From the earliest times Taymyr attracted Russians as a land of teeming treasures. Starting from the 16th century, the first pioneering path breakers from Moscow, Tula, Archangelsk and Tver started to settle down along the banks of the mighty Yenisey River. The first settlers came to this rough land hoping to grow rich on trade on fine furs. In 1667 a small village of Dudinka was founded on the banks of the Yenisey River. The town is now the center of the Taymyr Autonomous Area.

The following centuries saw expeditions of brothers Laptevs, Semen Cheluskin, Fyodor Minin, A. Nordensheld, E. Toll, F. Nansen, R. Amudsen, G. Ushakov and N. Urvantsev. All these brace and courageous men discovered mysterious lands of the Taymyr Peninsula and explored the mainland and numerous islands located not far from the shores of the Peninsula.

At present, Dudinka, the center of the region, is an important seagoing port on the lower Yenisey that serves cargo vessels and passenger boats.