There are so many interesting places on the map of Russia that it is simply impossible to know everything about them. Various cities and towns, mountains and rivers. In this article, we will talk about such a small, but very important and interesting corner of the country as Cape Dezhnev.
A bit of history
Before studying information about the cape, you need to look a little into history and figure out who was its discoverer, and who is the person after whom the cape got its name. It will be interesting that this cape was called simply Vostochny until 1879. And only in that distant year, at the insistence of the Swedish polar explorer A. E. Nordenskiöld, it began to be named after the outstanding and famous Russian explorer of Eastern and Northern Siberia - Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev. Semyon Ivanovich himself lived in the 17th century, was not only a explorer and navigator, but also a Cossack chieftain. During his life, he participated in numerous skirmishes and battles, had about 13 wounds, three of which were very serious. However, this did not stop the traveler. In 1647 he joined the expeditionPopov as a yasak collector. With the same group of comrades, he went east. Many ships on this journey were wrecked, but Dezhnev and his companions nevertheless reached the strait between Asia and America, rounding the Chukotka Peninsula from the north side. On the banks of the so-called "Big Chukchi Nose" (this is now Cape Dezhnev), he stopped with his team, visited the Eskimos. With his campaign, Semyon Ivanovich, in fact, made two huge discoveries from a geographical point of view:
- Proved that America is a completely independent continent separated by water.
- Found out that you can get from Europe to China by the northern seas by simply going around Siberia.
So there should be no questions about who discovered Cape Dezhnev. This was Semyon Ivanovich himself. But regarding the strait, it was called the Bering Strait, because there was no information about Dezhnev's campaigns in Europe before (all of it was preserved in the Yakut prison). Therefore, the priority of the discoverer still remained with V. I. Bering.
About names
The information related to the names of this cape will also be interesting. Only from the end of the 19th century did it bear the name of the sailor Dezhnev. At the time of the researcher's life, it was simply called the Big Chukchi Nose, or the Stone Nose. Also, its name was known as Necessary (that is, one that cannot be bypassed). And in 1778, the English navigator Cook called it simply the Eastern Cape (as it was called mainly in Europe),which bore such a name before renaming it to Cape Dezhnev.
Geography
How can you find Cape Dezhnev on the map? It's simple, it is located in Chukotka and is the easternmost point of the continent. In addition to being the easternmost continental point of Russia, it is also the easternmost point of all of Eurasia. This cape is not very suitable for life, as it is a steep mountain range (its height reaches 740 meters), which abruptly breaks off to the sea. It is located in the Bering Strait, which connects the Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean) and the Bering Sea (Pacific Ocean). It is also worth knowing the coordinates of Cape Dezhnev. It is 66°04'45″ N. sh. 169°39'7″W e.
Closest points
It will be very interesting information that from Cape Dezhnev (the easternmost point of Eurasia) to Cape Prince of Wales (the westernmost point of North America - Alaska) is only 86 kilometers. And in clear weather, you can even see the outlines of another continent - North America.
Science
And although Cape Dezhnev is practically uninhabitable, there are still residential settlements there. Ten kilometers away is the small village of Uelen. On the very territory of the cape there is an abandoned settlement of whalers Naukan, which existed in the 18th-20th centuries. However, during the Soviet era, in 1958, as part of a campaign to remove the Russian population from America, the village was disbanded. Until that moment, about 400 people lived there, who consisted of about 13big births. Today, some families whose grandparents lived in Naukan live nearby, in the nearby Chukchi villages of Lorino, Uelen, Lavrentiya, as well as the Eskimo villages of Sereniki, Uelkar, Novoye Chaplino. The village itself is considered an architectural monument and is protected by the laws of the federation.
Uelen
As mentioned above, the nearby village to Cape Dezhnev is the village of Uelen. The following information will be interesting: its ancient name is Ulyk ', Chukchi - Pok'ytkyn, Eskimo - Olyk '. In translation, all this means "end of the earth", "end of the world", "a place that is flooded with water." It is worth mentioning that in the distant past, Uelen was an Eskimo settlement, but the Chukchi gradually replaced the Eskimos, occupying residential areas near Cape Dezhnev. Today, this village is a very independent administrative unit. It has its own administration, an agricultural enterprise, a boarding school, a weather station, a cultural center, a kindergarten, and a hospital. In addition, there are quite a few different outlets. The main occupations in the village are marine hunting. Bearded seal, walrus, ringed seal, and more recently, whales are mined here. The same marine inhabitants are then traded by local residents.
Flora and fauna
What else is Cape Dezhnev rich in? So, there is a variety of flora and fauna. Inhabitants of the sea: bowhead and gray whales, bearded seal, arctic cod, goby, flounder, Far Eastern saffron cod and Arctic char. Quite often there are such animals aswolverine, wolf, fox, arctic fox, polar bear. As for birds, there are white partridges and snowy owls, crows, gyrfalcons and guillemots.
Monuments
Having figured out where Cape Dezhnev is located on the map of Russia, it is also worth considering a little information about the monuments that are located both on the cape itself and not far from it. The first and main attraction of the cape is the lighthouse-monument to Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev. It was built in the form of a beautiful tetrahedral obelisk. It is located at an altitude of about 100 meters above sea level. Nearby is a large old cross, which, oddly enough, still looks great. It is also worth mentioning that a village, a bay, an island and a peninsula were also named after the navigator Dezhnev. And in Veliky Ustyug in 1972, a monument was erected to Semyon Ivanovich. Now a little about the sights that lie in the vicinity of Cape Dezhnev:
- Uelensky burial ground. First of all, this is the most valuable cemetery from the point of view of archeology.
- Ekven is an ancient Eskimo burial ground, which today is an archaeological monument of federal significance. Also important in terms of archeology.
- The oldest and most populous Eskimo village, which was later disbanded, is Naukan.
About beauty
After all of the above, we can say with confidence that Cape Dezhnev is a very interesting geographical element (the photo is the first proof of this). There are numerous bird markets here. Here you can also seeseals and sea rookeries are an entertaining sight, especially for people who are not used to this. And in the spring you can even see polar bears with cubs (visitors will definitely remember the white cartoon bear cub Umka with his mother). From time to time, gray whales and beautiful killer whales swim very close to the coastline. And in clear weather, you can even see the shores of a completely different continent - North America.
