Balagansk (Russian: Балага́нск) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Balagansky District, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.

[1] It is located on the left bank of the Angara River, downstream from Svirsk and 285 kilometres (177 mi) by road northwest of Irkutsk[7] and to the southeast of Sayansk.

[10] From 1655, mass settlement started in the area; eventually, a colony was built and iron mining developed.

Catherine Breshkovsky, known as the Little Grandmother of The Russian Revolution, was sent to Balagansk, a place of her choice on exile, as she expressed that her health would be better protected here.

[17] During the construction of Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station, Balagansk had to be evacuated as it was slated to be submerged under water.

[2] Balagansk is situated on the left bank of the Angara River at the average elevation of 427 metres (1,401 ft).

[19] During the Pleistocene period, the climate changes that occurred were severe, which caused changes in distribution patterns of flora and fauna.

These changes which occurred between glacial and interglacial periods have been explained under the refugia theory propounded in 1969 by Jürgen Haffer.

The tomb of Władysław Anielewski, a Polish social-democrat who died in 1898, at the old cemetery in Balagansk is protected as a cultural monument of federal significance.