Dudinka (; Nenets: Тут'ын, Tutꜧyn) is a town on the Yenisei River and the administrative center of Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It used to be the administrative center of Taymyr Autonomous Okrug, which was merged into Krasnoyarsk Krai on January 1, 2007. Population:
History
It was founded in 1667 as a winter settlement connected to Mangazeya. In 1930 it was designated the administrative center of the Taimyr Dolgan-Nenets National Region. In 1935, the polar explorer Otto Schmidt recommended that the settlement be expanded into a town. By 1937, the port facilities and a railroad to Norilsk were completed. Town status was granted in 1951.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Dudinka serves as the administrative center of Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District. As an administrative division, it is, together with five rural localities, incorporated within Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District as the district town of Dudinka. As a municipal division, the district town of Dudinka is incorporated within Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky Municipal District as Dudinka Urban Settlement.
Economy
Dudinka processes and sends cargo via Norilsk railway to the Norilsk Mining and Smelting Factory and also ships non-ferrous metals, coal and ore. In 1969, the Messoyakha-Dudinka-Norilsk natural gas pipeline was laid.
Dudinka is home to a unique Arctic port, in the lower reaches of the Yenisey, which accessible to both sea and river ships. During the navigation season, from mid-June to October, the port can receive both seafaring ships and river vessels from Krasnoyarsk (about 2,000 km along the Yenisey). At this time, fresh food and essential goods are brought to Dudinka and then to Norilsk from the "mainland". As soon as the navigation is possible, fruit and vegetable stalls spring up in the streets and food prices in grocery stores drop drastically. And, when the Yenisey is icebound, Dudinka receives and dispatches ice-class vessels taking the Northern Sea Route. They take away the products of the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine and bring the fuel and raw materials that industrial plants rely on for their operation.The port operates every day apart from a couple of weeks a year, when it is flooded during the spring high water. It is the only port in the world that experiences such a nuisance. When, at the end of May, the ice starts breaking up on the Yenisey, the cranes are moved from the port to special holding areas, where they remain for the duration of the high water. All large cargoes are delivered exclusively by water.
The town is served by the Dudinka Airport.
Infrastructure
Near Dudinka there is a tall radio mast which was formerly used for the CHAYKA radio navigation system. It is a grounded mast with a rhombic cage antenna.
Climate
Despite lying more than two degrees above the Arctic Circle, Dudinka has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc) with short, mild summers and severely cold winters. Average high temperature even in May is below freezing and short summer starts in mid June and lasts only 2 months. Precipitation is moderate; it falls mostly as rain in summer and mainly as snow throughout the rest of the year.