Koryak Okrug

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 59°05′N 159°56′E / 59.083°N 159.933°E / 59.083; 159.933

Koryak Okrug (Russian: Коря́кский о́круг, Koryaksky okrug; Koryak: Чав’чываокруг), or Koryakia, is an administrative division of Kamchatka Krai, Russia.^[1] It was a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous okrug of Kamchatka Oblast) from 1931^[2] until July 1, 2007, when it merged with Kamchatka Oblast. Prior to the merger, it was called Koryak Autonomous Okrug (Коря́кский автоно́мный о́круг).

With a population of 25,157 (2002 Census), about a quarter of them Koryaks, it had the smallest population of all Russian federal subjects, despite being ranked 17th in size, at 301,500 km², encompassing part of the northern half of Kamchatka Peninsula.

The urban-type settlement of Palana was the administrative center of Koryakia

Contents 1 Administrative divisions 2 Demographics 3 2006 earthquake 4 Footnotes 5 References

[edit] Administrative divisions

[edit] Demographics

Population:
The population was 25,157 according to the 2002 Census and was estimated to be 23,800 in 2005.

Vital statistics (2005):

• Births: 294 (birth rate 12.5)
• Deaths: 466 (death rate 19.8)

Ethnic groups:
About 40% of the total population is indigenous, the 6,710 Koryaks being the largest such group. They are, however, outnumbered by the 12,719 ethnic Russians. According to the 2002 Census the ‘national composition’ was • Russian 50.56% • Koryak 26.67% • Chukchi 5.61% • Itelmen 4.69% • Ukrainian 4.09% • Even 2.99% • Tatar 0.86% • Belarusians 0.56% • Kamchadal 0.53% • and a few other groups of less than one hundred persons each. In addition 0.76% of the inhabitants declined to state their nationality on the census questionnaire.^[3]

Historical figures are shown below:

	census 1939	census 1959	census 1970	census 1979	census 1989	census 2002
Koryaks	6,855 (27.2%)	5,010 (18.2%)	5,893 (19.1%)	5,660 (16.2%)	6,572 (16.5%)	6,710 (26.7%)
Chukchis	1,267 (5.0%)	1,062 (3.9%)	1,164 (3.8%)	1,222 (3.5%)	1,460 (3.7%)	1,412 (5.6%)
Itelmens	801 (3.2%)	900 (3.3%)	970 (3.1%)	1,002 (2.9%)	1,179 (3.0%)	1,181 (4.7%)
Evens	714 (2.8%)	520 (1.9%)	613 (2.0%)	476 (1.4%)	713 (1.8%)	751 (3.0%)
Russians	13,794 (54.8%)	16,674 (60.6%)	19,522 (63.1%)	22,493 (64.5%)	24,773 (62.0%)	12,719 (50.6%)
Ukrainians	847 (3.4%)	1,310 (4.8%)	1,186 (3.8%)	1,999 (5.7%)	2,896 (7.3%)	1,029 (4.1%)
Others	882 (3.5%)	2,049 (7.4%)	1,569 (5.1%)	1,999 (5.7%)	2,347 (5.9%)	1,355 (5.4%)
Total	25160	27525	30917	34850	39940	25157

[edit] 2006 earthquake

On April 20, 2006, Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula was struck by a major earthquake. The 7.7-magnitude tremblor had its epicenter near the village of Tilichiki. The Koryakia branch of the Russian Office of Emergency Situations said some area residents were injured but there were no fatalities.

The quake occurred at about noon local time Friday, so residents were awake and not caught in their beds.

The United States Geological Survey reported a series of at least fifty smaller aftershocks in the area and immediately offshore. They ranged from 4.1 to 6.5 magnitudes on the Richter scale.

Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S.G.S. in Colorado, said the quake was relatively shallow. He estimated that about 2,000 people live close enough to the epicenter to have felt its full force.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Chaussonnet, Valerie (1995) Native Cultures of Alaska and Siberia. Arctic Studies Center. Washington, D.C. 112p. ISBN 1560986611