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49-471: Chaunsky District is flat compared to other districts in the autonomous okrug. The land within the current boundaries was first visited by non-indigenous people in the 18th century. The indigenous people in the district are mainly Chukchi , and form about 15% of the population. The district is centered around the Chaunskaya Bay , on the shores of which Pevek, the administrative center of the district,

98-818: A Siberian ethnic group native to the Chukchi Peninsula , the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean all within modern Russia . They speak the Chukchi language . The Chukchi originated from the people living around the Okhotsk Sea . According to several studies on genomic research conducted from 2014 to 2018, the Chukchi are the closest Asian relatives of

147-422: A landscape almost entirely filled with small lakes, those nearest Chaunskaya Bay are the smallest and shallowest (less than 70 cm deep) and those on more elevated ground being deeper at 1.5–3 m deep The Ust-Chaun region serves a fishing centre for the inhabitants of Rytkuchi , although this has lost its importance in recent years as stocks of Char have diminished, as a result of overfishing both for sale to

196-415: A naive way. Spectacled eider The spectacled eider (pronounced / ˈ aɪ . d ər / ) ( Somateria fischeri ) is a large sea duck that breeds on the coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia . The spectacled eider is slightly smaller than the common eider at 52–57 cm (20–22 inches) in length. The male is unmistakable with its black body, white back, and yellow-green head with

245-478: A number of small mines in the district, supported by a large trucking company. Compared to other districts in Chukotka, agricultural enterprise is not particularly well developed. There is only one farming brigade, Chaunskoye , employing just under 200 people. The brigade herds around 15,000 reindeer and is also involved in fishing. As a result of the development of the mining industry, Chaunsky District also has

294-451: Is administratively subordinated to Iultinsky District . As a municipal division , the district is incorporated as Chaunsky Municipal District and is divided into one urban settlement and three rural settlements. Divisional source: Population source: *Administrative centers are shown in bold Chukchi people The Chukchi , or Chukchee ( Chukot : Ԓыгъоравэтԓьэт, О'равэтԓьэт , Ḷygʺoravètḷʹèt, O'ravètḷʹèt ), are

343-462: Is an estimated 3,000–4,000 nesting pairs The spectacled eider molts at sea anywhere from 2 to 45 kilometers (1.2 to 28.0 mi) from the shore and north of 63°N. Since they are rarely seen outside of their breeding grounds, their wintering grounds in the Bering Sea were not known until recently with the help of satellite telemetry in 1995. The spectacled eider was listed as Threatened under

392-427: Is assigned a spirit. This spirit can be either harmful or benevolent. Some of Chukchi myths reveal a dualistic cosmology . A Chukchi shaman once explained to the ethnographer Vladimir Bogoraz that "The lamp walks around. The walls of the house have voices of their own. ... Even the shadows on the wall constitute definite tribes and have their own country, where they live in huts and subsist by hunting." After

441-675: Is dominated by the Lower Rauchua delta and the alluvial plains of the Kyttyk Peninsula, from which Ayon Island is separated by the Maly Chaunsky Strait. The peninsula is almost completely covered in a complex system of lakes, ranging in size from small saline pools lying on a recently exposed marine terrace 1 to 2 m above sea level, near the coast, to lakes up to 1 km wide and 12 m deep on high level surfaces 10–15 m above sea level. In addition,

490-405: Is one of the six in the autonomous okrug. The town of Pevek serves as its administrative center . The district does not have any lower-level administrative divisions and has administrative jurisdiction over one town, six urban-type settlements , and four rural localities , consisting of all the inhabited localities listed below in the "Inhabited localities" section, except for Billings , which

539-492: Is situated. The district's territory also includes Ayon Island , found at the entrance to the Chaunskaya Bay. There is an eponymous settlement on the island. The district's territory stretches for 330 kilometers (210 mi) from north to south and for 290 kilometers (180 mi) from east to west. Cape Shelagsky is its northernmost point. Chaunsky District is significantly flatter than Bilibinsky District located to

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588-665: Is the breeding population (figures as of 1994) of Bewick's swan (approximately 300 birds), the Pacific eider (approximately 3,000 birds) and the spectacled eider (approximately 2,000 birds). Spectacled and Pacific eider as well as black-throated and Pacific divers are also found in the Ust-Chaun region, though the Pacific eider is much more common on the Kyttyl Peninsula and near Apapelgino . Birds of prey are found in

637-632: The Cossacks and the Chukchi. As the annual trade fairs where goods were exchanged continued, a common language between the two peoples was spoken. The natives, however, never paid yasak , or tributes, and their status as subjects was little more than a formality. The formal annexation of the Chukotka Peninsula did not happen until much later, during the time of the Soviet Union. Apart from four Orthodox schools, there were no schools in

686-496: The collapse of the Soviet Union , the state-run farms were reorganized and nominally privatized. This process was ultimately destructive to the village-based economy in Chukotka. The region has still not fully recovered. Many rural Chukchi, as well as Russians in Chukotka's villages, have survived in recent years only with the help of direct humanitarian aid. Some Chukchi have attained university degrees, becoming poets, writers, politicians, teachers and doctors. In prehistoric times,

735-877: The indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as of the Ainu people , being the descendants of settlers who neither crossed the Bering Strait nor settled the Japanese archipelago. The majority of Chukchi reside within Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , but some also reside in the neighboring Sakha Republic to the west, Magadan Oblast to the southwest, and Kamchatka Krai to the south. Some Chukchi also reside in other parts of Russia, as well as in Europe and North America . The total number of Chukchi in

784-513: The 1920s, the Soviets organized the economic activities of both coastal and inland Chukchi and eventually established 28 collectively run, state-owned enterprises in Chukotka. All of these were based on reindeer herding, with the addition of sea mammal hunting and walrus ivory carving in the coastal areas. Chukchi were educated in Soviet schools and today are almost 100% literate and fluent in

833-610: The Chaun River, as part of the overland element of the Billings Expedition—the expedition ordered by Catherine the Great and led by Englishman Joseph Billings in an attempt to find a true Northeast Passage . Prior to the river's discovery by Merk, the Chaun River represented the westernmost boundary of the Chukchi land. Merk named the river Chavaveyam after Mount Chaun, from where the river springs. The Rauchua River

882-526: The Chukchi and Koryak . The first attempt to conquer them was made in 1701. Other expeditions were sent out in 1708, 1709 and 1711 with considerable bloodshed but little success and unable to eliminate the local population on the large territory. War was renewed in 1729, when the Chukchi defeated an expedition from Okhotsk and killed its commander. Command passed to Major Dmitry Pavlutsky , who adopted very destructive tactics , burning, driving off reindeer, killing men and capturing women and children. In 1742,

931-472: The Chukchi engaged in nomadic hunter gatherer modes of existence. In current times, there continue to be some elements of subsistence hunting, including that of polar bears , seals , walruses , whales , and reindeer . There are some differences between the traditional lifestyles of the coastal and inland Chukchi. The coastal Chukchi were largely settled fishers and hunters, mainly of sea mammals. The inland Chukchi were partial reindeer herders. Beginning in

980-477: The Chukchi land until the late 1920s. In 1926, there were 72 literate Chukchis. The Soviets introduced a Latin alphabet in 1932 to transcribe their language, replacing it with Cyrillic in 1937. In 1934, 71% of the Chukchis were nomadic . In 1941, 90% of the reindeer were still privately owned. So-called kulaks roamed with their private herds up into the 1950s. After 1990 and the fall of the Soviet Union, there

1029-575: The Kupol gold project states that at the start of 2004, 846 of the districts inhabitants were of indigenous origin. Of these people, 841 were Chukchi, with 2 reported as Yupik , 2 Mansi and 1 Even comprising the remaining five indigenous individuals. The indigenous people of Chaunsky District reside mainly in Rytkuchi , Ayon and Yanranay . The area of what is now Chaunsky District was first visited by non-indigenous people, when Karl Merk came across

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1078-490: The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1991, it is illegal to harvest any individuals through either sport or subsistence hunting. As a diving duck, the spectacled eider forages for food in the water by swimming and diving underwater. It is believed to be able to remain submerged longer than most diving ducks and mostly feeds on mollusks while at sea and aquatic insects, crustaceans, and plant material while on

1127-723: The Russian Empire, began to trade peacefully with the Russians. From 1788, they participated in an annual trade fair on the lower Kolyma. Another was established in 1775 on the Angarka, a tributary of the Bolshoy Anyuy River . This trade declined in the late 19th century when American whalers and others began landing goods on the coast. The first Orthodox missionaries entered Chukchi territory some time after 1815. The strategy worked, trade began to flourish between

1176-657: The Russian language. Only a portion of them today work directly in reindeer herding or sea mammal hunting , and continue to live a nomadic lifestyle in yaranga tents. The warlike Chukchi waged frequent wars against neighboring tribes, especially the Koryaks . Russians first began contacting the Chukchi when they reached the Kolyma River (1643) and the Anadyr River (1649). The route from Nizhnekolymsk to

1225-568: The U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1993 but remains listed as under Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The Red List keep the listing in this category because the spectacled eider does not meet the range size criterion or the population trend criterion. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service originally listed the spectacled eider as Threatened because of a more than 96% drop in breeding population size in Alaska. With this listing and protection from

1274-533: The Ust-Chaun area, with the rough-legged buzzard nesting in the area and species such as the goshawk and peregrine falcon visiting the area regularly. Their prey consists of a wide variety of small mammals and almost all mammals found in the tundra regions of the Russian Far East are found in the Ust-Chaun area, including a number of species of shrew, vole and lemming. Larger mammals include wild reindeer , wolves and brown bear . Approximately 85% of

1323-524: The breeding grounds. Breeding pairs are formed in the wintering grounds before spring migration through male displays and female selection. Once at the nesting sites, females build a nest close to the pond on a raised ridge, called a hummock, that are lined with plant materials and feathery down. Nests may be reused for future years. Females are the sole incubators and caretakers of the eggs and chicks and will lay on average three to six eggs with an olive buff color. Eggs are incubated for 24 days and chicks leave

1372-458: The cold and the isolation, or, more likely, were exiled here as a result of one of Stalin 's purges, or were exiled here having been released from the Gulag . The existence of the port of Pevek in the district is a major reason for the presence of ethnic Russians. The indigenous people present in the district are almost exclusively Chukchi . An environmental impact study produced by Bema Gold for

1421-538: The district is more developed compared to the rest of Chukotka; this in part is helped by the presence of Pevek. Pevek itself has the second largest airport in Chukotka after the Ugolny Airport and offers one of the few means of direct air travel to Moscow . Pevek is also the naval headquarters of the East Arctic during the short summer. Within the framework of administrative divisions , Chaunsky District

1470-497: The district's population in 2003 were non-indigenous peoples. As with most of the districts in Chukotka, indigenous peoples are more often found in the scattered rural localities, while ethnic Russians are more often found in the urban areas. These people either migrated to the Far East , or are the descendants of those who did, enticed by the higher pay, large pensions, and more generous allowances permitted to those prepared to endure

1519-508: The female. The binomial commemorates the German scientist Johann Fischer von Waldheim . Spectacled eiders occur along the coast of Alaska and easternmost Russia and into the Bering Sea. There are two breeding populations in Alaska and one in Russia. Historically there were more breeding individuals in Alaska but more recently the Russian population is much larger. The United States population

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1568-460: The first occurrences of industrial mining in the district in the 1950s. The effect of this growth in industry was that Chaunsky District became the first district in the region to have a road network constructed as well as an electricity grid. During World War II, the Chaunskaya Bay area of Chaunsky District was the most important tin producing area in the whole of the Soviet Union . Many of

1617-538: The fort at Anadyrsk along the southwest of the main Chukchi area became a major trade route. The overland journey from Yakutsk to Anadyrsk took about six months. The Chukchi were generally ignored for the next fifty years because they were warlike and did not provide furs or other valuable commodities to tax. Armed skirmishes flared up around 1700 when the Russians began operating in the Kamchatka Peninsula and needed to protect their communications from

1666-466: The government at Saint Petersburg ordered another war in which the Chukchi and Koryak were to be "totally extirpated". The war (1744–7) was conducted with similar brutality and ended when Pavlutsky was killed in March 1747. It is said that the Chukchi kept his head as a trophy for a number of years. The Russians waged war again in the 1750s, but a part of Chukchi people did survive this extermination plans on

1715-418: The large circular white eye patches which give the species its name. The drake's call is a weak crooning, and the female's a harsh croak. The female is a rich brown bird , but can still be readily distinguished from all ducks except other eider species on size and structure. The paler goggles are visible with a reasonable view and clinch identification. Immature birds and eclipse adult drakes are similar to

1764-483: The local Sovkhoz and as bait for trapping foxes. There are approximately 200 different species of plant within the Rauchua / Kyttyk wetland area comprising a variety of steppe, boreal and arctic species, a number of which occur at the eastern limit of their natural habitat. In the Ust-Chaun area, there are even more recorded plant species, at 252., including a number of rare species. Humpback and chum salmon enter

1813-463: The lower reaches of the Rauchua. Several species of whitefish , grayling and smelt also live in the river or in the many surrounding lakes. Sticklebacks also live in the lakes along with Arctic char , although the community of char is infested with Acanthocephala . Similar fish exist in the Ust-Chaun region, and in addition to fish, the wetland is also home to the Siberian newt , which lives in

1862-423: The most developed road transport network in Chukotka, with paved, unpaved, or snow roads leading from Pevek to all major population hubs. Pevek Airport , located about 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) from Pevek proper, provides a link for the region to Moscow . Pevek's port is the largest in Chukotka and is generally open for about two and a half months a year from mid-July to September. The transport infrastructure of

1911-423: The nest shortly after hatching to be led to the water by the female. The female protects the chicks but they do find all their own food. Spectacled eiders have a fairly rapid development to be such large birds; it only takes about 53 days or less before they can fly. There are multiple factors that threaten spectacled eider populations in the future including climate change and habitat loss. Historically their range

1960-494: The peninsula is scored by a number of rivers, the Eyukuul, Koz'mina, Rakvezan and Emykkyvian among the most significant. The Ust-Chaun area of the district also contains significant wetlands at the south end of Chaunskaya Bay , consisting mainly of an alluvial plain approximately 100 km wide and 60 km north to south. The wetlands at Ust-Chaun are similar in structure to those at the Rauchua / Kyttyk wetland, consisting of

2009-525: The populated places throughout Chukotka owe their existence to tin and gold mines, and deposits of these metals were first discovered in Chukotka in Chaunsky District in 1941. In 2002, the average monthly salary was just over 11,000 rubles per month, although agricultural wages were on average only around half that per month. Mining and ancillary services still form the major elements of the economy of Chaunsky District. There are two large mines and

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2058-462: The shrub-covered tundra near the delta. The Rauchua / Kyttyk wetland area is considered to be the easternmost extent of so-called "Kolyma fauna", such as the Terek sandpiper , brown shrike and scarlet rosefinch . The most common bird species in the Rauchua / Kyttyk wetland are the yellow-billed , black-throated and Pacific divers. One of the main reasons for the importance of the Rauchua / Kyttyk

2107-476: The very far North East (see on the right a map for population territories during the extermination activity by the Russian Empire). In 1762, with a new ruler , Saint Petersburg adopted a different policy. Maintaining the fort at Anadyrsk had cost some 1,380,000 rubles, but the area had returned only 29,150 rubles in taxes, so the government abandoned Anadyrsk in 1764. The Chukchi, no longer attacked by

2156-526: The west and contains large areas devoted to reindeer pasture. Approximately 350 kilometers (220 mi) long, the Chaun River , which flows into Chaunskaya Bay , is the longest river in the whole autonomous okrug. There are a number of wetland areas of significance within the district. The most westerly of these is situated on the Kyttyk Peninsula and the mouth of the Rauchua River . This area

2205-553: The world slightly exceeds 16,000. The Chukchi are traditionally divided into the Maritime Chukchi , who had settled homes on the coast and lived primarily from sea mammal hunting, and the Reindeer Chukchi , who lived as nomads in the inland tundra region, migrating seasonally with their herds of reindeer . The Russian name "Chukchi" is derived from the Chukchi word Chauchu ("rich in reindeer"), which

2254-501: Was a major exodus of Russians from the area because of the underfunding of the local industry. Population estimates from Forsyth: In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022, the Chukchis have been reported as one of Russia's ethnic minority groups suffering from a disproportionally large casualty rate among Russian forces. Chukchi jokes are a form of ethnic humor . They are portrayed as primitive yet clever in

2303-410: Was a place inhabited by mammoths in prehistoric times and was also the scene of a bloody battle between Chukchi herders and a combination of Yukaghirs and Evens during the 19th century. The name Rauchua comes from the Chukchi word "Ravchyvan", meaning place of a victory over a camp . The district in its present form was founded in 1933. Gold and tin were discovered in the 1940s, which led to

2352-578: Was much larger than just the coast of Alaska and Russia. It also used to extend from the Nushagak Peninsula to Barrow and almost all the way to the Canadian border. Since spectacled eiders live in frigid areas that are not easily accessible to humans their main habitat loss has been a result of climate change. A future threats to their habitat is the possible development of oil and gas drilling near Teshekpuk Lake which has well been established as

2401-473: Was used by the 'Reindeer Chukchi' to distinguish themselves from the 'Maritime Chukchi,' called Anqallyt ("the sea people"). Their name for a member of the Chukchi ethnic group as a whole is Luoravetlan (literally 'genuine person'). The anthropologist Marshall Sahlins called the Chukchi "tribes without rulers". They often lacked formal political structures, but had a formal cosmic hierarchy. In Chukchi religion, every object, whether animate or inanimate,

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