Baranikha, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

For other uses, see Baranikha.
Baranikha (English)
Бараниха (Russian)
-  Inhabited locality[1]  -
Urban-type settlement[1]
(abolished)

Location of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Russia
Baranikha
Location of Baranikha in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Coordinates: 68°31′11″N 168°05′00″E / 68.51972°N 168.08333°E / 68.51972; 168.08333Coordinates: 68°31′11″N 168°05′00″E / 68.51972°N 168.08333°E / 68.51972; 168.08333
Administrative status (as of September 2009)
Country Russia
Federal subject Chukotka Autonomous Okrug[2]
Administrative district Chaunsky District[2]
Statistics
Population (2002 Census) 33 inhabitants[2]
Population (2006 est.) 460 inhabitants[3]
Time zone PETT (UTC+12:00)[4]
Founded 1960[3]
Abolished 1999[5]
Postal code(s)[6] 689400

Baranikha (Russian: Бара́ниха) is an inhabited locality (an urban-type settlement)[1] in Chaunsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia.[2] Population: 33 (2002 Census);[2] 1,996(1989 Census).[7] The 2002 census data shows the population to consist of twenty-three males and ten females,[2] despite the fact that the village had been formally closed in 1999.[5] By 2005, this had fallen to only 15 people according to an environmental impact report for the Kupol Gold Project,[8] although other sources[3] suggest that the population had risen to 460 only a year later.

Geography

The settlement stands on the Rauchua River (Bolshaya Baranikha), which it takes its name from. The Baranikha River was initially called Kitepveyem by the Chukchi, meaning "the river of argali" (mountain sheep).[9] The mountain sheep are still common in the surrounding area, and can often be seen on the shores of nearby lakes.[3]

History

Origins

Local legend holds that a young man was once tricked into becoming the husband of a woman from a village of cannibals. Having been led against his will to their village and forced to use sleight of hand to avoid partaking in a wedding banquet of human flesh, during their wedding night, he killed her with an awl and a knife and escaped in an iron canoe, having drilled holes in all the other wooden canoes. When the bride's family realised she was missing, they checked her room and found her disembodied head, which, apparently, was still sentient, and along with the other villagers gave chase. However, since the canoes were full of holes they sank quickly. Only the woman's head continued the chase, but when it arrived near the man's village, it, along with the wooden canoe, turned into stone on the shores of the mouth of the Baranikha River, close to the present day settlement.[10]

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Baranikha River formed the westernmost boundary of the Chukchi territory.[11]

Modern day

The present-day settlement was founded in 1960 following the discovery of gold and tin in the region, and a mine named "Twenty-second Congress of the CPSU" was established.[12]

On 30 December 1971, an Aeroflot-owned Ilyushin-14 (CCCP-91570) crashed at the Baranikha airport.[13]

There is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator near the settlement.[14] Access to this generator is unrestricted and in 2000 it was discovered that background radiation levels were found to be several times higher than the maximum prescribed norms.[14] However, due to financial difficulties caused by the isolation of this RTG, it has still not been dismantled and evacuated.[14]

The mines were declared unprofitable and that there was no possibility of developing any other form of economy in 1999 and the settlement was closed along with a number of others in Chukotka.[5] The Russian government guaranteed funds to transport non-working pensioners and the unemployed in liquidated settlements including Baranikha from Chukotka to other parts of Russia.[5] The Ministry of railways was obliged to lease containers for the transportation of the migrants' goods to the Chukotkan administration and ensure that they were delivered to the various settlements.[5] However, reailty was somewhat different and the logistics of the operation created significant difficulties for many of those people remaining in Baranikha following its closure as reported in a local newspaper:

...The people of Baranikha are still waiting for containers for the transportation of their household goods. The special hardship case families number about a dozen, but there are not enough containers. Twenty five containers ready for dispatch stand at their homes waiting for transportation. It is impossible to get them to Pevek as there are no on-board machines, cranes or forklifts. The people grow more excited by the day, there is no coal and the only local furnace is in the third barracks. Hot water is supplied to the apartments for only one to two hours a day, whilst the inside temperature is about seven degrees celcius.
North Star newspaper (Russian: Полярная Звезда)[15]

Economy

Like many of the other settlements in the area which were founded by miners settling here, Baranikha's population has been declining steadily since tin production was reduced.[3] By 1968, the population had reached 3,100 people, but thirty years later, the settlement's population dropped sharply when it was decided that the mine was no longer profitable.[12] As of 2009, Baranikha is included in the list of settlements currently in the process of being liquidated.[1]

Transport

Baranikha is not connected by permanent road to any other part of the world. However, there is a small network of roads within the settlement including:[16]

Climate

Baranikha has a Tundra climate (ET)[17] because the warmest month has an average temperature between 0 °C (32 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F).

Climate data for Baranikha
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 2
(36)
0
(32)
34.9
(94.8)
10
(50)
16.2
(61.2)
28.0
(82.4)
30
(86)
26.1
(79)
22
(72)
5
(41)
2
(36)
−2.8
(27)
34.9
(94.8)
Average high °C (°F) −18.3
(−0.9)
−20.4
(−4.7)
−19.9
(−3.8)
−13.7
(7.3)
−2.1
(28.2)
6.7
(44.1)
9.6
(49.3)
7.8
(46)
2.4
(36.3)
−6.9
(19.6)
−16.7
(1.9)
−19.6
(−3.3)
−6.5
(20.3)
Average low °C (°F) −23.4
(−10.1)
−26.2
(−15.2)
−25.6
(−14.1)
−19.2
(−2.6)
−6.7
(19.9)
2.1
(35.8)
5.1
(41.2)
4.1
(39.4)
−0.5
(31.1)
−9.7
(14.5)
−19.6
(−3.3)
−22.1
(−7.8)
−11.8
(10.8)
Record low °C (°F) −51
(−60)
−56
(−69)
−46.4
(−51.5)
−41.1
(−42)
−30
(−22)
−9.7
(14.5)
−0.7
(30.7)
−3.2
(26.2)
−18
(0)
−33
(−27)
−44.5
(−48.1)
−47
(−53)
−31.7
(−25.1)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 9
(0.35)
6
(0.24)
3
(0.12)
3
(0.12)
6
(0.24)
6
(0.24)
21
(0.83)
12
(0.47)
9
(0.35)
6
(0.24)
6
(0.24)
9
(0.35)
96
(3.78)
Average snowy days 14 10 8 9 7 2 0 1 9 14 12 12 98
Source: [18]

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Law #33, Article 14.2
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Petit Fute, Chukotka, p. 110
  4. Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №248-ФЗ от 21 июля 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #248-FZ of July 21, 2014 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Постановление Правительства РФ от 2 февраля 1998 г. N 128 О мерах социальной защиты населения ликвидируемых поселков золотодобытчиков в Чукотском автономном округe (Russian Federation Government resolution dated February 2, 1998 No. 128 on measures of social protection of the population of liquidating estates gold miners in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug "Russian Federation Government resolution dated February 2, 1998 No. 128 on measures of social protection of the population of liquidating estates gold miners in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug).
  6. Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  7. Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  8. Environmental Impact Assessment, Kupol Gold Project, Far East Russia June 2005, prepared by Bema Gold Corporation, p.87
  9. V.V. Leontev and K.A. Novikova, Топонимический словарь северо-востока СССР (Toponymic Dictionary of the Northeastern USSR) (1989) Magadan. p.83
  10. W. Bogoras. Tales of Yukaghir, Lamut and Russianised Natives of Eastern Siberia, Part 3, Chapter 24.
  11. W. Bogoras The Chukchi of Northeastern Asia
  12. 1 2 Dead-cities.ru. Baranikha
  13. Aviation Safety Network. Accident description
  14. 1 2 3 Bellona.org Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators
  15. North Star newspaper, 8 April 1999.
  16. Baranikha - Chaunsky District - Pochtovik Mail Delivery Service
  17. McKnightand Hess, pp.235-7
  18. "Weather History - Baranikha". meoweather.com. Retrieved 29 June 2012.

Sources

External links

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