The territory of the modern district has been populated since the Paleolithic age, though indigenous people are outnumbered by ethnic Russians by over three to one. The district was once a major center for mining tin and tungsten at Iultin, with the infrastructure built by gulag prisoners, but these mines have proved uneconomical in recent years and closed with their associated settlements abandoned.
Geography
View of northern Iultinsky District between Polyarny and LeningradskyView of Southern Iultinsky District
Iultinsky District covers the northeastern part of the Chukchi Peninsula, except for its easternmost part, and touches two oceans. In the north, the district borders the Chukchi Sea and Wrangel Island.[12] To the south lies the administrative center and small port of Egvekinot, located on the Kresta Bay of the Gulf of Anadyr. To the south of the Kresta Bay it reaches almost to the Anadyr Estuary.
The central part of the district is part of the Chukotka Mountains. The northwest is drained by the Amguema River. This valley is a key resource for the part of the population that does not live by the sea and contains the only significant stretch of road in the district, running from Egvekinot, through the indigenous locality of Amguema, to the now defunct mining settlement of Iultin.[13] Other populated places in the district are only reachable either by sea or by helicopter. The main lakes in the district are Ekityki, Ervynaygytgyn and Yanranaygytgyn.[14]
History
Prehistory
It is thought that the area of what is now Iultinsky District was where the first people settled in Chukotka during the Paleolithic Age. Archaeological excavations have uncovered stone age camps and tools along the banks of both the Kymynanonvyaam and Maravaam Rivers.[12]
A greater number of camps has been unearthed dating from the Neolithic Period along almost all the significant rivers in the district.[12] Further excavations around Vankarem, Nutepelmen, and Uelkal indicate that there was a change in hunting practices during the 3rd millennium BCE as the native people began not only to follow migrating animals in the tundra, but also to hunt animals at sea. The locations of the archeological discoveries have established that the sea-fishing communities have been in existence in their current locations for a considerable period of time.[12]
After Semyon Dezhnyov and his Cossack companions had established Anadyrsk in the 17th century, they began to explore the surrounding area and discovered the Kresta Bay in 1660, although it was not mapped properly until it was visited by Vitus Bering seventy years later.[12]
20th century
The district was founded on December 2, 1953.[2] The economy on this territory received a major boost following the discovery in the 1930s of significant deposits of tin and tungsten in Mount Iultin. This discovery resulted in the creation of the settlement of Iultin. Initially the settlement was kept supplied by a convoy of tractors, but it was difficult to make significant progress and so to ensure the settlement could continue to be supplied, a road was built linking Egvekinot, Amguema, and Iultin.[12]
During World War II, the territory played an important role in the Soviet supply chain, providing the eastern end of the Uelkal-Krasnoyarsk air route, used by Russia for the delivery of the Lend-Lease planes provide by the United States.[12]
Following the end of World War II, Dalstroy used forced labor to build a port to help supply the mine, and in 1946, the MV Sovetskaya Latviya, one of a fleet of ships used by Dalstroy to transport prisoners to the Kolymagulag,[15] landed in the Kresta Bay to begin construction. Extreme conditions meant that, as in the construction of the Road of Bones, many prisoners died working and were buried where they fell and incorporated into the foundations of the port. Such bodies are still discovered during the spring thaw each year.[12]
In order to provide the necessary power to the mines at Iultin, two power stations—one diesel, one steam-powered—were constructed in Ozyorny[12] (now a microdistrict of Egvekinot); however, in recent years, mining in the region has proved impractical and the mines at Iultin were closed and the settlement abandoned, with the population moving to Egvekinot.[12]
Mergers
A Winter road in northern Iultinsky District
Before May 2008, Iultinsky Administrative District was municipally incorporated as Iultinsky Municipal District. In May 2008, Iultinsky and Shmidtovsky Municipal Districts were merged, forming an enlarged Vostochny Municipal District.[16] This change, however, did not affect the administrative aspect of these districts. Both Iultinsky and Shmidtovsky Administrative Districts continued to exist separately.
In October 2008, the law mandating the change was amended and the name Vostochny was discarded with the combined municipal district being renamed Iultinsky Municipal District. Shmidtovsky Administrative District was merged into Iultinsky Administrative District effective June 13, 2011.[17]
Demographics
The population consists mainly of Russians, although Chukchi, the dominant native people in the district[13] and other indigenous peoples such as Yupik[12] make up about 24% of the total population. The district is bisected by both the Arctic Circle and the line of the 180° longitude.
Economy
View on the road between the now abandoned settlements of Polyarny and Leningradsky in the far north of the district
The main center of economic activity is around Egvekinot and its Ozyorny Microdistrict, a former rural locality now abolished and merged with Egvekinot. This settlement contains the main sea port, a hydroelectric power plant, and the district's principal airport, with Chukotavia providing air service to all major airports within the autonomous okrug.
Outside of the main urban area of Egvekinot, the economy is driven mainly by either mineral extraction (the area is rich in pewter and wolframite as well as coal), traditional indigenous reindeer herding or sea-based hunting, with Chukchi farming centers such as Amguema, Vankarem, and Konergino holding nearly 25,000 head of reindeer in 2005. One of the settlements where marine hunting is the main economic driver, Uelkal, is the most westerly Eskimo settlement in the world.
Transportation
In addition to the airports, Iultinsky District also contains the longest road in Chukotka, which goes from Egvekinot to Iultin through indigenous settlements such as Amguema. There are also a number of winter and tractor roads which branch off from the main Iultinskaya Road serving settlements such as Svetly and Vostochny, as well as some of the geological and mining camps in the district.
Administrative and municipal status
Crossing the Arctic Circle on the road between Iultin and Egvekinot
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Iultinsky District is one of the six in the autonomous okrug.[1] The urban-type settlement of Egvekinot serves as its administrative center.[1] The district does not have any lower-level administrative divisions and has administrative jurisdiction over three urban-type settlements and eight rural localities, consisting of all seven of the inhabited localities listed below in the "Inhabited localities" section and the rural locality of Billings.
As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as Iultinsky Municipal District and is divided into two urban settlements and five rural settlements.[8] The rural locality of Billings, which is administratively a part of Iultinsky District, is, however, municipally a part of Chaunsky Municipal District.
^The count of urban-type settlements may include the work settlements, the resort settlements, the suburban (dacha) settlements, as well as urban-type settlements proper.
Дума Чукотского автономного округа. Закон №33-ОЗ от 30 июня 1998 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Чукотского автономного округа», в ред. Закона №55-ОЗ от 9 июня 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Чукотского автономного округа "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Чукотского автономного округа"». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней со дня его официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Ведомости", №7 (28), 14 мая 1999 г. (Duma of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Law #33-OZ of June 30, 1998 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, as amended by the Law #55-OZ of June 9, 2012 On Amending the Law of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug". Effective as of after ten days from the day of the official publication.).
Правительство Чукотского автономного округа. Распоряжение №517-рп от 30 декабря 2008 г. «Об утверждении реестра административно-территориальных и территориальных образований Чукотского автономного округа», в ред. Распоряжения №323-рп от 27 июня 2011 г. «О внесении изменений в Распоряжение Правительства Чукотского автономного округа от 30 декабря 2008 года №517-рп». Опубликован: База данных "Консультант-плюс". (Government of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Directive #517-rp of December 30, 2008 On the Adoption of the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial and Territorial Formations of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, as amended by the Directive #323-rp of June 27, 2011 On Amending the Government of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Directive No. 517-rp of December 30, 2008. ).
Дума Чукотского автономного округа. Закон №44-ОЗ от 26 мая 2011 г. «О преобразовании некоторых административно-территориальных образований в Чукотском автономном округе и внесении изменений в Закон Чукотского автономного округа "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Чукотского автономного округа"». Вступил в силу через 10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Ведомости", №21(502), 3 июня 2011 г. (Duma of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Law #44-OZ of May 26, 2011 On the Transformation of Several Administrative-Territorial Entities in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and on Amending the Law of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug "On the Administrative-Territorial Division of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug". Effective as of the day which is 10 days after the day of the official publication.).
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