Dikson (urban-type settlement)


Dikson is an urban locality in Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is a port on the Kara Sea, located on a headland at the mouth of the Yenisei Gulf, on Russia's Arctic Ocean coast. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 676.

Geography

Dikson is the northernmost port in Russia, one of the world's northernmost settlements and the northernmost settlement on the Asian continent.
It is so far north that no civil twilight appears from December 8 to January 5.
It is one of the world's most isolated settlements.
Dikson's inhabitants informally call their settlement "Capital of the Arctic", taken from a popular Soviet song.
Dikson and Dikson Island were named after Swedish Arctic pioneer Baron Oscar Dickson. Dickson, along with Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Sibiryakov, was the patron of a number of early Arctic expeditions, including Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's Russian Arctic explorations.

Demographics

The population crashed following the demise of the Soviet Union.
Children under age 12 make up 20% of the population, compared to 15% nationwide.

Climate

Dikson has a tundra climate where arboreal vegetation is unknown. For a polar climate temperatures are relatively moderate, similar to coastal Antarctica. Its climate is semiarid but covered with ice and snow. Pitch precipitation is in dry form. Usually in these climates in the warmest month, most of the days feature temperatures below 10 °C, however in some occasions the city can have fresh summers instead of cold, with temperatures between 15 and 18 °C. For most of the year the temperatures are below freezing which results in long and rigorous winters.
Liquid precipitation is concentrated between late spring and early fall. Temperatures do not fall below −50 °C as happens in much lower latitudes due to marine moderation. The place is known for pronounced climate change, with the highest Arctic temperatures, correlated with permafrost and marine ice pack melting. It has experienced the fastest warming in recent decades.