"Soviet Arctic Cultural Landscape, Zapolyarny (Заполя́рный), Murmanskaya Oblast (Му́рманская о́бласть), Russia" - The Russian Arctic is dotted with numerous urban settlements, established for primary resource extraction during the Soviet Industrialization of the 20th century. The economy of Zapolyarny, & the nearby town of Nikel, focuses largely on smelting of metal ores. As a consequence, pollution, and other environmental stress factors, produces a life expectancy of only 40 to 50 years.