2011/04/04

Iul'tinskiy Raion

Iultinsky District

Iultinsky District (English)
Иультинский район (Russian)
Chukotka-Iultinsky rayon.PNG
Map of Chukotka showing Iultinsky Municipal District; the black dot represents the town of Anadyr
Coat of arms of Iultinsky Raion of Chukotka.gif
Coat of arms
Administrative data (as of 2009)
Country Russia
Federal subject Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Administrative center urban-type settlement of Egvekinot
# of urban-type settlements 1
# of rural localities 5
Municipal data (as of October 2010)
Municipal formation Iultinsky Municipal District
- Head of Administration Alexander Maximov
- # of urban settlements 2
- # of rural settlements 5
Statistics
Area 72,700 km (28,100 sq mi)
Population (2002 Census) 3,974 inhabitants
- Density 0 /km (0 /sq mi)
- Urban population 60.7%
- Rural population 39.3%
Population (as of 2010) 3,864 inhabitants
Time zone MAGST (UTC+12:00)
Established 1953
Official website http://www.chukotka.org/en/authority/municipal_adm/iultinsky_rn/

Iultinsky District (Russian: Иу́льтинский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the eight in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Municipally, together with Shmidtovsky Administrative District, it is incorporated as Iultinsky Municipal District. It is located on the eastern shore of the autonomous okrug and in terms of non-municipal divisions borders with the Chukchi Sea in the north, Providensky District in the east, Gulf of Anadyr in the southeast, Anadyrsky District in the southwest, and with Shmidtovsky District in the northwest. The area of the district is 72,700 square kilometers (28,069.6 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality (an urban-type settlement) of Egvekinot. District's population: 3,864 (2010 est.); 3,974 (2002 Census); 15,689 (1989 Census). Population of Egvekinot accounts for 60.7% of the district's population.

The district has been populated since the Paleolithic age, though indigenous people are outnumbered by ethnic Russians by over three to one. The district was once a major center for mining tin and tungsten at Iultin, with the infrastructure built by gulag prisoners, but these mines have proved uneconomical in recent years and closed with their associated settlements abandoned.

Geography

Iultinsky District covers the northeastern part of the Chukchi Peninsula except for the Chukchi Peninsula in the east. It touches two oceans. In the north, the district borders the Chukchi Sea, a bleak environment that is ice-bound for nine months of the year and where storms can produce waves several meters high that lash the coast. To the south is the administrative center and small port of Egvekinot, located on Kresta Bay. South of Kresta Bay it reaches almost to the Anadyrsky Liman.

The central part of the district is quite mountainous. The northwest is drained by the Amguyema River. This valley is a key resource for the part of the population that does not live by the sea and contains the only significant stretch of road in the district, running from Egvekinot, through the indigenous village of Amguyema, to the now defunct mining settlement of Iultin near the Arctic. Transport to all other populated places in the district must be done either by sea or by helicopter.

Demographics

The district itself was founded in 1953. The population consists mainly of Russians, although Chukchi, the dominant native people in the district and other indigenous peoples such as Inuit make up about 24% of the total population of the district. The district is bisected by both the Arctic Circle and the line of the 180° longitude.

History

Prehistory

It is thought that the area of what is now Iultinsky District was where the first people settled in Chukotka during the Paleolithic Age. Archaeological excavations have uncovered stone age camps and tools along the banks of both the and .

A greater number of camps have been unearthed dating from the Neolithic Period along almost all the significant rivers in the district. Further excavations around Vankarem, Nutepelmen, and Uelkal indicate that there was a change in hunting practices during the third millennium BCE as the native people began not only to follow migrating animals in the tundra, but also to hunt animals at sea. The locations of the archeological discoveries have established that the sea-fishing communities have been in existence in their current locations for a considerable period of time.

17th–18th centuries

After Semyon Dezhnyov and his Cossack companions had established Anadyrsk in the 17th century, they began to explore the surrounding area and discovered Kresta Bay in 1660, although it was not mapped properly until it was visited by Vitus Bering seventy years later.

20th century

The economy on this territory received a major boost following the discovery in the 1930s of significant deposits of tin and tungsten in . This discovery resulted in the creation of the settlement of Iultin. Initially the settlement was kept supplied by a convoy of tractors, but it was difficult to make significant progress and so to ensure the settlement could continue to be kept supplied, a road was built linking Egvekinot, Amguema, and Iultin.

During World War II, the territory played an important role in the Soviet supply chain, providing the eastern end of the Uelkal-Krasnoyarsk air route, used by Russia for the delivery of the Lend-Lease planes provide by the United States.

Following the end of World War II, Dalstroy used forced labor to build a port to help supply the mine, and in 1946, the MV Sovetskaya Latviya, one of a fleet of ships used by Dalstroy to transport prisoners to the Kolyma gulag, landed in Kresta Bay to begin construction. Extreme conditions meant that, as in the construction of the Road of Bones, many prisoners died working and were buried where they fell and incorporated into the foundations of the port. Such bodies are still discovered during the spring thaw each year.

In order to provide the necessary power to the mines at Iultin, two power stations—one diesel, one steam-powered—were constructed in the village of Ozerny; however, in recent years, mining in the region has proved impractical and the mines at Iultin were closed and the settlement abandoned, with the population moving to Egvekinot.

Economy

The main center of economic activity is around Egvekinot and the neighboring rural locality of Ozerny. These settlements contain the main sea port, a hydroelectric power plant, and the main airport of the district, with Chukotavia providing air service to all major airports within the autonomous okrug.

Outside of the main urban area of Egvekinot, the economy is driven mainly by either mineral extraction (the area is rich in pewter and wolframite as well as coal), traditional indigenous reindeer herding or sea-based hunting, with Chukchi farming centers such as Amguema, Vankarem, and Konergino holding nearly 25,000 head of reindeer in 2005. One of the settlements where marine hunting is the main economic driver, Uelkal, is the most westerly Eskimo settlement in the world.

Transport

In addition to the airports, Iultinsky District also contains the longest road in Chukotka, which goes from Egvekinot to Iultin through indigenous settlements such as Amguema. There are also a number of winter and tractor roads which branch off from the main Iultinskaya Road serving settlements such as and , as well as some of the geological and mining camps in the district.

2008 merger of municipal districts

Before May 2008, Iultinsky Administrative District was municipally incorporated as Iultinsky Municipal District. In May 2008, Iultinsky and Shmidtovsky Municipal Districts were merged, forming an enlarged Vostochny Municipal District. This change, however, did not affect the administrative aspect of these districts. Both Iultinsky and Shmidtovsky Administrative Districts continue to exist separately.

In October 2008, the law mandating the change was amended and the name Vostochny was discarded with the combined municipal district being renamed Iultinsky Municipal District.

Divisions

Administrative divisions

Iultinsky Administrative District has administrative jurisdiction over one urban-type settlement and five rural localities, consisting of all the settlements listed below in the "Municipal divisions" section, except for the urban-type settlements of Leningradsky and Mys Shmidta and the rural locality of Ryrkaypiy, which are administratively subordinate do Shmidtovsky Administrative District.

Municipal divisions

Anadyrsky Municipal District is divided into two urban settlements and five rural settlements.

Source:
*Administrative centers are shown in bold

References

Notes

Sources

External links






Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iultinsky_District
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