[7] Ust-Karsk has a pure continental climate and it is the hottest place in Siberia.

On July 12, 2010, Ust-Karsk set the high temperature record for Asian Russia,42.7 °C (108.9 °F).

The history of Ust-Kara is closely connected to that of the Kara katorga, a network of prison settlements that existed in the area in 1838–1893.

In the early 1850s, the annual gold production on the Kara was around 70 pood (1100 kg).

[9] In the 1850s, during the preparations for the Amur Annexation, Ust-Kara was one of the sites (along with the Shilkinsky Zavod and Bolshaya Kularka) where barges were built for the Russian military expeditions down the Amur.