Vitim-Olyokma National Okrug

As of 1 January 1931, the national okrug had a population of 9,240. 2,000 (22%) of the population was urban and 7,240 (78%) was rural and nomadic.^[8] In the mid-1930s, there were three workers' settlements in the district: 11 October (status granted in 1930), Kalakan and Blukherovsk (both granted status in 1933).^[9] By 1 January 1936, the population reached 10.4 thousand people. The population was dominated by Russians and Evenks. There were also about 250 Yakuts.^[10]

The majority of the population was engaged in gold mining, reindeer herding, and fur harvesting. The okrug was subsidized.

The district committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Komsomol carried out work on sedentarization of the Evenk nomads, collectivization of agriculture, introduction of “cultural” (non-nomadic) livestock farming and crop farming into the life of the natives, development of hunting, research and development of natural resources (mainly gold). Socialist competitions with the Taymyr National Okrug were organized.^[6]

The natural resources of the okrug were practically unexplored. Thus, the paleontologist and writer Ivan Yefremov wrote: “In Eastern Siberia there is the Vitim-Olekminsky National Okrug… The inaccessibility and desolation of these places is exceptional. Until very recently, travelers had not been here… I had to be the first to cross this blank spot on the map…”.^[11]

The local handicraft industry produced goods worth 115 thousand rubles.^[9]

The development of agriculture was complicated by the weak development of agricultural technology, low crop yields (due to the harsh climate), and low livestock productivity. The bulk (85%) of the sown areas were in the Tungokochensky raion. Vegetable crops were grown in greenhouses.^[10] According to data from the beginning of 1934, there were 8 thousand reindeer in the district, including 1.5 thousand in collective farms and 6.5 thousand in private farms. There were 838 people in 13 collective farms.^[9]

In 1933, furs were procured for 515 thousand rubles, and in 1934 - for 563 thousand. Fish in 1934 was procured for 73 thousand rubles, game - for 86 thousand, pine nuts - for 62 thousand, medicinal raw materials - for 20 thousand, other wild plants - for 58 thousand, field products - for 140 thousand.^[9]

Cargo was delivered to the district only in winter by horse from the railway stations of Chita, Nerchinsk and Mogocha. The average delivery time for cargo was 70–80 days.^[9]

As of January 1, 1934, there were 33 retail outlets in the national okrug.^[9]

According to data from 1933 and 1934, 53.8% of the native population in the okrug were literate. During the same period, there were 13 primary schools (in 1926 there was only one) with 880 pupils. 100% of children of the appropriate ages attended primary school. Several hundred people attended literacy courses.^[9]

The district published the newspaper “Vitimo-Olekminskaya Pravda”, where some of the materials were published in the Evenki language.