Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

History

People have lived here for a very long time: near Uelen archaeologists excavated more than 300 graves of early whale hunters dating from 500 BCE to 1000 CE. Beringia, the former land bridge between Asia and America, once carried the first people into the New World. In 1649 Semyon Dezhnev set up winter quarters on the upper Anadyr, the beginning of the Anadyrsk stockade. The Chukotka National Okrug was created on 10 December 1930, and in 1992 it left Magadan Oblast to become a separate federal subject.

Culture & traditions

The Chukchi make up more than a quarter of the population, alongside Yupik, Evens, Chuvans and Koryaks. The Chukchi were traditionally divided into reindeer herders, nomads of the tundra who lived in yaranga tents, and coastal people who hunted sea mammals. The great folk art is carving on bone and walrus tusk, showing hunting scenes, animals and landscapes. Uelen has a bone-carving studio with a museum of walrus ivory carving.

Nature

Cape Dezhnev is the easternmost point of mainland Russia, and the Bering Strait narrows to about 88 km here. Wrangel Island, about 7,600 km², has been a strict nature reserve since 1976 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004; it has the world's highest density of polar bear dens, and snow geese breed there. Woolly mammoths survived on the island until around 2500–2000 BCE. Walrus and polar bears are found along the okrug's coasts.

Sport

Chukotka is the finish of the Beringia sled dog race: since 1992 its route of more than 2,000 km has run from Kamchatka to the Chukotka village of Markovo. The race was created to preserve northern sled dog traditions.

Food & drink

Traditional Chukchi food is what the tundra and the sea provide: reindeer meat for the herders, and seal, walrus and whale for the coastal hunters. The growing season lasts only 80 to 100 days, so for centuries hunting and herding were the basis of the diet.

Practical information

There are almost no roads between settlements, so air travel dominates; the main airport is Ugolny, near Anadyr. Local time is Moscow plus 9 hours (UTC+12). The climate is harsh, from −45 to −15 °C in January and +5 to +14 °C in July. The short summer is the easiest time to travel.

What to see

• Wrangel Island — a UNESCO Arctic reserve and polar bear kingdom
• Cape Dezhnev — the easternmost point of mainland Russia
• Uelen — the easternmost settlement in Russia and Asia, with its bone-carving studio
• Walrus ivory carving museum in Uelen — the art of the sea hunters
• Bering Strait — only about 88 km from Alaska

Cities on the map

• Anadyr 13,043
• Bilibino 5,366
• Pevek 4,721