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Vorkuta| Town in the far northeast of the Komi Republic, northwestern Russian Federation; population (1996 est) 101,000. Vorkuta lies west of the River Ob, and is at the heart of the Pechora coal basin. Until the mid-1950s, it was one of the main centres of forced labour in the former Soviet Union. |
| Vorkuta's large coal-mining industry dates from the 1930s. The settlement was founded in 1931 as the administrative centre for a large number of internment camps, and became a town in 1943. |
| The coal mines of Vorkuta were the scene of two important strikes; the first, in 1953, sparked widespread unrest in the other main forced-labour areas, and led to penal reform in the post-Stalin era. In July 1989, foreshadowing the collapse of the Soviet Union, Vorkuta mineworkers walked out in protest at poor pay and living conditions. |
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