Extremely cold temperatures reaching -50 degrees Celsius prevail in the Russian Arctic city of Vorkuta, which is often called a "ghost town" because of its terrifying environment made up of abandoned buildings.
Vorkuta is the fourth largest city in the northern Arctic Circle and the coldest city in all of Europe, with record cold temperatures reaching below minus 50 degrees Celsius at the end of winter. The city was once home to a thriving coal mining community, promising high wages for those who moved to the cold region.
The city and mines were built on the backs of prisoners under the rule of Joseph Stalin and hard work and conditions killed 200,000 of them. Now the city itself is disappearing.
Vorkuta is still home to 50,000 inhabitants, but this population number is nothing compared to the population that had its surroundings around at the time of its heyday. Out-of-town migration has increased since 2013 due to unemployment, turning many of the settlements into ghost towns, which freeze in cold temperatures.
