Taymyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug
Population, economic development and infrastructure
The population of the Taymyr Autonomous Okrug decreased significantly from 55,800 during the 1989 census to 44,300 in 1999 and 39,440 in 2004. The indigenous portion of the population increased from 8600 to 9800, and thus from 15.5% to 25% (Dolgan 5510, Nenets 3054, Nganasan 766, Evenk 299, Enets 197).
The considerable Russian population is confined to the urban or near-urban areas of the
Norilsk
industrial area, Dudinka, the gas fields of Messoyakha, the seaport of Dikson and some smaller places along the Yenisey and
Khatanga
rivers. The
Norilsk
area lies administratively directly under the
Krasnoyarsk
Territory
and is exempt from the okrug.
The indigenous population of the okrug lives concentrated in the
Lower Yenisey
and the Kheta and
Khatanga
River
valleys. The
Lower Yenisey
area is the home of the easternmost branch of the Nenets and the almost vanished Enets people. Enets residence centres are the two villages Vorontsovo and Potapovo, where they live and form reindeer breeding and fishing brigades together with the much more numerous Nenets and Russians. The Nganasans, Dolgans and Evenks mingle in the Kheta and
Khatanga
valleys, though they also use(d) land areas along the lower Yenisey. The Nganasans concentrate in the eastern part around their cultural centre of Ust-Avam. An eastern branch lives in Novaya, close to the city of
Khatanga
. Dolgans form the major population of the Kheta and
Khatanga
valleys. Traditional hunting and reindeer breeding grounds of the Nganasans lie to the north of the valleys and comprise the entire
Taymyr
Peninsula
, while Dolgans traditionally used the areas to the south. Common land use of these ethnic groups on Taymyr has a long tradition and proportions have changed through time. Mixture of ethnic groups in sovkhozes (state farms), the successors of the ethnically pure kolkhozes, contributed to the present mingling of most ethnic groups in most areas. The ethnic distribution shown on the map is a generalisation that tries to show both the highly common land use pattern, but also the main trends of the location of traditional home lands.
Except for some fish processing in
Khatanga
and Dudinka, industry is confined to the
Norilsk
industrial and mining area, founded in 1935 and built up mainly in the 1950s. The mines produce coal, nickel, cobalt and copper. Gas production from the gas field at Messoyakha and Solenoye to the east provides local energy supply, and the surrounding areas can be developed further if needed. Oil and gas deposits also occur around the
Gulf
of
Khatanga
(Khatangskiy Zaliv), but presently, little priority seems to be given to further development. Hydroelectric power is produced at
Norilsk
and Snezhnogorsk. Industries comprise mainly metal processing and construction materials.
The
Yenisey
River
with its seaport Dudinka is one of the main traffic veins through
Northern Siberia
. A road system, operational only in winter, connects the populated area of the Kheta-Khatanga river system and the seaport of Khatanga with the population centres of the Northern Sakha Republic (Yakutia), and road connection from there to Norilsk also exists. The infrastructure of the tundra areas outside these developed regions is very poor and used by native people for their subsistence occupations.