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Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Area
// GENERAL INFORMATION
The Taimyr Autonomous Area occupies the Taimyr Peninsula to its extreme end at Chelyuskin Cape (including the islands between the Yenisei Gulf and Khatanga Gulf), the northern part of the Central Siberian Plateau, and the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. It is the only subject of the Russian Federation located entirely above the Arctic Circle. It is also Russia's largest autonomous region in area.
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The area borders on the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the east, the Evenk Autonomous Area of Krasnoyarsk Territory in the southeast, Krasnoyarsk Territory in the south, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area in the west, and has a coastline on the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea and Khatanga Gulf on the Laptev Sea in the north.
Part of the West Siberian Plain extends across the southwestern part of the area along the left bank of the Yenisei. The relief of nearby islands is similar to the mainland: they are low-lying west of the Yenisei and steep and rocky off the coast of the peninsula. The landscape varies from Arctic desert and tundra to forest tundra. Glaciers and permafrost cover a large part of the territory. The Byrranga Mountains, which extend for 1100 km and have elevations up to 1146 m, cross the Taimyr Peninsula.
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The Taimyr Autonomous Area takes up nearly 40% of Krasnoyarsk Territory. It has a total area the size of England, France, and the Netherlands combined (862 100 km2, or 5.1% of the RF). The distance from Dudinka (the capital) to Moscow is 6403 km, and the time difference is +4 hours.
The administrative center of the Taimyr Autonomous Area is the city of Dudinka (pop. 31 800). The area also includes 3 administrative districts (Diksonsky, with its center in the town of Dikson; Ust-Yeniseisky , with its center in the village of Karaul; and Khatangsky, with its center in the village of Khatanga), 21 rural administrations, and 1 town.
The Unified Municipal Formation of Norilsk, which is under the administration of Krasnoyarsk Territory, is located in the Taimyr Autonomous Area. It includes the cities of Norilsk, Kayerkan, and Talnakh and the town of Snezhnogorsk.
The area has a population of 44 300 (0.03% of the RF population; 87th in the RF in population) and a population density of 0.05 people per km2. Urban residents make up 63.9% of the population (vs. 73.0% in the RF), and rural residents, 36.1% (27.0% in the RF).
People of 110 different nationalities make up the area's ethnic structure. The largest groups are Russians (67.1% of the population), Dolgans (8.8%), Ukrainians (8.6%), Nenets (4.4%), and Nganasans (1.5%); the remaining nationalities make up 9.6% of the population.
HISTORY
Settlement of the area began in the Neolithic age. Russians in service, industrial, and trading occupations began settling the northern Yenisei region in the 17th century; then the region was annexed to Russia. The Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Area was formed on December 10, 1930, as part of Krasnoyarsk Territory by a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). Prior to that, Taimyr had been part of Yenisei Province, which had its administrative center in Irkutsk. The area has been a subject of the Russian Federation since 1992.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Taimyr is one of the least known Russian regions: only 3% of its subsurface has been studied. Despite this, the peninsula's raw material resource base is considered to be substantial. There are reserves of hard (bituminous) coal, oil, gas, gold, molybdenum, copper, titanium, complex metal ores, antimony, boron, mercury, phosphorites, iron, and tantaloniobate. Deposits of graphite, thermoanthracite, and gem-quality chrysolite have also been discovered.
The area's huge bituminous coal reserves occur in three large coal basins (Tungus, Taimyr, and Lena basins) and may be as much as 92 billion tons. Potential coal reserves amount to nearly 20% of all resources of the Siberian Shelf.
The Taimyr Autonomous area is the only gas-producing region of northeastern Siberia. Nearly all of its territory consists of oil- and gas-bearing districts. Total geological oil reserves are 27 billion tons or 200 billion barrels. Only 1 of the 46 discovered oil, gas, and gas condensate fields is under commercial production. Most of the fields are prospective areas. The peninsula has more than half of the world's industrial diamond reserves.
Forest land covers a total area of 2 701 700 hectares [6.6% of the forest lands in the Siberian Federal District (SFD)]; this includes 1 662 100 hectares of coniferous forest (0.9% of the total coniferous forest land in the SFD). Total timber reserves of the main forest-forming species amount to 91.1 million m3 (0.3% of the reserves in the SFD).
The area has Russia's lowest percentage of forest land. Mixed forests of Dahurian larch, spruce, and birch are found only along the Khatanga River up to 72° north; they are the world's northernmost forests.
There are three nature preserves in the Taimyr Autonomous Region: the Great Arctic Preserve, Taimyr Biosphere Preserve, and Putoran Preserve, where the muskox population has been successfully restored.
With an improved transportation infrastructure, the construction of recreation and tourist facilities unlike any other in the world may become attractive to Russian and foreign investors.
Traditional nature management zones have been established in areas populated by native minorities of the North.
AUTHORITIES
The Duma of Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Area is the highest legislative (representative) body. It is made up of 11 deputies elected for a five-year term.
The Administration of Taimyr (Dolgan-Nenets) Autonomous Area is the highest executive body.
ECONOMY
The Taimyr Autonomous Area has been one of the least socioeconomically developed subjects of the Russian Federation in all macroeconomic indicators from the time it was formed. The area generates only 0.02% of Russia's GDP and is in 9th place in level of subsidization. The economic crisis of 1998 had a greater impact on industrial production here than in other Siberian regions. Nearly 80% of companies are unprofitable due to high freight transportation costs and dependence on deliveries of fuel and lubricants, building materials, and aviation fuel.
As of January 1, 2002, 847 companies were listed in the Unified State Registry of Companies and Organizations (EGRPO), including their affiliates, compared to 705 as of January 1, 2001. This represents 0.2% of all companies in the SFD, or 0.02% of all companies in Russia.
INDUSTRY
The main industrial sectors are the food (baking, fishing), fuel (coal), and power industries.
The area accounts for 0.0003% of all industrial output in Russia, or 0.03% of output in the SFD.
The food industry has an 85% share in total industrial output; the fuel industry 6%; the power industry 5.9%; and other sectors - 2.4%.
The area's economy and the state of its budget directly depend on federal transfer payments, tax payments received from RAO Norilsk Nickel (Norilsky nikel), and to only a small extent from internal revenues.
There are hardly any large industrial and agricultural enterprises in the area. About 60% of residents are connected to some extent with structural subdivisions of Norilsk Mining Company (NGK). The port of Dudinsk is also a subdivision of NGK. The largest industrial enterprise is the Kotui mine in Khatangsky District. Its task is to supply coal to meet demand in both the district and the eastern part of the autonomous area. Coal production at the mine has always been unprofitable, and production has decreased in recent years.
Measures are being undertaken in the area to increase its economic potential through use of the mineral resource base and oil, gas, and diamond production. Three gas fields operate in the region, alluvial gold and platinoids are being mined, and underground water reservoirs are being exploited. There are also companies in the printing and food industries.
Reindeer herding, fur farming (blue and silver fox), and fur trapping are the primary agricultural sectors. Beef and dairy farming is underdeveloped.
Agriculture is the main occupation of the northern native minorities.
There are 18 state agricultural enterprises, 17 farms, 45 commercial hunting businesses, and 43 tribal (communal) businesses. The main lines of activity of these companies are catching and selling fish and selling wild and domestic reindeer meat; these activities account for 99.1% of total agricultural output. Output of all categories of agricultural products was worth 41.9 million rubles; the agricultural product volume index was 104.7%.
Agricultural enterprises in the area constantly sustain losses.
Freight is transported by sea, river, air, and rail. Passenger transport is by vehicle and air.
Sea transport is based at the ports of Dudinka, Dikson [part of OAO Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Company (GMK Norilsky nikel)], and Khatanga commercial port. One company, Yenisei River Shipping (Yeniseiskoe rechnoe parokhodstvo) owned by the Taimyrsky District administration, is involved in river transport. The main waterway consists of the Yenisei River and the two ice-free ports of Dudinka (on the Yenisei) and Dikson (on the Northern Sea Route on the Kara Sea) and provides year-round shipping on the Dudinka-Dikson-Murmansk-Western Europe route. The Yenisei also connects the area to Krasnoyarsk Territory, which ships commercial cargoes and food products to the area by river. River transport, mainly along the Yenisei, is accessible to sea-going vessels for 600 km within the area. The total length of the area's navigable inland waterways is 46 km (0.2% of the total length of waterways in the Siberian Federal District, or 13th place in the federal district).
A rail operation owned by Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Company provides rail transport. The world's northernmost railway line connecting Dudinka with Norilsk and Talnakh is 89 km long and was built by political prisoners in the mid-1930s.
The area has 278 km of general-use paved roads (15th in the SFD) and a road density of 0.3 km per 1000 km2 (compared with 17 km /1000 km2 in the SDF and 31 km/1000 km2 in Russia as a whole). There are also 85 km of permanent mining roads, 175 km of dirt roads, and 6000 km of temporary winter roads.
Three aviation companies provide air service: Dudinka, Khatanga, and Dikson united aircraft squadrons.
Reindeer herders and hunters use traditional reindeer and dog sleds as transportation.
Official Site of the Duma of Taimyr Autonomous Area: http://www.dumatao.ru/
Official Site of the Administration of Taimyr Autonomous Area: http://www.taimyr.ru/
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