What is "koryaks"

Koryaks (or Koriak) are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk, Russia. They are akin to the Chukchis, whom they closely resemble in culture and physique. They are more distantly related to the Kamchadal ( Itelmens) on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The Koryaks' neighbors are the Evens to the west of Koryak lands, the Alutor to the south on the isthmus of Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kerek to the east, and the Chukchi to the northeast.

The Koryak are typically split into two groups: the coastal people Nemelan (or Nymylan) meaning 'village dwellers,' due to their living in villages. Their lifestyle is based on local fishing and marine mammal hunting. The inland Koryak, reindeer herders, are called Chaucu (or Chauchuven), meaning 'rich in reindeer.' They are more nomadic, following the herds as they graze with the seasons.

The Koryak language and its relative, Alutor, are linguistically very close to Chukchi. They are members of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family. According to the 2010 census, there were 7,953 Koryaks in Russia.