Use and Allocation of Natural Resources in the Chukotka Autonomous District

Abstract

Chukotka Autonomous District (Okrug) comprises the northeastern-most area of that part of the Soviet Union known as the "Far East". Chukotka can be used to refer to three different areas: the Chukotka Autonomous District (Okrug) is the entire North East half of the Magadan Province (oblast); the Chukotka Peninsula (sometimes written Chukotskyi) describes a geographic unit that is the northeastern peninsula of the Chukotka Autonomous District; and the Chukotka Region is an administrative unit equivalent to a county occupying the northern part of the Chukotka Peninsula. There has been a significant amount of American and Western travel on business, educational, cultural, medical and scientific exchanges in the past two years. Communications have been improved by the increased travel between the regions and the direct microwave link that provides for telephone calls between Alaska and the Soviet Far East at half the rate for calls between the rest of the United States and the Soviet Union.The United States and the Soviet Union have signed an agreement providing for visa-free travel by Soviet and Alaska Eskimos. Currently, the agreement has not been fully implemented and permission for Soviet natives for visa-free travel has been extended only to St.Lawrence Island, Kotzebue and Nome. This report provides geographic, demographic, historical, political, and resource development information that was current in 1991. A short summary report (ISER Research Summary No. 48) was developed based on this report.