At the ends of the earth How they live in the northernmost city of Russia

Life on the edge of the earth

“Chukotka is addictive, you’ll see,” this is how, according to 29-year-old Pevek resident Anastasia Karpenko, she begins to get acquainted with those who find themselves in Russia’s northernmost city for the first time. In response, as a rule, he hears stunned exclamations: “How do you even live here?!” — or questions about when the next plane to the mainland is. This doesn't surprise her at all.

“But after living a little in Pevek, people fall in love with it. You can’t help but fall in love with such natural beauty, the peace and tranquility of this town,” she says.

Pevek residents admit that living in the city is not easy. The prices are very high here. This is due to the difficulties of delivering food to the city. “Even living here permanently, it’s not easy to get used to the high cost of the simplest food products. For example, we can treat ourselves to fruits or vegetables only on holidays. Imagine: apples cost 500 rubles per kilogram. A dozen eggs cost about 300 rubles,” says Anastasia.

Photo: Anastasia Karpenko

“In our city it is customary to go on vacation every two years. This is extremely little. As a rule, tickets are paid for by the organization you work for. A ticket to Moscow costs about 40 thousand rubles; few people in our city can afford to travel to the capital or to the south. Some have to sit for several years in a city where there is a catastrophic lack of sun and warmth. It’s very difficult,” she laments.

Settlements[ | ]

The district (urban district) includes 12 settlements, including 1 city and 5 villages[5][33], as well as 6 other settlements (urban-type settlements without permanent population), which have been at the stage of liquidation since 2007[ 34].

Abolished settlements
In the area there are several abandoned settlements from the Gulag era - Severny

,
Eastern
,
Western
[39], several liquidated in the post-Soviet era[40] - Gyrgychan, Maysky, as well as at the stage of liquidation since 2007[34] the villages of Baranikha, Bystry, Valkumey, Komsomolsky, Krasnoarmeysky, Yuzhny.

There is no bad weather

In winter, as the indigenous people note, the air temperature can reach 45 degrees below zero Celsius. Locals wear two pairs of warm pants, pull on a lot of sweaters and warm down jackets. Strong winds often blow from the Arctic Ocean. At such moments, being on the street is simply dangerous.

“You don’t expect anything more in winter than a “southerner”! (“Yuzhak” is a strong south wind, the speed of which sometimes exceeds 50 meters per second - note by Lenta.ru

). Before it descends on the city, the air temperature rises significantly, for example, from minus 40 to 0 degrees Celsius, or even higher. This, of course, affects the condition of those who are sensitive to weather changes, but the rest enjoy the “yuzhak” as a holiday! It is gaining strength somewhere behind the hills, at this time there is absolute silence in the city. Then the drops start. And now the city is noisily covered by a huge wave of snow. When you see it for the first time, it seems like the end of the world has come. Winds of such strength sometimes cause damage. Windows, furniture, walls are shaking. One day the “yuzhak” hit us on New Year’s Eve, and Pevek was left without its main tree. But in general, the feeling when classes in schools or work are canceled is incomparable to anything! You sit by the window with a cup of tea, and outside the world seems to cease to exist,” says the girl.

Photo: Anastasia Karpenko

According to her, summer still sometimes comes to the city, but it is not at all the summer that residents are familiar with

). We sunbathed for 13 hours in a row: in the summer we have polar days, the sun does not set beyond the horizon at all. This means you can sunbathe around the clock. It was a real miracle."

But there is also a polar night - from October to January. Locals say that even after several years it is impossible to get used to it - the lack of natural light is very depressing. And in some areas of the city there is also no street lighting. They walk with flashlights. There’s no other way - it’s pitch dark there. Ice is especially dangerous at this time: in Pevek the roads are not covered with reagents or even sand. Many people catch a cold, and the city seems to fall asleep. But already at the end of January, Pevek residents celebrate Sun Day. The luminary returns to the sky.

Protected natural areas[ | ]

• Nature reserve "Chaunskaya Guba" with an area of ​​210.5 thousand hectares.
• Geological natural monument "Utiny" (70 hectares) - includes single outliers-kekurs, consisting of porphyro-blastic granites on the spurs of the Veemsky ridge, their height reaches 20 m.
• Botanical natural monuments: “Aionsky” - 13 hectares, “Routan” - 19 hectares, “Pineiveemsky” - 23 hectares.
• Water natural monument Rauchuvagytkyn - 573 hectares, this is a lake of the same name of moraine genesis, the area around which has a multi-colored colorful hue[45].

Pevek rules

The city is divided into four microdistricts: Spit (located on the sea spit), Center, Geologist and Fifth Microdistrict. Anastasia notes that Spit is already almost uninhabited and looks quite post-apocalyptic: “Abandoned houses, emptiness, complete silence create the feeling that there is nothing alive left in the world.”

Photo: Anastasia Karpenko

Once a week, citizens stock up on drinking water, since the water from the tap is technical. Drinking water is delivered by tanker trucks to every yard. At certain times, residents go out into the streets with various containers and collect water for the whole family.

Symbolism[ | ]

Coat of arms
In 2002, the coat of arms of the district was adopted, which was entered into the State Heraldic Register under number 957:

“In a field dissected by azure (blue, blue) and scarlet (red) there is a raised golden bezant (ball), and on top of everything there is a silver bear, standing straight and turned to the right, holding a golden druse in his right paw in front of him, with his left leaning on a golden anchor and accompanied in the upper left corner by a silver four-pointed star lying over the edge of the bezant.”

Work, study and leisure

“Many people go to the mainland to study after school, but after graduating from university they still return to Pevek. Without experience, it’s difficult to find a job and stay in a big city, but in Pevek young professionals have something to do and can gain experience,” says Anastasia.

Despite the lack of sports clubs and sections, a healthy lifestyle and sports are becoming increasingly popular among local youth. There are few other entertainment options in the city. Anastasia told Lenta.ru that several years ago a cultural and leisure complex “Iceberg” was built in Pevek, where you can play billiards, have a small dance floor for discotheques and a cinema where concerts are sometimes held.

“There are only three cafes in the city: one of them is really good, but the food there is expensive. There is nowhere else to go in Pevek. For example, I work at “Iceberg”, so I myself rarely rest there. After a hard day's work, I visit the only gym in the city. On the weekends I meet with friends. This is pretty much how my week goes,” she says.

Transport[ | ]

The region has a developed transport infrastructure compared to the rest of Chukotka, which was partly helped by the presence of the city of Pevek. Pevek itself has the second largest airport in Chukotka after Ugolny Airport and offers one of the few means of direct travel to Moscow. Pevek has sea connections with other areas of northern Russia, and is the only port in this part of Russia capable of receiving large ships, along with the other main northern port of Cape Shmidt. The port is also the maritime headquarters of the Eastern Arctic during the short summer.

A little about Pevek residents

Anastasia herself was born and raised in Pevek. Polar bears sometimes wander into the city, and then everyone has to stay home until a specially trained team from the Ministry of Emergency Situations drives away the uninvited guests. Anastasia talks with delight about incredible sunsets, northern lights, the beauty of the tundra and its inhabitants. “Northerners are completely different people. Not at all like those who live in big cities on the mainland. They are an extremely optimistic people with a character stronger than steel. There is not much choice here, you have to be strong. Those who come here from the mainland are obliged to comply,” says the girl.

Photo: Ruslan Fomin

Oddly enough, the life of a Pevek resident is full of colors and impressions. Since the city's population is only five thousand people, you can always meet acquaintances and friends everywhere. On the bus on the way to work, the whole crowd is discussing the latest news. By the way, by decision of the administration several years ago, travel on public transport became free for all city residents.

“Sometimes everyday work is diluted with some interesting events,” says Anastasia. “For example, this year Patriarch Kirill visited Pevek to consecrate the site for a new temple. Not so long ago, construction of the world's first floating nuclear power plant began in our city. For the first time in the history of the seaport of Pevek, cargo was delivered to us on two ships, accompanied by an icebreaker, on the eve of the New Year (usually the last cargo of the year arrives at the port no later than the end of October - note by Lenta.ru

). Navigation so late has never happened before. For us, Pevek residents, this is a truly grandiose event.”

According to Anastasia, all the disadvantages, which may seem like a bad dream to residents of megacities, are more than compensated by the advantages that the North rewards Pevek residents. “Chukotka will never leave your heart and mind. Maybe at some moments the Pevek residents really “survive,” but no matter what anyone says, the constantly growing population in recent years indicates that this city has a happy future,” concludes Anastasia.

Notes[ | ]

1. from the point of view of the administrative-territorial structure
2. from the point of view of the municipal structure
3. Total land area of ​​the municipality
4. ↑ 1234
   Preliminary population of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug by municipalities as of January 1, 2022
5. ↑ 123
   Law of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of June 30, 1998 N 33-OZ “On the administrative-territorial structure of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug”
6. Charter of the city district (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). Access date: December 31, 2022. Archived October 10, 2016.
7. Seismological situation in the territory of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link).
   Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation for the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
   (May 20, 2017). Date accessed: June 23, 2022. Archived March 11, 2022.
8. Resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of December 10, 1930 “On the organization of national associations in areas of settlement of small nationalities of the North”, SU RSFSR, 1931, No. 8, art. 98
9. Law of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug dated October 20, 2010 No. 87-OZ “On the transformation by merging settlements in the territory of the Chaunsky municipal district and amendments to the Law of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug “On the status, boundaries and administrative centers of municipalities in the territory of the Chaunsky district of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug”"
10. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6
    Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2015
    (unspecified)
    . Access date: August 6, 2015. Archived August 6, 2015.
11. Law of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug dated 06/08/2015 No. 50-OZ “On the unification of settlements included in the Chaunsky municipal district and the organization of local self-government in the united territory”
12. Population of the USSR on January 17, 1939. By district, regional centers, cities, workers' settlements and large rural settlements.
13. HISTORY OF CHUKOTA AUTONOMOUS DISTRICT IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE 2011
14. All-Union Population Census of 1959. The actual population of cities and other settlements, districts, regional centers and large rural settlements as of January 15, 1959 by republics, territories and regions of the RSFSR (unspecified)
    . Retrieved October 10, 2013. Archived October 10, 2013.
15. All-Union population census of 1970. The actual population of cities, urban-type settlements, districts and regional centers of the USSR according to census data as of January 15, 1970 by republic, territory and region (unspecified)
    . Retrieved October 14, 2013. Archived October 14, 2013.
16. All-Union Population Census of 1979. The current population of the RSFSR, autonomous republics, autonomous regions and districts, territories, regions, districts, urban settlements, village-district centers and rural settlements with a population of over 5,000 people (unspecified)
    .
17. All-Union population census of 1989. Population of the USSR, RSFSR and its territorial units by gender (undefined)
    . Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
18. All-Russian population census 2002. Volume. 1, table 4. Population of Russia, federal districts, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, districts, urban settlements, rural settlements - regional centers and rural settlements with a population of 3 thousand or more (unspecified)
    . Archived from the original on February 3, 2012.
19. Arctic countries and Antarctica
20. The size of the permanent population of the Russian Federation by cities, urban settlements and regions as of January 1, 2009 (unspecified)
    . Retrieved January 2, 2014. Archived January 2, 2014.
21. Population of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements. Results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census (unspecified)
    . Retrieved November 25, 2014. Archived November 25, 2014.
22. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities. Table 35. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2012 (unspecified)
    . Retrieved May 31, 2014. Archived May 31, 2014.
23. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2013. - M.: Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat, 2013. - 528 p. (Table 33. Population of urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements) (undefined)
    . Retrieved November 16, 2013. Archived November 16, 2013.
24. Table 33. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2014 (unspecified)
    . Access date: August 2, 2014. Archived August 2, 2014.
25. ↑ 12
    Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2016 (Russian) (October 5, 2018). Retrieved May 15, 2022. Archived May 8, 2022.
26. ↑ 12
    Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian) (July 31, 2017). Retrieved July 31, 2022. Archived July 31, 2022.
27. ↑ 12
    Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved July 25, 2018. Archived July 26, 2022.
28. ↑ 12
    Population of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug by municipalities as of January 1, 2022
29. ↑ 1234
    Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Date accessed: October 17, 2022. Archived October 17, 2022.
30. ↑ 12
    The permanent population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2022 (Russian). Retrieved April 27, 2022. Archived May 2, 2022.
31. HISTORY OF THE CHUKOTA AUTONOMOUS DISTRICT 2011 (unspecified)
    (inaccessible link). Retrieved March 29, 2022. Archived June 19, 2022.
32. Information about the urban district of Pevek (unspecified)
    .
33. Register of administrative-territorial and territorial entities of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (Order of the Government of the ChAO dated December 30, 2008 N 517-rp)
34. ↑ 12
    Law of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of October 25, 2007 N 138-OZ “On Amendments to the Law of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug “On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug””
35. Information about the city district of Pevek 01.01.2020
36. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
    Resident population as of January 1, 2015
    (undefined)
    . Retrieved March 31, 2015. Archived March 31, 2015.
37. Information about the city district of Pevek 01.01.2020
38. Information about the city district of Pevek 01.01.2020
39. Chaunsky itl of Dalstroy (Chaunlag, ITL Administrative post office box 14)
40. Base Garant - Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 2, 1998 No. 128 “On measures of social protection of the population of liquidated gold mining villages in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug”
41. Poddubny A.V. Environmental problems and sustainable development of regions, 2002.
42. Romanenko F.A., Shilovtseva O.F.
    The fate of Russian polar stations against the backdrop of global warming // Nature: Coll. - 2004. - No. 9.
43. Data on actual weather in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug on the website of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia
44. News Agency “Sever-DV”, October 31, 2012 (unspecified)
    (inaccessible link). Retrieved November 28, 2022. Archived March 4, 2016.
45. Museum (undefined)
    (inaccessible link). Retrieved November 7, 2012. Archived January 14, 2013.

Story

18th and 19th centuries

The area around Pevek was known to the Russians already by the mid-18th century, as the records of the Great Northern Expedition document the discovery of Cape Shelag. Further mentions of the cape were made in the records of the Billings Expedition, in which Russian explorers first described Chaun Bay in the 1760s.[2]

20th century

The earliest mention of the settlement of Pevek belongs to the writer. Tikhon Semushkin, who opened the Chukchi hunting lodge and yaranga in 1926[2] By the mid-1930s, Pevek had become an important port in the region due to the natural harbor at Chaunskaya Bay, the expansion of the Northern Sea Route, and the opening of a bank at the Pyrkakai mine (which would later be renamed Krasnoarmeysky) 60 kilometers (37 mi) away.[2] The discovery of minerals in the region meant that Pevek was instrumental in importing the necessary machinery and equipment and exporting the minerals produced, and by 1950 the settlement had almost 1,500 permanent residents.[2] On April 6, 1967, Pevek was given city status.[3]

In the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the city's population dropped by more than half as commercial shipping in the Arctic declined and people began to gravitate toward central Russia.[2] More or less regular delivery is currently carried out only from Murmansk to Dudinka in the west and between Vladivostok and Pevek in the east. The ports of Dudinka - Pevek have virtually no shipping.

GULAG

Remains of the Chaunlag buildings near Pevek
The mine personnel who supplied the Soviet Union with bank and uranium for much of the 20th century were prisoners of the Gulag system.[2] In the area itself there was a network of camps through which an unknown number of criminal and political prisoners passed through.[2] There are remains of two large camps, "Northern" and "Western", which continued to supply uranium during and after World War II. Barracks dot the landscape and look hastily abandoned.[2] Large cemeteries on the edge of the various camps show that most of those sent to work in the mines did not survive.[2]

“You can only get there by plane”

There is not a single railway or automobile station in all of Chukotka. Because there is no need. There are no railways, and well-maintained roads are built only within populated areas. Tourists mistake the treasury building for the station in Anadyr.

Right down the street is the treasury building in Anadyr.

Anastasia Koryagina, altapress.ru

Most of the settlements in Chukotka are isolated from each other. Near the regional centers there are usually one or two small villages, to which there are dirt roads. In winter, the road network is expanded due to the construction of winter roads.

For short distances, local residents drive SUVs, self-modified all-terrain vehicles (they are often found here) or dogs. In other cases, only by water or air.

Transport in Anadyr.

Anastasia Koryagina, altapress.ru

The Kapitan Sotnikov motor ship goes to some villages of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug from July to September. He has a special schedule that is not always followed because the weather can be bad. Tickets cost from 4,400 to 7,700 rubles, and these are preferential rates, lower than the cost of transportation. Children under 14 years old can travel at 50% of the cost, and under 7 years old for free.

Intraregional air flights are served by the airline, which flies small An-type aircraft and Mi-8 helicopters. The cost of air tickets to the villages of Chukotka varies from 3 to 12 thousand rubles. All flight numbers begin with the letters AD, and tourists constantly make fun of this at the airport.

Transport in Anadyr.

Anastasia Koryagina, altapress.ru

Air tickets to Chukotka are among the most expensive in the country. For example, I had to fly through Moscow because it was cheaper. A ticket from the capital of the country to Anadyr cost 43 thousand rubles , and back - 28 thousand rubles.

Life in Anadyr, airport.

Anastasia Koryagina, altapress.ru

Climate

Pevek has a tundra climate (Köppen ET

), with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers. February is the coldest month with an average temperature of -27.5 °C (-17.5 °F), while July with +8.7 °C (47.7 °F) is the warmest. Although the average July temperature is below +10.0 °C (50.0 °F), it can sometimes be several degrees warmer, with a record high of +15.7 °C (60.3 °F) in July 2007. It sometimes, but very rarely, happens that the lowest night temperature is above +20.0 °C (68.0 °F), which is typical for subtropical areas with a very mild climate. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −50.0 °C (−58.0 °F) on February 7, 8 and 10, 1978, and the highest was +29.2 °C (84.6 °F) July 8, 2010.