Taimyr Autonomous Okrug

Region in the Krasnoyarsk krai (territory), in north-central Siberia, Russian Federation; area 862,100 sq km/332,857 sq mi; population (1996) 47,000, 66% urban (67% Russian; 4% Nentsy, a Samoyedic people). The capital is Dudinka. Industries include natural gas extraction, and the mining of nickel, copper, uranium, and coal. There is fishing, reindeer breeding, and fur trapping.

The region comprises the Taimyr Peninsula, with the adjacent mainland and islands, such as Severnaya Zemlya. There are areas of tundra, with an extremely harsh climate. The area includes Cape Chelyuskin, the northernmost point of Asia and of the Russian mainland. The main river is the Yenisey. Huge reindeer herds are found on the Taimyr Peninsula; some 13,500 sq km/5,212 sq mi of the region has been designated as a nature reserve, the second largest in Russia. Cities in the region include Dikson and Nordvik.

Russians and Ukrainians settled the area, formerly occupied by nomadic herders, after the Russian Revolution. The okrug (district) was formed in 1930 (as the Dolgan Nenets National Okrug). Mining interests have damaged this natural wilderness. The okrug became part of the independent Russian Federation in 1991.