Editing Commander Islands (section)

== Population ==
[[File:Nikolskoye1.jpg|thumb|The village of [[Nikolskoye, Kamchatka Krai|Nikolskoye]] on [[Bering Island]]]]
The only permanently inhabited locality is the village of [[Nikolskoye, Kamchatka Krai|Nikolskoye]] on the northwest end of [[Bering Island]], with an estimated population of&nbsp;613 {{As of|2009|lc=y}}. This consists almost entirely of Russians and [[Aleut people|Aleut]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Derbeneva |first1=OA |last2=Sukernik |first2=RI |last3=Volodko |first3=NV |last4=Hosseini |first4=SH |last5=Lott |first5=MT |last6=Wallace |first6=DC |year=2002 |title=Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in the Aleuts of the Commander Islands and Its Implications for the Genetic History of Beringia |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]] |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=415–21 |doi=10.1086/341720 |pmid=12082644 |pmc=379174}}</ref> The majority of the island chain’s area, as well as much of the adjacent marine habitat, {{cvt|36,488|km2|sqmi|0}}, is taken up by the [[Komandorsky Zapovednik]], a natural preserve. The economy is based primarily on fishing, [[mushroom gathering]], the administration of the [[zapovednik]] (i.e. strictly protected wilderness), [[ecotourism]] and government services.

The village has a school, a satellite tracking station and a dirt airstrip to its south.

The other settlements on the two islands are small villages or scattering of houses:

* [[Severnoye, Kamchatka Krai|Severnoye]]
* [[Podutesnaya]]
* [[Gladkovskaya]]
* [[Lisennova]]
* [[Peschanka, Kamchatka Krai|Peschanka]]
* [[Preobrazhenskoye, Kamchatka Oblast|Preobrazhenskoye]]
* [[Glinka, Kamchatka Krai|Glinka]]