Zvyozdny () is an abandoned settlement on

Wrangel Island Wrangel Island ( rus, О́стров Вра́нгеля, r=Ostrov Vrangelya, p=ˈostrəf ˈvrangʲɪlʲə; ckt, Умӄиԓир, translit=Umqiḷir) is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the 91st largest island in the w ...

, in

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 ...

Russia 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 ...

. It was abandoned in the 1970s.

Geography

Zvyozdny is located on the southern shore of Wrangel Island, west of

Ushakovskoye Ushakovsky (russian: Ушаковский; masculine), Ushakovskaya (; feminine), or Ushakovskoye (; neuter) is the name of several rural localities in Russia: * Ushakovsky (rural locality), a ''khutor'' in Kolundayevskoye Rural Settlement of Sholo ...

. It is approximately 702 km from

Anadyr Anadyr may refer to: *Anadyr (town), a town and the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia *Anadyr District *Anadyr Estuary *Anadyr (river), a river in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia *Anadyr Highlands *Anadyr Lowlands *Operati ...

, and approximately 5,634 km from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

History

Early History

The earliest evidence of human habitation in area the dates back to between 2,850 and 3,360 years ago, in the form of knives, harpoons, and other tools from the

Paleo-Inuit The Paleo-Eskimo (also pre-Thule or pre-Inuit) were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka (e.g., Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland prior to the arrival of the modern Inuit (Eskimo) and rel ...

culture. These ancient inhabitants hunted marine mammals to survive.

Modern History

Wrangel Island was first discovered by Thomas Long, an American whaler. It was claimed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1916, and then by the

U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1924. The settlement was founded by the Soviet government in the 1960s, but then abolished in the 1970s. The only remaining inhabited area is the Zvyozdny airbase, which was constructed by the Soviets at

Cape Hawaii Cape Hawaii (russian: Мыс Гавайи) is a headland of Wrangel Island. Administratively it belongs to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russian Federation. This cape is located on the southeastern coast of Wrangel Island, facing the Chukchi ...

. The base is equipped with S-300 air defence systems,

Pantsir-S1 The Pantsir (russian: Панцирь, translation="Carapace") missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Starting with the Pantsir-S1 (russian: Панцирь-С1, NATO r ...

anti-aircraft systems, and Rubezh anti-ship coastal systems, as well as radar and electronic warfare capabilities. Training has been held there in recent years.

Climate

The climate of Zvyozdny is

arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

, or ''ET'' under the

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 ...

References

{{ChukotkaAutonomousOkrug-geo-stub Rural localities in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Russian Far East