Dikson Island (russian: Ди́ксон), initially Dickson, is the name of an island in
Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District
Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District (russian: Таймы́рский Долга́но-Не́нецкий райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #10-4765 and municipalLaw #2-54 district (raion), one of the forty-three in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia ...
(russian: Таймы́рский Долга́но-Не́нецкий райо́н),
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Si ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, situated in the
Kara Sea near the mouth of the
Yenisei River. A nearby
urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...
of
Dikson, which functions as a port and
hydrometeorological
Hydrometeorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere. Hydrologists often use data provided by meteorologists. As an example, a meteorologist might ...
centre, is located on the mainland across from the island. It is served by the
Dikson Airport
Dikson Airport () is a small commercial airport in Russia located west of the urban-type settlement of Dikson on a small island. The airport is owned by KrasAvia. It primarily services small transport aircraft. Central Intelligence Agency re ...
.
History
Dikson Island and its adjoining urban settlement have been named after Swedish Arctic pioneer Baron
Oscar Dickson.
[''The Darkness of Dikson Island''](_blank)
, Author unknown, russia-channel.com In the 17th century the island was known as ("long") island, or , after its
Pomor
Pomors or Pomory ( rus, помо́ры, p=pɐˈmorɨ, ''seasiders'') are an ethnographic group descended from Russian settlers, primarily from Veliky Novgorod, living on the White Sea coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a ...
discoverer.
In 1875, the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
explorer
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the Fenno-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friher ...
renamed it after the wealthy Swedish merchant and
philanthropist of
Scottish origin Oskar Dickson.
The name was soon
Russified
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
, by dropping the "c".
Dikson has been the official name of the island since 1884.
Oscar Dickson, along with
Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Sibiryakov, had been the patron of a number of early Arctic expeditions, including
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the Fenno-Swedish Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friher ...
's Russian Arctic explorations.
In 1915 the island became the site of the first Russian
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
station in the
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
. The seaport on the mainland was built in 1935, and in 1957 the two settlements were merged into one.
During World War II the town was bombarded by the in August 1942 during
Operation Wunderland
Operation Wunderland ("Wonderland") comprised a large-scale operation undertaken in summer 1942 by the German ''Kriegsmarine'' in the waters of the Northern Sea Route close to the Arctic Ocean. The Germans knew that many ships of the Soviet Nav ...
.
Dikson Island was one of the transfer destinations for
1949 March deportation from
Latvia.
[Map of transfer destinations from Latvia in 1949. https://visc.gov.lv/vispizglitiba/saturs/dokumenti/metmat/vesture_6_9/kartes4.shtml]
Climate
Dikson has a severe Arctic
tundra climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''ET''). The weather (even in the warmest month, August) is notoriously unpleasant. Winter in Dikson lasts ten months, and for two of those months the sun never rises.
See also
*
List of islands of Russia
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External sources
Location
* Edwards, Rob (September 9, 1995)
New Scientist
*
William Barr, ''The Last Journey of Peter Tessem and Paul Knutsen'', 1919.
Picture
{{Authority control
Port cities and towns in Russia
Islands of the Kara Sea
Populated places of Arctic Russia
Islands of Krasnoyarsk Krai