Winter is definitely not my season. I feel bad in cold weather. Luckily, in my neck of the woods, it's usually a short and mild season.
However, this year , our February has been quite cold and rainy, making me often think of the survival of people in those many places where temperatures drop much below zero. It requires special resilience and preparadness to be able to live under freezing conditions.
I am familiar, of course, with the names of the coldest places in the world: Antarctica, Alaska, Greenland, Canada, Siberia (Russia), the Scandinavean countries ( Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark), and Iceland.
There are some more places of which I knew almost nothing about their very cold winters, until recently while reading an article mentioning them: Mongolia (central Asia), Kirghizistan, Tajigistan (asian Russia), Chili (South America).
Ulaanbatoor, capital of Mongolia is considered the coldest capital city on earth (Yakutsk in Siberia is known as the coldest city, not capital).
Kirghizistan and Tajikistan - two gems in asian Russia, have very cold areas around their mountain ranges.
Chili is the closest country to Antarctica. In its southern part, there are polar frosts in winter.
And yet. even in the worst winter months , there is life , culture, fun and...prosperity in those places. It's mostly due to ski tourism, and all that surrounds it: the beauty of snow-capped mountain peaks, hotels, markets, winter festivals etc...
(AI generated picture)