Chukchi people
Chukchi family and their Siberian Husky, early 20th century | |
| Total population | |
| 16,241 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Russia | 16,200 |
| Chukotka Autonomous Okrug | 13,292 |
| Ukraine | 30 |
| Estonia | 11 |
| Languages | |
| Russian, Chukchi | |
| Religion | |
| Shamanism, Russian Orthodoxy | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Chukotko-Kamchatkan peoples | |
The Chukchi, or Chukchee (Chukot: ԓыгъоравэтԓьэт, о'равэтԓьэт, ḷygʺoravètḷʹèt, o'ravètḷʹèt), are a Siberian ethnic group native to the Chukchi Peninsula, the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean all within modern Russia. They speak the Chukchi language. The Chukchi originated from the people living around the Okhotsk Sea.
According to several studies on genomic research conducted from 2014 to 2018, the Chukchi are the closest Asian relatives of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, as such they are descendants of the settlers of Beringia who remained on the Russian side when the sea levels rose.
The majority of Chukchi reside within Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, but some also reside in the neighboring Sakha Republic to the west, Magadan Oblast to the southwest, and Kamchatka Krai to the south. Some Chukchi also reside in other parts of Russia, as well as in Europe and North America. The total number of Chukchi in the world slightly exceeds 16,000.