Lensk and the Lena River - Yakutia, Russia

This live camera looks over the central square of Lensk, a remote town on the banks of the Lena River in the Sakha Republic of eastern Russia, one of the most sparsely populated and extreme regions on earth. The bronze Troyka monument in the foreground depicts a traditional three horse carriage, a symbol of Russian heritage, with the vast frozen Lena River stretching into the distance behind it.

Lensk sits in Yakutia, a region covering 3 million square kilometres, larger than any country in Europe, yet home to fewer than 1 million people. Winter temperatures here regularly drop below minus 50 degrees Celsius, making it one of the coldest permanently inhabited places on the planet. The Lena River visible from this camera is one of the longest rivers in the world at 4,400 kilometres, freezing solid each winter and breaking up dramatically each spring.

Did You Know? The Lena River spring ice breakup is one of the most dramatic natural events in Russia, with enormous ice sheets crashing and piling up along the banks as the river thaws. The breakup can cause severe flooding in towns along the river including Lensk, which was almost entirely destroyed by catastrophic flooding in 2001 when ice jams caused the river to rise over 20 metres.

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