The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve (russian: Большой Арктический государственный природный заповедник) is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Si ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. With an area of , it is the largest reserve of

and

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

, as well as one of the largest in the world.

History

The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve was founded on May 11, 1993 by Resolution No.431 of the Government of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. The Nature Reserves in Russia are known as ''

zapovednik Zapovednik (russian: заповедник, plural , from the Russian , 'sacred, prohibited from disturbance, committed o protect committed o heritage; ) is an established term on the territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which ...

s''.

Topography

The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve is divided into nine sections: * Dikson - Sibiryakov section. *The

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...

Islands section, with a surface of . It includes the Sergei Kirov Islands, the Voronina Island, the

Izvestiy TSIK Islands The Izvestiy TSIK Islands or Izvesti Tsik Islands (russian: Острова Известий ЦИК), also known as Izvestia Islands, is an island group in the Kara Sea, Russian Federation. Geography The archipelago includes two large and two small ...

, the Arkticheskiy Institut Islands, the Sverdrup Island, the

Uyedineniya Island Uyedineniya Island (also Uedinenia, russian: Остров Уединения; no, Ensomheden) is an island located in the central part of the Kara Sea, roughly midway between Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya. Its latitude is 77° 29' N a ...

and a number of smaller islands. This section represents rather fully the natural and biological diversity of Arctic Sea islands of the eastern part of the Kara Sea. *The Pyasina section. Includes the

Pyasina Bay The Pyasina Bay , also known as Pyasina Gulf, (russian: Пясинский залив; ''Pyasinsky Zaliv'') is a bay at the mouth of the river Pyasina in the Kara Sea. It is limited on its western side by the Kamennyye Islands and on its northe ...

and the

Pyasina The Pyasina (russian: Пясина) is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The river is long, and its basin covers . The Pyasina River originates in Lake Pyasino and flows into the Pyasino Gulf of the Kara Sea. There are more than 60,000&nb ...

river basin. *The

Middendorff Bay The Middendorff Bay, (russian: Залив Миддендорфа) is a deeply indented bay in the shores of the Taymyr Peninsula. It is located southwest of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago in the Kara Sea and it is open towards the west. Geography ...

*The

Nordenskiöld Archipelago The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Норденшельда, Arkhipelag Nordenshel'da) is a large and complex cluster of islands in the eastern region of the Kara Sea. Its eastern limit lies ...

*The Lower Taymyr section. Includes the basin of the

Taymyr River The Taymyra (russian: Таймыра) is a river in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is located in the middle of the Taymyr Peninsula. It is about long and has a drainage basin of .Lake Taymyr Lake Taymyr (russian: Таймыр, Таймырское озеро, Taymyr, Taymyrskoye ozero) is a lake of the central regions of the Taymyr Peninsula in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Federation. It is located south of the Byrranga Mountains. Geog ...

. *The Chelyuskin Peninsula. Includes the northern end of the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrat ...

*The Northern Reserve (Североземельский). *The Brekhovsky Islands Natural Reserve

Ecoregion and climate

The Great Arctic Reserve is located in the Taimyr-Central Siberian tundra ecoregion, which covers the

in the

Russian Far North The Extreme North or Far North (russian: Крайний Север, Дальний Север) is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources. Its total area is about , ...

. The climate is ''

Tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Tundra climate (ET)). This indicates a local climate in which at least one month has an average temperature high enough to melt snow (0 °C (32 °F)), but no month with an average temperature in excess of 10 °C (50 °F).

Flora and fauna

Many animals and plants are meant to thrive within the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve without human disturbance. Among the animals that are protected by this reserve, some of the most important are the polar bear, the

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in ...

, the

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding m ...

, the

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...

and the

beluga The beluga whale (/bɪˈluːɡə/) (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the wh ...

.Wild Russia
/ref>

References

External links

Nature Reserve

Bolshoi Arkticheskiy state nature reserve

{{Russia topics Nature reserves in Russia Geography of Krasnoyarsk Krai Protected areas of the Arctic Protected areas established in 1993 1993 establishments in Russia Krasnoyarsk Krai Zapovednik