About 30,000 years ago. This is the period to which the first traces of human habitation beyond the Arctic Circle are dated, according to radiocarbon analyses. In recent decades, scientists from the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have discovered and studied several Paleolithic sites (Yanskaya, Berelek, Byzovaya, Mammoth Kurya, etc.) and slightly later settlements, which significantly “aged” the history of human occupation of the Arctic. Year 1032. The expedition of Novgorodians under the leadership of Posadnik Uleb to the “Iron Gates” (Yugorsky Shar Strait) in the Kara Sea. The first mention in Russian chronicles of contact between Europeans and the Khanty and Mansi peoples. 12th — 16th centuries. The Pomors regularly traveled through the northern seas, trading with local tribes and exploring the coastlines. They were well aware of the islands of Spitsbergen (which they called Grumant), Novaya Zemlya (Matka), Kildin, Kolguyev. Year 1493. Nuremberg physician Hieronymus Münzer wrote to Portuguese King João II that the Russians not only frequently visited Grumant (Spitsbergen) but also established a large settlement there. 1572–1620. 180 km south of the mouth of the Taz River in the Arctic Ocean, at the confluence of the Mangazeyka River, the first Russian city in the Arctic — Mangazeya — was founded. Initially, it was a trading post with a river port. In 1600, by decree of Tsar Boris Godunov, a detachment of 100 streltsy and service Cossacks led by Voivode Miron Shakhovsky and scribe Danila Khripunov was sent from Tobolsk to Mangazeya. Despite constant attacks by the “thieving Samoyeds,” they managed to reach the destination and build a fortress there. The city grew and developed rapidly, becoming the center of the Russian Arctic in just a few years. A fortress with five towers, a church, and a fairly large trading post was built. The city hosted up to two thousand merchants, and its fame reached England and the Netherlands. In 1616, the Pomors first established a sea route from Mangazeya to Arkhangelsk, but already four years later it was banned under the threat of death — the treasury feared losing control over the fur exports and did not want foreigners to appear in Mangazeya. This decision proved fatal. Mangazeya began to lose its commercial appeal and quickly faded away. The garrison and voivode administration were transferred to New Mangazeya, which is now known as Turukhansk. … (To be continued)