TAYMYR

also spelled Taimyr, or Tajmyr, also called Dolgano-nenets, autonomous okrug (district), Krasnoyarsk kray (region), northeastern central Russia. It has an area of 332,850 square miles (862,100 square km) on the hilly Taymyr Peninsula, the most northerly part of the Eurasian continent, and extends south to the northern edge of the Central Siberian Plateau. The okrug includes the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago in the high Arctic. The climate is exceptionally severe, with prolonged, bitter winters. Almost everywhere is a tundra of mosses, lichens, and bog. The harsh conditions and remoteness are faced by only a very small population, composed mainly of Russians, Dolgans, Nenets, Ukrainians, and Nganasans. Reindeer herding, hunting, fishing, and fur farming are their principal economic activities. The okrug has two urban settlementsDudinka, the capital, and Dikson, a small port at the mouth of the Gulf of Yenisey. Nordvik, on the Gulf of Khatanga, where salt is obtained, is a main port. Pop. (1990 est.) 55,000.