Regions

The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) is located in the north-eastern part of European Russia, and is predominantly tundra underlain by permafrost. Most of the NAO is flat, bordered by the Urals and the Timan Hills to the north. There are coal deposits in the eastern area, and substantial oil and gas reserves in the central plain. The land area is 176,400 sq. km. and the total population is about 48,000, of whom about 7,000 people are Nenets (the ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the region). The Nenets people�s main activities include reindeer herding, hunting and river fishing. Active industrial oil and gas extraction also takes place in the Nenets region. All of the NAO except the south-western part is north of the Arctic Circle.

Kamchatka Peninsula is located north-east of Asia. On the west it borders the Okhotsk Sea, and on the east it is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. The area of Kamchatka is about 370,000 sq. km. The peninsula is joined to the continent by narrow (up to 100 km) isthmus. Kamchatka has two Russian Federation administrative regions: Kamchtaka Oblast in the southern part of the peninsula and Koryak Autonomous Okrug in the north. It is the homeland of three groups of indigenous peoples: the Itelmen (1,500 people), the Koryak (10,000 people) and the Even (1,000 people). Their main activities include: river fishing, marine trapping, hunting, reindeer herding and the gathering of wild plants. Kamchatka has protected areas that are included in UNESCO�s World Heritage List.

Nenets

Kamchatka