| En Name: | Aldan |
| Ru Name: | Алдан |
| Loc Name1: | Алдан |
| Loc Lang1: | Yakut |
| Coordinates: | 58.6167°N 150°W |
| Map Label Position: | top |
| Image Coa: | Coat of Arms of Aldan (Yakutia).png |
| Federal Subject: | Sakha Republic |
| Adm District Jur: | Aldansky District |
| Adm Selsoviet Jur: | Aldan |
| Adm Selsoviet Type: | Town |
| Adm Ctr Of1: | Aldansky District |
| Adm Ctr Of2: | Town of Aldan |
| Inhabloc Cat: | Town |
| Inhabloc Type: | Town under district jurisdiction |
| Mun District Jur: | Aldansky Municipal District |
| Urban Settlement Jur: | Aldan Urban Settlement |
| Mun Admctr Of1: | Aldansky Municipal District |
| Mun Admctr Of1 Ref: | [1] |
| Mun Admctr Of2: | Aldan Urban Settlement |
| Pop 2010Census: | 21275 |
| Pop Latest: | 20892 |
| Pop Latest Date: | January 2016 |
| Pop Latest Ref: | [2] |
| Established Date: | 1923 |
| Current Cat Date: | 1939 |
| Postal Codes: | 678900–678902, 678906, 678909 |
Aldan (Russian: Алдан|p=ɐlˈdan; Yakut: Алдан) is a gold-mining town and the administrative center of Aldansky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located in the Aldan Highlands, in the Aldan River basin, on the stream Orto-Sala near its mouth in the Seligdar River, about 470km (290miles) south of the republic's capital of Yakutsk. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 21,275.
It was founded in 1923[3] as Nezametny (Russian: Незаме́тный), after discovery of rich gold deposits. It was granted town status and renamed in 1939. During World War II, an airfield was built here for the Alaska-Siberian (ALSIB) air route used to ferry American Lend-Lease aircraft to the Eastern Front.[4]
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Aldan serves as the administrative center of Aldansky District.[5] As an inhabited locality, Aldan is classified as a town under district jurisdiction. As an administrative division, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated within Aldansky District as the Town of Aldan. As a municipal division, the Town of Aldan is incorporated within Aldansky Municipal District as Aldan Urban Settlement.[6]
Aldan remains a productive gold and mica mining center, largely avoiding the large drop in population suffered by most other towns in the Russian Far East in the years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The town stands on the A360 Lena Highway, which connects Yakutsk and Never, as well as on the partially complete Amur–Yakutsk Mainline railway. It is served by the Aldan Airport.
Aldan has the typical eastern Siberian subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) though it is affected by the Pacific Ocean more than localities in the lower Lena basin, which gives it much heavier rainfall during the summer than most of the republic, as well as a little more snowfall and rather less extreme winter temperatures – though still extremely cold for the latitude and as much as 10C-change colder than settlements actually on the Okhotsk coast. In spite of the less extreme winters vis-à-vis more northerly parts of Sakha, Aldan has never seen any day above freezing from 22 November to 7 March inclusive. Although winters are somewhat less extreme than Yakutsk, summers are actually somewhat cooler, and cloudier, than those northerly areas.
The coldest temperature recorded in Aldan since the weather station was opened in 1937 has been NaNC on 20 January 2023 and the hottest 36.5C on 3 July 2021. February 1969, with a mean temperature of NaNC, has been the coldest month on record, shading the preceding January which averaged NaNC. The hottest month has been July 1941 which averaged 20.7C, the wettest August 2006 with 2692NaN2 of rain, and the driest March 1937 with only 22NaN2 of water equivalent.