Stolid apartment buildings rise from the snow-covered permafrost in Novyy Urengoy, Russia. The buildings house workers at what was once the world's highest-producing natural gas field. After more than 30 years of operation, it's still one of the largest.

Novyy Urengoy is one of hundreds of industrial towns built, seemingly overnight, during the Soviet era to support workers who tap Siberia's many natural resources. Such development on the tundra has presented challenges for Russia, including buildings that crack or collapse under sagging permafrost and the displacement of indigenous cultures.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Siberia: In from the Cold," April 1990, National Geographic magazine)