The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (; ), also known as Nenetsia ( ), is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Its administrative center is the town of Naryan-Mar. It has an area of and a population of 42,090 as of the 2010 Census, making it the least populous federal subject. It is the only federal subject of Russia that is divided into only one district.
A plan to merge the autonomous okrug with Arkhangelsk Oblast was presented by the governors of both federal subjects on 13 May 2020, with a referendum planned for September, but was met with opposition by locals, leading to the merger process being scrapped completely.
Geography The arctic ecology of this area has a number of unique features derived from the extreme temperatures and unique geologic province. Polar bears are found in this locale; in fact, the sub-population found here is a genetically distinct taxon associated with the Barents Sea region.C. Michael Hogan (2008) Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg The autonomous okrug has a size of approximately 177,000 km2. The district is around 320 km from north to south and around 950 km from east to west, stretching from Mys Bolvansky Nos in the north to the source of the Oma River in the south and Cape Kanin Nos in the west to the banks of the Kara River in the east.
The okrug has a number of peninsulas – from west to east these are: Kanin Peninsula, Svyatoy Nos Peninsula, Russkiy Zavorot Peninsula and the Yugorsky Peninsula. There are a number of islands off the Nenets coast – from west to east the most important are Kolguyev Island, , Dolgiy Island, the , Lovetskiy Island, Pesyakov Island, Dolgy Island, Bolshoy Zelenets Island, Vaygach Island, Oleniy Island and Mestnyy Island. Of these, Kolguyev and Vaygach are by far the largest, being the 119th and 156th largest islands in the world.
Administrative divisions
The okrug is administratively divided into one district (Zapolyarny District) and one town of okrug significance (Naryan-Mar). The district is further divided into selsoviets. Municipally, the town of Naryan-Mar is incorporated as Naryan-Mar Urban Okrug, while the district (including the settlement of Kharuta, which geographically is an exclave surrounded by the territory of the Komi Republic) is incorporated as Zapolyarny Municipal District.
Politics Deputies in the State Duma Artur Chilingarov – Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia of the I, II, III, IV, and V convocations (from 1993 to 2011) in the Nenets single-mandate constituency No. 218. Vladimir Pekhtin – Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia of the VI convocation (from 2011 to 2013), elected on the regional list of the United Russia party. On 20 February 2013, Pekhtin voluntarily resigned as a deputy of the State Duma in connection with allegations of concealing income and real estate. Elena Vtorygina – Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia of the VI convocation (since April 3, 2013). Elected on the regional list of the United Russia party. Irina Chirkova – Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia of the VI convocation (in 2011 she was elected on the regional list of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. Sergey Kotkin – Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia of the VII convocation in the Nenets single-mandate constituency No. 221.
History Early history The first recorded mention of the Nenets people is found in the 11th-century Primary Chronicle, a chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in Kiev about 1113 by Nestor the Chronicler. At the time, Kievan Rus was under the influence of Novgorod, as was the whole of the North Eastern territories of Kievan Rus'. By the end of the fifteenth century, Novgorod's influence was waning and the area fell under the control of Muscovy and in 1499, they established, Pustozyorsk (, literally meaning deserted lakes), and it became a military, commercial, cultural and administrative hub for the area.
By the 18th century, the area was part of Mezensky Uyezd. In 1891, Pechorsky Uyezd was established and in 1896, so was Neskaya Volost. Prior to the formation of the autonomous okrug, this area belonged in part to Mezensky Uyezd in Arkhangelsk Oblast and partly to Izhmo-Pechorsky Uyezd in Komi (Zyriansky) Oblast.
Soviet history The area now known as Nenets Autonomous Okrug was officially created on July 15, 1929, and at that time included Kanino-Timansky District, Peshsky and Omsky Selsoviets, Mezenskaya Volost and Mezensky Uyezd, Telvisochno-Samoyedsky District, Pechorsky Uyezd, and Izhmo-Pechorsky Uyezd of Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast. At this time, two administrative districts, Canino-Timansky and Bolshezemelsky were founded. In December 1929, further additions were made to the District's area, namely Pustozyorskaya Volost, Pechora District and a number of offshore islands. In 1934, a number of islands, including Vaygach Island were subsumed into the district. Naryan-Mar was elevated to town status in 1935. In July 1940, a third administrative district was formed, Amderminsky, with its administrative headquarters in Amderma. However, on November 23, 1959, all administrative districts were abolished and a number of areas, including the administrative area for Vorkuta, were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Komi Republic and the region took the shape that it still holds today.
Recent history Zapolyarny Municipal District, one of the youngest districts in Russia, was formed in 2006. (Federal law № 131-FZ "On general principles of local self-government in Russia"). Zapolyarny translates as "beyond the polar [circle]", and the district was given this name because the vast majority of the district's area lies north of the arctic circle.Zapolyarny Municipal District Official Website – Background
Demographics
Population:
Vital statistics Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service
Average population (x 1000)Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rate 1970 40 800 295 505 20.0 7.4 12.6 1975 44 894 389 505 20.3 8.8 11.5 1980 48 941 387 554 19.6 8.1 11.5 1985 53 1 049 371 678 19.8 7.0 12.8 1990 52 917 386 531 17.7 7.4 10.2 1991 51 852 376 476 16.7 7.4 9.3 1992 49 725 431 294 14.7 8.8 6.0 1993 47 588 531 57 12.4 11.2 1.2 1994 46 653 528 125 14.3 11.6 2.7 1995 44 602 570 32 13.7 13.0 0.7 1996 43 536 481 55 12.5 11.2 1.3 1997 42 546 427 119 13.0 10.1 2.8 1998 42 567 435 132 13.6 10.4 3.2 1999 41 518 433 85 12.5 10.5 2.1 2000 41 541 531 10 13.2 12.9 0.2 2001 41 598 560 38 14.6 13.7 0.9 2002 41 606 540 66 14.7 13.1 1.6 2003 42 665 590 75 15.9 14.1 1.8 2004 42 595 519 76 14.3 12.4 1.8 1.81 2005 42 607 513 94 14.6 12.3 2.3 1.81 2006 42 587 540 47 14.1 12.9 1.1 1.71 2007 42 653 528 125 15.6 12.7 3.0 1.88 2008 42 691 537 154 16.5 12.8 3.7 2.02 2009 42 695 495 200 16.6 11.8 4.8 2.05 2010 42 699 500 199 16.6 11.9 4.7 2.11
Ethnic groups According to the 2021 Census, the ethnic composition was: Russians: 69.6% Nenets: 18% Komi: 6.5% Others: 5.9%
Historical figures are given below: Ethnicgroup 1939 Census 1959 Census 1970 Census 1979 Census 1989 Census 2002 Census 2010 Census1 2021 Census Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Nenets 5,60211.8% 4,95710.9% 5,85115.0% 6,03112.8% 6,42311.9% 7,75418.7% 7,50418.6% 6,71318.0% Komi 6,00312.6% 5,01211.0% 5,35913.7% 5,16010.9% 5,1249.5% 4,51010.9% 3,6239.0% 2,4316.5% Russians 32,14667.5% 31,31268.8% 25,22564.5% 31,06765.8% 35,48965.8% 25,94262.4% 26,64866.1% 26,02169.6% Others 3,8668.1% 4,2539.3% 2,6846.9% 4,96010.5% 6,87612.8% 3,3408.0% 2,5246.3% 2,2385.9% 1 1,791 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.
Ethnographic maps shows the Nenets living throughout the Okrug, with the east-central section of the okrug, along the Komi Republic border, showing mixed Nenets-Komi population.Map 3.2 (Nenetskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug) from the series prepared for the INSROP (International Northern Sea Route Programme) Working Paper No. 90 in 1997.
Economy
Oil and gas The economy of Zapolyarny district is dominated by oil and gas, constituting around 99% of all industrial activity within the whole Okrug. In 2021, 99.9% of all exports from the Okrug were of crude petroleum, with the remaining 0.01% comprising fresh fish. The dominance of oil and gas exploration within the Okrug has seen associated revenues increase dramatically, with €190 million generated in 2007 compared to only €6.7 million ten years prior, with fuel industry's share of the districts GRP increasing from 65% in 2001 to 80% in 2005. This increase in revenue has resulted from a marked increase in investment in the area by the parent companies of the concerns operating in the District, such as Rosneft, Lukoil, Total, Surgutneftegas and TNK-BP, whose input equates to approximately 90% of the total annual investment in the district. This investment has included the construction of an oil terminal in the Barents Sea at a cost of approximately €700 million by an independent company especially created to oversee the construction and administration of the terminal, a pipeline to connect the terminal to the ZPS Southern Khylchuyu oilfields at a cost of around €250 million, the completion of the Kharyaga-Indiga pipeline and a gas plant near Khumzha. This allows the transportation of oil and gas throughout the region and into the general Russian pipeline network. There are currently more than 80 separate oil and gas sites of exploration, and it is estimated that there is around 5 billion tons of oil and around 500 billion cubic meters of gas in the district.
In the first quarter of 2009, industrial production grew by 34.7% compared with the same period last yearBarents Monitoring, p. 1 However, investments in industrial and housing construction decreased by 60.6% and 90.9% respectively, in the first three months of 2009, oil production totaled 4,419 million tons, an increase of over 35% on the same period in the previous yearBarents Monitoring, p. 2
Infrastructure As a result of the significant and speedy increase in investment in the area, the district is faced with a widespread infrastructure problem meaning that progress at many of the oil and gas exploration sites is hampered by accessibility issues, compounded by the severe arctic climate of the district. The Duma of Nenets Autonomous Okrug has stated their intention to address this issue as a priority, including the construction of the third phase of the Naryan-Mar-Usinsk road, construction of a Naryan-Mar-Telviska-Velikovisochnoye pipeline and a renovation of the wastewater treatment system in Iskateley.
Further plans by Russian railways include the construction of two railways linking settlements in Zapolyarny Municipal District, one, a line running 210 km from Vorkuta, in the Komi Republic, to Ust-Kara in the far east of the district, and another running from Sosnogorsk, also in the Komi Republic, to Indiga in the west of the district. Officials have also proposed that the line to Ust-Kara be extended to Amderma to provide adequate transportation routes to allow the economic extraction of several mineral deposits, with an estimated worth of between €100–135 billion.
Without this investment in infrastructure, the main means of transportation is air, with regular flights to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Arkangelsk and Usa. In the summer, the main river in the district, the Pechora is used to transport freight.
Indigenous economy