Igarka

Igarka () is a town in Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of the Arctic Circle. Igarka is a monotown established around a sawmill which processed timber logged in the basin of the Yenisei River for export. Up to 1956, it was largely inhabited by deportees and political prisoners. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the town's population has rapidly declined – it decreased from to 4,417 (2019).

==History== Igarka was founded in 1929 as a sawmill and a timber-exporting port by the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route. Timber was logged in the basin of the Yenisei River, floated to Igarka where it was processed, and then exported to various distribution centers. The town grew rapidly as deportees during the dekulakization campaigns were sent to the town. Igarka was granted city status in 1931. The town's construction was directed by who envisioned Igarka as an ideal Soviet Arctic city. In 1939, the town reached its peak population of 23,648. Further development was suspended due to World War II, but resumed in the late 1940s when Igarka was envisioned as a naval port.