Chumikan

Chumikan (Russian: Чумикан) is a rural locality (a selo) and the administrative center of Tuguro-Chumikansky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located at the mouth of the Uda River. Population: 1,344 (2002 Census);[1] 1,748 (1989 Census).[2]

Geography and climate

Chumikan lies on the southern side of the Uda River delta, at the westernmost extremity of Uda Gulf in the Sea of Okhotsk, which contains a number of small islands. The terrain surrounding the town is almost entirely mountainous except for the narrow river valley extending to the west. On the southern side the Dzhugdzhur Mountains rise to 2,090 meters (6,860 ft).

The climate of Chumikan is subarctic (Köppen Dfc), with mild, wet summers and very cold dry winters which are only marginally moderated by the sea due to prevailing offshore flow from Siberia, although there is sufficient moderation that permafrost is discontinuous rather than continuous as in most of Siberia. Owing to the village’s location near the sea, summers are markedly cooler and wetter than those of the inland territories, with the result that a different type of forest from the inland larch forest, dominated by Picea obovata, occurs.

Climate data for Chumikan
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) −1.3
(29.7)		 0.0
(32.0)		 14.7
(58.5)		 21.0
(69.8)		 32.0
(89.6)		 37.0
(98.6)		 35.1
(95.2)		 32.2
(90.0)		 27.4
(81.3)		 19.3
(66.7)		 8.0
(46.4)		 0.0
(32.0)		 37.0
(98.6)
Average high °C (°F) −19.7
(−3.5)		 −13.7
(7.3)		 −4.5
(23.9)		 2.3
(36.1)		 7.0
(44.6)		 13.0
(55.4)		 17.0
(62.6)		 18.4
(65.1)		 14.2
(57.6)		 4.4
(39.9)		 −9.2
(15.4)		 −17.8
(0.0)		 0.9
(33.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) −22.4
(−8.3)		 −18.2
(−0.8)		 −10.3
(13.5)		 −2.3
(27.9)		 2.7
(36.9)		 8.2
(46.8)		 12.6
(54.7)		 13.8
(56.8)		 9.6
(49.3)		 0.3
(32.5)		 −12.2
(10.0)		 −20.4
(−4.7)		 −3.3
(26.1)
Average low °C (°F) −25.1
(−13.2)		 −22.8
(−9.0)		 −16.8
(1.8)		 −7.6
(18.3)		 −1.1
(30.0)		 3.8
(38.8)		 9.0
(48.2)		 9.8
(49.6)		 5.1
(41.2)		 −3.9
(25.0)		 −15.6
(3.9)		 −23.3
(−9.9)		 −7.5
(18.5)
Record low °C (°F) −39
(−38)		 −39
(−38)		 −32.5
(−26.5)		 −24.4
(−11.9)		 −12
(10)		 −4
(25)		 −1.1
(30.0)		 0.0
(32.0)		 −8
(18)		 −19
(−2)		 −30
(−22)		 −38.6
(−37.5)		 −39
(−38)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 28.9
(1.14)		 21.4
(0.84)		 24.5
(0.96)		 60.4
(2.38)		 88.6
(3.49)		 84.6
(3.33)		 137.4
(5.41)		 144.4
(5.69)		 110.4
(4.35)		 80.8
(3.18)		 28.6
(1.13)		 30.8
(1.21)		 840.8
(33.11)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 5.0 4.7 5.7 8.8 10.4 10.0 11.6 11.3 9.7 7.4 5.4 4.9 94.9
Source: Сводные данные (in Russian)[3]

History

It was founded in 1885 as a fishing port on the Sea of Okhotsk, and up to these days has never been made accessible by road,[4] even though the area had been a winter port for the Yakut and Evenki people for many years before Russians discovered it. Chumikan soon became a trading center for gold, which was discovered inland within a decade after founding.[5] In the 1920s, after the gold was depleted, Chumikan became, along with other localities along the coast, a center of resistance to the October Revolution.

In the decades that followed, Chumikan's chief role was as a center for the extremely rich fisheries of the Sea of Okhotsk, but during the latter part of the Soviet era, there were efforts to develop major phosphorite reserves known to occur inland.[6] The dissolution of the Soviet Union meant that these efforts have largely disintegrated.

gollark: Anyway, we ensword it, with swords.
gollark: Caves are quite quiet too, though, no?
gollark: And we can't hear approaching things?!
gollark: How did it catch us off-guard? We were GOING toward IT.
gollark: What?

References
  1. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian).
  2. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. 1989 – via Demoscope Weekly.
  3. "Чумикан, Хабаровский край, Российская федерация #31286".
  4. See Welcome to Chumikan
  5. See Nature: international journal of science; volume 54 (1896); pp. 517-518
  6. See American Geographical Society of New York; Soviet Geography, Volume 23 (1982); p. 696

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