General Information

Salekhard (sometimes also spelled Salegard) is an administrative centre of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, which is a part of Tyumen Region, one of the world’s biggest gas-producing districts. In the local Nenets language, ‘Salekhard’ means "a settlement on the cape" or a "capetown". The town lies on the bank of the River Poluy, a tributary of the Ob River.

Situated in the northwest of Siberia, Salekhard is known as the only city in the world lying exactly on the Arctic Circle. At the same time, it’s quite old.

The population of Salekhard is about 33,000 people and mostly consists of Russians.
City telephone code: +7 34922.

History

Russian Cossacks established a fort on the territory four centuries ago, in 1595, and called the settlement that grew up around it Obdorsk. The Russians were forcing indigenous reindeer-herding Nenets people who didn’t want to pay the tribute into the tundra areas further north.

Obdorsk gradually became a trade town that supplied furs and fish.
In 1930 the town became the administrative center of the newly established Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area and in 1933 it was renamed Salekhard. In 1938 it received the town status.

In 1990 Salekhard was included into the List of historic towns of the Russian Federation as the only old town in the Arctic Circle.

Having celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 1995, the town began it’s rapid development as the capital of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.

Economy and Transportation

Salekhard is known as a capital of the world’s biggest gas producing district. The giant oil and gas companies such as JSC “Gazprom”, JSC “Sibur”, JSC “LUKoil-West Siberia”, JSC “ITERA-Rus” have their representative offices in the town.

Ironically given the immense gas resources, Salekhard only began receiving gas supplies through a new extension of the trunk gas pipeline system in late 1999. Gasification of the western part of the region, including the settlements of Labytnangi and Kharp, is a priority of the administration.

At the same time, Salekhard is a river port and has fish canneries, lumber mills, and shipyards. Over the last few decades Salekhard has not developed in the same direction as the new gas towns of the region (Novyy Urengoy, Nadym and others). Instead, while being home to the administrative apparatus of the region, it has maintained its important role within the Russian fishing industry.

Salekhard is linked to the outside world by direct flights to Moscow and other towns within the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region and Tyumen Region. Possessing a modern landing strip and airport buildings, Salekhard is turning into a big business, financial and transport junction of the regional and international import. It is possible to take a train all the way from Moscow to Labytnangi, which lies across the Ob River from Salekhard. During the short navigation season it is accessible by river or sea.

There is no bridge over the Ob River, so one should ferry to cross it in summer. In winter, when the ice is quite thick, cars and busses can take one on the other bank. Helicopters are also used as a popular mean of transport.

The City Today

Today Salekhard is the capital of the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region. Due to the development of the large natural gas deposits on the Yamal Peninsula, Salekhard is changing with a remarkable speed. For example, just two years ago it was mostly comprised of 1-2 storey wooden houses, whereas today it has more multi-storey concrete housing blocks and high buildings of lively colours. However, in general, it has still retained the village appearance. The population of the town is mostly Russian.
Salekhard is home to the regional divisions of the federal government bodies. Four newspapers and three magazines are issued and four big banks function in the town.

In the late 1990s Salekhard became a place where different representative international congresses and forums are held. The Conference of Parliamentarians from the countries of the Arctic region was held here in 1998, and the international anthropological film festivals were conducted in the town in 1998 to 2001. In September, 2001, the capital of the region welcomed the guests and participants of the 11th Annual International Congress called “New high technologies for gas and oil industry, power engineering and communications”.

Below are some addresses that might prove useful for a visitor.

Local Administration of Salekhard is located 72 Respubliki Street, Salekhard.
Phone: +7 34922 45067. Fax: +7 34922 40182.
Regional Museum is situated 5, Titova street, Salekhard. Phone: +7 34922 46092.
There are also two small churches in the city.
Another point of interest is a railroad Salekhard-Nadym-Igarka. The length of the road is more than 1200 km. The prisoners of Stalin’s camps built the road in 1949-1953, but after Stalin’s death the construction was ceased and the road is still not finished. Today it is not functioning. On the sides o the road, one may see the labour camps with barracks, railway bridges and old trains.

Hotels

There are four hotels in the town.

Arctica Hotel. Address: Respubliki str., 38, Salekhard. Phone: +7 3492210777, +7 34922 40777.
Ob Hotel. Address: Aviatsionnaya str., 22. Phone: +7 34922 74558.
Polyarny Krug Hotel. Address: Knuniatsa str., 70. Phone: +7 34922 10999, +7 34922 48686.
Yamal Hotel. Address: Respubliki str. 100. Phone: +7 34922 46333.

Evgeniya Stroganova