Naryan-Mar is the capital of Nenetsia, located on the Pechorin River well beyond the Arctic Circle. It is the largest town in Nenetsia and serves as a "hub" for the surrounding area as well as a principal river port, sea port, and airport. Due to its strategic location and booming oil business, the city has developed rapidly in the last few years and has reached some of the highest living standards in Russia.
Being an oil hub has also led to a price-hike and tourists should bear in mind that prices are well above average compared to other Russian towns. Still, Naryan-Mar retains many features of a true frontier town.
Naryan-Mar is on the Pechora River, 110 km from the mouth on the Barents Sea. An important transport hub of the region, it is connected by its airport and river port to settled points along the Northern Sea Route and south into the Komi Republic.
4 km down the Pechora river from Naryan-Mar is the village of Iskateley (Russian: Искателей, Nenets: Iskatel), which is functionally almost a neighborhood of Naryan-Mar, though it is administratively separate.
The distance to Arkhangelsk is 650 kilometers; along the waterway through the White Sea and Barents Sea - 1100 km.
When the Pechora River is not frozen (mid-July to mid-October), passenger ships run between Pechora in the Komi Republic and Naryan Mar.
Naryan-Mar Airport (IATA: NNM) is the main port of entry here, with flights from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Kirov, Usinsk. and Syktyvkar. The airport also operates local flights to most settlements of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Naryan-Mar may be the largest town in Nenetsia, but that just is not that big — all that there is to see can be seen easily on foot within an hour or two.
Primary administrative division