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Muravlenko is a city (since 1990) in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia. Population - 31,561 people. (2020).
Founded in 1984 as a settlement for oil workers Muravlenkovsky. There was a lot of controversy over the name of the future city. Some proposed to call it "Nefteozersk", others - "Trehozerny", but ultimately the village was named after the oil engineer, the first head of "Glavtyumenneftegaz" V. I. Muravlenko. Since 1990 - the city of Muravlenko.
The city
of Muravlenko owes its birth to the industrial development of the
Muravlenkovo group of oil fields, the first of which was the
Sutorminskoye discovery, one of the largest in Western Siberia.
Exploration well R-31, drilled on August 30, 1975, heralded a new
stage in the life of this land with a fountain of waterless oil.
The site for the building of the then unnamed settlement was
allocated by the order of the Tyumen Regional Executive Committee in
November 1980, and the general construction plan was approved in
early April 1982.
The first customer for the construction of
Muravlenko was the Kholmogorneft oil and gas production department.
This construction was not envisaged by the five-year plan, which
means there was no funding either. But MK Mikhailov, manager of the
Noyabrskneftestroy - NNS trust-site, convinced the general director
of the Noyabrskneftegaz association VA Gorodilov to start
construction at his own expense - fortunately there were funds for
housing construction. In the summer of 1982, the builders went to
Muravlenko. There were no roads as such, only broken "winter roads"
left over from geologists. From Noyabrsk, they usually took 12 hours
to get to the Urals. 5 of them went to the Karamovsky crossroads,
for which it was necessary to ford five small rivers. From the turn
in the direction of Muravlenko, the road was paved by the builders
of the Ukrtyumendorstroy trust: the road workers worked very quickly
and efficiently, building the road in sections. But that was a
little later, and then, as SB Safiullin, deputy manager of the NNS
trust for general issues, said, “having crossed the pipes across the
Pyaku-Pur river - the construction of the bridge began only in
winter - we arrived at the site of the future city. The first
brigade consisted of five woodcutters, the last name of one of them
was Volkodav. The first head of the site was Vladimir Ivanovich
Guzenkov. Scanty taiga stretched all around, there were no clearings
yet. We unloaded a 30 kW power plant and two trailers. "
The
first head of NGDU "Sutorminskneft" FM Sharifullin measured the
distance from the lake near the sports complex to the site where
shop No. 36 is now located, and determined the place for the first
two-family houses - Talitsk "pieces of wood": they are there to this
day day stand. The first houses were generally built from what they
could get.
A significant part of the history of the city of
Muravlenko is associated with the history of the Sutorminskneft oil
and gas production department, which was formed by order of the USSR
Oil Industry Minister in April 1982 in order to ensure the
accelerated commissioning of the Sutorminskoye and Muravlenkovskoye
fields. Created in October of the same year, SMU NGDU "SN" under the
leadership of IB Manevich, along with the trust-site "NNS" was
engaged in the construction of the village, but in large volumes.
The first construction troops of the Directorate landed in the
"remote corner of the taiga" on October 19. It included six -
foreman M. A. Markov, carpenters R. Garifullin, A. Lomovtsev, V.
Primak, V. Kokitko, R. Idrisov. Together with them, Kh. G. Nuriev
arrived, on whose shoulders lay the power supply of the settlement.
The builders lived in two trailers. From November 4, prefabricated
structures of houses, dormitories, equipment began to arrive
continuously. What is remarkable, the first houses were not built on
piles, as expected, but on logs treated with a mixture of diesel
fuel and tar - there were simply no piles. “Soon the second team of
builders arrived, and we greeted 1983 with a team of eight people,”
recalled M. A. Markov. “By the spring, three Yugoslavian hostels
were commissioned.”
Oil specialists began to come from many
regions of the Soviet Union and those who wanted to change their
measured lifestyle for hectic shifts at drilling rigs and pumping
chairs, or even start anew in life. By the beginning of 1984, 1,600
people were already living in the village. A canteen for 40 seats, a
shop, a medical outpatient clinic, an automatic telephone exchange
for 200 numbers, and a television set of the "Screen" type were
built. In the same year, 33,834 m² of wooden housing, a laundry bath
and a number of other facilities were commissioned. Since 1987, the
names of the streets of the village of Muravlenkovsky have appeared
- Lenin, 70 years of October, Pionerskaya, Novoselov lane and
others. The Village Council of People's Deputies decided to approve
public transport routes: two buses began to run on two routes. And
the first intercity route - to neighboring Noyabrsk - was opened in
April 1985.
In 1990, another significant event took place in the history of
Muravlenko - by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of
the RSFSR, the village of Muravlenkovsky became a city of district
subordination. The document was signed by the Chairman of the
Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Boris N. Yeltsin.
Over the past
decade, the population has been growing much more slowly: if at the
beginning of 1992 there were 27.5 thousand people living in the
city, then on 01.01.1995 - 34.2 thousand, and on 01.01.1999 - 36.9
thousand inhabitants. Currently, a little more than 37 thousand
people permanently live in the city, as well as over 4 thousand -
with a residence permit and shift workers.
Muravlenko is a town situated in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
(YaNAO), a federal subject of Russia located in the northern part of
Western Siberia. It lies approximately 480 kilometers (300 miles)
southeast of Salekhard, the administrative center of the okrug. The town
is positioned in the southern portion of the YaNAO, which spans a vast
area of about 769,250 square kilometers, making it one of Russia's
largest regions by land area. Geographically, Muravlenko's coordinates
are 63°47′28″N 74°31′30″E, placing it just south of the Arctic Circle
(approximately 66°33′N), in a subarctic zone. Its elevation is around
120 meters (390 feet) above sea level, contributing to its relatively
flat positioning within the expansive West Siberian Lowland. This
lowland is a dominant feature of the region, characterized by geological
uniformity resulting from ancient sedimentary processes.
The YaNAO as
a whole is bordered by the Kara Sea to the north, with extensions into
three major peninsulas: the Yamal Peninsula, Taz Peninsula, and Gyda
Peninsula. Muravlenko, being in the south, is more inland and influenced
by the southern taiga belt rather than the coastal arctic extremes. It
is part of a hydrocarbon-rich area, with the town's development tied to
the West Siberian petroleum basin, the world's largest hydrocarbon
accumulation. The region includes numerous islands, bays, and estuaries,
such as the Gulf of Ob and Taz Estuary, though these are more prominent
northward.
Muravlenko experiences a subarctic climate (Köppen classification
Dfc), marked by long, severe winters and short, cool summers. Winters
can last up to eight months, with average temperatures plummeting to
extreme lows, often between -20°C (-4°F) and -40°C (-40°F) or colder in
January and February, accompanied by significant snowfall and strong
winds. Summers are brief, averaging about 50 days, with July being the
warmest month featuring average highs of around 19°C (66°F) and lows of
10°C (51°F). The region is generally breezy and dry in winter, with
overcast skies prevalent about 60% of the time during summer. Annual
precipitation is moderate, mostly falling as snow in winter and rain in
summer, but the permafrost layer limits drainage, leading to waterlogged
conditions in warmer months.
The broader YaNAO climate varies across
arctic, subarctic, and northern taiga zones, with Muravlenko falling
into the subarctic/taiga transition. Extreme temperature fluctuations
are common, and the area is prone to polar nights and midnight sun
phenomena, though less pronounced south of the Arctic Circle. Climate
change impacts, such as thawing permafrost, are increasingly relevant,
affecting infrastructure and ecosystems.
The terrain around Muravlenko is predominantly flat, as part of the
West Siberian Lowland, a vast plain formed by glacial and alluvial
deposits. This landscape is characterized by alluvial-glacial plains in
the southern YaNAO, with minimal elevation changes and a predominance of
low-lying areas. To the west, the Polar Urals provide some mountainous
relief, with peaks like Mount Payer reaching the highest points in the
Ural system, but these are distant from Muravlenko. The southern region
transitions from open tundra in the north to northern taiga subzones,
featuring sparse coniferous forests (primarily larch, spruce, and pine)
interspersed with bogs, marshes, and permafrost. Permafrost is
widespread, creating a unique cryosol soil profile that influences
vegetation and hydrology.
The landscape is dotted with numerous
rivers and lakes—nearly 300,000 lakes in the okrug overall, including
notable ones like Pyakuto and Yambuto. Muravlenko is near river systems,
likely tributaries of the Pur or Taz rivers, which feed into the Ob
River basin, a major waterway draining into the Kara Sea. These rivers
form deltas and estuaries, facilitating transportation but also
contributing to seasonal flooding in lowlands. Bogs and wetlands are
prevalent, covering large swaths and supporting mosses, lichens, and
shrubs typical of taiga-tundra ecotones.
Natural features in and around Muravlenko include extensive taiga
forests in the south, which thin out into tundra northward. The area is
rich in hydrocarbons, with Muravlenko developed around oil fields; it
serves as a hub for extraction in the West Siberian basin, featuring
pipelines, drilling sites, and related infrastructure that alter the
natural landscape. Rivers and lakes provide habitats for fish species
like pike and perch, while the taiga supports berries, mushrooms, and
wildlife such as moose, foxes, and birds. Indigenous Nenets communities
in the region have deep knowledge of local ecology, including varied
terms for snow, ice, and permafrost features, which are integral to the
landscape.
Protected areas in the YaNAO, such as the Nenets Nature
Reserve (313,400 hectares) and Verkhne-Tazovsky Reserve, highlight the
region's biodiversity, though they are more northern. Reindeer herding
is a key traditional activity, with vast snowy plains and tundra
supporting migratory herds. Environmental challenges include industrial
pollution from oil and gas operations, permafrost thaw, and habitat
disruption, balanced by efforts to preserve the fragile arctic
ecosystem. Overall, Muravlenko's geography reflects a blend of natural
subarctic wilderness and human-modified industrial landscapes.