Tavayvaam is a rural locality (a selo) under the administrative jurisdiction of the town of Anadyr

Anadyr (town)

Anadyr is a port town and the administrative centre of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the extreme north-eastern region of Russia. It is at the mouth of the Anadyr River, on the tip of the southern promontory that sticks out into Anadyrskiy Liman...

 in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka , is a federal subject of Russia located in the Russian Far East.Chukotka has a population of 53,824 according to the 2002 Census, and a surface area of . The principal town and the administrative center is Anadyr...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. Municipally, it is a part of Anadyr Urban Okrug. The village is a predominantly indigenous settlement effectively within the suburbs of Anadyr.

Demographics

Tavayvaam is very small, with a 2003 population of just 400 inhabitants. The population is made up mainly of indigenous Chukchi

Chukchi people

The Chukchi, or Chukchee , ) are an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean within the Russian Federation. They speak the Chukchi language...

 and Yupik people.

Economy

The economy is driven primarily by traditional activity. Reindeer

Reindeer

The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

 farming used to be the main activity of the village, but following the economic crisis caused by the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...

 all the reindeer owned by the villagers were lost. The effects of this loss can still be seen as around 20% of the villagers are unemployed. The lack of reindeer mean that the economy is instead now supported by fishing, seasonal labor, and the production of traditional indigenous crafts for sale to tourists and to the population of nearby Anadyr.

Culture

Tavayvaam preserves its indigenous culture through the Chukchi language

Chukchi language

The Chukchi language is a Palaeosiberian language spoken by Chukchi people in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug...

Club Murgin Vetgav and a native crafts society.