Since the 1960s, the city's economy has focused on the timber industry and includes the production of cellulose, paper, and wood furniture. Additional industry includes the food industry (flour milling, meat, and dairy), light industry (leather shoes, textiles), and construction materials.
Lying outside Russia's power network, Syktyvkar has a thermal power plant to serve its energy needs.Because of its extreme northerly location the city has few transportation links; it is, however, the final station on a rail spur from the city of Mikun.
Syktyvkar University (founded in 1972) is located in the city and there are several training institutes for the cellulose industry and the fields of medicine, music, and education.
The city has a drama theater and two museums. Syktyvkar was settled as Ust-Sysolsk in 1586 and was named Syktyvkar in 1930.
Most likely due to its extreme northerly location and restructuring in the cellulose industry, the city is one of many in the far north that have lost population since the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
