Arctic Yearbook 2015 | Page 33

33 Arctic Yearbook 2015 Arctic zone, where the population of 70,000 people occupy 1.7 million km2 (Fondahl et al. 2014). The total area of Chukotka makes 721.5 km2 with a population of 50,500 people. Figure 1: Arctic and Sub-Arctic areas of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug In the Soviet time, intensive development of the Russian North-East was related predominantly to geological survey, operation of mining enterprises, management of the North Sea Route, and combating state security issues. A reliable system of support of ahead of schedule delivery of goods to northern territories (Vasiliev et al. 2009; Pelyasov 2005) was established and operated. Since 1989, in Yakutia and Chukotka, the number of permanent residents in the areas under study has decreased respectively by 2.1. and 3.1. (Table 1). Table 1: Population of the Arctic regions of Yakutia and Chukotka Administrative area (ulus) Population, persons, 1989.1 13 Arctic areas, Sakha Republic (Yakutia) Abyyskiy 6097 Allaikhovskiy 5218 Anabarskiy 3903 Bulunskiy 17,257 Verhnekolymskiy 10,072 Verkhoyanskiy 24,259 Zhiganskiy 5678 Momskiy 5505 Barakaeva, Batugina & Gavrilov Population, persons, January 2014.2 Population Number of in 2014, in % settlements as compared with 1989. 4196 2764 3403 8507 4317 11,665 4245 4237 68.8 53.0 87.2 49.3 42.9 48.1 74.8 77.0 6 7 4 13 6 17 5 7