Challenge: Turn Mangazeya Into a Siberian Singapore

[President Ledyard]

Have any of you guys ever heard of this town? I hadn't and came across it completely randomly while researching the Northeast Passage:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangazeya

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/mangazeya.htm

At any rate, I don't have a proper POD relating to it but the notion of it surviving and thriving was fascinating enough that I thought I would bring it to the attention of the board.

 

[Thande]

I find the bit about English trading enroaching into Siberia rather interesting...

 

[President Ledyard]

I would think that fears of foreign penetration would be somewhat overblown (parts of the route apparently involved portage) but I can definitely see where the czars would prefer to have the furs coming in overland so as maintain their slice of the profits so there might have to be some prolonged instability for the town to be viable.