Verkhoyansk
Russia
also spelled Verchoiansk or Verchojansk
town, Sakha (Yakutiya), far northeastern Russia, on the Yana River near its confluence with the Sartang. Founded as a fort in 1638 and today a minor centre of tin and gold mining, Verkhoyansk is noted chiefly for its exceptionally low winter temperatures, with a January average of −56 °F (−49 °C). Its minimum, −89.7 °F (−67.6 °C), is surpassed only by Oymyakon on the Indigirka as the lowest ever recorded outside Antarctica. Pop. (1991 est.) 1,900.