Chukotka
The Chukotsky Autonomous Okrug at 737,000 square kilometres is about half the size of Alaska. The sixth largest administrative area of Russia, Chukotka has eight raions. The administrative centre is the colourful town of Anadyr.
Heavily influenced by the two great oceans that surround it, Chukotka’s weather is unstable with strong, cold northerly winds that can quickly shift to south-west storms. Cyclones occur frequently. Coastal areas have an average of 150 windy days per year. Precipitation averages between 200 and 400 millimetres per year. Cape Navarin has the highest incidence of hurricanes and storms in Russia. Ice covers the surrounding seas most of the year. Chukotka averages between 80 and 100 growing days per year. January temperatures average between -15ºC and 35ºC, with July temperatures averaging between 5ºC and 14ºC. A region with very few roads, in the summer the sea is the best highway in this region making it the perfect location for a Russian Far East cruise.
Chukotka’s largest rivers, the Anadyr, Greater Anyui, Lesser Anyui and Omolon all flow from the mountainous western part of the peninsula where peaks reach 1,800 metres. The Anadyr River flows east, meandering through lowlands of marshes, plains and riparian forests before emptying into Anadyr Bay and the Bering Sea. The Lesser and Greater Anyui Rivers flow north, through another lowland of plains and marshes, and cross the border into the Republic of Sakha before merging and emptying into the great Kolyma River. The third major lowland area is just south of Chaun Inlet, where numerous small rivers and streams flow north into this bay. Mountains, though not quite as high as those found in the west, dominate much of central and eastern Chukotka providing a majestic backdrop for our various Russian Far East expeditions.
The Bering Strait provides for the only exchange of water between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans in the northern hemisphere. The northerly flowing ocean current just south-east of Cape Navarin to Anadyr Bay and through the western portion of the strait carries rich nutrients that fuel the production of massive amounts of phytoplankton and zooplankton, making the region one of the most productive marine areas in the world.
Chukotka can be divided into four vegetation belts: Arctic tundra, subarctic tundra, tundra woodland and boreal forest. Arctic tundra, heavily influenced by the cold Arctic Ocean, includes Wrangel Island and nearby islands and a strip of coastline between the Oklyma River and Kolyuchinskaya Bay in the east. Vegetation similar to Western Alaska (primarily mosses, lichens and small shrubs) covers about half the region. Wrangel Island has especially diverse flora with many endemic, American and steppe species. Subarctic tundra, with areas of tall shrubs and lichen grasslands, grows throughout much of Chukotka. It gradually turns into tundra woodland toward the south-west and includes the extensive riparian forests of the Anadyr basin. This terrain provides an ideal environment to see wild bears and also many marine mammals including various species of whales and Walrus.
The Chukotsky Autonomous Okrug at 737,000 square kilometres is about half the size of Alaska. The sixth largest administrative area of Russia, Chukotka has eight raions. The administrative centre is the colourful town of Anadyr.
Heavily influenced by the two great oceans that surround it, Chukotka’s weather is unstable with strong, cold northerly winds that can quickly shift to south-west storms. Cyclones occur frequently. Coastal areas have an average of 150 windy days per year. Precipitation averages between 200 and 400 millimetres per year. Cape Navarin has the highest incidence of hurricanes and storms in Russia. Ice covers the surrounding seas most of the year. Chukotka averages between 80 and 100 growing days per year. January temperatures average between -15ºC and 35ºC, with July temperatures averaging between 5ºC and 14ºC. A region with very few roads, in the summer the sea is the best highway in this region making it the perfect location for a Russian Far East cruise.
Chukotka’s largest rivers, the Anadyr, Greater Anyui, Lesser Anyui and Omolon all flow from the mountainous western part of the peninsula where peaks reach 1,800 metres. The Anadyr River flows east, meandering through lowlands of marshes, plains and riparian forests before emptying into Anadyr Bay and the Bering Sea. The Lesser and Greater Anyui Rivers flow north, through another lowland of plains and marshes, and cross the border into the Republic of Sakha before merging and emptying into the great Kolyma River. The third major lowland area is just south of Chaun Inlet, where numerous small rivers and streams flow north into this bay. Mountains, though not quite as high as those found in the west, dominate much of central and eastern Chukotka providing a majestic backdrop for our various Russian Far East expeditions.
The Bering Strait provides for the only exchange of water between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans in the northern hemisphere. The northerly flowing ocean current just south-east of Cape Navarin to Anadyr Bay and through the western portion of the strait carries rich nutrients that fuel the production of massive amounts of phytoplankton and zooplankton, making the region one of the most productive marine areas in the world.
Chukotka can be divided into four vegetation belts: Arctic tundra, subarctic tundra, tundra woodland and boreal forest. Arctic tundra, heavily influenced by the cold Arctic Ocean, includes Wrangel Island and nearby islands and a strip of coastline between the Oklyma River and Kolyuchinskaya Bay in the east. Vegetation similar to Western Alaska (primarily mosses, lichens and small shrubs) covers about half the region. Wrangel Island has especially diverse flora with many endemic, American and steppe species. Subarctic tundra, with areas of tall shrubs and lichen grasslands, grows throughout much of Chukotka. It gradually turns into tundra woodland toward the south-west and includes the extensive riparian forests of the Anadyr basin. This terrain provides an ideal environment to see wild bears and also many marine mammals including various species of whales and Walrus.
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