Ayon Island is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the coast of Chukotka in the

East Siberian Sea The East Siberian Sea (; ) is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the Arctic Cape to the north, the coast of Siberia to the south, the New Siberian Islands to the west and Cape Billings, close to Chukchi Peninsula, Chukotka, ...

. The island itself consists mainly of low-lying tundra, and is primarily populated by the

Chukchi people The Chukchi, or Chukchee (, ''ḷygʺoravètḷʹèt, o'ravètḷʹèt''), are a Siberian ethnic group native to the Chukchi Peninsula, the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean all within modern Russia. They s ...

, who use the tundra as pasture for their

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

herds.

Geography

It is located on the western side of the Chaunskaya Bay, directly off the Nutel'gyrgym Peninsula, at the eastern end of the Kolyma Gulf. The island is long and wide with an area of and a coastline of . It is generally low and flat and there are many small lakes and swamps. Ayon Island is separated from the mainland by the Maly Chaunsky Strait, a shallow channel which is barely wide in its narrowest spot. The bay to the south and east is Chaunskaya Guba. Administratively and municipally,Law #46-OZ, Article 2 Ayon Island belongs to Chaunsky District, part of

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukotka ( ; ), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an Autonomous okrugs of Russia, autonomous okrug situated in the Russian Far East, and shares a border wi ...

of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. There are two small settlements, Elvuney (now abandoned)Weather forecast for El'vuney
/ref> and Ayon in the northwestern end of the island.

Etymology

The name of the island is thought to come from one of two sources. Firstly, it is suggested that it comes from the Chukchi word ''"Ayo"'', meaning "brain", as the islands shape is somewhat like a brain.indigenous.ru - History of Ayon
/ref> The second school of though is that it is derived from Chukchi meaning "coming alive", in reference to the fact that although the island is covered in ice and snow during the winter, in the summer, this melts and the island provides a good pasture for reindeer herds as well as being the home to swarms of

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several family (biology), families of non-mosquito nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid ...

s and gadflies.

Economy

Soviet Russia

Following the rise of communism in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in the first part of the twentieth century, the native herds were collectivised in 1933 into a group called "Enmitagino". Such collectivisation was very successful on the island and in 1950, the collective in Ayon was turned into a formal

Kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

that would eventually have around 22,000 reindeer under its control. In addition to reindeer herding, the new collective was also engaged in sea-hunting and the collection of furs.Petit Fute
Chukotka
p.110f. A polar station was established on the site of the village in 1941 and the

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

Krasin brought Pyotr Sidersky and a crew of seven people to man the new station. This was the first time that the village site had been inhabited permanently, with indigenous people living there only during the summer when the reindeer were taken to pasture, with the exception of a few individuals who would over-winter in order to hunt. By 1944, the settlement had become increasingly permanent and there were 103 people living in 23 houses.

Post-Soviet

Following the collapse of the

, state support was withdrawn and the herders, were no longer supplied with new technology by the state, and were not guaranteed to receive money they were owed for the meat they provided to the state. The result of this was the herds shrinking from nearly 22,000 to only around 4,000, gradually growing into a considerably high level of unemployment in the town. This led to a spike in alcohol abuse, specifically vodka drinking, which fuels sociological problems and public intoxication, and causes sanitation issues associated with public urination and defecation. This, combined with public dumps, littered vodka bottles, and general trash can breed pathogens leading to disease. Some deadly infections can spread to reindeer, as they may come into contact with these waste areas, further reducing the size of the herd.

Adjacent islands

* Ryyanranot Island (Ostrov Ryyanranot) is an long and wide island located off the northern shores of Ayon Island. It is separated from it by a wide sound. * Chengkuul Island (Ostrov Chengkuul) is long and at its widest point. It is located off the northeastern coast of Ayon Island, separated from it by a wide sound. Its western end is also known as Yanrachenkool. * Mosey Island (Ostrov Mosey) is a small island located between the southern coast of Ayon and the continent. It is in length.

References

Notes

Sources

* Petit Fute, ''Chukotka''. *

External links

Picture of Ayon Island

Geographic information

{{East Siberian Sea Islands Islands of the East Siberian Sea Islands of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug