| Autonomous district of Čukotka | |
 | |
Location  | |
Coat of arms and flag   | |
| State | Russia |
|---|---|
| Region | Eastern Russia |
| Capital | Anadyr ' |
| Surface | 721,481 km² |
| Inhabitants | 50.555 (2014 census) |
| Institutional website | |
Autonomous district of Čukotka is a region of the Russia.
To know
Geographical notes
The Autonomous district of Čukotka (in Russian: Чуколотский автоноломный округ), also known as Autonomous district of the Čukči or simply Čukotka (Чукойтка) is an autonomous district located in the Russian Far East on the border with theAlaska.The Autonomous District of Čukotka is washed to the north by the Chukchi Sea and the East Siberian Sea, both of which are part of the Arctic Ocean; to the east from the Bering Strait and the sea of the same name, part of the Pacific Ocean. It borders the Kamchatka Territory and Magadan Oblast to the south and Sakha-Yakutia to the east. The Chukchi Peninsula, a remnant of Beringia, forms the upper part of the Anadyr Gulf. Cape Dežnëv, its easternmost point, is also the easternmost point of the Russian Federation.
The territory can be divided into three bands: the arctic desert in the north, the tundra in the center and the taiga in the south. About half of the territory lies south of the Arctic Circle. In this area are the mountains of the Anadyr Plateau.
When to go
The climate in Čukotka is heavily influenced by the sea. Characteristic are the cold winds from the north that change quickly with the humid ones from the south. Cape Navarin has the highest number of storms in Russia. The temperature ranges from −15 ° C to −35 ° C in winter and from 5 ° C to 14 ° C in July. In Anadyr 'the average annual temperature is -7.4 ° C, that of January is -21.3 ° C and that of July is 11 ° C
Background
When the first men arrived in Čukotka, the region was connected with Alaska via a strip of land, Beringia. While the ancestors of Native Americans migrated to America, peoples such as čukchi, jukaghiri, eveni or coriacchi remained in Asia. With the end of the glaciation the ice, melting, raised the sea level and submerged Beringia. As the temperature rose, large prehistoric animals such as mammoths became extinct and the čukchi and other peoples had to change their way of life. Thus, fishing and reindeer husbandry developed.
The territory was not known by the growing Russian Empire until the 16th century AD, when, with the conquest of the khanates of Kazan 'and Astrakhan', the Siberian trade routes came under Russian control. The Cossacks, warrior peasants of Russian and Tatar origin, began to trade with the East and conquered other Siberian territories. The first mention of the čukchi by the Cossacks occurred in 1641. In 1644 the Cossack Mikhail Staduchin founded a fort on the Kolyma River, in the eastern part of Čukotka. The Cossack of Jakut origin Semën Dežnëv from 1647 onwards explored the coasts of the region. In 1652 he founded the winter quarter of Anadyrsk on the Anadyr River. In the following years he tried to collect the yasak, or a tribute, from the čukchi, but without great success. Anadyrsk was abandoned. With the discovery of the sea route to Kamchatka, Anadyrsk was seen as a stopover point.
In 1725, Tsar Peter the Great sent Vitus Bering to explore Kamchatka and Afanasij Shestakov to subjugate the čukchi. Shestakov's ship sank and the shipwrecks were killed by the čukchi. In 1731 Dmitry Pavlutsky tried again. He succeeded, but in 1747 the čukchi attacked the fort and killed Pavlutsky. The Russian government, at this point, preferred diplomacy, and sent an ambassador, Shmalev, to dialogue with the čukchi. In 1778 he managed to make peace. Čukotka became part of the Russian Empire. In return, the Chukchi, as stated in a paragraph in the Russian law on non-completely submissive peoples, could decide how much yasak they had to pay and could trade freely. Thus began the development of trade in the region.
In the early 19th century, the first American whalers arrived in the area. When gold was discovered, a strong immigration of prospectors began, and when Russia sold Alaska to America, American influence strengthened. From 1883 Russian ships seized goods from American ones, but that was not enough, until in 1888 it was decided to administer the region directly. The governor resided in the village of Markovo. In 1909 Čukotka was divided into the provinces of Anadyr 'in the south and Čukotka in the north. In 1912 the capital was moved from Markovo to Uelen.
The February Revolution only took effect in the region in June. However, after the October Revolution, the government was ousted. Čukotka remained capitalist. In 1919, two Bolshevik emissaries arrived in the region and seized power. In 1920, however, the merchants of the area revolted and killed the two emissaries. During the 1920s the region was sometimes capitalist, sometimes communist. In 1922 the white forces declared independent the region which was ruled by the Menshevik Bochkarev [2]. The fledgling Soviet Union resumed it in 1923 and Bochkarev was killed. Novo-Mariinsk was renamed Anadyr 'and became the capital.
In 1930 the region became a subject of the Soviet Union under the name of Čukotka National District. In 1941, during the Second World War, zinc mining began near Pevek. The mined zinc was used extensively during the reconstruction of cities.
From 1945 onwards, during the Cold War, troops were stationed in Čukotka, especially in Providenija Bay, due to its proximity to the United States. In 1953 Čukotka was annexed by the Magadan Oblast and in 1958 gold mining was resumed. This led to a very strong immigration, so much so that, from 18390 inhabitants in 1938, it grew to reach 100,000 inhabitants in the sixties. The native percentage of the population dropped to 5%.
In 1980 the Čukotka National District changed its name to the current one, but remained under the control of Magadan. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the district became independent from Magadan and became a subject of the Russian Federation. While previously the state provided funding, in the post-Soviet period no one invested in it anymore. The population declined rapidly. Between 2001 and 2008, Roman Abramovič was governor, who spent a lot of money in favor of the district, but the situation is still serious
Territories and tourist destinations
Urban centers
- Anadyr ' (Анадырь) - Capital of the region, it is also the easternmost city in Russia. It can be reached from Moscow or Alaska by air and is home to a couple of very interesting architectural monuments.
- Bilibino (Билибино) - Second most important city. It is served by a small airport, however difficult to reach as it is connected to the cities by roads that are still unpaved and almost always icy.
- Pevek (Певек) - It is the main port overlooking the East Siberian Sea. Pevek is located in the Čaun Bay, above the Arctic Circle. Founded in 1933, it was recognized as a city in 1967, it is particularly thriving for tourism and nightlife. Equipped with numerous gay clubs, it has over time become one of the most popular destinations in Russia for homosexual tourists.
Other destinations
- Great Diomede (остров Ратманова) - It is one of the two rocky islands located in the center of the Bering Strait, between Alaska and the far east of Russia, the other being Little Diomede. The Diomede Islands are also often mentioned as an ideal intermediate point of passage for a possible bridge or tunnel across the Bering Strait
- Wrangel Island (остров Врангеля) - It is an island in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukci Sea and the East Siberian Sea. The only settlement on the island is Ušakovskoe. It is an important breeding ground for the polar bear, which is present here in high densities; on the island there are also numerous seals and lemmings, while during the summer, many species of birds nest there. During the last Ice Age, a dwarf subspecies of the woolly mammoth, the dwarf mammoth, lived on the island. Compared to other Arctic islands and any tundra territory of equal size, Wrangel Island is home to more than twice as many plant species (417); for this reason, in 2004 the island was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by theUNESCO, thus becoming the northernmost site to boast this title. Together with the Herald Island it is part of the state nature reserve "Wrangel Island" [2] established on 23 March 1976 [3].
How to get
 | ATTENTION: Entry into the region and all airports are protected by special laws, so you will need to have a special pass from the Russian government to be able to visit this region or at least an invitation from the local tourist agency. |
How to get around
What see
What to do
At the table
Safety
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Autonomous district of Čukotka
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