Oymyakon[a] is a rural locality (a selo) in Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located in the Yana-Oymyakon Highlands, along the Indigirka River, 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway.

Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited human settlement on Earth,[4][5] with an average winter temperature of around −50 °C (−58 °F).

[7] However, another source states that the Even word heyum (hэjум, хэюм; kheium may be a misspelling), which means "frozen lake", may be where it gets its name.

[10] During World War II, an airfield was built in the district of Aeroport, for the Alaska-Siberian (ALSIB) air route, used to ferry American Lend-Lease aircraft to the Eastern Front.

The station is at 750 m (2,460 ft) above sea level and the surrounding mountains, at 1,100 m (3,600 ft), cause cold air to pool in the valley: in fact, recent studies show that winter temperatures in the area increase with altitude by as much as 10 °C (18 °F).

[18][19] The unofficial record cold temperature is roughly 8 °C (14 °F) warmer than the sublimation point of carbon dioxide.

Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk are the only two permanently inhabited places in the world that have recorded temperatures below −60 °C (−76 °F) for every day in January.

Verkhoyansk, Yakutsk, Delyankir, Tegyulte, and Fort Vermilion, Canada are the only other known places in the world that have a temperature amplitude higher than 100 °C (180 °F).

[citation needed] Fort Yukon, Alaska, falls 1 degree C short of this threshold.