Sakha Republic

Yakutia’s Mir Mine: The World’s Largest Hole?

GeoNotes, Physical Geography, Russia, Ukraine, and Caucasus, Siberia / By

A number of websites provide lists of the “world’s largest holes,” most of which are gargantuan open-pit mines (given the realities of the internet, several of these sites are quasi-pornographic). Although the actual lists differ, several put Russia’s Mir diamond mine, located in Yakutia (Sakha Republic) in the first position. The Wikipedia article on the mine claims that it is actually “the second largest excavated hole in the world, after Bingham Canyon Mine.” But if Bingham Canyon is larger, Mir is much steeper, and… – Read More

Introduction to Yakutia (Sakha)—and Russia’s Grandiose Plans for the Region

Cultural Geography, Economic Geography, Ethnicity, Linguistic Geography, Russia, Ukraine, and Caucasus, Siberia / By

Yakutia, officially the Sakha Republic of the Russian Federation, is a land of extremes. To begin with, it is by far the world’s largest “stateoid,” or political unit below the level of the sovereign state, covering 3,103,200 square kilometers (1,198,000 square miles), as opposed to second-place Western Australia’s 2,527,621 square kilometers (975,919 square miles). More than twice the size of Alaska, Yakutia would be the world’s eighth largest country by area if it were independent, barely trailing India. Unlike most other huge stateoids around the world, Yakutia has… – Read More