The Ugra Peninsula is located in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, between the Kara and Barents Seas. In addition to Ugra, the okrug also includes the Kanin Peninsula, the islands of Vaigach and Kolguev. From the Vaigach island it is separated by a strait called Ugra Shar. A brief description of the Ugra Peninsula - its relief, natural conditions, flora and fauna - will be presented in the article.
Discovery story
The first of the scientists reached the foot of the Pai-Khoy Ridge A. Schrenk, a Russian biologist and mineralogist. This happened in 1837. After that, in August he crossed to Vaygach island and explored it. Returning to the mainland, the scientist examined the southern slope of the ridge and came to the conclusion that Pai-Khoi is one of the branches of the Urals.
For the first time, the Ugra Peninsula was investigated and described in more detail in 1848 by an expedition led by E. Hoffmann. Travelers crossed the peninsula from the northern peak of the Polar Urals under the name Konstantinov Kamen to the Ugra ball. The expedition moved on deer. In the process of research, valuable exhibits were collected: herbariums, rock samples, etc. Pai-Khoi was first described and mapped by these travelers, but he owes his name to it (the participants in the Schrenk expedition named it Paigoy).
The results of the expeditions were presented in the writings of Schrenk's "Journey to the North-East of European Russia" and Hoffmann (co-authored with M. Kowalski) under the title "Northern Urals and the Pai-Khoi Coast Ridge."
General description, relief, population
The peninsula has the following coordinates: 69 ° 28 's. W, 61 ° 31 'in. The total area of the Ugra Peninsula is 18 thousand km 2. In the extreme northeast of Europe it is the peninsula with the largest area.
Most of its surface is a wavy plain, the height of which is within 200 meters above sea level. In the central part is Pai Khoi Ridge. Its highest point is 423 meters above sea level. This is a mountain called Moreiz, the highest point in the entire Nenets Autonomous Okrug. This range is quite ancient and already heavily destroyed, represented by isolated hills and elongated rocky ridges. Its eastern slope is more gentle than the western one and forms terraces on the descent to the Kara Sea.
Ridge consists of limestone, sandstone, clay and siliceous shales. From the west and southwest it is adjacent to the Pechora lowland. From the southeast and east - with the slopes of the so-called Polar Urals, the northern part of the Ural Mountains. Altitude zoning on the ridge is absent.
On the slopes of the ridge, in its northwestern part, originates the largest river of the Ugra Peninsula - Big Oyu. Translated from the Nenets language, its name means "Great." It feeds on rains and snows and carries its waters into the Ugra Strait. The river is 175 kilometers long.
On the territory of mountainous regions humus-gravelly and gravelly soils prevail. In the tundra, on the plain, are gley and gley-peaty. Due to permafrost, the soil is very waterlogged and prone to waterlogging.
The indigenous population of the peninsula is the Nenets, they are mainly engaged in reindeer husbandry. Living on the peninsula and Russian. On the coast of the Kara Sea is the village of Amderma (577 people), named after the river of the same name. The average population density is 7 people per km 2.
Climatic features
The Ugra Peninsula is located in the subarctic climate zone, is included in the permafrost zone. Long winds with blizzards exacerbate the conditions. The duration of the winter period is seven to eight months (an average of up to 230 days). The average annual air temperature is negative, -7 … -9 degrees. The average air temperature in January is 20 degrees below zero, in July - 7-8 degrees heat. In some years, the temperature in winter can drop to -40, and in summer it can rise to +30.
Precipitation averages about 300 mm per year, and about 700 mm in the Pai-Khoi Ridge area. Their maximum reaches in February, and the minimum amount is observed in August-September.
Flora and fauna
On the territory of the peninsula are the lands of four deer farms. The deer has quite rich fodder land here. Grasses, mosses, lichens, shrub forms - dwarf birch and willow (gray-blue and woolly) in the summer months cover quite large spaces. In the floodplains of rivers and small streams are located willow-meadow complexes. Vascular plants grow in separate groups on sandy surfaces, sedge grow on swamps.
The fauna is represented by both tundra and forest species. This is almost the only place in the Russian north where you can meet brown and polar bears in different months. In addition to deer, arctic foxes, wolverines, white hares, lemmings, foxes, the animal world is represented by 160 species of birds. These are white owls, waders, grouse geese, etc.
About 30 species of fish are found in the rivers, typical of the Russian North - nelma, grayling, burbot, etc. The marine fauna is also diverse: there are more than 50 species of fish and marine mammals, including rare ones - gray seal, Atlantic walrus. Populations of herring, smelt, navaga have commercial value.
