Chukotka Autonomous Okrug or Chukotka is located in the Far East. It
borders with the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the west, with the
Magadan region in the southwest and the
Kamchatka Territory in the south. Across the Bering Strait is the US
territory of Alaska. The shores of the district are washed by the East
Siberian and Chukchi seas of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea of the
Pacific Ocean.
Most of the territory is located on the Chukotka
Peninsula and is located beyond the Arctic Circle, but here the weather
is slightly milder than in neighboring Yakutia.
Elgygytgyn Lake
Pevek
Provideniya
Wrangel Island
The following sites are dated to about 30 thousand years ago: the
Orlovka II site in the north of Western Chukotka in the Kolyma River
basin and the Kymyneykey site in the Kymyneykey River valley in the
north of Eastern Chukotka in the Vankarem Lowland (both are about 67°
N). The artifacts of Orlovka II and Kymyneykey are technically and
typologically closer to the Aldan than to the Yenisei sites.
In
ancient times, people repeatedly populated America through Beringia.
The Tytylvaam IV site on the Tytylvaam River, dating back 9820 + 40
years to the present, belongs to the Upper Paleolithic.
The
inhabitants of the Zhokhov site on the New Siberian Islands 9 thousand
years ago. used obsidian brought from the shores of the Chukchi Lake
Krasnoye.
The earliest sites in Chukotka are Ananaiveem (c. 8.4
thousand years ago) on the Ananaiveem River and Koolen IV (c. 6 thousand
years ago) on Lake Koolen near the village of Uelen.
The
westernmost Paleo-Eskimo site is Chertov Ravine on Wrangel Island.
Artifacts found on the steep slopes of the ravine date back to 1750 BC.
DNA analysis of samples from the Uelen and Ekven burial grounds
(approximately 2 thousand years before the present) showed that in the
gene pool of the Neo-Eskimo cultures of Chukotka, in addition to the
ancient Paleo-Siberian base, there was approximately 30% of the
Paleo-Indian component, which was found in representatives of the Clovis
culture, which proves the reverse migration of the Neo-Eskimos from
America to the territory of the extreme north-east of Asia.
Y-chromosomal haplogroups Q1, Q1a, Q1b, Q2b, C2b and mitochondrial
haplogroups A2a, A2b, D4b1a2a1 were determined. The NEO248 sample (2064
years ago) was found to have the Y-chromosomal haplogroup
Q1a1-F746>Q1a1b-YP1500/B143>Q1-Y222276>Q1-Z36017 and the mitochondrial
haplogroup A2a.
The I1525 sample (1970-1590 years ago) from Uelen
was found to have the mitochondrial haplogroup F.
The I1524
sample (1180-830 years ago) from Uelen was found to have the
mitochondrial haplogroup A2a and the Y-chromosomal haplogroup Q1a2a1a1.
The Pegtymel petroglyphs date back to the period from the 1st
millennium BC to the end of the 1st millennium AD.
The whale
alley on Ytygran Island dates back to the 14th-16th centuries and
belongs to the late period of the ancient Eskimo Punuk culture.
In historical times, the indigenous people of Chukotka are considered to
be the Chukchi, although they have preserved the memory of more ancient
peoples, the Shelags and Onkilons, known in the 17th century to Russian
explorers, but who later disappeared. The territory of Chukotka has also
long been inhabited by the Yuits (ancient Bering Sea culture) and
Yukaghirs (Anauls, Chuvans). Reindeer herding, which spread under the
indirect influence of the Samoyeds, played an important role in the rise
of the Chukchi.
The first clash between the Chukchi and the Russians occurred in 1641
to the west of modern Chukotka on the Yana River. By this time, the
Chukchi were still at the technological level of the Stone Age. Chukotka
(Zakolymye) was actually discovered by the Russians in 1648 during the
expedition of Semyon Dezhnev. The first Russian settlement was the
Anadyr prison, founded in 1649. During the era of Russian colonization,
Chukotka belonged to the Yakut Voivodeship. In 1778, an official peace
treaty was concluded with the Chukchi.
On October 11, 1779,
Catherine II issued a decree in which she declared that she "most
graciously deigns to accept the Chukchi people into her citizenship,
encouraging them with Her most gracious favor on an equal basis with Her
other subjects." By the same decree, Catherine II ordered that yasak not
be taken from the Chukchi for 10 years, “to explain” to them “that they,
feeling Her highest mercy, would remain in due harmony with the
neighboring subjects of His Imperial Majesty the Koryaks,” allowed the
Chukchi to conduct trade and crafts “without any exceptions or
restrictions” and “that no one would oppress or upset them under any
circumstances.”
The first fair was held in 1788 on the Bolshoy
Anyuy River, near the mouth of its tributary, the Angarka River.
In 1803, Chukotka became part of the Kamchatka Region of the Irkutsk
Governorate (from 1856 to 1909 it was part of the Primorsky Region).
On July 9, 1888, a decision was made to organize the Anadyr District
Administration. The village of Markovo became its location, and the
first district commander was the military doctor and polar explorer Lev
Frantsevich Grinevetsky. A year later, he founded the Novo-Mariinsk post
(now Anadyr) at the mouth of the Kazachka River.
In 1909, the
Anadyrsky District became part of the Kamchatka Region, and part of the
Anadyrsky District was transformed into the Chukotsky District.
Important events of the early 20th century in Chukotka were the
discovery of gold in the Zolotoy Ridge area and the construction of a
radio station in Novo-Mariinsk in 1912-1914, which was then among the
four most powerful in the Russian Empire. It allowed communication with
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Okhotsk, and Nome (Alaska).
After the February Revolution of 1917, in May of that year, a
district Committee of Public Safety was created in Novo-Mariinsk. It
operated until March 1918, when a telegram from the Kamchatka Regional
Council arrived from Petropavlovsk, which abolished it and ordered the
election of the Anadyr District Council of Peasants, Workers, and
Soldiers Deputies. The Council was created, but it decided to express
"no confidence in the usurpers of power - the Council of People's
Commissars" and "to recognize only one authority in the country - the
legitimate, people's - the Constituent Assembly." In September 1919, the
steamship "Tomsk" arrived in Novo-Mariinsk, carrying representatives of
the Kolchak administration, headed by the new head of the Anadyr
District Administration, I. M. Gromov. But on the same ship, Mikhail
Mandrikov and Avgust Berzin arrived under false names, sent to Chukotka
by the Bolshevik underground of Vladivostok to establish Soviet power in
Novo-Mariinsk. On December 16, 1919, in Novo-Mariinsk, they created the
Anadyr Revolutionary Committee, which seized power, with Mandrikov
becoming its chairman. Gromov and other representatives of the Kolchak
authorities were arrested. The goods of local merchants were
nationalized, their debts were cancelled. Gromov and several other
people were shot on charges of "counterrevolution", and forced labor was
introduced for residents at the Ugolnaya mine. This policy caused
discontent among local residents. On January 31, 1920, an uprising
occurred, Mandrikov and his comrades were surrounded in the building of
the Revolutionary Committee and, after an unequal shootout, surrendered.
Two days later, Mandrikov and four others were shot.
But when
news of this coup came to Markovo, a local Soviet was assembled there,
which condemned it. On July 20, 1920, an armed detachment of 14 people
arrived from Markovo in Anadyr on a boat and in kungas and restored
Soviet power there without a fight. Then the participants in the coup
were arrested and taken to Vladivostok.
In 1922, the Anadyr and Chukotka districts became part of the
Kamchatka Governorate.
The Chukotka National Okrug was formed by
the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of December
10, 1930 "On the Organization of National Associations in the Areas of
Settlement of Small Peoples of the North" as part of the Far Eastern
Territory. It included the following districts: Anadyrsky (center
Novo-Mariinsk, also known as Anadyr), Eastern Tundra (center
Ostrovnoye), Western Tundra (center Nizhnekolymsk), Markovsky (center
Markovo), Chaunsky (center in the Chaunskaya Bay area) and Chukotsky
(center in the Chukotka cultural base - St. Lawrence Bay), transferred:
a) from the Far Eastern Territory, the Anadyr and Chukotsky
districts in their entirety;
b) from the Yakut ASSR, the
territory of the Eastern Tundra with a border along the right bank of
the Alazeya River and the Western Tundra, the areas of the middle and
lower reaches of the Omolon River.
When the region was divided
into districts in October-November 1932, it was left "within its former
borders as an independent national district, directly subordinated to
the region."
Collectivization began. Large reindeer herders
refused to sell their animals to state and collective farms, and the
"liquidation of the kulaks" began.
On July 22, 1934, the
All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to include the Chukotka
and Koryak national districts in the Kamchatka Region. However, such
subordination was of a rather formal nature, since from 1939-1940 the
territory of the district was under the jurisdiction of "Dalstroy",
which carried out full administrative and economic management in the
territories subordinate to it.
In 1934-1937, a large tin deposit
was discovered on the Pevek Peninsula and the Iultinskoye tin-tungsten
deposit. Since 1939, geological exploration work in Chukotka was carried
out by Dalstroy.
Since May 28, 1951, by decision of the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the district was allocated to the
direct subordination of Khabarovsk Krai.
Since December 3, 1953,
it was part of the Magadan Region.
Since the mid-1950s, Chukotka
began to be intensively built up with military airfields and air bases,
since the geographical location of the peninsula ensured the shortest
flight time to Alaska and the northwestern part of the United States,
the main base of aviation was presumably "Provideniya".
In 1980,
after the adoption of the RSFSR Law "On Autonomous Okrugs of the RSFSR",
in accordance with the USSR Constitution of 1977, the Chukotka National
Okrug became autonomous.
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian
Federation
On July 16, 1992, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug left the
Magadan Region and received the status of a subject of the Russian
Federation.
The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is a territory subject to a border
regime.
The entry of foreign citizens into the part of the
territory of the district adjacent to the sea coast and onto the islands
is regulated, that is, permission from the border service of the Russian
Federation or documents allowing stay in the border zone are required.
Until 2018, this also applied to Russian citizens; currently only visits
to Wrangel, Herald and Ratmanov Islands are regulated for them.
Specific sections of the border zone on the territory of the district
are determined by Order of the FSB of the Russian Federation dated April
14, 2006 No. 155 “On the limits of the border zone on the territory of
the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.” In addition, the entry of foreign
citizens into the entire territory of the district is regulated in
accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of
July 4, 1992 No. 470 “On approval of the List of territories of the
Russian Federation with regulated visits for foreign citizens,” that is,
permission is required for them to visit the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
FSB.
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is located in the extreme northeast of
Russia. It occupies the entire Chukotka Peninsula, part of the mainland
and a number of islands (Wrangel, Herald, Aion, Ratmanova, etc.). This
is the only region in Russia, part of which (the entire Chukotka
Peninsula and the eastern part of Wrangel Island) is located in the
Western Hemisphere.
It is washed by the East Siberian and Chukchi
seas of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea of the Pacific Ocean.
On the territory of the district there are two peninsulas, Chukotsky
and Daurkin, as well as the extreme points of Russia: the eastern point
is Ratmanov Island, the eastern continental point is Cape Dezhnev. Here
are located: the northernmost city of Russia - Pevek and the easternmost
- Anadyr, as well as the easternmost permanent settlement - Uelen.
The district is located in the Kamchatka time zone. The UTC offset
is +12:00 (UTC+12). The difference with Moscow time is 9 hours.
The territory is slightly smaller than Chile or Zambia, and larger than
Myanmar or Afghanistan. This is the only transhemispheric entity in
Russia - its extreme northeastern point lies in the Western Hemisphere.
Most of the district's territory is located beyond the Arctic Circle.
Therefore, the climate here is harsh, subarctic, on the coasts -
maritime, in the interior - continental. The duration of winter is up to
10 months.
The average temperature in January is from −15 °C to
−39 °C, in July - from +5 °C to +10 °C. The absolute recorded minimum is
−61 °C, the absolute maximum is +34 °C. Precipitation - 200-500 mm per
year.
Many climatic records were recorded in Chukotka: minimum
hours of sunshine, the lowest radiation balance for these latitudes,
maximum average annual wind speed and frequency of hurricanes and storms
in Russia (Cape Navarin).
The growing season in the southern part
of the district is 80-100 days. Permafrost is widespread everywhere.
Chukotka is dominated by mountainous terrain, and only in the coastal
part, as well as along river valleys, are there small areas occupied by
lowlands, the largest of which is Anadyr.
The continental part
has a clearly defined slope in the north - towards the Arctic Ocean, in
the east - towards the Pacific Ocean.
The
mountain landscape is represented in the central part by the
mid-altitude Anadyr Plateau and Anyui Plateau, above which mountain
ranges rise 1 km high, as well as the Chukotka Plateau in the east.
The highest point is the Source Mountain (Chantal Range) - 1887 m.
The territory of Chukotka is rich in water resources. More than 8,000
rivers more than 10 km long flow here, most of which are mountainous.
The rivers are fed predominantly by snow and rain; they are
characterized by long-term freeze-up (7-8 months), high and stormy
floods, and uneven flow. The beds of many rivers freeze to the bottom
with the widespread formation of ice. The opening of rivers is
accompanied by congestion due to the later release of ice from rivers in
the lower reaches. A feature of the lowland rivers of the region is the
constant variability of their beds (wandering) due to the thawing of
fossil ice and the subsequent subsidence of the soil. Almost all rivers
flowing into the ocean are influenced by sea tides, as a result of which
there is a significant rise in the water level in the lower reaches and
their countercurrent.
The main bays of the northwestern part of
the Bering Sea are Anadyrsky, Kresta, Mechigmensky, Kanchalan, Omolon,
Provideniya, Lavrentia; the western part of the Chukchi Sea -
Kolyuchinskaya Bay; and the eastern part of the East Siberian Sea -
Chaunskaya Bay. The main straits are Anadyrsky, Senyavinsky, Bering and
Longa.
The largest rivers are the Anadyr (with tributaries Main,
Belaya, Tanyurer), Omolon, Velikaya, Kanchalan, Amguema, Bolshoi and
Maly Anyui.
Most of the lakes are of thermokarst origin, only a
few are located in the mountainous part of the district. The coastal
lakes of the Arctic Ocean are of lagoonal origin, as a result of which
the water in them is salty. Most lakes are flowing, while low-lying ones
often become overgrown and turn into swamps.
The largest lakes
are Krasnoye, Mainits, Pekulneyskoye, Koinygytgyn, Vaamochka, as well as
the unique Lake Elgygytgyn, the study of which will allow us to
understand what the climate was like on Earth millennia ago.
A
total of 44 groundwater deposits have been discovered, 19 of which are
used for economic purposes.
There are 18 thermomineral springs on
the territory of Chukotka, the largest of which are Mechigmenskie,
Lorinskie, Chaplinskie, and Senyavinskie.
There are significant reserves of minerals: oil, natural gas, coal, gold, silver, tin, tungsten, molybdenum, chromium, antimony, mercury, copper, uranium, construction raw materials. The most famous deposits: ore gold - Kupol, Mayskoye, Karalveemskoye, Dvoinoye, Kekura, Valunistoye; placer gold - Ichuveem, Ryveem, Pilkhinkuul; tin ore - Pyrkakai stockworks, Iultinskoe, Valkumeyskoe; tungsten - Iultinskoe; coal - Anadyrskoye lignite, coal from Bukhty Ugolnaya, Dalneye; copper - Gerbil; mercury - Tamvatneyskoe, West Palyanskoe. Single diamond grains have been identified in marine sediments of the coastal part of Eastern Chukotka.
On the territory of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug there are two protected areas of federal significance - the Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve and Beringia National Park, as well as 26 protected areas of regional significance - 5 reserves and 21 natural monuments.
Lake Elgygytgyn (140 thousand hectares), Lebediny (383 thousand hectares), Chaunskaya Bay (148.2 thousand hectares), Ust-Tanyurersky (355.3 thousand hectares) and Avtotkuul (273.3 thousand hectares).
Amguemsky, Ayonsky, Anyuisky volcanoes, Tnekveemsky and Telekayskaya groves, Pekulneysky, Palyavaamsky, capes Vankarem and Kozhevnikov, Lake Achchen, Klyuchevoy (Senyavinsky thermomineral springs), Lorinsky (Kukunsky) hot springs, Routan, Rauchuagytgyn, Chaplinsky, Pineyveemsky, Pegtymelsky, K ekurny ( settlement of the outliers), Termalny, Vostochny (Uelenskie hot springs) and Chegitunsky.
Over 900 species of higher plants, over 400 species of mosses and
over 400 species of lichens grow in Chukotka. In the continental part of
Chukotka, unique floristic relics have been preserved for this region -
Telekayskaya and Tnekveemskaya groves.
Chukotka is home to
shrews, lemmings and voles, a chipmunk, a black-capped marmot and a
Beringian ground squirrel, a squirrel and a flying squirrel, a mountain
hare and a pika, a wolverine, an ermine, a weasel, a river otter and a
sea otter, an elk and a reindeer, white and brown bears, foxes and
arctic foxes, polar wolves and lynx. Koryak and Yakut bighorn sheep live
in the mountainous regions, and on Wrangel Island there is a musk ox,
which was brought here as an experiment for the reintroduction of musk
oxen that previously lived here and has successfully taken root - now
its population is about 1000 individuals. The sable has also been
successfully reintroduced, as well as the muskrat and American mink. The
coastal waters of Chukotka are inhabited by 9 species of cetaceans
(gray, bowhead and humpback whales, fin whales, minke whales, beluga
whales, killer whales, harbor porpoises and white-winged porpoises) and
6 species of pinnipeds (Pacific walrus, Far Eastern bearded seal, larga
(spotted seal), lionfish (striped seal) seal), Akiba (ringed seal) and
Steller sea lion (northern sea lion)), as well as 7 more species of
marine mammals (blue and southern right whales, sei whale, narwhal,
sperm whale, northern swimmer and northern fur seal). The Bering Sea
alone is home to 402 species of fish, of which more than 50 are
commercial. The inland waters of the district are home to about 30
species of freshwater fish and the only representative of amphibians is
the Siberian salamander. The district is home to 42 species of land
mammals and approximately 220 species of birds.
The mining industry is the basis of the district's economy. The
indigenous population is engaged in traditional types of trade.
In terms of GRP per capita, the region is second only to the
oil-producing Tyumen and Sakhalin regions. The average salary in
Chukotka is 71 thousand rubles.
The share of public services in
2008 was about a quarter of the GRP. The region's GRP is 78 billion
rubles, 1.578 million rubles per person.
Chukotka received industrial development in the late 1930s with the
organization of brown (Ugolnaya mine) and hard (Nagornaya mine) coal
mining, which continues to be used for the region's own needs. Since
2015, the Emem deposit has been developed.
In the 1940s, mainly
by the prisoners of Chukotstroylag, construction of tin mines began, as
well as the Severny uranium mine, where mining continued until 1953.
A new stage in the industrial development of the region began in the
late 1950s with the discovery of rich placer gold deposits, for the
development of which large mining and processing plants were created -
Bilibinsky, Polyarninsky, Komsomolsky; the Iultinsky Mining and
Processing Plant continued the extraction of tin and tungsten. Near
numerous mines, workers' settlements were founded, the population of the
largest of which - Iultin and Polyarny - numbered over 5,000 people.
In the 1970s, the Plamennoye mercury deposit was discovered and
developed. The miners' settlement of the same name was later used as a
transit base for a reindeer herding farm.
As of 2018, Chukotka produces about 10 percent of the country's gold.
Gold mining in the district increased annually and reached a peak in
1974 (more than 36 tons) due to the development of the Ryveem River
deposit, which was unique in terms of reserves. In subsequent years, due
to the depletion of placer reserves, the production level began to
gradually decline, and until the early 1990s it remained at the level of
15-19 tons.
In 2014, subsoil users of the Chukotka Autonomous
Okrug increased gold production to 32.0 tons, which is 29.8% more than
in 2013. Silver production decreased by 16.3% to 138.45 tons. 29.7 tons
of ore gold and 2.3 tons of placer gold were mined.
Main
enterprises:
OAO Chukotskaya GGC (owned by Highland Gold), develops
the Kupol and Dvoinoye deposits. Chukotskaya GGC produces more than 60%
of Chukotka's gold (in 2014, 22.5 tons out of 29.7).
OOO Rudnik
Karalveem (owned by Lev Leviev) produces about 1.5-2.0 tons.
OOO
Rudnik Valunisty (owned by Roman Abramovich's Millhouse Group) produces
about 1.0 tons of gold and 7 tons of silver.
OOO ZK Mayskoye
(Polymetal Int, began production in April 2013) produced 5.8 tons of
gold in concentrate in 2014.
In 2014, 15 companies were involved
in placer gold mining, the leader among them being OOO A/S Shakhtyor,
which produced 611 kg of gold (out of 2,285 kg).
In the
post-Soviet period, the economic crisis hit the mining industry of
Chukotka particularly hard. There were massive layoffs at the
enterprises, as a result of which the majority of the population left
the territory of the district. Geological exploration work was almost
curtailed, tin and tungsten mining was completely stopped. Small
prospecting teams remained working at placer gold deposits, the total
production level of which was less than 5 tons. All mining settlements
were liquidated.
Since the early 2000s, foreign investors have
shown interest in the rich reserves of gold and silver primary deposits
of the region. Active work on their development began at several sites,
and shift camps were created. Placer gold production continued to
decline, while ore gold production began to increase sharply, and in
2008, for the first time in 20 years, the volume of precious metal
production exceeded 20 tons. This was facilitated by the involvement of
the Kupol gold-silver deposit in operation.
During the entire
period of industrial development of Chukotka deposits, more than 900
tons of gold, 200 thousand tons of tin and 90 thousand tons of tungsten
trioxide were obtained. Other non-ferrous metals, except for associated
silver and mercury, were not previously mined here. A very promising
object is one of the largest in the world, the Peschanka complex copper
deposit, the development of which is hampered by underdeveloped
transport infrastructure and large capital investments.
In
addition to the mining industry, other industries in the region are
poorly developed (small fish processing plants, construction materials
production plants) and serve to meet local needs.
As of the end of 2019, four large thermal power plants, two nuclear
power plants, one wind power plant, and more than 40 diesel power plants
with a total capacity of 328.71 MW were operating in the Chukotka
Autonomous Okrug. In 2018, they produced 700 million kWh of electricity.
Due to its geographical remoteness, large area, and low population
density, the Chukotka energy system is divided into three energy
districts isolated from each other and from the unified energy system of
Russia, as well as a decentralized energy supply zone. The region's
energy system includes the Chaun-Bilibino energy district (Akademik
Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant, Bilibino nuclear power plant,
Chaun thermal power plant) with a total capacity of 136 MW, the Anadyr
energy district (Anadyr thermal power plant and Anadyr
hydrometeorological power plant) with a total capacity of 68.25 MW, and
the Egvekinot energy district (Egvekinot state district power plant)
with a capacity of 30 MW. The decentralized energy supply zone consists
of a number of small energy hubs that supply electricity to individual
villages and mining enterprises. The energy supply here is provided by
diesel power plants.
Chukotka has an extremely low level of transport provision; this is
facilitated by both the very low population density and the harsh
climatic conditions (winter lasts up to 10 months), which makes road
construction very expensive and labor-intensive. At the moment, paved
roads are present only in cities and adjacent villages; throughout the
rest of Chukotka, winter roads are used - unpaved roads on which
movement is possible only in winter on packed snow. All-terrain
vehicles, snowmobiles and high-cross-country trucks are used for
transportation. In 2012, construction began on the federal highway
"Kolyma-Omsukchan-Omolon-Anadyr", which will provide year-round
transport links between Chukotka and the road network of the Russian Far
East [55]. Currently, the federal road A384 operates in the Chukotka
Autonomous Okrug, with a length of 30.5 km from the helipad of the city
of Anadyr to the airport in the village of Ugolnye Kopi, with approx. 8
km of the route goes directly on the ice of the Anadyr Estuary.
There are no railways in Chukotka; there are only minor narrow-gauge
railways at local enterprises. Among them:
Narrow-gauge railway of
the Anadyrskaya mine (Ugolnye Kopi settlement);
Narrow-gauge railway
Beringovsky - Nagorny;
Narrow-gauge railway at the Karalveem mine;
Narrow-gauge railway of the Iultinsky mine (Ilyutin settlement).
The main types of transport for long-distance travel are sea and air.
Each city has its own airport. However, despite the proximity of Alaska,
there is no regular sea service to it, and air service to it is
represented only by charter flights to Anchorage and Nome. Sea service
can also be very difficult during the period of ice formation or ice
drift.
There are 5 federal seaports of the Northern Sea Route:
Anadyr is the largest in Chukotka;
Pevek is the northernmost Russian
port;
Provideniya is the point of formation of convoys of ships of
the Northern Sea Route;
Beringovsky is a roadstead, the main cargo is
coal mined nearby;
Egvekinot is the northernmost port of the Bering
Sea.
A rather interesting and almost impossible transport project
is the Tunnel under the Bering Strait.
The main airline of
Chukotka is Chukotavia. There are a significant number of airfields.
Despite the harsh climate, the agro-industrial complex has developed
in Chukotka. However, the district has never been able to fully satisfy
its food needs.
In 2020, agricultural output in farms of all
categories was 1,694.1 million rubles, of which crop production was
149.1 million rubles, livestock farming 1,545.1 million rubles.
The main direction of the region's agriculture is reindeer herding.
The Chukotka reindeer herd is one of the largest in the world. In 1970,
it reached its highest values - 587 thousand reindeer (which was a
quarter of the world's population). By 2001, the reindeer population in
the district had decreased to less than 100 thousand. In addition to
meat and skins, valuable medicinal raw materials - reindeer antlers -
are harvested. As of December 31, 2010, the reindeer population in the
district amounted to 195,426 heads, including 190,397 heads in
agricultural enterprises of the district.
Another important
direction of agriculture is hunting. Wild reindeer are hunted, which
allows the population to be supplied with dietary meat. They also hunt
moose, wolves, wolverines, brown bears, American minks, sables, arctic
foxes, muskrats, white hares, and ermines. Of the game, the resources of
the white ptarmigan may be considered relatively promising.
Marine mammal hunting and fishing are traditional occupations of the
inhabitants of coastal settlements. The indigenous population of
Chukotka, within the framework of quotas for aboriginal hunting, catches
cetaceans (bowhead and gray whales, beluga whales), pinnipeds (walrus
and ice seals), and salmon. Only in two national villages (Lorino and
Inchoun) caged fur farming remains. In 2010, 6,026 heads of all types of
marine mammals were caught (22,690.55 centners in round logs), the quota
for two bowhead whales was fully utilized.
In many Chukotka villages, there are greenhouse farms. In the central
and western parts of the district - in the Markovo and Omolon area,
where there are permafrost-free oases, potatoes, cabbage, and radishes
are grown in open ground.
In 2020, the gross harvest in farms of
all categories: Potatoes 104.3 tons, vegetables 270.4 tons, of which:
cucumbers 142.2 tons, tomatoes 52.4 tons, cabbage 20.2 tons, beets 3.2
tons, carrots 3.0 tons, hay 23.2 tons.
Meadows in the floodplain
of drained thermokarst lakes were used to prepare hay for cattle. The
quality of the green mass was increased by sowing more productive types
of cereals, the yield was from 80 to 300 c/ha, but after several years
of exploitation it decreased, and the meadows themselves became swampy.
In some farms of Chukotka, the territory of such meadows reached several
thousand hectares. This method of land development was practiced until
1986, after which experimental work was carried out on thermal
melioration of gentle tundra slopes with subsequent plowing and
successful sowing of cultivated grasses. Currently, due to the almost
complete destruction of cattle, meadow farming is no longer used.
In recent years, health care costs in the district per capita have
been among the highest in the Russian Federation.
Since the
1930s, the Chukotka District Hospital has been operating in Anadyr,
whose total bed capacity currently amounts to 790 units. The district
hospital includes:
5 branches — district hospitals;
19 district
hospitals, as structural divisions of the branches;
6 medical
outpatient clinics;
15 FAPs (feldsher-obstetric stations).
Due
to the harsh climatic conditions and the lack of transport accessibility
of a number of settlements in the region, air ambulance services have
been developed, thanks to which it is possible to deliver a patient from
any point in the district to specialists in district centers or Anadyr
in 2-5 hours.
The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug has the highest rates
of completed suicides in the Russian Federation, the victims of which
are in the absolute majority representatives of the indigenous
population, which is directly related to both the widespread alcoholism
among local residents and the folk custom of "voluntary death", recorded
back in the late 19th century by the ethnographer V. G. Bogoraz. In all
national villages of the region, there are serious restrictions on the
sale of alcohol, in some it is completely prohibited. At the same time,
by 2016, there were officially registered no drug addicts in Chukotka.
As of 2021, there is one branch of a higher educational institution
operating in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug:
Chukotka branch of
NEFU named after M.K. Ammosov.
In 1935, the Chukotka Regional Museum of Local History was created,
and in 2002, the Museum Center "Heritage of Chukotka" was established on
its basis. In 1968, in order to preserve the culture of local peoples,
the state Chukchi-Eskimo song and dance ensemble "Ergyron" was formed.
The Anadyr and Chukotka diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church
operates in the region.
Since 2017, the international Arctic film
festival "Golden Raven" has been held in the capital of the region,
which has become a kind of calling card of Chukotka.
Tourism is represented by expeditions, cruises, ethnotourism. Sea cruises attract the largest number of visitors, mainly foreigners. The main attractions are located in the border zone.
In the north of Chukotka, in the lower reaches of the Pegtymel River, unique ancient rock paintings were found - the Pegtymel petroglyphs, the only ones discovered in the Far North. The drawings depict scenes of ancient people hunting deer, sea hunting and images of people with mushroom-shaped figures above their heads.
"Romantiki" is a historical and revolutionary film by Mark Donskoy,
produced in 1941 at the Soyuzdetfilm studio based on the story
"Chukotka" by Tikhon Semushkin.
"Alitet Goes to the Mountains" is a
historical adventure film directed by Mark Donskoy, produced in 1949 at
the Gorky Film Studio based on the novel of the same name by Tikhon
Semushkin.
"Chief of Chukotka" is a Soviet black-and-white widescreen
comedy film produced at Lenfilm in 1966 by director Vitaly Melnikov. The
film premiered in the USSR on April 17, 1967.
"The Last Hunt" is a
Soviet historical adventure film produced at Lenfilm in 1979 by director
Igor Sheshukov. "When the Whales Leave" is a Soviet musical television
feature film (Creative Association "Ekran"), directed by Anatoly
Nitochkin in 1981 based on Chukchi folk tales.
"White Shaman" is a
three-part television feature film (Creative Association "Ekran"),
directed by Anatoly Nitochkin in 1982 based on the novel of the same
name by Nikolai Shundik.
"A Dream at the Beginning of the Fog" is a
Russian historical feature film, shot in 1994 at the Sverdlovsk Film
Studio by director Baras Khalzanov based on the novel of the same name
by Yuri Rytkheu.
"Scientists of the World - to the Far North" is a
popular science film by the Lennauchfilm studio, shot in 1991 (director
and cameraman V. Petrov). The film is dedicated to the environmental,
economic and demographic problems of Soviet Chukotka.
"The Ferry" is
a feature film by Alexander Rogozhkin about the ferrying of American
Airacobra aircraft through Chukotka in 1943 under the Lend-Lease
program.
"Welcome to Enurmino!" is a documentary film directed by
Alexey Vakhrushev in 2009. The film, which tells about life in the most
north-eastern village of Russia, participated in Russian and
international film festivals.
"The Book of the Tundra. The Tale of
Vukvukai, the Little Stone" is a documentary film (2011) directed by
Alexey Vakhrushev, nominated for the Golden Eagle Award.
"Chukotka
Gold" is a documentary film released in 2014 about the industrial
development of Chukotka and the extraction of ore gold.
"Life and
Everyday Life in Chukotka" is a documentary film about the life and
everyday life of the indigenous people of this region.
"Territory" is
a feature film, a screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by
Oleg Kuvaev (1975), directed by Alexander Melnik in 2014.
"Chauchu"
is a documentary about the life of the Chukchi; entirely in the Chukchi
language (with Russian subtitles).
"How I Spent This Summer" is a
feature film, the filming of which took place in Chukotka; directed by
Alexey Popogrebsky.