The Sand Buried Village of Shoyna

Jul 13, 2016 7 comments

Shoyna is a small fishing village located on the Kanin Peninsula in Northern Russia. Situated on the edge of the arctic circle, the inhabitants of this coastal village has to endure not only the cold but the huge amount of sand that stretches for tens of kilometers all along the coast of the White Sea.

The dunes continually migrate up and down the coast by the action of the westerly wind, and can bury houses up to the roof in a single night. Residents take precaution not to close the door at night, because by morning, it might not open. The village has a bulldozer that is frequently in action, digging out homes.

shoyna-sand-buried-4

Photo credit: www.azimutx.ru

The village was settled in the 1930s by fishing families because of the abundance of fish and sea life in the waters. By the 1950s, it grew to a pretty large settlement with 1,500 residents. Together they owned more than seventy vessels. But reckless trawling over the decades decimated the fish population and eventually the fishery collapsed. Today, just three hundred people live at Shoyna supported mainly by unemployment benefits and pensions. Some earn a living from hunting. There are large number of geese in the region.

More than half of the village is now buried under sand dunes deposited by the wind. It is thought that damage to permafrost and destruction of the sea bottom released the sand.

The village is connected by neither roads nor railroads. Transportation to the outside world is by ship or air. There is a civilian airport consisting of a 650-meter dirt runway.

shoyna-sand-buried-1

Photo credit: heliograf.ru

shoyna-sand-buried-2

Photo credit: www.azimutx.ru

shoyna-sand-buried-3

Photo credit: www.azimutx.ru

Do not reproduce. Image is copyrighted. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: www.kirishi.ru

Do not reproduce. Image is copyrighted. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: www.kirishi.ru

Remains of the fishing fleet once totaling more then 70 the ships.
Aug. 2005

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

Remains of the fishing fleet once totaling more then 70 the ships now are  only a place for children's games
Aug. 2005

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

Street scene

Aug. 2005

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

Street scene
Aug. 2005

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

Street scene
Aug. 2005

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

More than half of settlement already buryed under sandy dunes coming from the West
Aug. 2005

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

Street scene
Aug. 2005

Photo credit: www.moya-planeta.ru

Sources: Wikipedia / Russia Beyond The Headlines

Comments

  1. What's your problem with Russia? This article is not political, so I can't understand the hatred. Russia is actually a beautiful country. If you don't like it, just don't read the Russian articles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And no, I don't know about black seo. The only black seo I know about deals with shady techniques to rank websites in search engines. If you are referring to some different black seo, then kindly educate me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How about leaving some decent comments on the articles you like instead of spewing hatred every time there is an article about a place in Russia. Perhaps you do not realize that the Russian Federation is a transcontinental country extending over much of northern Eurasia and actually the largest country in the world by land area. So chances are there will be many more such articles in future.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can assure you, since I live in Alaska, that they close the doors. Besides, exterior doors open inward, even in Russia.....and btw, not sure what that other poster's problem is about Russia, but I'd bet $1000 he's a Fox News fan. I love all your content, no matter what part of the world it's from. Keep up the excellent work. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. "The village has a bulldozer that is frequently in action, digging up homes." Small correction here, "digging up" implies totally & completely buried. It should read "digging out homes"! Just my $0.02 worth. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great article. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Interesting! Loved it

    ReplyDelete

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