Editing Commander Islands

{{Short description|Russian islands in the Bering Sea}}{{coord|55.00|N|166.40|E|display=title|region:RU_type:isle}}
{{Infobox country
|conventional_long_name = Commander Islands
|native_name = <!--Please do not add further languages without discussing on talk page first-->{{native name|ru|Командо́рские острова́ |italics=off|fontsize=68%}}<br/>''Komandorskiye ostrova''
|common_name = Commander Islands
|image_map = Commander Islands Map - Russian.png
|map_caption = Map showing the position of the Commander Islands to the east of [[Kamchatka]]. The larger island to the west is [[Bering Island]]; the smaller island is [[Medny Island|Medny]].
|ethnic_groups = {{unbulleted list |[[Russians]] |[[Aleut people|Aleuts]]}}
|admin_center_type = Settlement
|admin_center = [[Nikolskoye, Kamchatka Krai|Nikolskoye]]
|coordinates = {{Coord|55|11|51|N|165|59|51|E|type:city}}
|area_km2 = 1,846
|area_sq_mi = 712 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|population_estimate = 613
|population_estimate_year = 2009 <!--(taken from article text)-->
}}

The '''Commander Islands''', '''Komandorski Islands''', or '''Komandorskie Islands''' ({{langx|ru|Командо́рские острова́}}, ''Komandorskiye ostrova'') are a series of [[island]]s in the [[Russian Far East]], a part of the [[Aleutian Islands]], located about {{cvt|175|km|0}} east of the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] in the [[Bering Sea]].  Treeless and sparsely populated, the islands consist of [[Bering Island]], {{cvt|95|by|15|km|0}}; [[Medny Island]], {{cvt|55|by|5|km|0}}; and fifteen [[islets]] and rocks. The largest of the latter are [[Tufted Puffin Rock]] ''(Kamen Toporkov'' or ''Ostrov Toporkov)'', {{cvt|15|ha|acres}}, and [[Kamen Ariy]], which are between {{cvt|3|and|13|km|0}} west of the only settlement, [[Nikolskoye, Kamchatka Krai|Nikolskoye]]. [[Administrative divisions of Kamchatka Krai|Administratively]], the Commanders compose the [[Aleutsky District]] of the [[Kamchatka Krai]] in [[Russia]].

In 2005, the Comandorsky State Nature Reserve was [[World_Heritage_Site#Nomination_process|nominated for]] the [[List of World Heritage Sites in Russia]] of [[UNESCO]].<ref name=nom>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1997/ The Commander Islands (Comandorsky State Nature Reserve)]</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:txu-oclc-6654394-nn-58-3rd-ed.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Detailed map including the Commander Islands]]

The Commander Islands archipelago consists of 15 islands and is a part of a submarine volcanic ridge extending from [[Alaska]] to Kamchatka  dated by the beginning of [[Paleogene]] (60-70 million years ago).<ref name=nom/> The islands are the westernmost of the [[Aleutian Islands]], most of which are part of the US state of Alaska, and are separated from the closest US island, [[Attu Island]], and the rest of the chain by {{cvt|207|mi|km}}. Between the two runs the [[International Date Line]]. The relief is somewhat diverse, encompassing folded-block mountains, [[volcanic plateau]]s, terraced plains and low mountains. The geologic origins are long-extinct [[volcano]]es on the edge of the [[Pacific Plate|Pacific]] and [[North American Plate]]s. 

The highest point is Steller's Peak on Bering Island at {{cvt|755|m|ft|0}}.<ref name=nom/> The highest point on Medny Island is Stenjeger's Peak at {{cvt|647|m|ft|0}}. 

The archipelago lies at similar latitudes to [[Glasgow]] and [[Edinburgh]] in [[Scotland]], Southern [[Scandinavia]] and southern parts of the [[Alaskan Panhandle]].

==Climate==
The climate is relatively mild for its latitude, and maritime, with 220–240&nbsp;days of precipitation per year. The cool summers are notoriously foggy. The [[Köppen climate classification]] would be classed as ''Dfc'' bordering on ''Cfc'' and ''Dfb''.

== 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]]

== Natural history ==
[[File:Chitrow - Seekuh, Seebaer und Seeloewe (Ausschnitt aus einer Karte).jpg|thumb|right|Detail from an early map by [[Great Northern Expedition|Bering expedition]] member S. Khitrov of eastern Kamchatka, including the Commander Islands, with drawings of [[Steller's sea cow]], the [[northern fur seal]] and the [[Steller sea lion]].]]

[[File:О. Медный 456547.jpg|thumb|Medny Island]]
There is no true forest on the Commander Islands. The vegetation is dominated by [[lichen]]s, [[moss]]es and different associations of marshy plants with low grass and dwarf trees. Very tall [[umbellifer]]s are also common.

===Mammals===
Due to the high productivity of the Bering Sea shelf and the Pacific slope and their remoteness from human influence, the Commander Islands are marked by a great abundance of marine animal life and a relative paucity of terrestrial organisms.<ref name=BN>{{cite journal |last=Barabash-Nikiforov |first=I. |title=Mammals of the Commander Islands and the Surrounding Sea |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=423–429 |date=November 1938 |doi=10.2307/1374226 |jstor=1374226}}</ref> Notably, significant numbers of [[northern fur seal]]s (some 200,000 individuals) and [[Steller sea lion]]s (approximately 5,000 individuals) summer there, both on reproductive rookeries and non-reproductive haul-outs. [[Sea otter]]s, [[common seal]]s and [[spotted seal|larga seals]] are likewise abundant. Indeed, the [[sea otter]] population is stable and possibly increasing, even as their population is falling precipitously in the rest of the Aleutian islands.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Doroff |first=A. |author2=J.A. Estes |author3=M.T. Tinker |title=Sea otter population declines in the Aleutian archipelago |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=55–64 |date=February 2003 |doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2003)084<0055:SOPDIT>2.0.CO;2 |issn=1545-1542 |display-authors=etal |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The neighboring waters provide important feeding, wintering and migrating habitat for many whale species, many of which are threatened or endangered. Among these are: [[sperm whale]]s, [[orca]]s, several species of [[Minke whale]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mpatlas.org/mpa/sites/5319/ |title=MPAtlas » Commander Islands |website=www.mpatlas.org |access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref> [[beaked whale]]s, and [[porpoise]]s, [[humpback whale|humpbacks]] and endangered species such as the [[North Pacific right whale]]s<ref name="BN" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://komandorsky.ru/eubalaena-japonica-lacepede.html |title=Командорский - Японский гладкий кит Eubalaena japonica Lacepede, 1818 |trans-title=Komandorsky - Japanese right whale Eubalaena japonica Lacepede, 1818 |website=komandorsky.ru |access-date=18 September 2018}}</ref> and [[fin whale]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://komandorsky.ru/balaenoptera-physalus.html |title=Командорский - Финвал (сельдяной кит) Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) |trans-title=Commander - Fin whale (herring whale) Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) |website=komandorsky.ru |access-date=18 September 2018}}</ref>

Bering Island was the only known habitat of [[Steller's sea cow]]s, an immense (over {{convert|4000|kg|abbr=on|disp=or}}) [[sirenian]] related to the [[dugong]]. The sea cow was hunted to [[extinction]] within 27 years of its discovery in 1741.<ref name="Anderson1995">{{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=P. |year=1995 |title=Competition, predation, and the evolution and extinction of Steller's sea cow, ''Hydrodamalis gigas'' |journal=Marine Mammal Science |volume=11 |pages=391–394 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-7692.1995.tb00294.x |issue=3|bibcode=1995MMamS..11..391A }}</ref> 

The much less diverse terrestrial fauna includes two distinct, endemic subspecies of [[Arctic fox]], (''Alopex lagopus semenovi'' and ''A. l. beringensis''). Though relatively healthy now, these populations had been significantly depleted in the past due to the fur trade. Most other terrestrial species, including wild [[reindeer]], [[American mink]] and [[rat]]s, have all been introduced to the islands by man.<ref name=BN/>

===Birds===
Over a million seabirds gather to nest on numerous large colonies along almost all the coastal cliffs. The most common are [[northern fulmar]]; [[Common guillemot|common]], [[Brunnich's guillemot|brunnich's]] and [[pigeon guillemot]]s; [[Horned puffin|horned]] and [[tufted puffin]]s; [[cormorants]]; [[gulls]]; and [[kittiwakes]] including the extremely local [[red-legged kittiwake]] which nests in only a few other colonies in the world. [[Waterfowl]] and [[sandpiper]]s are also abundant along the pre-lake depressions and river valleys of Bering Island, though largely absent from Medny Island. Migratory birds of note with critical nesting or feeding habitat on the islands include such species as [[Steller's eider]], [[Pacific golden plover]] and [[Aleutian tern]]. Raptors of note include the rare [[Steller's sea eagle]] and [[gyrfalcon]]. Other bird types include auks such as the [[Ancient murrelet]] and game birds such as the [[Rock ptarmigan]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/campaigns/world-natural-heritage/commander-islands/ |title=Commander Islands |website=Greenpeace Russia |language=en-RU |access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref> In total, over 180 bird species have been registered on the Commander Islands.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Johansen |first=H. |title=Revised List of the Birds of the Commander Islands |journal=The Auk |volume=78 |issue=1 |pages=44–56 |date=January 1961 |doi=10.2307/4082233 |jstor=4082233|doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[spectacled cormorant]], a large essentially flightless bird in the cormorant family, was driven to extinction by around 1850.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |year= 2023 |title=''Urile perspicillatus'' |page= e.T22696750A226827998 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T22696750A226827998.en|access-date=7 January 2024}}</ref> The islands have been recognised as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because they support populations of various [[threatened]] bird species, including many [[waterbird]]s and [[seabird]]s.<ref name=bli> {{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/commander-islands-iba-russia-(asian) |title=Commander Islands |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021 |website=BirdLife Data Zone |publisher=BirdLife International |access-date=7 February 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Бухта Буяна 1.JPG|thumb|Bering Island]]
The fish fauna in the mountainous, fast running streams is composed primarily of migratory [[salmonids]], including [[Arctic char]], [[Dolly Varden trout|Dolly Varden]], [[westslope cutthroat trout|black spotted trout]], [[Chinook salmon|chinook]], [[sockeye salmon|sockeye]], [[coho]] and [[pink salmon]].

There are no [[amphibians]] or [[reptiles]] on the Commander Islands.<ref name=BN/>

== History ==
[[File:Bering Island Aleuts.jpg|thumb|right|Group of [[Aleut people|Aleut]] hunters from [[Bering Island]] ({{circa}} 1884–1886)]]

The Commander Islands received their name from Commander [[Vitus Bering]], whose ship ''St Peter'' wrecked on the otherwise uninhabited Bering Island on [[Second Kamchatka Expedition|his return voyage]] from [[Alaska]] in 1741. Bering died on the island along with much of the crew. His grave is marked by a modest monument. About half of the crew did manage to survive the winter, thanks in part to the abundance of wildlife (notably the newly discovered Steller's sea cow) and the efforts of naturalist and physician [[Georg Wilhelm Steller]], who cured many of the men of [[scurvy]] by compelling them to eat seaweed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steller |first=G.W. |editor=O.W. Frost |title=Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741–1742 |others=M. A. Engel; O. W. Frost (trans.) |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1988 |location=Stanford |isbn=0-8047-2181-5}}</ref> Eventually, a smaller boat was built from the remains of the ''St.&nbsp;Peter'' and the survivors found their way back to Kamchatka, heavily laden with valuable sea otter pelts. The discovery of the sea otters sparked the great rush of fur-seeking "''[[promyshlenniki]]''" which drove the Russian expansion into Alaska.

[[File:1966 CPA 3446.jpg|thumb|right|250px|1966 Soviet postage stamp depicting [[Vitus Bering|Bering's]] second voyage and the discovery of the Commander Islands]]
[[Aleut people|Aleut]] (Unangan) people were transferred to the Commander Islands early in 1825 by the [[Russian-American Company]] from the [[Aleutian Islands|Aleutians]] for the [[Seal hunting|seal trade]]. Most of the Aleuts inhabiting Bering Island came from [[Atka Island]] and those who lived on Medny Island came from [[Attu Island]], now both American possessions. A [[mixed language]] called [[Medny Aleut language|Mednyj Aleut]], with Aleut roots but Russian verb inflection, developed among the inhabitants. Today the population of the islands is about two-thirds Russian and one-third Aleut.

The 1943 [[Battle of the Komandorski Islands]] took place in the open sea about {{cvt|160|km|mi|round=10}} south of the islands.<ref>Lorelli, John A. (1984) ''The Battle of the Komandorski Islands, March 1943''. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, {{ISBN|0-87021-093-9}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Aleuts in Russia]]
*[[Preobrazhenskoye, Kamchatka Oblast]], a now-abandoned village on Medny Island.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Richard Ellis, ''Encyclopedia of the Sea'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
* Artyukhin Yu. B. ''Commander Islands'', Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 2005.

== External links ==
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://beringisland.ru/ Unofficial website of the Commander Islands]
*{{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20090619105920/http://photo.beringisland.ru/ Photos of the Commander Islands]
*[http://www.wild-russia.org/bioregion14/14-komandorsky/14_komandorsky.htm#sect1 Overview of the Kommandorsky Zapovednik]
*[http://www.bering.narod.ru/eng/booklet.htm Details of their current situation]
*[http://www.nhpfund.org/nominations/commander.html Commander Islands] at the [http://www.nhpfund.org/ Natural Heritage Protection Fund].
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060602192401/http://www.worldwildlife.org/beringsea_erbc/5_Commanders_book.pdf Island in a Storm]
*[https://dxnews.com/ri0z/ RI0Z Amateur Radio Expedition to Commander Islands]

{{Islands in the Bering Sea}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Commander Islands| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Aleutian Islands]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Kamchatka Krai]]
[[Category:Islands of the Bering Sea]]
[[Category:Islands of the Commander Islands| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Russian Far East]]
[[Category:Pacific Coast of Russia]]
[[Category:World Heritage Tentative List]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Russia]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of the Aleutian Islands]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of North Asia]]