Neshkan, Russia

For other places with the same name, see Neshkan.
Neshkan (English)
Нешкан (Russian)
Нэскэн (Yupik)
-  Rural locality[1]  -
Selo[1]

Location of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Russia
Neshkan
Location of Neshkan in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Coordinates: 67°03′N 173°01′W / 67.050°N 173.017°W / 67.050; -173.017Coordinates: 67°03′N 173°01′W / 67.050°N 173.017°W / 67.050; -173.017
Administrative status (as of June 2009)
Country Russia
Federal subject Chukotka Autonomous Okrug[1]
Administrative district Chukotsky District
Municipal status (as of November 2004)
Municipal district Chukotsky Municipal District[2]
Rural settlement Neshkan Rural Settlement[2]
Administrative center of Neshkan Rural Settlement[2]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census) 704 inhabitants[3][4]
Population (January 2016 est.) 637 inhabitants[5]
Time zone PETT (UTC+12:00)[6]
Founded Mid 1950s[7]
Postal code(s)[8] 689330
Dialing code(s) +7 42736[9]

Neshkan (Russian: Нешкан; Naskuk in the Yupik language, meaning head of a ringed seal after a nearby hill[10]) is a rural locality (a selo) in Chukotsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia.[1] It is located on the shores of the Chukchi Sea on a sandy spit that divides Neskyipilgyn Lagoon from the sea, close to Idlidlya Island. Population: 704 (2010 Census);[3] Municipally, Neshkan is subordinated to Chukotsky Municipal District and incorporated as Neshkan Rural Settlement.[2]

History

Like many other villages in Chukotka, Neshkan was founded as a result of Soviet economics. In the 1950s, attempts to unify the itinerant reindeer herders of the area, consisting of the Nuteikvyn, Anayan, Tolgunen, and Vylkarney amongst others into a collective farm led to the creation of the village.[11] The village took its name from the Chukchi word Naskuk, meaning "Seal's Head", so called because one of the mountains surrounding the village looks like a seal's head when viewed from the sea.[10]

Neshkan has seen some benefit in recent years from the money that has been generated by the exploitation of the oil and gas present in the area, as a number of multi-story houses were built in the village in 2005.[12]

Economy

Unlike such villages as Tavayvaam, which have suffered serious economic hardships since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when all the reindeer owned by the villagers were lost, leading to continuing high unemployment in the area, Neshkan's economy is still dominated by reindeer herding, with there being six separate herds maintained by the villagers, though this is also supplemented by fishing.[11]

However, the village still endures considerable economic isolation as a result of its geography. Only pensioners are paid in cash, while almost all other transactions are barter or coupons (which are often paid to state employees in the region in lieu of cash). What cash is available is spent on necessary supplies, which, due to the isolation of the village and the resulting difficulties in transporting food and other supplies, is often nearly double the price found elsewhere in the region.[13]

Demographics

The village is small, with a population of 704 according to the most recent census results,[3] split equally between men and women,[3] and a reduction on an estimated 2009 population of 720 people,[7] itself a slight increase on the estimated 2003 population of 704 inhabitants (662 of them indigenous people).[10]

Transport

Neshkan is 250 km from the district centre Lavrentiya.[7]

Air

There are weekly flights from Lavrentiya to the village and the only other means of getting there is a four- to five-day off-road journey.[11]

Road

Like almost all Chukotkan settlements, there is no direct link from the village to any other settlement by permanent road. There is however, a small network of roads within the settlement including:[14]

Climate

Neshkan has a Tundra climate (ET)[15] because the warmest month has an average temperature between 0 °C (32 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F).

Climate data for Neshkan
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 2
(36)		 3.9
(39)		 3.8
(38.8)		 21.2
(70.2)		 12.8
(55)		 24
(75)		 19.9
(67.8)		 22
(72)		 10.2
(50.4)		 9.6
(49.3)		 8
(46)		 13
(55)		 24
(75)
Average high °C (°F) −13.2
(8.2)		 −14.7
(5.5)		 −15.9
(3.4)		 −11
(12)		 −2.1
(28.2)		 3.5
(38.3)		 7.2
(45)		 6
(43)		 2
(36)		 −1.9
(28.6)		 −7.8
(18)		 −12.6
(9.3)		 −5
(23)
Average low °C (°F) −15.7
(3.7)		 −18.5
(−1.3)		 −19.3
(−2.7)		 −14.6
(5.7)		 −4.4
(24.1)		 0.9
(33.6)		 4.3
(39.7)		 3.7
(38.7)		 0.7
(33.3)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 −9.7
(14.5)		 −14.4
(6.1)		 −7.5
(18.5)
Record low °C (°F) −41
(−42)		 −42
(−44)		 −35.5
(−31.9)		 −34.2
(−29.6)		 −22.3
(−8.1)		 −7.7
(18.1)		 −4
(25)		 −9
(16)		 −7.4
(18.7)		 −24.3
(−11.7)		 −30.8
(−23.4)		 −36.2
(−33.2)		 −42
(−44)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 3
(0.12)		 0
(0)		 3
(0.12)		 3
(0.12)		 3
(0.12)		 3
(0.12)		 0
(0)		 15
(0.59)
Average snowy days 15 10 10 14 14 4 0 1 6 18 20 13 125
Source: [16]

Earthquakes

Neshkan experienced a number of earthquakes throughout the 20th century, including several quakes during 1928 measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale[17] and a number measuring between 5 and 6 throughout the second half of the century. At the time that these regular earthquakes began to affect the village, there was a lack of seismic stations in the okrug. In 2002, Bilibino was the site of the only working seismic station in the region and was over 700 km away. Prior to this, there had been a seismic station in Iultin, but this was still over 200 km away and neither was close enough to any epicentre to draw out any trends.[18]

In response to these earthquakes and the growing complaints from the inhabitants of Neshkan a permanent station was established in the village, which detected over 150 small quakes in little more than eighteen days,[19] leading geophysicists to suggest that the quakes have been caused by a previously unknown fault extending across this part of Chukotka, a view strengthened by the linear pattern of the quakes and the presence of hot springs in places like Lorino.[20]

The local toponymy suggests a more longstanding association between the indigenous people, with many geographical objects having names which conjure images of earthquakes such as the mountains Elyulivoigyn, Ivuichin, and Eletkun, meaning "shivering", "moving", and "dancing" mountain respectively, as well as nearby lake names such as Einekuem, meaning "buzzing lake".[21]

These earthquakes have been attributed to the newly theorised Loloveem Fault, which runs from Cape Neshkan, where the village is situated, in a south-southwesterly direction through Neskynpilgyn Lagoon and Innuloon Lagoon.[22]

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Law #33-OZ, Article 13.2
  2. 1 2 3 4 Law #47-OZ, Article 4
  3. 1 2 3 4 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ The results of the 2010 Census are given for Neshkan Rural Settlement, a municipal formation of Chukotsky Municipal District. According to Law #148-OZ, Neshkan is the only inhabited locality on the territory of Neshkan Rural Settlement.
  5. ↑ Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Territorial Branch of the Federal State Statistics Service. Численность постоянного населения Чукотского автономного округа по муниципальным образованиям на 1 января 2016 года (Russian)
  6. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  7. 1 2 3 Муниципальное образование сельское поселение Нешкан Municipal Formation of the rural Settlement of Neshkan - Official Chukotksky District Website
  8. ↑ Pochtovik Mail Delivery Service Chukotsky District (Russian)
  9. ↑ Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation Chukotsky District (Russian)
  10. 1 2 3 Red Cross of Chukotka. Chukotsky District (Archived)
  11. 1 2 3 Strogoff, p. 120f
  12. ↑ Official website of Chukotsky District
  13. ↑ East West Institute. Russian Regional Report, Vol. 4, No. 1, 14 January 1999
  14. ↑ Neshkan - Chukotsky District - Pochtovik Mail Delivery Service
  15. ↑ McKnight and Hess, pp.235-7
  16. ↑ "Weather Averages for Neshkan from meoweather.com". meoweather.com. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  17. ↑ Mackey et al., p. 9
  18. ↑ Mackey et al., p. 1
  19. ↑ Mackey et al., p. 5
  20. ↑ The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. A Seismic Swarm Near Neshkan, Chukotka, Far Northeastern Russia
  21. ↑ Mackey et al., p. 7f
  22. ↑ Mackey et al., Fig. 4

Sources

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