Yakutia — formally the Sakha Republic — is an immense region of eastern Siberia, the largest federal subject of Russia and one of the largest administrative divisions in the world. It stretches from the taiga forests of the south to the Arctic Ocean in the north, encompassing tundra, permafrost, mountain ranges, and some of the coldest permanently inhabited places on earth. Oymyakon, a small village in the Oymyakon Highlands, holds the record for the lowest temperature ever recorded in an inhabited settlement.
The Lena River is the defining geographic feature. Rising near Lake Baikal to the southwest, it flows more than 4,000 km northeast through Yakutia before emptying into the Laptev Sea. Cruising the Lena in summer is one of the great slow-travel experiences in Russia — the river passes through remote taiga, past dramatic basalt columns called the Lena Pillars, and through landscapes that have barely changed for centuries.
The capital, Yakutsk, is a modern city built entirely on permafrost and home to the Mammoth Museum, which holds one of the world's best collections of Ice Age fauna recovered from the frozen ground. Yakutia is home to the Yakut people, who have lived in this region for centuries and developed a distinctive culture adapted to the extreme environment, including a rich tradition of oral epic poetry and a unique cuisine centered on fermented and frozen fish and meat.