Chukotka, the most remote region in Russia
The Chukotka
Autonomous Okrug is
an okrug of Russia. It is geographically located in th Far East
region of the country, and is administratively part of the Far
Eastern Federal District. Chukotka is the 2nd-least-populated federal
subject at slightly more than 50,000 and the least densely populated.
Anadyr
is the largest town and the capital as well as the easternmost
settlement to have town status in Russia.
Chukotka
is home to Elgygytgyn Lake an impact crater lake and and the village
of Uelen, the easternmost settlement in Russia and the closest
substantial settlement to the United States. The autonomous okrug's
surface area is 737,700 square kilometers (and is the 7th-largest
Russian federal subject.
Chukotka
is primarily populated by ethnic Russians, Chukchis and o other
indigenous peoples.
Climate, geography
The
climate of Chukotka is determined by its geographical location in a
zone influenced by 2 oceans, with a complex atmospheric movement
involving cyclones of the European–Asian front, Arctic
anti-cyclones and Southern cyclones. Chukotka has broken many climate
records: maximum number of days without sun (Wrangel Island), highest
average annual wind speed and highest frequency of snowstorms and
hurricanes in Russia (Navarin Cape). Virtually every year,
temperatures between −50°C and −60°C, and winds with speeds
ranging from 50 to 60 m/sec are recorded. Permafrost extends from the
upper layers of soil to a depth of tens and hundreds of metres.
Within Chukotka are 3 cities (the capital Anadyr, Bilibino and
Pevek), 15 townships and 45 villages in 6 administrative districts
(Anadyrskiy, Bilibinskiy, Chaunskiy, Chukotskiy, Iultinskiy and
Providenskiy). The total population of Chukotka in 2011 was 50,800,
with a population density of 0.07 person/km2. About 16,000 persons
were officially classified as “numerically small nationalities of
the Russian North”, that is, indigenous people, among whom are
Chukchi (75%), Eskimo (9%), Even (8%) and Chuvan (6%). During the
past 20 years, the population of Chukotka has decreased by two-thirds
due to emigration of non-indigenous people, including the families of
military personnel.
Substantial
literature on Chukotka's history, politics and economics is now
available in English, focusing on research in the first decade of
the post-Soviet era (1).
This article provides an update on more recent developments,
especially during and after the governorship of Abramovich since
2002.
The
gross regional product per capita in Chukotka today is the 4th
highest among the regions of the Russian Federation, after the
oil-extracting Tyumen and Sakhalin regions, and Moscow (2).
Chukotka has an affluent resource base, high-capacity energy sources
and, in the Soviet period, a stable management and supply system.
The territory of Chukotka contains 10% of the known gold deposits of
Russia; there are also rich minefields of tin, copper, tungsten,
platinum, silver, coal, oil and gas. Bilibino Nuclear Power Station
is one of the two power stations in Russia located beyond the Arctic
Circle, though it supplies electricity only to the mining centres
nearby. Other areas depend on locally produced coal or imported fuel
oil for their energy needs.
The Soviet period
Economic
development of Chukotka began during the period 1928–1936. The
Central Board of the Northern Sea Route and Chukotka Aviation were
organised; sea ports, airports, polar stations and industrial
enterprises were constructed, and extensive hydrographic and
geological surveys began. In 1934–1937, the Peveksky and
Iultinsky tin–tungsten deposits were discovered. From 1939,
prospecting works were conducted by NKVD Dalstroy, a special
construction branch of the People's Commissariat of Internal
Affairs, forerunner of the KGB. A series of forced labour camps –
part of the GULag system – was established in the Kolyma region
(composed of Chukotka and Magadan Oblast) to develop the region.
GULag in Russian is the acronym for the “Chief Administration of
Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies”.
The
policies of forced collectivisation of indigenous people and
“liquidation” of the kulaks (rich peasants) were implemented.
Reindeer breeding, fishery and hunting of sea mammals grew rapidly.
The fishing industry passed from coastal fishing to open sea
trawling. During the same period, the written Chukchi and Eskimo
languages were developed, illiteracy drastically reduced, resulting
in the appearance of indigenous intelligentsia.
During
World War II, substantial deposits of gold and other metals were
discovered and coal mining also began. Chukotka was key to the war
effort, as it provided not only metals for the army's needs but
also furs, venison, fish and other necessities.
In
the post-war years, the Kolyma region was designated by Stalin as
an “industrial complex of special function”. The Dalstroy
system lasted until the 1950s, and camps began to be closed after
Stalin's death. During the Cold War, air-rocket units of the Soviet
armed forces were located in Chukotka, increasing the number of
frontier posts.
In
1958, gold was first extracted on an industrial scale. The 1960s
underwent a period of intense construction activity – new mines,
ore processing and other industrial enterprises, power stations,
electric power transmission lines, roads, settlements, schools,
kindergartens, resorts for workers, and so on. Manufacture of
building materials started successfully. The Bilibinskaya nuclear
power station, and the Chaunskaya and Ekvekinotskaya fuel-burning
power stations transformed Chukotka into a net exporter of electric
power. This decade also witnessed the maximum harvesting of
reindeers, sea mammals, fish and furs. Dairy animal farming, swine
breeding, greenhousing and fur farming were launched.
In
1915, there was only one elementary school in Chukotka; by 1977
there were 96 secondary schools and some technical schools; more
than 11,000 children were cared for in 112 preschool institutions;
88 libraries and 106 cultural centres flourished.
Due
to the northern bonus, the salaries in Chukotka appeared to be
considerably higher than in other arctic regions of the USSR and
much higher than the national average. As a result, Chukotka was
well supplied with qualified professionals and the population grew
due to the influx of immigrants. The state guaranteed certain
privileges for the indigenous people, such as child benefits, free
medicine, pregnancy care, and university entrance all over the USSR
without competition.
Post-Soviet period
With
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chukotka suffered a
period of severe economic decline and depopulation. Under the
governorship (1991–1999) of Alexander Nazarov, the region became
deserted, scores of settlements were abandoned, including military
sites. Construction came to a standstill; many indigenous villages
had not been renovated since the 1950s and looked dilapidated. The
mining industry had collapsed, gold mining was no longer considered
profitable, unemployment was rampant, and fuel and food supplies
were scarce. There were acute food shortages. The “Great
Depression” had begun. The population was teetering on the edge
of survival. The “Russian market revolution” for Chukotka had
turned into a catastrophe.
Reindeer
breeding was drastically reduced. The once-flourishing hunting and
fur trade was in decline, while poaching was on the rise. Health
care and education were in a poor state: Chukotka hospitals did not
have enough X-ray machines, and schools did not have enough
textbooks. Because of rampant alcoholism and other diseases,
Chukotka natives were on the verge of ruin.
Things
began to change in January 2001, when Roman Abramovich was
appointed by the Kremlin as governor of Chukotka. Abramovich, a
billionaire, the owner of Sibneft Oil Company and, since 2003, the
owner of Chelsea Football Club in England, was one of Russia's
richest oligarchs. When Abramovich arrived, Chukotka was bankrupt
with huge external debts equivalent to 4 times its annual budgets,
and state employees’ salaries had not been paid for half a year.
The state together with the Savings Bank disappeared from Chukotka
rapidly at the beginning of 1990s. Money left Chukotka as promptly
as the people left. Of about 160,000 residents of Chukotka at the
end of the 1980s, only 70,000 people remained at the beginning of
the new millennium.
At
first, in 2001, Abramovich organised humanitarian help – each
resident received 20 kg of sugar, 5 kg of salt, a sack of flour, a
sack of potatoes, 5 kg of butter and 5 kg of dried fruits.
Abramovich registered 3 branches of Sibneft Company in Chukotka.
Simply by moving to the region, Abramovich added some tens of
millions of dollars in tax revenues to Chukotka's meagre budget.
Perhaps for the first time in the recent history of Russia, money
had come to the region instead of leaving. Builders from Turkey and
Canada came to the region and large-scale construction began across
Chukotka – building and renovation of houses, schools, roads,
boiler-houses, heating systems and bakeries.
Within
a few years, the region was thoroughly renovated and modernised.
The old Soviet dreariness was gone from the capital Anadyr, which
now boasts a new airport, roads, hotels, an orthodox church,
college, university centre, hospital, sport-fitness centre,
supermarket and automatic teller machines.
Between
2001 and 2008, 100,000 square metres of housing, 18 new schools, 28
hospitals and medical centres were put into operation. Hot water,
flush toilet, and double-glazed windows were obligatory in the new
houses. The majority of houses were painted in pretty blue, red and
yellow colours.
The
system of financing and management was rejuvenated, and the
delivery of goods from European Russia by the Northern Sea Route
was resumed. Products and essential commodities again appeared in
shops after an absence of 8 years. Abramovich also made sure that
the salaries of public sector workers were paid on time.
Children
in schools received new computers, televisions, textbooks, free
food and free health services. The Internet was available in many
schools. The Chukchi language and culture, which only recently were
threatened with extinction, were reintroduced to the school
curriculum. Each year, all children (about 6,000) were sent on a
free summer vacation by the Black Sea.
Gold
mining began operating on a modern technological basis, and oil
exploration and extraction started in the continental shelf
offshore.
Sea
mammal hunting brigades in the coastal indigenous communities were
supplied with big, new metal hunting boats equipped with powerful
Japanese engines. Reindeer breeding was re-developed in the inland
communities.
The
Chukchi revered Abramovich as the source of many good things; some
even considered him a deity to be prayed to. He was feted with
concerts and performances.
Yet
this “paradise” was temporary and mostly superficial. Many old
problems persisted. The most qualified, skilled and enterprising
workers had already left the region. Abramovich's reforms were
confronted with the indifference and apathy of many people who had
lost the desire and ability to work. Few wanted to solve the
problems themselves, instead waited for outside help – from the
state in the past, and now from Abramovich.
Abramovich
decreed the upper limit of Chukotka's population to be between
40,000 and 45,000, a number deemed to be financially sustainable by
the region's resources. People who did not want to work were
encouraged to leave Chukotka for other parts of Russia where they
were provided with housing and allowance for 3 years. For people
who remained in Chukotka, the administration tried to inculcate
market values and methods, but much of the population had become
accustomed to dependence the old fashioned way.
Situation of indigenous people
The
2 major groups of indigenous people in Chukotka are the Chukchi and
the Eskimos (3).
Their population has remained relatively stable during the 20th
century, fluctuating between 11,000 and 13,000 Chukchi, and between
1,000 and 1,500 Eskimos.
According
to the 2002 census, 15,767 Chukchi lived in the Russian Federation,
of whom 12,622 persons (about 70%) lived in Chukotka. Chukchi live
in all settlements of Chukotka together with Russians, Eskimo, Evens
and other people. There are no exclusively Chukchi settlements,
although the Chukchi constitute the majority group in most of the
villages. Today, the Chukchi are mainly engaged in commercial
reindeer breeding. Chukotka is the only region in the world where
stock of domestic reindeer is growing, but it is much less than it
was during the Soviet period. While reindeer breeding is a
collective occupation, fishing and hunting are common as personal
and family activities of the indigenous population.
Eskimo
live in the eastern coastal settlements of Chukotka. There are about
1,450 Eskimos today. Almost 80% of the Eskimo population is
concentrated in Providensky and Chukotskiy districts, especially in
2 villages – Novoje Chaplino and Sireniki. Relatively large Eskimo
communities can also be found in 5 villages – Provideniya,
Lavrentija, Lorino, Uelkal and Uelen. The proportion of mixed
marriages of Eskimo (with Russians and Chukchi) varies from 40 to
65%. The current distribution of the Eskimo population is the result
of large-scale forced relocations of some 800 Eskimos in 1958, about
70% of the population, leaving behind some of the previously large
villages, such as Naukan and Chaplino, uninhabited (4).
The
basic traditional employment of Eskimo and coastal Chukchi is sea
mammal hunting – walrus, seal and whale. Whale hunting is
conducted today strictly according to internationally agreed quota:
for Russia the International Whaling Commission has established a
quota of 135 grey and 5 Greenlandic whales (in 2010).
A
part of the population lives in hardly accessible remote villages
dependent on transportation, which is at times unpredictable.
Transportation in Chukotka is characterised by the absence of
railways and roads (due to permafrost), and 90% of freight is moved
by sea and air (2).
Despite
Abramovich's reforms, the socio-economic conditions in many areas of
Chukotka are still difficult, beset by problems of supplying
settlements with fuel, foodstuff and electricity. Many settlements
endure poor water supply, sanitation and housing. Outside Anadyr,
the land still needs a major clean-up. Many coastal settlements and
their vicinities are littered with hundreds of thousands of
abandoned rusty fuel barrels, scrap metal and other junk. Solid
waste pollution is less of a problem in the inland villages.
Poverty
and unemployment among indigenous people promotes a host of poor
health and social conditions. Underdevelopment of public health
services and general infrastructure in indigenous villages have
resulted in high infant and general mortality, and a high burden of
infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and sexually transmitted
diseases (5).
The
survival of indigenous languages is precarious. Total Russification
of school education in the Soviet period, when children were in
essence forbidden to use their native languages in schools, has led
to the situation today where Chukchi and Eskimo languages are
considered native to only one-third of the indigenous people. The
Sireniki Eskimo dialect has totally disappeared. Now, efforts for
reviving the Chukchi language are undertaken – it is taught in
many settlements, and it is included in the high school programme.
Chukchi language is widely used in art, political literature and the
mass media (6).
Health
care services
Chukotka
has a centralised model of health care services. In 2002, all
treatment and preventive establishments were reorganised into a
network consisting of the Chukotka Okrug Hospital in Anadyr, 5
regional hospitals, 19 local hospitals, 6 medical ambulance stations
and 15 medical-obstetric aid units. Patients in far flung
reindeer-breeding brigades and remote villages are evacuated by air
to the closest regional centre, and this is highly dependent on the
weather.
Between
2001 and 2011, 15 new health care facilities have been constructed
and 27 renovated. The Chukotka Okrug Hospital is equipped with
modern radiological and ultrasonographic devices and other
medical–surgical equipment.
Health
care financing, since the middle of 2007, is under a model of single
payer through the local fund of obligatory medical insurance (OMI).
Per capita health care expenditure in 2010 was 37,700 rubles, the
highest in the Russian Federation.
In
2009, in Chukotka, 313 doctors were employed (61.6 doctors per
10,000 people), which was substantially below the 575 doctors deemed
to be needed for the region. Today the administration is planning to
implement measures to attract physicians to Chukotka.
Thirteen
pharmacies operate in Chukotka – 6 governmental, 2 municipal and 5
private. There is no wholesale trade in medical products. The
private sector accounts for less than 50% of the pharmaceutical
market. Delivery of medical products is carried out independently by
pharmaceutical institutions by air or sea from Vladivostok. The
remote, sparsely populated settlements are supplied by the
governmental and municipal pharmacies under contracts with local
hospitals, ambulance stations and medical-obstetric aid units.
Health research
Up
to the mid-1960s, the Russian Arctic, particularly Chukotka, had the
status of a secret zone due to its strategic economic and defence
importance. There were multiple military installations (such as
submarine and icebreaker fleets), nuclear processing and testing
sites, rocket-firing grounds, gold–diamond, oil–gas and other
mining operations, and an extensive network of prison camps (the
gulag). Almost all scientific information connected with the Arctic
(including health studies) was strictly prohibited from publication
in the open literature; even dissertations were defended in
“special” scientific councils. During the 1970s and 1980s, the
situation improved marginally but the prevailing communist ideology
was to suppress unwelcome information, such as the poor health
conditions of the indigenous people.
Since
the end of 1980s, political freedom slowly reached even the Russian
Arctic. Nevertheless, even today, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is
still considered a frontier regime, and even Russian citizens are
obliged to apply for special permission to enter its territory. The
severe economic decline of the post-Soviet period (described above)
also affected the conduct of health research, which was fragmentary
and uncoordinated. Help came from abroad. Agencies, such as the
University of Alaska, the United States Centres for Disease Control
and the Alaska Native Medical Centre, were able to collaborate with
the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.
Collaborative projects, such as the Alaska Siberia Medical Research
Program (7),
investigating a wide variety of health topics, such as alcoholism,
genetics, immunity, nutrition, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,
were established. The history and output of this collaboration has
recently been reviewed (8).
The increasing use of market foods and decreasing consumption of
traditional foods among Chukotka native adults was found to
contribute to the increasing burden of obesity, diabetes mellitus
and cancer (9),
although the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among Chukchi and
Eskimo was much lower than in indigenous populations in Alaska and
northern Canada (10).
Few cases of diabetes, thyrotoxicosis and obesity were detected in a
review of morbidity among native children in 1993–1997, which the
authors attributed to underdiagnosis due to the lack of specialised
laboratories and personnel in Chukotka (11).
Also, the prevalence of a variety of infectious diseases (such as
chronic otitis, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia), mental disorders
and poisoning by drugs and toxic substances was several times higher
than in the rest of Russia (11).
An assessment of maternal and children health care in Chukotka in
1997–2000 revealed that the proportion of completely healthy
children decreased 10 times during the decade, from 25% to only 2%;
a high rate of premature births as well as high child and maternal
mortality were also noted (12).
Analysis
of tuberculosis in Chukotka in 1994–1999 suggests that despite
economic difficulties, there was a continuous reduction in the major
tuberculosis indicators; this may be accounted for by inadequate
detection of tuberculosis among natives and by low contacts with
newcomers (13).
Among zoonoses, brucellosis has been shown to be endemic in about
50% of reindeer farms, putting reindeer breeders and workers at risk
(14, 15).
Sexually transmitted diseases are rampant among the indigenous
population, particularly gonorrhea, which is 3–6 times higher than
in the whole of Russia. In 1998, 3 cases of AIDS were recorded for
the first time.
Because
of changing nutritional pattern of indigenous people towards
increasing fish consumption (also fresh-frozen “stroganina”),
they are at risk of exposure to a variety of parasitic diseases. The
true prevalence is likely much higher than officially documented, as
few surveys had been conducted among indigenous people living in
remote settlements and tundra brigades. Almost 100% of common fish
species (keta, gorbusha, nerka, whitefish, char and smelt) are
contaminated by several types of parasites, among
them Diphyllobotrium, Corynosoma and
some nematodes. Surveys among children have found infection rates of
enterobiasis as high as 23%, and diphyllobothriasis in 13–34% of
the examinees (16).
Echinococcosis
is endemic in Chukotka. Trichinosis is also widespread and widely
distributed among wildlife, such as bears (100%), wolves (57%),
foxes (37%), Arctic foxes (15%), and also domestic cats (10%) and
dogs (5%) (15).
Inadequate sanitary living conditions and close co-habitation with
animals promote the dissemination of many infectious and parasitic
diseases.
The
economic collapse of the infrastructure of Chukotka region in the
early post-Soviet years resulted in many indigenous people reverting
to the traditional subsistence economy. Relatively expensive market
foods were replaced by cheaper ones, and by more readily available
local foods. The per cent contribution of proteins, lipids and
carbohydrates to total caloric intake did not change substantially,
but the sources of the major nutrients were different from Soviet
times. In 1985, local marine mammals accounted for about half of the
consumed meat (55%), while in 2000 its share increased to 89%.
Market fats and oils were substituted by the fat of marine mammals
(17, 18).
More recent changes in the diet of the people remain to be
documented, and their long-term impact of health needs to be
monitored.
Sources of statistical data
Official
health statistics on mortality and morbidity of the population of
the various administrative territories in the Russian Federation,
and earlier in the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist
Republic within the USSR), was never detailed and systematised due
to the absence of registries. Some small, special regional
registries, such as cancer (Arkhangelsk Oblast), births (Murmansk
Oblast) or occupational diseases (some Siberian regions), were only
established in the first decade of the 21st century, the first 2
with the help of Norway (19, 20).
The
collection of health statistics on Russian Arctic regions such as
Chukotka is complicated by the frequent redrawing of the political
map. Chukotka Okrug became autonomous in 1980 but as part of Magadan
oblast. In 1992, it became a separate “subject of the Russian
Federation” (i.e. with status equal to that of a republic, kray
and oblast, sending separate elected representatives to the federal
Duma or parliament). Earlier in the Soviet period, between 1930 and
1980, Chukotka was subordinated variously to the Far East Kray,
Kamchatka Oblast, or Khabarovsk Kray. Official state statistics on
Chukotka were not available in published yearbooks and other state
statistical documents, until the 1990s.
For
the period 1976–1985, some health statistics on the general
Chukotka population have been collected by the Chukotka Okrug
Hospital (Anadyr) Medical Statistics Bureau in a series of working
papers (21–25).
These cover population, fertility, mortality and morbidity, with
some years providing specific data on indigenous people. The first
official statistical publication on Chukotka (26)
covers the period 2004–2008, produced by the Chukotka Statistical
Agency.
Statistical data on indigenous people
There
is no unified state system of health monitoring of indigenous people
in the Russian Federation. While a Federal Law of 1999 guarantees
the rights of indigenous numerically small nationalities of the
Russian Federation, how an indigenous person is defined is unclear.
In the 2002 Russian census, a person can declare himself to belong
to any nationality. There is no longer any section for “nationality”
or “ethnicity” in Russian passports. In 1989, there were 128
distinct “nationalities” in the entire USSR; today there are 150
in Russia alone. In the 2002 census, 68 newly self-designated ethnic
categories appeared. The 2010 census was widely criticised as poorly
conducted, and detailed results have not been released. Under the
circumstances of modern Russian national policy, when Arctic
territories are under extensive exploitation for natural resources,
the problems of indigenous health are very far from the priorities
of the government.
In
the Soviet period, within the territories of indigenous people,
personal ethnic identity was recorded in several documents (birth
and death data records, passports, community “economy books”,
etc.). It was possible to separate out demographic and limited
health data pertaining to indigenous minorities in locally produced
statistics. Since 2002, such information is no longer available.
Demographic characteristics
As
mentioned in the introduction, the population of Chukotka by the
mid-2000s increased to about a third of what it was in the 1980s,
mostly due to mass emigration of non-indigenous people, while the
size of the indigenous population has increased from 13,300 in the
1970s to 17,900 at the beginning of the 2000s
Reference:
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