for heavy industry and nuclear technology. Existing civilian settlements in the vicinity were often used as sources of construction labour. Although the closure of cities originated as a strictly temporary measure that was to be normalized under more favorable conditions, in practice the closed cities took on a life of their own and became a notable institutional feature of the Soviet system.Victor Zaslavsky, "Ethnic group divided: social stratification and nationality policy in the Soviet Union", p. 224, in Peter Joseph Potichnyj, The Soviet Union: Party and Society, Cambridge University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|0-521-34460-3}}.

Any movement to and from closed areas was tightly controlled. Foreigners were prohibited from entering them and local citizens were under stringent restrictions. They had to have special permission to travel there or leave, and anyone seeking residency was required to undergo vetting by the NKVD and its successor agencies. Access to some closed cities was physically enforced by surrounding them with barbed wire fences monitored by armed guards.

File:Severomorsk (5145531991).jpg, a closed town that serves as the headquarters of the Northern Fleet in Russia's Murmansk Oblast, 2010]]

Russia has the largest number of closed cities globally. The policy governing these cities underwent significant changes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The adoption of a new constitution for the Russian Federation in 1993 prompted substantial reforms to the status of closed cities, which were subsequently renamed "closed administrative-territorial formations" (or ZATO, from the Russian acronym, {{lang|ru|Закры́тое администрати́вно-территориа́льное образова́ние (ЗАТО́)}}). Municipally, all such entities have the status of urban okrugs, as mandated by federal law.

There are 44 publicly acknowledged closed cities in Russia with a total population of approximately 1.5 million people. Seventy-five percent are administered by the Russian Ministry of Defense, with the remainder under the administration of Rosatom.Nadezhda Kutepova & Olga Tsepilova, "A short history of the ZATO", pp. 148–149, in Cultures of Contamination, Volume 14: Legacies of Pollution in Russia and the US (Research in Social Problems and Public Policy), editors Michael Edelstein, Maria Tysiachniouk, Lyudmila V. Smirnova. JAI Press, 2007. {{ISBN|0-7623-1371-4}} It is believed that about 15 additional closed cities exist, but their names and locations have not been publicly disclosed by the Russian government.Greg Kaser, "Motivation and Redirection: Rationale and Achievements in the Russian Closed Nuclear Cities", p. 3, in Countering Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism, editors David J. Diamond, Samuel Apikyan, Greg Kaser. Springer, 2006. {{ISBN|1-4020-4897-1}}

Some Russian closed cities are open to foreign investment, but entry for foreigners requires a permit. An example of international cooperation in these cities is the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI), a joint effort of the United States National Nuclear Security Administration and Minatom, which involves, in part, the cities of Sarov, Snezhinsk, and Zheleznogorsk.

The number of closed cities has been significantly reduced since the mid-1990s. However, on 30 October 2001, foreign travel was restricted without exception in the northern cities of Norilsk, Talnakh, Kayerkan, Dudinka, and Igarka. Russian and Belarusian citizens visiting these cities are not required to have permits; however, local courts have been known to deport Belarusian citizens.{{Cite web |url=http://ru-antivisa.livejournal.com/351602.html |title=Вопреки распространённому мнению, Норильск закрыт и для граждан Беларуси - Визовые новости по странам бывшего СССР |access-date=2017-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613003947/http://ru-antivisa.livejournal.com/351602.html |archive-date=2017-06-13 |url-status=dead }}

The number of closed cities in Russia is defined by government decree. The reasons for restrictions vary. These cities include:

{{dynamic list}}

Altai Krai

• Sibirsky

Amur Oblast

• Tsiolkovsky{{snd}}renamed from Uglegorsk in 2013 and known as Svobodny-18 ({{lang|ru|Свободный-18}}) before that, site of the second Russian trial cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, also called Svobodny Cosmodrome.

Arkhangelsk Oblast

• Mirny{{snd}}site of Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

Astrakhan Oblast

• Znamensk{{snd}}formerly known as Kapustin Yar-1 ({{lang|ru|Капустин Яр-1}}), home to the Kapustin Yar (air base) and the "4th Missile Test Range".{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/russia/articles/features/20090930/secret_cities_revealed.html | title=Secret Cities Revealed | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Nemtsova, Anna}}

Republic of Bashkortostan

• Mezhgorye{{snd}}formerly known as Ufa-105 ({{lang|ru|Уфа-105}}) and Beloretsk-15 ({{lang|ru|Белорецк-15}}), home to the 129th Directorate of strategic subjects' technical supply and maintenance.

Chelyabinsk Oblast

File:SnezhinskHousesPobedaStreet.jpg, a closed town in Russia's Chelyabinsk Oblast, 2006]]

• Lokomotivny
• Ozyorsk{{snd}}formerly known as Chelyabinsk-65 ({{lang|ru|Челябинск-65}}) and Chelyabinsk-40 ({{lang|ru|Челябинск-40}}), nuclear material processing and recycling plant.{{cite news| url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2019/08/russian-village-evacuation-rocket-blast-sparks-radiation-fears-190813132704410.html| title=Russian village evacuation as rocket blast sparks radiation fears: Nyonoksa residents asked to leave within a day after last week's explosion that spiked radiation levels up to 16 times. | work=Al Jazeera| quote=See 25 minute video of Felicity Barr's interview of Nadezhda Kutepova.| date=13 August 2019| access-date=17 October 2019}}
• Snezhinsk{{snd}}formerly known as Chelyabinsk-70 ({{lang|ru|Челябинск-70}}), site of one of the two major Russian Federal Nuclear Centers.
• Tryokhgorny{{snd}}formerly known as Zlatoust-36 ({{lang|ru|Златоуст-36}}), site of development of parts and machinery for atomic stations and weaponry.

Kamchatka Krai

• Vilyuchinsk{{snd}}formerly known as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky-50 ({{lang|ru|Петропавловск-Камчатский-50}}), base of a squadron of submarines from the Russian Pacific Fleet, also involved in the production of nuclear submarines.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Kirov Oblast

• Pervomaysky{{snd}}formerly known as Yurya-2 ({{lang|ru|Юрья-2}}).

Krasnoyarsk Krai

• Dikson
• Solnechny{{snd}}formerly known as Uzhur-4 ({{lang|ru|Ужур-4}}).Official website of Solnechny. [http://zato-solnechnyi.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137&Itemid=122 About the Settlement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728154537/http://zato-solnechnyi.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137&Itemid=122 |date=2020-07-28 }} {{in lang|ru}}
• Zelenogorsk{{snd}}formerly known as Krasnoyarsk-45 ({{lang|ru|Красноярск-45}}).
• Zheleznogorsk{{snd}}formerly known as Krasnoyarsk-26 ({{lang|ru|Красноярск-26}}).

Moscow Oblast

• Krasnoznamensk{{snd}}formerly known as Golitsyno-2 ({{lang|ru|Голицыно-2}}).
• Molodyozhny{{snd}}formerly known as Naro-Fominsk-5 ({{lang|ru|Наро-Фоминск-5}}).
• Vlasikha{{snd}}formerly known as Gorky-2 ({{lang|ru|Горький-2}}).
• Voskhod{{snd}}formerly known as Novopetrovsk-2 ({{lang|ru|Новопетровск-2}}).
• Zvyozdny gorodok{{snd}}formerly known as Shchyolkovo-14 ({{lang|ru|Щёлково-14}}).

Murmansk Oblast

File:Дом-радуга.jpg, a closed town in Russia's Murmansk Oblast, 2008]]

• Alexandrovsk{{snd}}closed administrative-territorial formation, includes the towns of Gadzhiyevo, Polyarny, and Snezhnogorsk
• Ostrovnoy
• Severomorsk
• Snezhnogorsk
• Vidyayevo
• Zaozyorsk

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

File:SarovskyMonasteryUspenskySobor.jpg in 1904 in Sarov, which was a regular city in the Russian Empire at the time. It became a closed city in the Soviet Union in 1946, and has remained a closed city in the Russian Federation since 1991.]]

• Sarov{{snd}}formerly known as Arzamas-16

Orenburg Oblast

• Komarovsky

Penza Oblast

• Zarechny{{snd}}formerly known as Penza-19{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2014/jun/16/zarechny-russia-closed-cities | title=Zarechny: a rare glimpse into one of Russia's last closed cities | newspaper=The Guardian | date=June 16, 2014 | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Mangione, Giulia}}

Perm Krai

File:Cultural center in closed town Zvezdniy.jpg, a closed "urban-type settlement" in Russia's Perm Krai, 2010]]

• Zvyozdny{{snd}}formerly known as Perm-76 ({{lang|ru|Пермь-76}}).

Primorsky Krai

• Fokino{{snd}}formerly known as Shkotovo-17 ({{lang|ru|Шкотово-17}}).{{cite web | url=http://cns.miis.edu/stories/070524.htm | title=Russian Nuclear-Powered Submarine Dismantlement and Related Activities: A Critique | publisher=James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies | date=May 24, 2007 | access-date=14 January 2015 | author=Chuen, Cristina Hansell | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100224074620/http://cns.miis.edu/stories/070524.htm | archive-date=24 February 2010 | url-status=dead }}

Pskov Oblast

• Smuravyevo

Saratov Oblast

• Mikhaylovsky
• Shikhany
• Svetly

Sverdlovsk Oblast

• Lesnoy{{snd}}formerly known as Sverdlovsk-45
• Novouralsk{{snd}}formerly known as Sverdlovsk-44
• Svobodny
• Uralsky

Tomsk Oblast

File:Seversk Kurchatova.jpg, a closed city in Russia's Tomsk Oblast, 2006]]

• Seversk{{snd}}formerly known as Tomsk-7

Tver Oblast

• Ozyorny
• Solnechny

Vladimir Oblast

• Raduzhny

Zabaykalsky Krai

• Gorny{{snd}}formerly known as Chita-46 ({{lang|ru|Чита-46}}).

There is a list of territories within Russia that do not have closed-city status but require special permits for foreigners to visit.{{cite web|url=http://base.garant.ru/104408/|title=Постановление Правительства РФ от 4 июля 1992 г. N 470 "Об утверждении Перечня территорий Российской Федерации с регламентированным посещением для иностранных граждан" (с изменениями и дополнениями)|publisher=GARANT}} The largest locality within such territory is the city of Norilsk.{{Cite web|url=http://theprotocity.com/norilsk_closed_cit/|title=Norilsk: A Closed City in Siberia|date=2012-04-27|website=TheProtoCity.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-10}}

There were two closed cities in Estonia: Sillamäe and Paldiski. As with all the other industrial cities, their population was mainly Russian-speaking. Sillamäe was the site for a chemical factory that produced fuel rods and nuclear materials for the Soviet nuclear power plants and nuclear weapon facilities, while Paldiski was home to a Soviet Navy nuclear submarine training centre. Sillamäe was closed until Estonia regained its independence in 1991; Paldiski remained closed until 1994, when the last Russian warship left.{{Cite web|url=https://dspace.emu.ee/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10492/1870/Eneko%20Ramirez-de-la-Piscina%20Armendariz_MA2014.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y|title=FORMER CLOSED CITIES IN THE SOVIET BALTIC SEA REGION / LANDSCAPE|last=Ramirez-de-la-Piscina Armendariz|first=Eneko|date=2014|website=Estonian University of Life Sciences}}

Tartu, home to Raadi Airfield, was partially closed. Foreign academics could visit the University of Tartu, but had to sleep elsewhere.

File:Baikonuriss.jpg, which became a closed city in the Kazakh SSR of the Soviet Union after it began serving the Soviet space program in 1955. Although it is now within the Kyzylorda Region of Kazakhstan, it has been leased to Russia until 2050. Accordingly, those who visit the city require a permit from Russia's Roscosmos, which manages the Soviet-era Baikonur Cosmodrome.]]

• Baikonur, a town close to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is rented and administered by Russia. Non-resident visitors will need pre-approval from the Russian authorities to visit both the town of Baikonur itself and the Cosmodrome. Note that said approval is completely separate from just having a Russian visa. Some tourism organisations in Kazakhstan provide services in organising trips to visit Baikonur and the museums contained there.
• Priozersk, Kazakhstan{{cite magazine | url=http://www.newsweek.com/look-inside-closed-cities-where-russia-tested-effects-nuclear-radiation-human-273862 | title=A Look Inside the 'Closed Cities,' the Radioactive Ruins on Russia's Border With Kazakhstan | magazine=Newsweek | date=September 28, 2014 | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Wofford, Taylor}}
• Kurchatov, Kazakhstan{{cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/2014/10/photos-ruins-ussrs-secret-nuclear-cities/ | title=Photos: The Ruins of the USSR's Secret Nuclear Cities | magazine=Wired |author=Slobig, Zaxhary|date=October 15, 2014| access-date=13 January 2015}}{{snd}}a former closed city that was known by its postal code, Semipalatinsk-21.{{cite web |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/08/1045221 |title=UN News Special Report: 'Ground Zero' at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan |website=UN News |date=29 August 2019 |access-date=27 October 2019}}

• Mailuu-Suu, Jalal-Abad Region, a formerly closed uranium mining town, once known as "Mailbox 200".{{cite book|editor-last1=Afifi|editor-first1=Tamer|editor-last2=Jäger|editor-first2=Jill|title=Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability|date=5 August 2010|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|page=241|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1vjtrmLpu4C&pg=PA241|access-date=30 December 2017|isbn=9783642124167}}

• Karosta, a former Russian and Soviet naval base.
• Skrunda-1, a former Soviet communications base. Currently used by the Latvian Armed Forces as of 2022.

Moldova has one partially closed city: the village of Cobasna (Rîbnița District), which is under the control of the unrecognized state of Transnistria internationally recognized as part of Moldova. The village, on the left bank of the Dniester river, contains a large Soviet-era ammunition depot guarded by Russian troops.{{cite news|url=https://www.moldova.org/en/the-russian-ammunition-depot-from-cobasna-discussed-against-the-backdrop-of-the-beirut-explosion/|title=The Russian ammunition depot from Cobasna discussed against the backdrop of the Beirut explosion|first=Maria|last=Dulgher|newspaper=Moldova.org|date=9 August 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.dw.com/en/transnistrias-explosive-inheritance-from-the-soviet-era/a-18886862|title=Transnistria's explosive inheritance from the Soviet era|first1=Simion|last1=Ciochină|first2=Robert|last2=Schwartz|newspaper=Deutsche Welle|date=1 December 2015}} Only the Transnistrian and Russian authorities have detailed information about this depot.{{cite news|url=https://www.dw.com/ro/cel-mai-mare-depozit-ilegal-de-arme-din-europa-de-est/a-18879301|title=Cel mai mare depozit ilegal de arme din Europa de Est|newspaper=Deutsche Welle|first=Simion|last=Ciochină|date=27 November 2015|language=ro}}

Ukraine had eighteen closed cities, including:

• Dnipro{{snd}}former closed city, a major center of Soviet aerospace industry.
• Simferopol-28, Crimea{{snd}}former closed town, a Soviet military space mission control center.
• Kamianske{{snd}}former closed city, largest Uranium processing factory in former Soviet Union.{{cite web|url=https://thebulletin.org/2022/03/grappling-with-environmental-risks-in-the-fog-of-war/|title=Grappling with environmental risks in the fog of war|website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|date=March 10, 2022}}
• Feodosia-13, Crimea{{snd}}former closed town, a central storage of nuclear weapons.
• Balaklava, Sevastopol – former closed town, the location of a submarine repair plant.
• Chernobyl-2, Kyiv Oblast – former closed town, the location of the receiving unit of the Duga radar.
• Liubech-1, Chernihiv Oblast – former closed town, the location of the transmission unit of the Duga radar.

During the period of communist rule in Albania, the towns of Çorovodë and Qyteti Stalin (now Kuçovë) were closed cities with a military airport, military industry and other critical war infrastructure.

• Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory which requires permits for access to non-Aboriginal individuals beyond public roads.{{cite news|title=East Arnhem Land Access Permits|url=https://www.eastarnhemland.com.au/plan/access-permits|publisher=eastarnhemland.com.au|date=9 March 2023}}
• Puckapunyal is a restricted-access town in a military area in Victoria, home to some 250 families.

• Ralston, Alberta is a closed village located in CFB Suffield.

• No. 404 Factory of China National Nuclear Corporation (中国核工业总公司第四零四厂), then the Ministry of Nuclear Industry, in the Gobi desert in the western part of Gansu, is a closed town often called the nuclear town (核城). Built in 1958, it is China's biggest nuclear industry base. China built its first military nuclear reactor{{cite news|title=China Boasts Breakthrough In Nuclear Technology|url=http://www.weeklyvoice.com/world-news/china-boasts-breakthrough-in-nuclear-technology/|access-date=31 December 2015|publisher=The Weekly Voice.|date=7 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110165919/http://www.weeklyvoice.com/world-news/china-boasts-breakthrough-in-nuclear-technology/|archive-date=10 January 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last1=李杨|title=404：与世隔绝的核城往事|url=http://mt.sohu.com/20150203/n408384898.shtml|access-date=31 December 2015|publisher=GEO杂志|date=3 February 2015}} there and 80% of the core parts for China's nuclear bombs were produced there. Until the 1980s, the whole town was closed to outsiders.{{cite book|last1=吴廷桢，郭厚安主编|title=河西开发史研究|date=1996|publisher=甘肃教育出版社|isbn=7-5423-0675-8|pages=617–619}} A nuclear accident happened in 1969, involving a leak.{{cite news|last1=环保部西北核与辐射安全监督站驻四〇四厂监督点调研团|title=静静地守候 默默地奉献|url=http://www.qnzk.org/DocView.aspx?chnid=2&docid=498|access-date=31 December 2015|issue=25 September 2013|publisher=中央国家机关团工委2013年“根在基层·中国梦”（美丽中国）调研实践活动|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502164625/http://www.qnzk.org/DocView.aspx?chnid=2&docid=498|archive-date=2 May 2019|url-status=dead}} The name "mine area of Gansu" (甘肃矿区) was used for secrecy. In 2007, most residents were moved to nearby Jiayuguan City.
• Some remote areas in China, such as Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County (except Laoye Mountain), Huangzhong County (except Kumbum Monastery), and Huangyuan County around Xining, the capital of Qinghai, maintain travel restrictions for foreigners. A foreigner must apply for an alien travel document (外国人旅行证) in advance, and report their accommodation to local police within 24 hours after entering the area.{{cite news|last1=施翔、苏丽|title=未办手续进入限制区域 6名外国人被责令离开|url=http://roll.sohu.com/20130805/n383395174.shtml|access-date=31 December 2015|publisher=青海法制报|date=5 August 2013}}

• Riems, Germany, an island in the Bay of Greifswald, is home to the oldest virological research institution in the world and is closed to the public. Quarantine stables and laboratories have a high level of security. This means employees and visitors to the complex must change their clothes and shower when entering and exiting.

File:Lo Wu Restricted Area Sign.JPG in Hong Kong, 2006]]

{{Main|Frontier Closed Area}}

The Frontier Closed Area (FCA) is a restricted zone along the northern border of Hong Kong, serving as a buffer between the closed border and the rest of the territory. Access to this area requires a Closed Area Permit. From 1951 to 2012, the FCA encompassed an area of 28 square kilometres, containing numerous villages. Following several stages of reduction, by 2016, the border town of Sha Tau Kok remained as the sole settlement within the FCA.

Within the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea are two "peace villages" (one maintained by each nation): Daeseong-dong (South) and (possibly) Kijŏng-dong (North). Access by non-residents to Daeseong-dong requires a military escort, while Kijŏng-dong is not accessible to visitors.

The Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center sits within a closed city that occupies 24.8 square kilometers (9.6 sq mi).{{cite news |url=https://www.38north.org/2020/03/jbogle032020/ |title=More Underground Facilities Near Yongbyon: A Potential Challenge for Future Denuclearization Deals |last=Bogle |first=Jacob |publisher=The Henry L. Stimson Center |work=38 North |date=20 March 2020 |access-date=1 April 2020}} The classification of a city being closed or not closed is dubious in a North Korean context, as North Korean citizens generally need a permit if they wish to travel outside of their county,{{cn|date=March 2024}} and further permits required for entry to Pyongyang,{{cn|date=March 2024}} thus the whole nation could be considered closed.

• In Baja California, the communities on Guadalupe Island (such as Campo Oeste) can be considered closed towns; because Guadalupe Island is within a Biosphere Reserve, the Mexican government requires special permits in order to visit the island.http://islas.org.mx/index.php?mod=proy&op=islagua Islas.org.mx. Conservación de Islas. Isla Guadalupe. Retrieved August 17, 2018.http://sdsharkdiving.com/isla-guadalupe/ Sdsharkdiving.com/isla-guadalupe. San Diego Shark Diving. Isla Guadalupe White Shark Trip - FAQs. Retrieved August 17, 2018.http://www.squalodivers.com/guadalupe-island-giants-fortress/ Squalo Divers. Guadalupe Island, Giant Fortress. March 27, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2018.

• Mecca is closed to non-Muslims. Similar restrictions are in place for the city centre of Medina.{{cite book |title=The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places |url=https://archive.org/details/hajjmuslimpilgri0000pete |url-access=registration |last=Peters |first=Francis E.|year=1994 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-02619-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/hajjmuslimpilgri0000pete/page/206 206] }}{{cite book |title=What everyone needs to know about Islam |last=Esposito |first=John L. |author-link=John Esposito |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |page=25 |quote=Mecca, like Medina, is closed to non-Muslims |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2wSVQI3Ya2EC&pg=PA25 |isbn=9780199794133}}

• Alexander Bay, Northern Cape. After diamonds were discovered along this coast in 1925 by Hans Merensky, Alexander Bay became known for its mining activities. The town was a high-security area and permits were needed when entered. Today, it is no longer a high-security area and no permits are needed.

{{Main|Military on Gotland}}

• Fårö and the northernmost parts of Gotland were closed to foreign citizens until 1998.{{cite news |url=https://helagotland.se/nyheter/norra-gotland/artikel/norra-gotland-stangt-for-utlanningar-utmalades-som-sakerhetsrisk-fick-inte-ta-emot-slaktingar/r1m9ymxr |title=Fårö och norra Gotland var förbjudet för utlänningar |trans-title=Fårö and northern Gotland were forbidden for foreigners |language=Swedish |last=Ihreskog |first=Magnus |work=Helagotland |date=25 May 2022 |access-date=25 November 2022}}

• Imber, England, has been closed since 1943 when its residents were evicted by the British Army, who continue to use the village as a training ground for urban warfare. While most of the village's buildings have been demolished and replaced for training purposes, the village church (St Giles') was kept intact and the village is occasionally opened to the public during holidays.
• Foulness Island contains two villages with permanent residences, but public right of way is limited to certain paths and access controlled by the Ministry of Defence. The site contains an active live firing range, as well as several inactive firing ranges and other structures as well as the site of the development and testing of the UK's first atomic weapons.

File:Richland.jpg, which was a closed zone in Richland, Washington, during the Manhattan Project in the United States, 2007]]

• Dugway, Utah, inside the Dugway Proving Ground.{{cite web |url=http://www.dugway.army.mil/NewsArticle.aspx?articleId=/PAO/Articles/2015/02/Tighter%20Security%20Checks%20for%20Visitors.htm |publisher=Dugway Proving Ground/United States Army |title=Tighter Security Checks for Visitors |date=March 2, 2016 |access-date=November 10, 2017 |archive-date=November 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112022045/http://www.dugway.army.mil/NewsArticle.aspx?articleId=%2FPAO%2FArticles%2F2015%2F02%2FTighter%20Security%20Checks%20for%20Visitors.htm |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.dugway.army.mil/documents/DPG%20Visitor%20Guide.pdf?dt=3 |format=pdf |page=9 |title=DPG Visitors Guide |publisher=United States Army, Dugway Proving Ground |access-date=November 10, 2017 |archive-date=November 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112022022/http://www.dugway.army.mil/documents/DPG%20Visitor%20Guide.pdf?dt=3 |url-status=dead }}
• The Gold Coast Historic District in Richland, Washington, was a closed city during the Manhattan Project.
• Johnston Atoll is closed to public entry, with limited access for management needs if one is granted a letter of authorization from the United States Air Force.
• Los Alamos, New Mexico, was a closed city during the Manhattan Project.{{cite book |last1=Conant |first1=Jennet |author1-link=Jennet Conant |title=109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos |date=2005 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=9781416585428 |page=112 |edition=2005 paperback |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0sJL-nN_DHQC&pg=PA112 |access-date=August 3, 2023}}
• Mercury, Nevada, is within the Nevada Test Site, the primary testing location of American nuclear devices from 1951 to 1992, currently called Nevada National Security Site, and is currently closed as part of this site.
• Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was a closed city during the Manhattan Project.
• Hart Island in New York City: former military site, a city potter's field and occasional site of crisis mass graves including for 1918 flu, AIDS, and COVID-19 victims. Some visitors may be allowed after 2023.{{cite news |last=Slotnik |first=Daniel |date=March 25, 2021 |title=Up to a tenth of New York City's coronavirus dead may be buried in a potter's field: An analysis found that more than 2,334 adults were buried on Hart Island last year, up from 846 in 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/nyregion/hart-island-mass-graves-coronavirus.html

|work=The New York Times |location=New York |access-date=Oct 10, 2023}}{{cite news |last=Hart Island Project |first=The |date=2021 |title=COVID-19 Initiative |url=https://www.hartisland.net/covid_initiative |work=website |location=New York |access-date=Oct 10, 2023}}{{cite news |last=Hennigan |first=W.J. |date=Nov 18, 2020 |title=Lost in the Pandemic: Inside New York City's Mass Graveyard on Hart Island |url=https://time.com/5913151/hart-island-covid/ |work=Time magazine |location=New York |access-date=Oct 29, 2023}}Hart Island; Melinda Hunt and Joel Sternfeld; {{ISBN|3-931141-90-X}}

• Plum Island, New York, home of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center

Between 1957 and 1962, approximately one-third of the United States was closed to Soviet citizens. Only seven states were accessible in their entirety: Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, North Carolina, Arkansas, Vermont, and Mississippi.[https://web.archive.org/web/20190815112337/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/russia-cold-war-travel-ban-maps-red-scare/ Russians Were Once Banned From a Third of the U.S.] National Geographic.[https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2017/08/restricting-soviet-travel-in-the-u-s-during-the-cold-war/ Restricting Soviet Travel in the U.S. During the Cold War] Library of Congress

The 2020 film Tenet prominently features a fictional Soviet-era closed city in Siberia called Stalsk-12.{{cite magazine | magazine=Esquire | url=https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/a33829417/closed-cities-tenet-true-story/ | title=The Closed Cities Of 'Tenet' Are A Real Relic Of The Soviet Union And Beyond | first=Olivia | last=Pym | date=29 August 2020 | accessdate=15 October 2022}}

• Coast Guard City
• Exclusion zone
• Internal passport
• Border barrier
• Separation barrier
• Closed military townlet
• Naukograd
• Nuclear Cities Initiative
• Propiska in the Soviet Union
• List of cities with defensive walls

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qGIZBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA244 | title=From Antagonism to Partnership: The Uneasy Path of the U.S.-Russian Cooperative Threat Reduction | publisher=Columbia University Press | author=Kassenova, Togzhan | year=2007 | pages=244 | isbn=978-3898217071}}

{{cite web | url=http://themoscownews.com/business/20130415/191440775/Investment-questions-for-Russias-closed-cities.html | title=Investment questions for Russia's closed cities | publisher=The Moscow News | date=April 15, 2013 | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Gray, Nathan | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705215644/http://themoscownews.com/business/20130415/191440775/Investment-questions-for-Russias-closed-cities.html | archive-date=5 July 2014 }}

{{cite web | url=http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/russias-ten-nuclear-cities/ | title=Russia's Ten Nuclear Cities | publisher=Nuclear Threat Initiative | date=June 1, 2002 | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Sokova, Elena}}

{{cite news | url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/sitemap/free/1995/10/article/former-closed-cities-host-international-fair/332998.html | title=Former Closed Cities Host International Fair | newspaper=The Moscow Times | date=October 25, 1995 | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Zhigulsky, Anton}}

}}

• Bukharin, Oleg (September/October 1998). [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/russia/arsenal/retooling.html "Retooling Russia's Nuclear Cities"]. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists{{snd}}Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science.
• {{cite news | url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19930718/1711608/the-secret-and-dangerous-life-in-russias-forbidden-cities | title=The Secret And Dangerous Life In Russia's Forbidden Cities | newspaper=The Seattle Times | date=July 18, 1993 | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Feshbach, Murray}}
• {{cite news | url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0204/04041.html | title=Visit to 'Closed' City Brings Quick Celebrity | newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor | date=February 4, 1992 | access-date=13 January 2015 | author=Sneider, Daniel}}

{{Commons category|Closed cities}}

{{wiktionary}}

• {{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080213062055/http://npa-gov.garweb.ru:8080/public/default.asp?no=83489 Current list of (acknowledged) closed cities / areas, from the Russian Federation Administration website].
• [http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5553-3.cfm Russia's closed cities are open and shut case]{{snd}}article from Russia Journal. (Original source requires paid subscription [https://web.archive.org/web/20051108034231/http://therussiajournal.com/index.htm?obj=5246].)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071225170602/http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/na-20/nci/ National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy website.]
• [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/secret-cities.htm "Secret Cities"] (article), from [http://www.globalsecurity.org www.globalsecurity.org].* [https://www.scribd.com/doc/132256242/Right-to-the-City-in-Former-Soviet-Union-Closed-Cities-ZATO Right to the city in former Soviet Union closed cities (ZATO)]. Andrius Ropolas's paper focusing upon the social aspects of closed cites. Helpful bibliography.

;Maps

• {{webarchive |title=Secret / Closed cities in Google Earth Community|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204031210/http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/545803/an//page/0/vc/1}}
• {{in lang|ru}} [https://i.redd.it/vo4b0lmakdg01.jpg Closed cities map]

{{Closed cities of Russia}}

{{Soviet Union topics}}

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Category:Geography of Russia

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Category:Soviet phraseology

Category:Exclusion zones