Russia is not in vain considered a northern country. The Russian Federation is the only country where about one and a half million inhabitants live beyond the Arctic Circle .
At the 70th parallel (69 ° 42′00 ″ N, 170 ° 19′00 ″ E) is the northernmost city in Russia - the port of Pevek, the administrative center of Chaun-Chukotka, the northernmost municipal region of the
Chukotka Peninsula.Mastering the North
The development of the Far North and the Arctic takes place with a wave-like intensity, depending on the political and economic situation in the country. The regions of the north of Russia either become a place of increased public interest, where financial resources are invested and human resources are actively attracted, or they are deserted.
Since the 18th century, the northern end of the Russian Empire has been studied by specialists from various industries, which brings the government to an understanding of the importance of this region, the awareness of the huge economic potential that it contains.
Soviet stage
The Northern Sea Route, as the shortest route from one ocean to another, and deposits of natural resources , hidden in the northern land, are only two significant reasons for the development of the region.
This was especially clearly understood by Stalin, it was under him that the Soviet Arctic became a legendary concept, thousands of young enthusiasts joined in its development, and the map of the north of Russia was enriched with ports on the Arctic Ocean, began to replenish with new factories and mines. Around them, new cities and towns formed. That is how Pevek, the northernmost city of Russia, arose. In addition, a new way of attracting human resources was invented, although monstrously unrighteous - the Gulag arose.
Pevek's birth
The local indigenous population refused to settle in the area of Chaun Bay, at the foot of the Peekinay hill. The name of the mountain, from which the name of the future city was formed, contained the reason for such an attitude of the Chukchi to this place. According to legend, a terrible battle between the two tribes took place, after which a monstrous cadaverous smell was heard for a long time. Peekinay is a "smelly mountain." More reindeer breeders were frightened off by strong winds that periodically brought snow and sand from the south.
The first major settlement was formed on the banks of the Pevek Strait in 1933. By the beginning of the war, tin, mercury and other rare metals, the reserves of which were of industrial importance, had been discovered nearby, were transported from here through the seaport and airfield to a large land. It was Chaunlagu and Chaunukotlagu, as part of the Far Eastern branch of the Gulag, that the northernmost city of Russia owed its rapid growth in the 30-40s. Soon, the development of uranium and gold, which were also carried out by the forces of prisoners, was added.
City Status
On April 6, 1967, a decree of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR was issued, and Pevek changed the status of a working type urban settlement to a more significant one, and the name of the district center in northern Chukotka was added to the list of Russian cities.
The time of its highest prosperity began. Pevek gained fame as the most progressive and rapidly developing city in the northern region of Russia. Gradually, the population reached the figure of 12,500, reliable high-rise buildings were being built in the city , urban infrastructure was being established, and active cultural and social life was being conducted.
Climatic features
The natural conditions in which the northernmost city of Russia arose and exists give the life of Pevek residents its specificity and color. They have to take into account, in addition to the general lack of heat and sunlight for northerners, the onset of a period when a strong wind blows from the surrounding hills towards the sea, called the southerner.
Gusts of wind, usually bearing masses of snow, quickly reach enormous power, able to demolish loose structures and light vehicles. The development of multi-story buildings provided for the formation of protected, windless zones, but it is impossible to completely eliminate the negative impact of the southerner, because there are no trees able to survive in these harsh places and able to protect the city.
But there is spring in the north. For a short time, the long-awaited warmth and sun comes, the tundra is covered with a flowering carpet, among which daisies stand out. Later, berries and mushrooms ripen, northerners have the opportunity to do an interesting and useful thing - collecting wild plants.
Pevek today
According to a recent census, the city has only about 5 thousand inhabitants. Many houses are empty and destroyed, the mining enterprises surrounding Pevek are switching to the shift method of organizing work, and there are fewer villages around.
The latest trend is reflected in the entire vast map of the north of Russia. Severe working and living conditions scare modern man away. He is ready to change comfortable conditions in the temperate climatic zone to extreme life under the northern lights only with serious compensation, the most understandable and significant of which is considered material. Until the incomes of those working in the Far North will level the severity of living conditions, cities such as Pevek will not be able to reach a level worthy of the 21st century.
It is thought that over time the state will nevertheless pay attention to those places where, among other things, natural originality and ecological purity are preserved. These are the vast expanses of the Russian North, Siberia and the Far East.