The Chukchi, or Chukchee (Chukot: Ԓыгъоравэтԓьэт, О'равэтԓьэт, Ḷygʺoravètḷʹèt, O'ravètḷʹèt), are a Siberian indigenous people native to the Chukchi Peninsula, the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean all within modern Russia. They speak the Chukchi language. The Chukchi originated from the people living around the Okhotsk Sea. According to several studies on genomic research conduct from 2014 to 2018, the Chukchi are the closest Asiatic relatives of the indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as of the Ainu people, being the descendants of settlers who did not cross the Bering Strait or settled the Japanese archipelago.