Pevek

Pevek (Russian Певек; Chukchi Пээкин / Peekin ) is a city in the Autonomous District of the Chukchi (Russia) with 4162 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ).

Geography

The city is located on the north coast of the Chukotka Peninsula, at the eastern edge of the Tschaunbucht the East Siberian Sea. 640 km northwest of the Oblasthauptstadt Anadyr located Pevek is the northernmost city in Russia. The town lie the Routan Islands.

The city is the administrative center of the Pevek Rajons Tschaunski.

It has a harbor on the Northern Sea Route and an airport (IATA: PWE).

History

Pevek arose in 1933 in connection with the exploration of raw materials on Chukotka, and plans to use the Northern Sea Route. The name derives from the situated above the village 518 m high mountain Peekinei ( Пээкиней, thick mountain peek from Chukch or Pevek for thick) named.

In Pevek the management of multiple penal camp was in the Gulag system, so from 1949 to 1957 of the Tschauntschukotlags and 1951-1953 of the Tschaunlags (named after the south leading into the bay of the same river Chaun ). In these camps up to 11,000 people were temporarily detained at the same time. In 1967, the site of a town.

With the economic crisis of the 1990s and the decline of the Northern Sea Route, the population declined dramatically.

Demographics

Note: Census data

Culture and sights

In Pevek there since 1977, a local museum and a Geological Museum.

Near the mouth of the river Pegtymel, about 150 kilometers east of Pevek, over 100 stone-age rock paintings were discovered in the 1960s, representing, inter alia, reindeer hunters and boats.

Economy

In the vicinity of Pevek there are deposits of gold, tin, mercury and coal. The city today is largely logistical center for the search for gold, which is operated by several smaller artel. In Pevek there are various construction and utilities; Food is produced for local needs.

Begun in 1941 the promotion of tin ore at twelve kilometers south nearby settlement Walkumei ( Валькумей ) was closed in 1998, and thus its further processing to concentrate in Pevek. The mining facilities in Walkumei were partly degraded and partly " conserved".