| Nikolskoye (English) Никольское (Russian) |
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| - Rural locality - Selo[1] |
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View of Nikolskoye |
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Nikolskoye
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| Coordinates: | |
| Administrative status | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Kamchatka Krai[2] |
| Administrative district | Aleutsky District[3] |
| Administrative center of | Aleutsky District[4] |
| Statistics | |
| Population (2002 Census) | 808 inhabitants[5] |
| Population (2010 est.) | 580 inhabitants[6] |
| Time zone | MAGST (UTC+12:00)[7] |
| Founded | 1826 |
| Postal code(s) | 684500 |
| Dialing code(s) | +7 41547 |
Nikolskoye (Russian: Нико́льское) is a rural locality (a selo) and the administrative center of Aleutsky District of Kamchatka Krai, Russia, located on Bering Island in the Commander Islands. Population: 580 (2010 est.)[6]; 808 (2002 Census); 1,356 (1989 Census).
Nikolskoye was founded in 1826 by Aleut (Unangan) settlers from Atka Island in the Aleutian Islands who were brought there by Russian fur traders. While engaging to some extent in the traditional pursuits of whaling and sealing with harpoons and spears, they were primarily employed in the harvest of fur-bearing animals, notably sea otters and fur seals.
Currently, the population is divided roughly evenly between Russians and Aleuts, but mixing between the two is common. The current economy is based primarily on fishing, especially the harvest of salmon caviar, mushroom gathering, and government services and subsidies. Despite living in an environment that is extremely rich with wildlife, the inhabitants of the island are very restricted in the use of these resources since almost the entire island is a nature preserve. In the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, poaching of fish, arctic fox, reindeer (which were introduced to the island), and migratory waterfowl was widespread, but there is virtually no harvest of marine mammals due to strict protection.
The village is served by Nikolskoye Airport.
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The first church of Nikolskoye was dedicated to Saint Nicholas and Saint Innocent of Irkutsk, the Enlightener of Siberia. It was, according to the Church Gazetteer of Saint Nicholas Center[6], built in 1799 by the Russian-American Company. The second building was dedicated in the 1890s and closed after the October Revolution. It was then used as a local club, then a hostel. The building burned down in 1983. A new church is planned for the center of the village, a location not subject to tsunamis. It will be built in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, dismantled, shipped to the island and reassembled.
Like the rest of Kamchatka Krai, Nikolskoye has a subarctic climate (Dfc), though the ocean makes temperatures much less extreme than interior Siberia, with winters being about four degrees milder than at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The transition to the subpolar oceanic climate of southwest Alaska to the east is very apparent, especially in the extremely low sunshine hours, which average only around 2.8 per day due to the consistent fog from the Aleutian Low and the Oyashio Current on its western flank.
| Climate data for Nikolskoye (1945-1994) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 7.8 (46.0) |
5.0 (41.0) |
5.0 (41.0) |
7.2 (45.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
22.2 (72.0) |
20.0 (68.0) |
23.3 (73.9) |
17.8 (64.0) |
12.8 (55.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
11.1 (52.0) |
23.3 (73.9) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −1.7 (28.9) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
0.6 (33.1) |
3.9 (39.0) |
8.9 (48.0) |
13.3 (55.9) |
14.4 (57.9) |
12.2 (54.0) |
5.6 (42.1) |
3.9 (39.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
4.8 (40.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −3.9 (25.0) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
2.0 (35.6) |
6.1 (43.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
11.7 (53.1) |
9.5 (49.1) |
3.7 (38.7) |
0.6 (33.1) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
2.3 (36.1) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −6.1 (21.0) |
−6.7 (19.9) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
3.3 (37.9) |
6.7 (44.1) |
8.9 (48.0) |
6.7 (44.1) |
1.7 (35.1) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −22.2 (−8.0) |
−23.9 (−11.0) |
−17.8 (0.0) |
−13.9 (7.0) |
−12.2 (10.0) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
−7.8 (18.0) |
−15 (5) |
−20 (−4) |
−23.9 (−11.0) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 81.3 (3.201) |
53.9 (2.122) |
50.8 (2) |
52.6 (2.071) |
79.0 (3.11) |
50.3 (1.98) |
54.9 (2.161) |
96.3 (3.791) |
67.3 (2.65) |
84.3 (3.319) |
69.1 (2.72) |
67.8 (2.669) |
807.6 (31.795) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 13.8 | 12.7 | 11.4 | 9.6 | 7.7 | 6.2 | 7.6 | 10.4 | 10.8 | 14.2 | 15.0 | 15.1 | 134.5 |
| Sunshine hours | 31.0 | 56.5 | 99.2 | 120.0 | 102.3 | 84.0 | 74.4 | 108.5 | 123.0 | 111.6 | 54.0 | 27.9 | 992.4 |
| Source no. 1: Sistema de Clasificación Bioclimática Mundial [8] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: allmetsat.com (sunshine only)[9] | |||||||||||||