Map of Chukotsky District

The village of Lavrentiya

   The village of Lavrentiya is the administrative center of the Chukotsky Raion. The population is 1007 people, 711 of them represent the native peoples.
   The village is located on the coast of the bay with a same name. The bay was named in 1778 by James Cook. When his ship entered the bay, it was the day of St. Lawrence according to his ecclesiastic calendar. The village of Lavrentiya was established in 1927. It is a comfortable modern settlement with a high school, a youth sport school, two daycare centers, a children’s art center, a library, a hospital, a cultural center. The Yetti Native Club (“yetti” is a Chukchii greeting that means “here you are”) works in the cultural center for as long as 27 years. This club as well as the White Sail Native Ensemble, are headed by Margarita Glukhikh. Every July or August the village hosts the whale and skin boat regatta “Beringia”. Every August or September it celebrates the native Whale Festival with different contests and competitions in the native kinds of sport and performances of the native ensembles.

 The village of Lorino

  The village of Lorino is situated on the coast of the Mechigmen Inlet. The population is 1419 people, 1288 of them are native. 31 (as of March 01, 2003) are unemployed.
    The villages was named after the Chukchi word “liuraen” that means “discovered stand”. The view around the village is unusually picturesque. The cinematographers chose the village surroundings to make the film “The Chief of Chukotka”. The Lorino hot springs are located in 15 kilometers from the village.
   The village has a high school, a daycare center, a boarding school, a cultural center, a food store, a hospital, a post-office, a polar fox breeding farm with more than 300 polar foxes. The Lorino Dawns native ensemble under the guidance of N. Ginuntegin is known all over Chukotka.

 The village of Uelen

  The village of Uelen is situated on the coast of the Bering Strait by Cape Dezhniov on the most northeastern point of the Eurasian continent. The population is 776 people, among them 595 are Chukchis and 72 are Eskimos. 37 people (as of March 01, 2003) are unemployed.
  The distance between Uelen and the raion center is about 140 km. The main activity is the traditional harvest of walrus, ringed seal and whale. Uelen is a well-known center of Chukotka ivory carving. In 1931 an ivory carving workshop was established in the village. The best carvers of Chukotka – Vukvutagin, Vukvol, Tukkai, Khukhutan and others worked here. Later a museum was attached to the workshop. The talented masters of Uelen are winner of the international and Russian festivals and exhibits, The Uelen native ensemble under the guidance of Ya.S.Tagiok is very popular among the villagers and, especially, among the guests of the village. It was established under the Uelen cultural center. The ensemble has long-term friendly relationships with the Alaska Eskimos, it is a regular guest at the native folklore festivals in Alaska. The village has a school and a boarding school, a daycare center. At present a Christian temple is being constructed in the village.

 The village of Inchoun

  The village of Inchoun is located to the north of Cape Dezhniov on the Arctic Ocean coast. There is a walrus rookery not far from the village. The population is 373 people, 357 are native. 21 people (as of March 01, 2003) are unemployed.
   There is a rock near the village with a stone separated from it. From a distance the stone looks like a nose cut off by knife. Probably that’s where the name of the village comes from. “I’nchuvin” in the Chukchi language means “a nose tip cut off”. This is a typical native village populated mostly by marine mammal hunters who carefully keep ancient traditions and skills. The village has a daycare center.

 The village of Neshkan

  The village of Neshkan is situated on the sand and pebble spit in the northeast of the Chukotsky Peninsula.
  The Eskimo name of the village is Naskuk that means “head of a ringed seal” comes from the same-named hill that from the sea looks like a head of a ringed seal. The village of Neshkan was established in the middle 1950s to consolidate the small reindeer herders’ stands and to establish a collective farm. The village population is 704 and 662 of them are native. 11 peoples (as of March 01, 2003) are unemployed.
   The primary activities of the villagers are reindeer herding (there are 6 reindeer herders’ teams), marine mammal harvest, hunting and fishing. The village has a secondary school, a daycare center, a food store and a post-office.

 The village of Enurmino

   The population of Enurmino is 297 people, 296 of them are native. 17 people (as of March 01, 2003) are unemployed.
   This is a typical marine mammal hunters’s village situated on the northeastern coast of the Chukchi Sea, by Serdtze-Kamen’ Cape. The named after the Chukchi word “I’nnurmin” – “a place behind hills”. In the Eskimo language this area is called Anushvik (Anurvik) that probably is a derivative of “an” – “to go out”. The village is lovated in a very picturesque valley surrounded by hills. The village has a food store, an elementary school, a daycare center and a post-office. The main activities of the villagers are Marine mammal harvest, hunting and fishing.