While Russia's population declines, there's a baby boom happening on its outer edge.

Lilia Omrytagina has just given birth to her second child, Ruslan, in the hospital that serves Chukotka's biggest town. "We have belief in tomorrow," the 28-year-old mother says.

Chukotka, nearer Alaska than Moscow, is a region revived by the billions of ex-governor Roman Abramovich. Salaries rose fivefold during his term, easing the shock to reindeer herders starved of subsidies after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"I was elected during a period of crisis for Chukotka," said Abramovich, who governed the region twice the size of Germany from late 2000 until July 2008. "I believe we were able to resolve many of the most important issues during my tenure."

Now, the challenge for Chukotka is sustaining this growth by exploiting abundant reserves of fish, coal and precious metals.

Chukotka has become Russia's biggest gold-producing region, supplying a fifth of national output, since Canadian miner Kinross Gold Corp launched its enormous Kupol mine in mid-2008.

In the capital, Anadyr, vivid colors lift apartment blocks out of the gloom that descends in winter. New roads have been laid and the hospital has been completely refurbished.

Marina Ostras, its deputy chief doctor, inspects ultrasound equipment made by U.S. firm General Electric as she makes her rounds. About 800 people are born in Chukotka every year, she says, while deaths number only around 500.

A United Nations report this year said Russia's population could drop to 131 million by 2025 from about 142 million today, ravaged by alcohol, smoking and poor diet. "If it's a problem in Russia, it's the opposite here," says Ostras.

The trend toward having more than one child is growing. "I have confidence I can provide for my children. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have been so sure," 23-year-old accountant Anastasia Khvoroschanskaya says while rocking her second baby, Alexander.

Day dawns on Anadyr nine hours before Moscow, the same time as in Tonga. The town's population fell by 30 percent in the 15 years after the break-up of the Soviet Union, but people no longer want to leave.

"Abramovich allowed us to stand on our own feet again," says Nail Gaifullin, 28, who works in the fish processing plant in the capital, Anadyr. This season's catch was the best in years.

Chukotka's isolation, so often a curse, has been its savior during the economic downturn. The crisis, an everyday word throughout Russia, is rarely heard here, where the monthly wage of 40,000 rubles ($1,285) is over twice the national average.

"People are still spending. Our purchasing power hasn't dropped," says Ivan Biryukov, the 62-year-old deputy director of the Field of Wonders shopping center.

Dmitry Sorokin, 28, a ventilation system technician who spends his evenings skateboarding near the docks, said: "Before, the goods were in the shops, but nobody had cash to buy them."