The coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth
A village of a few hundred people in Siberia's Sakha Republic where winter temperatures regularly fall below -50°C — phones stop working outdoors, car engines run continuously so they won't freeze solid, and the record low sits at -71.2°C.
Oymyakon's name comes from a Yakut word referring to a nearby unfrozen lake where reindeer herders once watered their animals — ironic, given the village now holds the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded outside Antarctica. Most residents are ethnic Yakuts whose ancestors adapted to this climate over centuries, relying on reindeer, horses, and fishing rather than agriculture, which is essentially impossible here.