Ujvyn

Ujvyn, known in Russian as Markovo, lies beside the Anadyr in a broad hollow surrounded by mountains. Here the river divides into channels amid lakes and a wide floodplain. Its Chukchi name refers to a wooden dwelling, and the settlement stands in a region shared by several peoples, including the Chuvans.

Russian expansion reached the Anadyr in the seventeenth century. During the following century, conflict and the loss of reindeer drove some Chuvans toward settlements near the Russian fort of Anadyrsk. After the fort was abandoned in 1771, many moved elsewhere, although others continued to herd reindeer around the Belaya and Yeropol. In the early nineteenth century Chuvans returned to the Anadyr country, and Markovo became one of their settled communities.