in the USSR, a part of the Soviet Union situated primarily north of the arctic circle. It includes the arctic ice zone, tundra, forest-tundra, and a part of the taiga, which are characterized by extremely severe climatic conditions and are relatively sparsely populated. The “lesser peoples of the north” constitute the indigenous population. The Far North is rich in fur-bearing animals, timber, and fish, and large mineral deposits are concentrated in the depths of the earth (oil, gas, coal, gold, diamonds, polymetallic ores, and others). The exploitation of the natural resources of the regions of the Far North, which is essential for the integrated development of the national economy, requires the recruitment of additional manpower from other regions of the USSR. In this connection, persons who go to work in state, cooperative, and public organizations, institutions, and enterprises of the Far North are granted a number of benefits established by the decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of Feb. 10, 1960, and Sept. 26, 1967, and by separate resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and special instructions of the State Committee on Labor and Wages of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Ail-Union Central Council of Trade Unions of Dec. 16, 1967.

A resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of Oct. 10, 1967, lists as regions of the Far North the Yakut ASSR; Magadan, Kamchatka, and Murmansk oblasts (except the city of Kandalaksha with the territory under the administrative authority of the Kandalaksha city soviet); certain raions and cities of Arkhangel’sk Oblast, the Komi ASSR, Tiumen’ Oblast, Krasnoiarsk Krai, Irkutsk and Sakhalin oblasts, and Khabarovsk Krai; and the islands of the Arctic Ocean, its seas, and the islands of the Bering and Okhotsk seas. This resolution also established a list of localities which received the same status as the regions of the Far North and which are situated in the aforementioned autonomous republics, oblasts, and krais; also included are certain raions and cities of Tomsk Oblast, Buriat ASSR, Chita and Amur oblasts, and Primor’e Krai.

The system of benefits includes benefits enjoyed by all workers without exception who are categorized by law as persons working in regions of the Far North and in localities considered equivalent to regions of the Far North and benefits that only some categories of workers enjoy. The benefits of the first group consist of monthly increments to wages, supplementary vacations, additions to allowances for temporary disability, advantages in the determination of state pensions and advantages in joining residential-construction cooperatives. The benefits that are granted only to some categories of workers in the Far North consist of increased compensations for the move to the job; reimbursement of expenses on moving to the place of previous residence after working in the Far North; a lump-sum allowance when renewing the first labor contract for a new term; reservation of residential space at the place of previous residence; and advantageous computation of length of service when determining pensions. They are granted to workers who have come to work in regions of the Far North and to localities considered equivalent to them on condition that they conclude labor contracts to work in these regions and localities for a period of three years (on islands of the Arctic Ocean, two years); to members of families of the aforementioned workers (wife, husband, children, and parents) who go to work in the Far North with a labor contract concluded for three or two years; and to workers who have come to regions of the Far North and localities considered equivalent to them on the basis of a public appeal and who have signed fixed-period labor contracts. Benefits are granted from the moment the labor contract is signed (for example, increased compensations when sent to work and reservation of residential space), from the day of arrival at work (for example, social-insurance benefits), or upon expiration of a certain period of work in the Far North (for example, increments to wages and vacations).

Supplementary vacations are granted with a length of 18 workdays in regions of the Far North and 12 workdays in localities considered equivalent to them. Combining vacations is permitted but not more than for three years. Once every three years the time for traveling to the vacation place and back is added to the vacation time, and the travel cost is paid by the enterprise.