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English Electric

The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the armistice ending the fighting of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes.

It initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers, locomotives and traction equipment, diesel motors and steam turbines. Its products were later expanded to include consumer electronics, nuclear reactors, guided missiles, military aircraft and mainframe computers.

Two English Electric aircraft designs became landmarks in British aeronautical engineering; the Canberra and the Lightning. In 1960, English Electric Aircraft (40%) merged with Vickers (40%) and Bristol (20%) to form British Aircraft Corporation.

In 1968 English Electric's operations were merged with GEC's, the combined business employing more than 250,000 people.

Foundation
Aiming to turn their employees and other assets to peaceful productive purposes, the owners of a series of businesses decided to merge them forming The English Electric Company Limited in December 1918.

Components
English Electric was formed to acquire ownership of: The owners of the component companies took up the shares in English Electric.
 * Coventry Ordnance Works of Coventry, which retained a separate identity, and their ordnance works at Scotstoun which was later sold to Harland and Wolff in April 1920.
 * Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company of Bradford
 * Dick, Kerr & Co. of Preston founded 1880 and its subsidiaries:
 * United Electric Car Company of Preston
 * Willans & Robinson of Rugby which retained a separate identity—not wholly owned.

Planned activities of the combined businesses
John Pybus was appointed managing director in March 1921 and chairman in April 1926. Initially J H Mansell of Coventry Ordnance Works, John Pybus of Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing and W Rutherford of Dick, Kerr were joint managing directors. The five previously independent major operations under their control had these principal capabilities: Together these businesses covered the whole field of electrical machinery from the smallest fan motor to the largest turbo-generator.
 * Coventry Ordnance Works: the plant was built for the production of heavy armaments but was suitable for the manufacture of large generating units
 * Phoenix Dynamo Works: during the war production was shells and aeroplanes but by July 1919 had been returned to electric motors
 * Dick, Kerr and United Electric Car: special war work munitions, aeroplanes and metallic filament lamps, prior to the war locomotives and tram cars
 * Willans & Robinson: made steam turbines, condensers and diesel motors, there was a foundry

In November 1919, English Electric bought the Stafford works of Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Ltd. In 1931 Stafford became English Electric's centre.

However, there was no post-war boom in electrical generation. Though English Electric products were indeed in heavy demand, potential buyers were unable to raise the necessary capital funds. In 1922, a drastic reorganisation of the works was carried through and that managed to halve overheads. The Coventry Ordnance Works was practically closed down. Cables, lamps and wireless equipment were then in buoyant demand, but that would have been a new field for the company to enter. English Electric's business was in heavy electrical and mechanical plant. Both the 1926 general strike and the miners strike caused heavy losses. In 1929 part of the Coventry Ordnance Works was sold and the pattern shop at Preston, neither of which was required.

By the end of 1929, it was clear the only solution to English Electric's financial difficulties was a financial restructure. The restructure acknowledged the loss of much of the shareholders' capital and brought in new capital to re-equip with new plant and machinery. In the event, an American syndicate fronted by Lazard Brothers and Co. bankers came up with the new capital, but left control in the hands of the previous shareholders.

In June 1930, four fresh directors were appointed, filling four new vacancies.

Ten days later, there was a formal announcement of an American arrangement. "English Electric, with works at Preston, Stafford, Rugby, Bradford and Coventry, had entered into a comprehensive arrangement" with Westinghouse Electric International Company of New York and Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania US, whereby there would be an exchange of technical information between the two organisations on steam turbines and electrical apparatus. It was made clear that this technical and manufacturing link did not carry with it any control from America. In recognition of the exchange arrangement, Westinghouse had offered to provide further capital, which would be less than 10% of the total, including that new capital organised earlier by Lazard Brothers.

George Nelson
Seven weeks later the chairman, Lionel Hichens, who had temporarily replaced John Pybus in 1927, retired at the end of July 1930 and was replaced by Sir Holberry Mensforth as a director and as chairman. It was then announced that George H. Nelson had been appointed to the board and would take up the position of managing director early in October. Mensforth had been taken away from his position as general manager of American Westinghouse Trafford Park Manchester, where George Nelson had been his apprentice, in 1919 by the Minister of Transport. The minister had given Mensforth the responsibility of easing the transition of the nation's munitions businesses back into peacetime industry. It was Mensforth who had arranged the technical exchange agreement and extra capital with Westinghouse. They began to reorganise.

Relocations
The main base of the company's operation was moved from London to Stafford including the sales departments, general and factory accounts and the principal executives previously in London. The managing director was to divide his time between the various works but would be mainly in Stafford or in London

On 30 December 1930 the engineering shops at Preston closed leaving the following distribution:
 * Preston: specialists in high-tension direct-current railway electrification, rolling stock and trolley buses Dick, Kerr
 * Stafford: medium-sized electrical plant, transformers and switchgear and (from Preston) large turbo-alternator work Siemens
 * Rugby: prime movers, steam turbines and condensing plant, Fullagar and Diesel engines and (from Preston) water turbine plant Willans & Robinson
 * Bradford: small motors and control gear and (from Preston) traction motor and traction control work Phoenix
 * Coventry: engineers small tools (stopped in 1931), zed fuse (cartridge type) transferred to Stafford in 1931 C.O.W.

Radiators and cookers
Manufacture of domestic apparatus got underway at both Stafford and Bradford during 1931. They were followed in 1934 by a range of household meters of various kinds. In the same report to shareholders, the chairman pointed out that every day 330 more homes adopted electricity for heating cooking and lighting and between 1929 and 1935 the production of electricity in Britain had increased by 70 per cent.

Recovery
1933 proved to be the first of four years of real achievement. At the beginning of July 1933, Mensforth stepped down and George Nelson took up the post of chairman. Nelson remained managing director. Mensforth kept a seat on the board from which he later retired at the end of 1936.

English Electric's recovery was noted by commentators as remarkable. During 1936, past preference dividends had been brought up to date: they were English Electric's first dividend since a 1924 dividend on ordinary shares. The balance sheet at the end of 1936 showed liquidity was in a strong position and the chairman told shareholders that the rate of production in the factories for the last three months of the year was double the rate of production in the first three months.

During 1938, the first dividend was paid on ordinary shares since 1924.

In the summer of 1938, a large display advertisement confidently declared: "ENGLISH ELECTRIC PLANT AND EQUIPMENT in operation throughout the world. With its historical achievements and the wealth of experience of its several Associated Companies the English Electric Company continues to maintain its reputation as Manufacturers and Suppliers of electrical and allied products for Home and Overseas markets: The National Archives UK - CO 1069-182-9.jpg 1955]]
 * STEAM TURBINES
 * WATER TURBINES
 * OIL ENGINES
 * GENERATORS
 * SWITCHGEAR
 * TRANSFORMERS
 * RECTIFIERS
 * ELECTRIC MOTORS
 * ELECTRIC AND DIESEL-ELECTRIC TRACTION EQUIPMENTS
 * MARINE PROPULSION EQUIPMENT
 * DOMESTIC APPLIANCES
 * Complete Electrification Schemes Undertaken"

Airframes
The first steps to strengthen the Royal Air Force had been taken in May 1935 and English Electric was brought into the scheme for making airframes working in conjunction with Handley Page. The chairman reported to shareholders that though both Dick, Kerr and Phoenix were involved in the aircraft business during and shortly after the previous war the problems had so changed they were now completely new to the company. He also noted as he ended his address that the demand for domestic appliances including cookers, breakfast cookers, washing machines and water heaters was growing progressively.

The Preston works without subcontracting made more than 3,000 Hampden and Halifax aircraft.

Aero engines

In December 1942, English Electric bought the ordinary shares of D. Napier & Son Limited. Mr H G Nelson, son of English Electric chairman George H Nelson, was appointed managing director.

Napier's Sabre engines were used in Typhoon and Tempest aircraft and Lion engines in Motor Torpedo Boats

Tanks, locomotives, submarines, ships, power generation
The Stafford works made thousands of Covenanter, Centaur and Cromwell tanks as well as precision instruments for aircraft, electric propulsion and electrical equipment. The Rugby works made Diesel engines for ships, submarines and locomotives, steam turbines for ships and turbo-alternator sets for power stations. Bradford made electric generators for ships' auxiliaries and a wide variety of other naval and aviation material.

Employees
In April 1945, English Electric employed 25,000 persons in its four main works. Subsequently the chairman revealed that the peak employment number during wartime had been 45,000 when including Napier's people. C. P. Snow was appointed director of scientific personnel in 1944. Later he was physicist-director, a position he held until 1964.

de Havilland Vampire
In September 1945, details were released of the Vampire jet, the fastest British aircraft with a top speed of 548 mph. The aircraft was built by English Electric at its Preston works, the Frank Halford designed Goblin jet engine, the world's most powerful, by de Havilland in London.

Trams
From 1912 to 1924, United Electric and English Electric (with assistance from Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock) supplied second- and third-series tramcars for Hong Kong Tramways. These cars were eventually retired from 1924 to 1930 as the fourth Generation cars were being introduced.

Railways
In 1923, English Electric supplied the EO electric locomotives for the New Zealand Railways for use between Arthurs Pass and Otira, in the Southern Alps. Between 1924 and 1926, they delivered nine box-cab electric (B+B) locomotives to the Harbour Commissioners of Montreal (later the National Harbours Board); later they were transferred to Canadian National Railways, where four of them ran until 1995. In 1927, English Electric delivered 20 electric motor cars for Warsaw's Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa. During the 1930s, equipment was supplied for the electrification of the Southern Railway system, reinforcing EE's position in the traction market, and it continued to provide traction motors to them for many years.

In 1936, production of diesel locomotives began in the former tramworks in Preston. Between the late 1930s and the 1950s, English Electric supplied electric multiple unit trains for the electrified network in and around Wellington, New Zealand. In 1951 English Electric supplied 3 & 5 car articulated Diesel Electric multiple units to the Egyptian State Railways Egyptian-thumpers. Between 1951 and 1959, English Electric supplied the National Coal Board with five 51-ton, 400 hp electric shunting locomotives for use on the former Harton Coal Company System at South Shields (which had been electrified by Siemens in 1908) to supplement the existing fleet of ten ageing Siemens and AEG locomotives. English Electric took over Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, both with substantial railway engineering pedigrees, in 1955.

English Electric produced nearly 1000 diesel and electric locomotives, of nine different classes, for British Rail as part of the Modernisation Plan in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of these classes of locomotive gave long service to British Rail and its successor train operating companies, some still being active well into the 21st century.

Aviation
Both Dick, Kerr & Co. and the Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company built aircraft in the First World War, including flying boats designed by the Seaplane Experimental Station at Felixstowe, 62 Short Type 184 and 6 Short Bombers designed by Short Brothers. Aircraft manufacture under the English Electric name began in Bradford in 1922 with the Wren but lasted only until 1926 after the last Kingston flying boat was built.

With War in Europe looming, English Electric was instructed by the Air Ministry to construct a "shadow factory" at Samlesbury Aerodrome in Lancashire to build Handley Page Hampden bombers. Starting with Flight Shed Number 1, the first Hampden built by English Electric made its maiden flight on 22 February 1940 and, by 1942, 770 Hampdens had been delivered – more than half of all the Hampdens produced. In 1940, a second factory was built on the site and the runway was extended to allow for construction of the Handley Page Halifax four-engined heavy bomber to begin. By 1945, five main hangars and three runways had been built at the site, which was also home to No. 9 Group RAF. By the end of the war, over 2,000 Halifaxes had been built and flown from Samlesbury.

In 1942, English Electric took over D. Napier & Son, an aero-engine manufacturer. Along with the shadow factory, this helped to re-establish the company's aeronautical engineering division. Post-war, English Electric invested heavily in this sector, moving design and experimental facilities to the former RAF Warton near Preston in 1947. This investment led to major successes with the Lightning and Canberra, the latter serving in a multitude of roles from 1951 until mid-2006 with the Royal Air Force.

At the end of the war, English Electric started production under licence of the second British jet fighter, the de Havilland Vampire, with 1,300 plus built at Samlesbury. Their own design work took off after the Second World War under W. E. W. Petter, formerly of Westland Aircraft. Although English Electric produced only two aircraft designs before their activities became part of BAC, the design team put forward suggestions for many Air Ministry projects. The aircraft division was formed into the subsidiary English Electric Aviation Ltd. in 1958, becoming a founding constituent of the new British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1960; English Electric having a 40% stake in the latter company. The guided weapons division was added to BAC in 1963.

Industrial Electronics
The Industrial Electronics Division was established at Stafford. One of the products produced at this branch was the Igniscope, a revolutionary design of ignition tester for petrol engines. This was invented by Napiers and supplied as Type UED for military use during World War 2. After the war, it was marketed commercially as type ZWA.

Mergers, acquisitions and demise
In 1946, English Electric took over the Marconi Company, a foray into the domestic consumer electronic market. English Electric tried to take over one of the other major British electrical companies, the General Electric Company (GEC), in 1960 and, in 1963, English Electric and J. Lyons and Co. formed a jointly owned company – English Electric LEO Company – to manufacture the LEO computer developed by Lyons.

English Electric took over Lyons' half-stake in 1964 and merged it with Marconi's computer interests to form English Electric Leo Marconi (English Electric LM). The latter was merged with Elliott Automation and International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) to form International Computers Limited (ICL) in 1967. In 1968 GEC, recently merged with Associated Electrical Industries (AEI), merged with English Electric; the former being the dominant partner, the English Electric name was then lost.

Electrical machinery
Complete electrification schemes Steam turbines Water turbines
 * Polish State Railways
 * London Post Office Railway, London Post Office Railway 1927 Stock and London Post Office Railway 1962 Stock
 * Wellington N.Z. suburban railway system
 * Munmorah Power Station
 * Churchill-class submarines
 * St. Laurent-class destroyers - originally by licensee John Inglis and Company)
 * Restigouche-class destroyers
 * Hinkley Point A nuclear power station, Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, Wylfa Nuclear Power Station, Sizewell nuclear power stations
 * Queen Elizabeth Power Station

Oil engines Generators Switchgear, transformers, rectifiers Electric motors
 * Ultimo Power Station
 * Tallawarra Power Station
 * Monowai Power Station
 * White Bay Power Station
 * Blyth Power Station
 * Drax power station
 * HVDC Kingsnorth
 * Nelson River DC Transmission System
 * British Porpoise-class submarine

Electric and Diesel-electric traction equipment
 * Blackpool tramway, English Electric Balloon tram
 * New Zealand Railways Department see Diesel Traction Group (NZ)

Marine Propulsion equipment
 * Oberon-class submarines
 * HMAS Oxley (S 57), HMAS Orion
 * GMV Aranui

Domestic appliances

Military equipment
Aircraft
 * English Electric P.5 Phoenix "Cork" (1918)
 * Wren (1923)
 * Ayr (1923)
 * Kingston (1924)
 * Canberra (1949)
 * English Electric P1A (Lightning prototype)
 * Lightning (1954)
 * English Electric P.10 (unbuilt supersonic bomber to OR.330/R.156).

Manned spacecraft
 * MUSTARD

Guided weapons
 * Thunderbird (1959) – surface-to-air missile
 * Blue Water (cancelled 1962) – short-range ballistic missile

Tanks
 * A13 Covenanter
 * A33 Excelsior

Computers

 * Luton Analogue Computing Engine
 * English Electric DEUCE (1955)
 * English Electric KDN2
 * English Electric KDF6
 * English Electric KDF8
 * English Electric KDF9 (1963)
 * English Electric KDP10
 * English Electric System 4 (1965) – the System 4–50 and System 4–70 were based on the RCA Spectra 70 series, built under licence. The latter were almost the same as IBM System /360 range, differing only in their real-time facilities, with four processor states and multiple sets of general-purpose registers.

Railways and traction

Engines

 * English Electric 6CSRKT diesel
 * English Electric 6SRKT diesel
 * English Electric 8SVT 1000 hp (fitted to Class 20)
 * English Electric 8CSV 1050 hp (at 750 rev/min - Typically used for Generation)
 * English Electric 12SVT 1470 hp (retro-fitted to Class 31)
 * English Electric 12CSVT 1750 hp (fitted to Class 37)
 * English Electric 12CSV
 * English Electric 16SVT 2000 hp (Mk II version fitted to Class 40)
 * English Electric 16CSVT 2700 hp (fitted to Class 50)
 * The 3250 hp Ruston Paxman 16RK3CT fitted to the Class 56's was effectively an improved version of the Class 50 16CSVT power unit.
 * Napier Deltic (Makers D. Napier and Son were an English Electric subsidiary company from 1942)

Locomotives and multiple units
 * CGR class S1
 * Ceylon Government Railway Class T1
 * Indian locomotive class WCM-1
 * Indian locomotive class WCM-2
 * British Rail Class 08
 * British Rail Class 09
 * British Rail Class 11
 * British Rail Class 12
 * British Rail Class 13 (modified Class 08 shunters semi-permanently coupled in pairs)
 * English Electric Type 1 (British Rail Class 20)
 * English Electric Type 2 (British Rail Class 23)
 * English Electric Type 3 (British Rail Class 37)
 * English Electric Type 4 (British Rail Class 40)
 * English Electric Type 4 (British Rail Class 50)
 * English Electric Type 5 (British Rail Class 55)
 * British Rail Class 73, components assembled by BR.
 * British Rail Class 83
 * British Rail Class 86
 * British Rail Class 487
 * British Rail D0226
 * Diesel Prototype 1 or Deltic led to the Class 55
 * British Rail DP2 Class 55 body, re-engined with an E.E. 16csvt, led to the British Rail Class 50
 * British Rail GT3 (gas turbine)
 * CP Class 1400 (Portugal)
 * CP Class 1800 (Portugal)
 * JNR ED17 electric locomotive
 * JNR EF50 electric locomotive
 * Keretapi Tanah Melayu Class 15 shunter
 * Keretapi Tanah Melayu Class 20
 * Keretapi Tanah Melayu Class 22
 * MRWA G class
 * Nigerian Class 1001
 * NIR 1 Class
 * NS 500 Class
 * NS 600 Class
 * New Zealand DE class locomotive
 * New Zealand Railways DF class (not to be confused with the DF class of 1979)
 * New Zealand Railways DG class
 * New Zealand Railways DI class
 * DM/D class electric multiple units
 * New Zealand Railways EC class
 * NZR ED class (one, with components for a further nine supplied to New Zealand Railways)
 * New Zealand E class locomotive (1922)
 * New Zealand Railways EO class
 * New Zealand Railways EW class
 * PKP class EU06
 * PKP class EN80 (Electric Multiple Unit)
 * Queensland Railways 1200 class
 * Queensland Railways 1250 class
 * Queensland Railways 1270 class
 * Queensland Railways 1300 class
 * Queensland Railways 2350 class
 * Queensland Railways 2370 class
 * Rhodesia Railways class DE2
 * Rhodesia Railways class DE3
 * Tasmanian Government Railways X class
 * Tasmanian Government Railways Y class (supplied parts local construction)
 * Tasmanian Government Railways Z class
 * Tasmanian Government Railways Za class
 * Victorian Railways L class (electric)
 * Victorian Railways F class
 * Western Australian Government Railways C class
 * Western Australian Government Railways H class
 * Western Australian Government Railways K class
 * Western Australian Government Railways R class
 * Goldsworthy railway 1 class
 * Goldsworthy railway 3 class

Several industrial diesel and electric locomotive types were also built for UK and export use.

title: English Electric


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St James's Park

St James's Park is a 23 ha urban park in the City of Westminster, central London. A Royal Park, it is at the southernmost end of the St James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now the site of St James's Palace. The area was initially enclosed for a deer park near the Palace of Whitehall for King Henry VIII in the 1530's. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of public parks that includes (moving westward) Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens.

The park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, The Mall to the north, Horse Guards to the east, and Birdcage Walk to the south. It meets Green Park at Queen's Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its centre, opposite the entrance to Buckingham Palace. St James's Palace is on the opposite side of The Mall. The closest London Underground stations are St James's Park, Green Park, Victoria, and Westminster.

The park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Features
The park has a small lake, St James's Park Lake, with two islands, West Island and Duck Island, the latter named for the lake's collection of waterfowl. At the end of the nineteenth century Duck Island was considered a sufficiently remote location for Scotland Yard to establish a bomb disposal facility there; the resident bird-keeper was given the responsibility of looking after the implements kept for dismantling the devices. It now houses pumps and water treatment machinery for the lake and fountains.

A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since a Russian ambassador donated them to Charles II in 1664. While most of the birds' wings are clipped, there is a pelican which can be seen flying, occasionally beyond the confines of the Park.

The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a tree-framed view west towards Buckingham Palace. Looking east, the view includes the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with Horse Guards, the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany Fountain on Pelican Rock; and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower, and the Shard behind. The park has a children's playground including a large sandpit.

The species of the trees in the park are an unidentified species of plane trees (possibly London plane trees), Scarlet oak, black mulberry, and an unidentified species of fig tree.

History
In 1532, Henry VIII purchased from Eton College an area of marshland through which the Tyburn flowed. It lay to the west of York Place acquired by Henry from Cardinal Wolsey; it was purchased in order to turn York Place, subsequently renamed Whitehall, into a dwelling fit for a king. Henry enclosed the park for deer hunting and built St James Palace to initially serve as his hunting lodge. On James I's accession to the throne in 1603, he ordered that the park be drained and landscaped, and exotic animals were kept in the park, including camels, crocodiles, an elephant and exotic birds, kept in aviaries.

While Charles II was in exile in France under the Commonwealth of England, he was impressed by the elaborate gardens at French royal palaces, and on his ascension he had the park redesigned in a more formal style, probably by the French landscaper André Mollet. A 775-metre by 38-metre (850 by 42-yard) ornamental canal was created as evidenced in the old plan. The king opened the park to the public and used the area to entertain guests and mistresses, such as Nell Gwyn. The park became notorious at the time as a meeting place for impromptu acts of lechery, as described by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester in his poem "A Ramble in St James's Park".

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries cows grazed on the park, and milk could be bought fresh at the "Lactarian", described by Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach in 1710. The 18th century saw further changes, including the reclamation of part of the canal for Horse Guards Parade and the purchase of Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) at the west end of the Mall, for the use of Queen Charlotte in 1761. Further remodelling in 1826–27, commissioned by the Prince Regent (later George IV) and overseen by the architect and landscaper John Nash, saw the canal's conversion into a more naturally-shaped lake, and formal avenues rerouted to romantic winding pathways. At the same time, Buckingham House was expanded to create the palace, and Marble Arch was built at its entrance, whilst The Mall was turned into a grand processional route. It opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887. The arch was moved to its current location at the junction of Oxford Street and Park Lane in 1851 and the Victoria Memorial was erected between 1906 and 1911.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: St James's Park


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Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Chukotka (Чуко́тка), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is the easternmost federal subject of Russia. It is an autonomous okrug situated in the Russian Far East, and shares a border with the Republic of Sakha to the west, Magadan Oblast to the south-west, and Kamchatka Krai to the south, as well as a maritime border on the Bering Strait with the U.S. state of Alaska to the east. Anadyr is the largest town and the capital, and the easternmost settlement to have town status in Russia. It is the closest point from Russia to the United States, measuring at 88.51 kilometres or 55 miles.

Chukotka is primarily populated by ethnic Russians, Chukchi, and other indigenous peoples. It is the only autonomous okrug in Russia that is not included in, or subordinate to, another federal subject, having separated from Magadan Oblast in 1992. It is home to Lake Elgygytgyn, an impact crater lake, and Anyuyskiy, an extinct volcano. The village of Uelen is the easternmost settlement in Russia and the closest substantial settlement to the United States (Alaska).

The autonomous okrug covers an area of over 737700 km2, and is the seventh-largest federal subject in Russia, although it has a population of only 50,526. Chukotka is the second-least-populated federal subject, and the least densely populated federal subject in Russia. The region is the northeasternmost region of Russia, and since the sale of Alaska in 1867, it has been the only part of Russia lying partially in the Western Hemisphere.

Geography

Chukotka is bordered in the north by the Chukchi Sea and the East Siberian Sea, which are part of the Arctic Ocean; in the east by the Bering Strait and the Bering Sea, part of the Pacific Ocean; in the south by Kamchatka Krai and Magadan Oblast; and in the west by the Sakha Republic. The Chukchi Peninsula projects eastward forming the Bering Strait between Siberia and the Alaska Peninsula, and encloses the north side of the Gulf of Anadyr. The peninsula's easternmost point, Cape Dezhnev, is also the easternmost point of mainland Russia.

Ecologically, Chukotka can be divided into three distinct areas: the northern Arctic desert, the central tundra, and the taiga in the south. About half of its area is above the Arctic Circle. This area is very mountainous, containing the Chukotsky Mountains (highest point Iskhodnaya) and the Anadyr Highlands.

Chukotka's rivers spring from its northern and central mountains. The major rivers are:
 * Anadyr River, with tributaries Belaya, Tanyurer, Yablon, Yeropol, Mayn and Velikaya rivers, as well as the Avtatkuul River, which flows across the Anadyr Lowlands into the Gulf of Anadyr.
 * Omolon and the Great and Little Anyuy Rivers that flow west into the Kolyma River in Yakutia (Sakha).
 * Rauchua, Chaun, Palyavaam, Pegtymel, Chegitun and Amguyema Rivers that flow north into the arctic seas.

The largest lakes are Lake Krasnoye, west of Anadyr, Lake Pekulney and Lake Elgygytgyn in central Chukotka. Other important lakes are Koolen, Lake Ioni, Pychgynmygytgyn, Medvezhye, Achchyon and Maynits.

The okrug's extensive coastline has several peninsulas, the main ones being the Kyttyk Peninsula, Cape Shelagsky, the Aachim Peninsula, the Chukchi Peninsula and Russkaya Koshka.

There are also several islands belonging to Chukotka, from west to east the main ones being Ayon Island, Ryyanranot Island, Chengkuul Island, Mosey Island, the Routan Islands, Shalaurov Island, Wrangel Island, Herald Island, Kosa Dvukh Pilotov Island, Karkarpko Island, Kolyuchin Island, Serykh Gusey Islands, Idlidlya Island, Big Diomede Island, Ilir Island, Arakamchechen Island, Yttygran Island, Merokinkan Island, Achinkinkan Island and Kosa Meechkyn Island.

Large parts of Chukotka are covered with moss, lichen, and arctic plants, similar to western Alaska. Surrounding the Gulf of Anadyr and in the river valleys grow small larch, pine, birch, poplar, and willow trees. More than 900 species of plants grow in Chukotka, including 400 species of moss and lichen. It is home to 220 bird species and 30 fresh water fish species.

Climate
Chukotka's climate is influenced by its location on the three neighboring seas: the Bering Sea, the East Siberian Sea, and the Chukchi Sea with its weather characterized by cold northerly winds that can quickly change to wet southern winds. Cape Navarin has the highest number of hurricanes and storms in Russia. The coastal areas are windy with little precipitation, between 200 and 400 mm per year. Temperature varies between -35 and -15 C in January, and between +5 and +14 C in July. Growing season is short, lasting only 80 to 100 days per year.

Pre-history
The first inhabitants were Paleo-Siberian hunters who came to Chukotka from Central and East Asia. The area was then part of the Beringia land bridge that is thought to have enabled human migration to the Americas.

Pre-Russian
Traditionally, Chukotka was the home of the native Chukchi people, Siberian Yupiks, Koryaks, Chuvans, Evens/Lamuts, Yukaghirs, and Inuit. As of 1930, the population was primarily Chukchi.

Russian exploration and conquest
After the Russians conquered the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates in the 16th century, the trade routes to the Urals, Siberia, and Central Asia opened for travel and traders and Cossacks moved eastwards. The Cossacks built forts in strategic locations and subjected the indigenous people to the Tsar.

During the first half of the 17th century, Russians reached the far north-east. In 1641, the first reference to Chukchi people was made by the Cossacks. In 1649, Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnyov explored the far north-eastern coast and established winter quarters on the upstream portion of the Anadyr River that became the fortified settlement of Anadyrsk. Dezhnyov tried to subjugate the Chukchi and exact tribute during the next ten years, but was mostly unsuccessful. Eventually, the fort was abandoned, because of the harsh northern conditions and lack of game animals for food.

At the end of the 17th century, the fort regained some importance when the sea route from Anadyrsk to Kamchatka was discovered. It was used as the staging base for expeditions to Kamchatka and all other forts and settlements were made subject to Anadyrsk. When the wealth of Kamchatka's natural resources was discovered, the Russian government started to give the far north-eastern region more serious attention. In 1725, Tsar Peter the Great ordered Vitus Bering to explore Kamchatka and Afanasy Shestakov to lead a military expedition to subjugate the Chukchi. This expedition failed when the fleet suffered shipwreck and the survivors, including Shestakov, were killed by the Chukchi.

In 1731, Dmitry Pavlutsky tried again, aided by Cossacks, Yukaghirs, and Koryaks (indigenous Siberian tribes that were subjugated earlier). Pavlutsky sailed up the Anadyr River and destroyed the Chukchi garrison on the Arctic Ocean. His ruthless methods had some limited success in forcing tribute from some Chukchi. But in 1747, the Chukchi defeated the Russian regiment and killed Pavlutsky.

Realizing that the Chukchi could not easily be subjugated by military means, the Russians changed tactics and offered the Chukchi citizenship in the Russian Empire. A peace treaty was concluded in 1778 in which the Chukchi were exempted from paying yasak.

That same year, British Captain James Cook made an exploration of Cape North (now Cape Schmidt) and Providence Bay. Anxious that other European powers would occupy the area, Tsaritsa Catherine II ordered the exploration and mapping of the area. Starting in 1785, an expedition led by Joseph Billings and Gavril Sarychev mapped the Chukchi Peninsula, the west coast of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands. Then from 1821 to 1825, Ferdinand von Wrangel and Fyodor Matyushkin led expeditions along the coast of the East Siberian Sea and explored the Kolyma, Great Anyuy, and Little Anyuy Rivers.

Western influence

Chukotka remained mostly outside the control of the Russian Empire and consequently other foreign powers (American, British, Norwegian) began to hunt and trade in the area from about 1820 onwards. After the sale of Alaska to the United States, American whalers and traders especially extended their activities into Chukotka and foreign influence reached its peak. By 1880, the Russians reacted by setting up coastal patrols to stop American ships and confiscate their property. And in 1888, the administrative region of Anadyr was created. Yet Russian control diminished again and around 1900, a large stream of foreigners entered Chukotka, lured to the region by the Yukon gold rush in 1898.

In 1909, in order to keep the region within Russian control, two districts were created within the Anadyr Region: the districts of Anadyr and Chukotka. The Russian government granted concessions to foreign companies such as the Hudson's Bay Company and the US Northeast Siberia Company, which was granted gold, iron, and graphite mining rights in the entire Chukotka between 1902 and 1912.

Wrangel Island in particular was subject to claims by the United States and Canada. In 1916, the Russians officially claimed the uninhabited island. But in 1921, Canadian Vilhjalmur Stefansson made a serious attempt to claim it for Canada by populating it and building a small settlement. Another contingent arrived in 1923 but a year later, the Soviets permanently conquered the island, removing the remaining inhabitants, and thereby ending all foreign influence.

Soviet period
Chukotka was subject to collectivization and resettlement of the indigenous people, but this process started later and was less extreme than in other parts of the Soviet Union.

When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, everything was done to start tin production as quickly as possible in Chukotka. Mining rapidly developed, and this industry would become its economic base. Also during the war, geologists discovered large reserves of gold that would be mined in the 1950s.

The Chukotka National Okrug (later Autonomous Okrug) was created in 1930 and was originally subordinated to Far Eastern Krai. In 1932, Kamchatka Oblast was created within the Far Eastern Krai (later Khabarovsk Krai) and was given jurisdiction over Chukotka from 1932 to 1953. Since the formation of Magadan Oblast from the northern parts of Khabarovsk Krai in 1953, Chukotka was administratively subordinated to the region.

Post-Soviet period

In 1991, Chukotka declared its separation to become a subject of the Russian Federation in its own right, a move that was confirmed by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in 1993.

From 2001 to 2008, Roman Abramovich was the Governor of Chukotka. He invested billions of rubles, including his own money, into the Chukotka economy by developing its infrastructure, schools, and housing. This has helped to double the GDP of the region and to more than triple the income of its residents. In 2004, Abramovich tried to resign from this position but was reappointed governor for another term by Vladimir Putin. In early July 2008, it was announced that President Dmitry Medvedev had accepted Abramovich's latest request to resign as governor of Chukotka, although his various charitable activities in the region would continue. In the period 2000–2006 the average salaries in Chukotka increased from about US$165 (€117/£100) per month in 2000 to US$826 (€588/£500) per month in 2006.

On 11 July 2008, Dmitry Medvedev nominated Roman Kopin to be the governor. On 13 July, the local legislators unanimously confirmed Kopin as the next governor of Chukotka. As of 2023, Vladislav Kuznetsov is the current governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

Economy
Chukotka has large reserves of oil, natural gas, coal, gold, and tungsten, which are slowly being mined, but much of the rural population survives on subsistence reindeer herding, whale hunting, and fishing. The urban population is employed in mining, administration, construction, cultural work, education, medicine, and other occupations.

The largest companies in the region include Chukotka Mining and Geological Company (Kinross Gold), Severnoye zoloto, Mayskoye Gold Mining Company (Polymetal), FSUE Chukotsnab. In April 2022, Kinross announced that it was selling 100% of its Russian assets following other international companies obliged to exit the Russian economy.

Transportation
Chukotka is mostly roadless and air travel is the main mode of passenger transport. There are local permanent roads between some settlements (e.g. Egvekinot-Iultin (200. km)). When cold enough, winter roads are constructed on the frozen rivers to connect regional settlements in a uniform network. The Anadyr Highway is under construction to link Chukotka to Magadan, and to connect the settlements of Anadyr, Bilibino, Komsomolsky and Egvekinot within Chukotka.

In 2009, replacement of the emergency bridge through Loren River on the busy local road from Lavrentiya to Lorino (40 km) became the main event in transport in Chukotka.

The main airport is Ugolny Airport near Anadyr. Coastal shipping also takes place, but ice prevents this for at least half the year.

Local government
The legislative (representative) body of state power is the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. It consists of 15 deputies elected for a term of 5 years. As of 2016, it is represented by three factions: United Russia, LDPR, and CPRF.

Governor
The current governor of Chukotka is Vladislav Kuznetsov, who replaced Roman Kopin on 15 March 2023. Kuznetsov previously served as deputy prime minister of the unrecognized Luhansk People's Republic.

The governor is elected by universal suffrage for a term of 5 years.

Roman Abramovich was governor of Chukotka from 2000 to 2008. Abramovich had spent over US$1 billion in the region (partly as normal tax payments) on developing infrastructure and providing direct aid to the inhabitants during his time as governor from 2000 until 2008. In 2004, there were also reports, however, that Chukotka gave Abramovich's company Sibneft tax breaks in excess of US$450 million.

On 13 July 2008, the deputies of the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, during a secret ballot, unanimously approved Roman Kopin as governor, whose candidacy was submitted for consideration to the Duma of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug on 11 July 2008 by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in connection with the early resignation of Abramovich. On 8 September 2013, Kopin was elected governor.

On 15 March 2023, Vladislav Kuznetsov replaced Kopin as the governor of Chukotka.

Administrative divisions
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is administratively divided into the following districts:

Along the Arctic coast (from west to east): Bilibinsky District (northwest), Chaunsky District around Chaunskaya Bay, then Iultinsky District, and finally Chukotsky District at the eastern cape.

Along the Pacific coast (from north to south): Providensky District south of Chukotsky, southern Iultinsky District around Kresta Bay, and finally eastern Anadyrsky District at the Anadyr Estuary.

Interior: The western quarter of the Okrug is Bilibinsky District, and the rest of the interior is Anadyrsky District.

Demographics
Population: The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is one of the very few places in Russia where there are more men than women.

Source:

Life expectancy
As of June 2022, Chukotka had the lowest life expectancy in Russia. This statistic varies greatly from year to year due to the region's relatively small population.

Ethnic groups
According to the 2021 Census, the ethnic composition was:
 * Russian 54.2%
 * Chukchi 28.3%
 * Ukrainian 3.2%
 * Yupik 3.1%
 * Even 2.7%
 * Chuvan 1.6%
 * Kalmyk 0.8%
 * Tatar 0.7%
 * Buryat 0.5%
 * other groups of less than two hundred persons each

Historical figures are given below: There are 86 recognized ethnic groups in the okrug as of 2021. Indigenous peoples make up 37% of the total population.

Ethnographic maps shows the Yupik peoples as the indigenous population of some villages near Provideniya, Chuvans in the  Chuvanskoye village some 100. km west of Markovo, the Evens in some inland areas, and the Chukchi throughout the rest of the region.

Religion
The Russian Orthodox Church in Chukotka is represented by the Eparchy (Diocese) of Anadyr and Chukotka (Анадырская и Чукотская епархия). The controversial conservative Bishop of Anadyr and Chukotka, Diomid, who had occupied the Anadyr see since 2000 and had been instrumental in the development of the church in the peninsula, was removed by the Holy Synod in the summer of 2008. Diomid would later go on to establish a True Orthodox denomination in Chukotka, which has become largely inactive. Diomid was succeeded by Mark (Tuzhikov) as he was the acting Archbishop of Khabarovsk at the time.

The current Russian Orthodox bishop of Chukotka is Ipaty (Golubev) who was installed on 21 August 2018.

There is also a small evangelical presence in the city of Provideniya, founded by the Moldovan community there.

title: Chukotka Autonomous Okrug