“Putorana” is from the native language of the Evenks and translates to “the country of lakes with steep banks”.

The climate is a harsh subarctic, sharply continental, with long, severely cold winters, and short, cool summers.

In July, the warmest month, average air temperatures stay around 8 °C (46 °F) and may reach a maximum of 16 °C (61 °F).

It was set up to protect the world's largest herd of wild reindeer, as well as snow sheep.

In July 2010, the Putorana Reserve was inscribed on the World Heritage List as "a complete set of subarctic and arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra and arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems".

[7] The Plateau's minerals include igneous basalt rocks, iron ores (magnetite and hematite), silicates (prehnite, zeolite), apatites, perovskites and highly saturated copper and nickel ores.