Zapolyarny District (russian: Заполя́рный райо́н, Nenets: Поляртяхӑна район) is an administrative and municipal district (

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...

), the only one in

Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (russian: Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг; Nenets: Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ''Nenjocije awtonomnoj ŋokruk'') is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of ...

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 ...

.Law #557-OZ It encompasses all of the territory of the autonomous okrug, with the exception of the territory of the town of okrug significance of

Naryan-Mar Naryan-Mar (russian: Нарья́н-Мар; Nenets: Няръянa марˮ, ''Njarjana marꜧ'', literally "red town") is a sea and river port town and the administrative center of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The town is situated on the r ...

, the only other top-level administrative division of the autonomous okrug. The area of the district is approximately .Official website of Zapolyarny District
Background Notes
Its

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

is the urban locality (a work settlement) of Iskateley. Population: 20,432 ( 2010 Census). The population of Iskateley accounts for 33.7% of the district's total population.

Etymology

The name of the district is an adjective which literally means "beyond the Arctic Circle", due to the fact that most of the district's territory indeed lies to the north of the Arctic Circle.

History

Prior to 2010, the territory of the autonomous okrug had only one top-level administrative division—the town of okrug significance of

—with the rest of the territory divided into selsoviets which were not a part of any top-level division. In 2006, within the framework of municipal divisions, the town of okrug significance of Naryan-Mar was incorporated as Naryan-Mar Urban Okrug, and the rest of the autonomous okrug's territory was incorporated as Zapolyarny Municipal District. However, it was not until April 19, 2010 when an administrative district matching the territory of the municipal district was established, and it was not until April 28, 2014 when "Zapolyarny" officially became the district's name.

Geography

The district stretches for about from north to south and for from east to west: from Cape Bolvansky Nos in the north to the source of the Oma River in the south, and from Cape Kanin Nos in the west to the banks of the

Kara River The Kara (russian: Ка́ра) is a river draining to the Arctic Kara Sea in Russia. It flows through the Pai-Khoi Range in the Polar Ural region, and forms parts of the borders between the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Nenets Autonomo ...

in the east.

Economy

The outer boundary of Zapolyarny District is identical to that of Nenets Autonomous Okrug; therefore there is no economic sector of significance to the district that is not also of equal significance to the autonomous okrug. The main economic drivers are oil and gas, although reindeer husbandry is still seen as a core part of the culture of the indigenous Nenets people.T. Tuuisku, ''Transition Period in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug: Changing and Unchanging Life of Nenets People''
First published in: ''ed.'' E. Kasten, ''People and the Land: Pathways to Reform in Post-Soviet Siberia'', 2002, p.189-205. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag

References

Notes

Sources

* {{Use mdy dates, date=June 2013 Nenets Autonomous Okrug