Editing Koryaks (section)

==History==
[[File:Koryak shaman woman.jpeg|thumb|Koryak shaman woman (circa 1900)]]
The Koryak once occupied a much larger area of the Russian Far East. Their overlapping borders extended to the Nivkh areas in [[Khabarovsk Krai]] until the [[Evens]] arrived, and pushed them into their present region.{{sfn|Friedrich|Diamond|1994}}{{page needed|date=October 2020}} A [[smallpox]] [[epidemic]] in 1769–1770 and [[Conquest of Siberia#Genocides|warfare with Russian Cossacks]] reduced the Koryak population from 10-11,000 in 1700 to 4,800 in 1800.<ref name=ANSI>[http://www.npolar.no/ansipra/english/Indexpages/Ethnic_groups.html#19 "Indigenous Peoples of the Russian North, Siberia and Far East"], Arctic Network for the Support of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Arctic</ref>

Under the [[Soviet Union]], the [[Koryak Autonomous Okrug]] was formed in 1931 and named after the Koryak people. Based on a local referendum in 2005, this was merged with [[Kamchatka Krai]] effective 1 July 2007.{{sfn|Chaussonnet|1995|p=28-29}}