Chukotka Peninsula

Chukchi Peninsula peninsula that constitutes the northeastern tip of Siberia, Russia and the Asian continent. The Chukchi Peninsula faces the American Seward Peninsula, both being the ends of the Bering Strait.

Administratively, the peninsula is part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of the Russian Federation.

Geography

The Chukotka Peninsula is washed by the waters of the Chukchi Sea, to the north; by those of the Bering Sea, to the south; and by those of the Bering Strait, to the east. The peninsula has a maximum length of about 960 km in a SE-NW direction, with a width at the isthmus of about 500 km. Its average width is 300-400 km, although at the eastern end it has a subpeninsula about 200 km wide (with an approximate surface area of about 50,000 km²). Sometimes this subpeninsula alone is considered the Chukchi Peninsula.

The coasts of the peninsula begin, in the west, at the mouth of the Chaun River (in the Chaunskaya Bay) and end, in the east, at the mouth of the Anadyr River (in the Anadyr Gulf). These coasts are one of the stages of the Northern Sea Route (the Northeast Passage).

At the eastern end of the peninsula is Cape Dezhniova (near the settlement of Uelen), which is the easternmost point of Asia. On the eastern edge, in the Bering Strait, there are also St. Lawrence Bay and Kresta Bay.

The peninsula has traditionally been home to the native Chukchi, who continue to live there along with other ethnic groups - Siberian Yupiks, Sireniki Eskimos, Koryaks, Chuvans, Evenos/Lamutos, Yukaghirs - and some Russian settlers.

The main economic activity is mining, with zinc, gold and coal exploitation. Hunting, mainly reindeer, fishing and wildlife tourism are also practiced.

History

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The history of Chukotka dates back to the Paleolithic. In 1728 the peninsula was named by Vitus Bering, who lived in Chukotka, the name refers to the Chukchi people, who live mainly in Chukotka.

Chukotka in ancient times

In ancient times, multiple settlements of people from America were made across the Bering land bridge. The earliest inhabited sites in Chukotka are Ananaivem (about 8,400 years ago) on the Ananaivem rivers and Kolenj IV (about 6,000 years ago) on Lake Kolenj near the village of Uelen. The western Paleo-Eskimo site is Devil's Ravine in Vrangelovo Island. The artifacts found on the steep slopes of the ravine are estimated to date back to 1750 BC.

DNA analysis of samples from the Uelensky and Ekvena cemetery (about 2 thousand years ago) showed that in the gene pool of the Chukotka Neo-Eskimo cultures, in addition to the ancient Paleo-Siberian base, there were about 30 percent of Paleoindigenous components, 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 northeast of Asia.

In historical times, the Chukchi are considered the most important indigenous people of Chukotka, although they preserve the memory of the oldest peoples, the Shelags and the Onkylons, known in the century XVII by Russian explorers, but they later disappeared. The Јuites and Yukagiri (Anauli, Chuvantsi) also lived in Chukotka for a long time. Reindeer husbandry, which spread under the indirect influence of the Samoyeds, played an important role in the emergence of Chuka.

Relations between Chukotka and the Russian Empire

The first conflict between the Chukka and the Russians took place in 1641 west of present-day Chukotka on the Yana River. At that time, the Chukchi were still at the technological level of the Stone Age. In fact, Chukotka was discovered by the Russians in 1648 during Semyon Dezhnev's expedition.

In 1648, Semyon Dezhniov and Fedot Alekseyev Popov led an expedition of between 90 and 105 men, which, starting from the mouth of the Kolyma River, reached the mouth of the Anadyr River. Aboard seven koch (small Cossack ships suitable for sailing on ice), it took them ten weeks of sailing to reach the Anadyr estuary after completely skirting the Chukchi peninsula. That expedition discovered that Asia was not linked by land to Alaska. Dezhniov's participation in this part of the trip is not documented, and only Fedot Alekseyev's activities can be documented today.

The first Russian settlement was the Anadyr prison built in 1649. At the time of Russian colonization, Chukotka belonged to the Yakut voivodeship. In 1778, an official peace treaty was signed with the Chukchi people, on the Bolshoi River, near the mouth of its tributary, the Angarka River.

Chukotka in the Russian Empire

In 1803 Chukotka became part of Kamchatka Oblast of the Irkutsk Governorate (from 1856 to 1909 it was part of Primorsky Oblast). In 1909, Anadyr District became part of Kamchatka Oblast, while part of Anadyr District was transformed into Chukotka District. In 1922 the districts of Anadyr and Chukotka became part of the Kamchatka Governorate.

Chukotka in the USSR

In the XX century, the Chukotka Autonomous District was formed with its capital in the cult base of Chukotka, and since 1932 in Anadyr.

The Chukotka National District was formed by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on December 10, 1930, "On the organization of national administrations in the areas of settlement of small towns in the North&# 3. 4; as part of the Far Eastern Territory. It covered the following zones: Anadyr (center of Novo-Marinsk, also called Anadyr), Eastern Tundra (center of Ostrovnoye), Western Tundra (center of Nizhjekolimsk), Markovski (center of Markovo), Chaunski (center in Chaunskaya Bay) and Chukotsky (center in the Chukotsky cult base - the town of Lorens), and determined that it comprised:

(a) the Far Eastern regions of Anadyr and Chukotka as a whole;

(b) the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the territory of the Source Tundra and with a boundary along the right bank of the Alazeya River and the Western Tundra, the zone of the middle and upper reaches of the Omolon.

The zoning of the region in October-November 1932 left it "on its own borders as an autonomous national district directly subordinate to the region.".

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 rather formal in nature, because from 1939 to 1940 the territory of the district was under the jurisdiction of Dalstroy, which exercised full administrative and economic management over its subordinate territories.

On May 28, 1951, by decision of the Presidium of the Armed Forces of the USSR, the district was assigned direct subordination to the Khabarovsk Territory.

Since December 3, 1953 it was part of the Magadan region. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 02.12.1953 "On the creation of the Magadanskaya province".

Since the mid-1950s, the development of Chukotka has intensified with the construction of military airfields and air bases, as the geographical location of the peninsula provided the shortest flight time to Alaska and the northwestern part of In the United States, the main destination for aviation was supposedly 'Providence'.

Starting in 1980, as established by the law of the USSR "On the autonomous districts of the RSFSR" In accordance with the Constitution of the USSR of 1977, the Chukotka National District became an autonomous district.

Chukotka Autonomous District in the Russian Federation

Dana July 16, 1992 the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug was separated from the Magadan Oblast and received the status of a subject of the Russian Federation..

Relief

Most of the Chukotka Peninsula is occupied by highlands up to 1,000 m high. Above the strongly dissected pinnacles and slopes of the rock massifs rise separate higher peaks.

The mountain ranges are dissected by the deep valleys of the Chevtakan, Erguveem, Nuniamowaam. The highest altitudes are limited to the so-called Sinyavinsky uplift in the Provideniya Bay area, 1194 m (other sources say 1887 m is the highest point of the Chukchi Peninsula). The mountains descend abruptly towards the coast, forming a series of rocky escarpments. The lowlands are scarce and are usually located near large lagoons.

Flora

The territory of the Chukotka Peninsula is completely located in the tundra zone. Forests are scarce or non-existent. The vegetation is represented by arctic willow, tetrahedral cassiopea, blueberries, lingonberries, partridge grass, its height is from 5 to 20 cm. Less common are lean birch, alpine bearberry, Lapland diapensia. Floodplain shrubs, consisting of various types of willows, alders, and dwarf birches, grow in the river valleys. The flora also comprises mosses and lichens, many of which are rare.

Fauna

The arctic fox and wolf are widespread, as are reindeer, mountain hare, long-tailed ground squirrels and northern pikas, yellow-bellied and hoofed lemmings. Bighorn sheep live in mountainous regions.

Murres, ipatkas, hatchets, Bering cormorants and gulls nest on the rocky shores of the sea. In the tundra there are East Siberian tundra goose, white-fronted goose, East Siberian black goose, grebes, sandhill crane, puffin, skuas and other species. The snowy owl, the northern partridge, the cattle wagtail and the East Siberian curlew.