Lensk and the Lena River - Yakutia, Russia

In Lensk (Ленск), a remote town in Yakutia deep in eastern Siberia, a statue of a horse-drawn sleigh stands in the town square, and beyond it flows the Lena, one of the longest rivers in the world.

The town grew up as a river port serving the diamond mines further north, and the river still shapes life here. In winter it freezes solid, and in spring the ice breaks up and drifts away, sometimes jamming and flooding the town, as it did badly in 2001.

Yakutia has some of the coldest winters of any inhabited place on Earth, so for much of the year this view is covered in deep snow, and the winter nights are very long.

Did You Know? The Lena River flows north for about 2,700 miles (4,400 km) before emptying into the Arctic Ocean.

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