Koryak Autonomous Okrug
Encyclopedia
Koryak Okrug or Koryakia, is an administrative division of Kamchatka Krai, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It was a federal subject
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...

 of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 (an autonomous okrug
Autonomous okrug
Autonomous okrug is a term for an administrative country subdivision in Russia. The term was also used in the Soviet Union.- See also :* Okrug* Autonomous okrugs of Russia* Autonomous okrugs of the Soviet Union...

 of Kamchatka Oblast
Kamchatka Oblast
Kamchatka Oblast was, until being incorporated into Kamchatka Krai on July 1, 2007, a federal subject of Russia . To the north, it bordered Magadan Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Koryak Autonomous Okrug was located in the northern part of the oblast...

) from 1931 until July 1, 2007, when it merged with Kamchatka Oblast. Prior to the merger, it was called Koryak Autonomous Okrug . Its administrative center is the urban locality (an urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement ; , selyshche mis'koho typu ) is an official designation for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union...

) of Palana
Palana
Palana is an urban locality and the administrative center of Koryak Okrug of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is located on the west coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula on the right bank of the Palana River, within from the Sea of Okhotsk. Population: Administratively, Palana is subordinated to Tigilsky...

. Population:

As of the 2002 Census, Koryaks
Koryaks
Koryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk. They are akin to the...

 constituted about a quarter of the population. At the time it had the smallest population of all the federal subjects
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...

, despite being ranked 17th in size, at 301500 square kilometres (116,409.8 sq mi), encompassing part of the northern half of Kamchatka Peninsula
Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...

.

Demographics

  • Vital statistics
Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service

Births Deaths Birth rate Death rate
1970 683 356 22.0 11.5
1975 706 374 21.4 11.3
1980 701 351 20.0 10.0
1985 793 289 21.4 7.8
1990 635 342 16.9 9.1
1991 623 350 16.6 9.3
1992 611 369 16.7 10.1
1993 459 433 13.3 12.6
1994 433 460 13.5 14.3
1995 382 481 12.5 15.8
1996 374 436 12.7 14.8
1997 373 400 13.0 13.9
1998 396 355 14.2 12.7
1999 319 397 11.8 14.7
2000 289 391 11.0 14.9
2001 298 390 11.6 15.1
2002 310 376 12.2 14.8
2003 268 462 10.9 18.7
2004 339 463 14.1 19.2
2005 294 466 12.5 19.8
2006 270 366 11.8 16.0
2007 280 351 12.6 15.8
2008 267 368 12.4 17.1

  • Ethnic groups:

About 40% of the total population is indigenous, the 6,710 Koryaks
Koryaks
Koryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk. They are akin to the...

 being the largest such group. They are, however, outnumbered by the 12,719 ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

. According to the 2002 Census
Russian Census (2002)
Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics .-Resident population:...

 the ‘national composition’ was • Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 50.56% • Koryak
Koryaks
Koryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk. They are akin to the...

 26.67% • Chukchi 5.61% • Itelmen
Itelmens
The Itelmen, sometimes known as Kamchadal, are an ethnic group who are the original inhabitants living on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. The Itelmen language is distantly related to Chukchi and Koryak, forming the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family, but it is now virtually extinct, the vast...

 4.69% • Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

 4.09% • Even
Evens
The Evens or Eveny are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in some of the regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of the Lena River. According to the 2002 census, there were 19,071 Evens in Russia...

 2.99% • Tatar
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...

 0.86% • Belarusians
Belarusians
Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...

 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.

Historical figures are shown below:
census 1939 census 1959 census 1970 census 1979 census 1989 census 2002
Koryaks
Koryaks
Koryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk. They are akin to the...

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
Itelmens
The Itelmen, sometimes known as Kamchadal, are an ethnic group who are the original inhabitants living on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. The Itelmen language is distantly related to Chukchi and Koryak, forming the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family, but it is now virtually extinct, the vast...

801 (3.2%) 900 (3.3%) 970 (3.1%) 1,002 (2.9%) 1,179 (3.0%) 1,181 (4.7%)
Evens
Evens
The Evens or Eveny are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in some of the regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of the Lena River. According to the 2002 census, there were 19,071 Evens in Russia...

714 (2.8%) 520 (1.9%) 613 (2.0%) 476 (1.4%) 713 (1.8%) 751 (3.0%)
Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

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
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

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

2006 earthquake

On April 20, 2006, Kamchatka Peninsula was struck by a major earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

. The 7.7-magnitude tremblor had its epicenter near the village of Tilichiki
Tilichiki
Tilichiki is a rural locality and the administrative center of Olyutorsky District of Koryak Okrug of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is located on the Korfa Bay of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Tilichiki Airport is located to the south of it, and it is also connected by ferry service to the port village...

. 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
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 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
Richter magnitude scale
The expression Richter magnitude scale refers to a number of ways to assign a single number to quantify the energy contained in an earthquake....

.

Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S.G.S. in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, 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.

Sources

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