Instability and Stability in the Population Dynamics of Chukotka and Its Settlements in the Post-Soviet Period: Regional Features and Intraregional and Local Differences

Abstract

The study is aimed at identifying geographical features and differences in the stability/instability of the population and settlement pattern of one ethnic region in the Russian Arctic, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and the factors that determine them. The use of classical geographical methods, including field research, made it possible to establish that, on the general instability of the population and settlement pattern of Chukotka in the 1990s and stabilization after 2002, significant intraregional and local differences were observed. Chukotsky district has been characterized by relatively greater stability (a smaller decrease in population due to smaller migration outflow and the absence of liquidated settlements) owing to the high share of the indigenous population. The greatest instability, especially in the 1990s, was demonstrated by the district with a large proportion of newcomers and development of the mining industry. The situation was extremely unstable in single-industry urban-type settlements closely associated with mining enterprises, most of which were liquidated before 2000. Differences in the stability/instability of both the status of the population and settlement pattern and differences in resilience/vulnerability as properties inherent to these systems at all spatial levels (from regional to individual settlements) are more pronounced during years of crisis and are smoothed out during periods of relatively stable development.