Kolyuchin Island or Koliuchin Island (russian: Остров Колючин, ) is a small island in the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west b ...

. It is not far from the coast, being only from the northern shore of the

Chukotka Peninsula The Chukchi Peninsula (also Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula; russian: Чуко́тский полуо́стров, ''Chukotskiy poluostrov'', short form russian: Чуко́тка, ''Chukotka''), at about 66° N 172° W, is the eastern ...

. Its latitude is 67° 28' N and its longitude 174° 37' W. This island is in length and its maximum width is . It is covered with

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 moun ...

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

. There was a small Chukchi settlement on the southern end of the island called Kolyuchino but as of 1987, there was no village and very rare traces of former human presence such as separate logs and coals. On the nearby shore there is the settlement of Nutepel'men, located north of the Rypatynonel'gyn Lagoon and south of the Pyngopil'gyn Lagoon.

Kolyuchinskaya Bay Kolyuchin Bay (russian: Колючинская губа; ''Kolyuchinskaya guba'') is a large bay in the Chukchi Sea on the northern shore of the Chukotka Peninsula, Russia. Administratively this bay belongs to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of ...

, further south, is named after Kolyuchin Island. Administratively this island and its surrounding area belongs to the

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Chukotka (russian: Чуко́тка), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug,, ''Čukotkakèn avtonomnykèn okrug'', is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an autonomous okrug situated in the Russian ...

of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Etymology

The Russian name of the island comes from a corruption of the Chukchi word ''Кувлючьин'' (Kuvlyuch'in) – "round". In the

Chaplino dialect The Chaplino dialect (also known as Chaplinski dialect, Chaplinski Yupik, Eskimo Uŋaziq and Chaplinski language) is a dialect of the Central Siberian Yupik language spoken by the indigenous Eskimo people along the coast of Chukotka Autonomous Ok ...

of the Central Siberian Yupik language its name is ''Кулусик'' (Kulusik) – "separate

ice floe An ice floe () is a large pack of floating ice often defined as a flat piece at least 20 m across at its widest point, and up to more than 10 km across. Drift ice is a floating field of sea ice composed of several ice floes. They may caus ...

". When the island was visited by

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

during an expedition, he named it Burney's Island.

History

In September 1933 Soviet ice-breaker ''Chelyuskin'' got crushed by pack ice near Kolyuchin Island. The passengers and crew were rescued by air in a dramatic and much publicised operation which made heroes of

Captain Vladimir Voronin Vladimir Ivanovich Voronin (russian: Владимир Иванович Воронин; October 17, 1890 – October 18, 1952) was a Soviet Navy captain, born in Sumsky Posad, in the present Republic of Karelia, Russia. In 1932 he commanded the e ...

and expedition leader

Otto Schmidt Otto Yulyevich Shmidt, be, Ота Юльевіч Шміт, Ota Juljevič Šmit (born Otto Friedrich Julius Schmidt; – 7 September 1956), better known as Otto Schmidt, was a Soviet scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesm ...

. In 1943 a polar research station was transferred from to the western part of the island, manned by 3-4 people by the late 1980s. The last director of the station, Alexey Spasskin, launched an amateur radio service from the island in 1989 with the call name ''УЖ1ПОЛ/УА10'' and the callsign АС65. The station was ultimately closed in February 1992.

References

External links

* Armstrong, T., ''The Russians in the Arctic'', London, 1958. * Early Soviet Exploration

* History of Russian Arctic Exploration

* Pictures of animals in Kolyuchin Island

* Prydatko-Dolin V. Kolyuchin Island Landscapes. ''My Arctic-in-Art'', 2010 (Rus.)

Islands of the Chukchi Sea Islands of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug {{ChukotkaAutonomousOkrug-geo-stub

Etymology

History

See also

References

External links