About the region
About Kamchatka
What’s Kamchatka best known for? Its volcanoes, of course! These giants represent a place of power and a place of great energy where boiling lava meets the cold ocean. A place where the Earth exhales clouds of steam from within its depths, and crystal-clear waters flow down the icy mountain tops.The nature of Kamchatka has remained pristine for hundreds of years. Nature reserves and national parks are a safe harbor for endangered birds and animal species. The unique UNESCO sites of this locale attract tourists from all over the world.
The territory of Kamchatka takes a little less than 3% of all Russia. The Kamchatka Krai makes part of the Far Eastern Federal District and includes all the Kamchatka Peninsula with the adjacent mainland, as well as the Kamandorskie island and the Karaga. In the north and the northwest the region borders with the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and the Magadan Region and in the south-with the Sakhalin Region. In the east Kamchatka is washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean, in the northeast- by those of the Bering Sea, in the west- the Sea of Okhotsk. The Sredinny Range across the Kamchatka stretches from its north to the south. It consists of a large number of hills, lava plateaus, mountain ranges and individual peaks covered with icecaps. The highest point of the region is the Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the lowest one is the bottom of Kuril Lake. All soils on Kamchatka partake of the volcanic ash. The most fertile soils are the dark-colored grassland and alluvial soils common for the valley of the Kamchatka River.
On July 1, 2007- since the Kamchatka Region and the Koryak Autonomous District were merged into the Kamchatka Krai- the Krai has consisted of 68 municipalities, including three urban districts, 11 municipal districts, 5 urban localities and 49 villages.
City Districts: Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Vilyuchinsk, Palana
Municipal districts: Aleutsky, Bystrinsky, Elizovsky, Karaginsky, Milkovsky, Olyutorsky, Penzhinsky, Sobolevsky, Tigilsky, Ust-Bolcheretsky, Ust-Kamchatsky
Kamchatka is fairly called the Russia’s fish shop. The region dominates the Far Eastern regions in fishing. A fifth of all Russian catches is caught here. Each year, about 1 million tons of Pacific salmon, Alaska Pollack, cod, halibut, flounder, crab and invertebrates are fished out. The fishing industry is the key point for the economy of Kamchatka, accounting for more than half of its industrial output and for 90% of the export potential of the region. Enterprises in the region produce about 800 tons of fish annually.
The water area near the Kamchatka Krai is the largest fishing ground in the Far East, with the total surface of 1473 sq.km, or 427.5 thousand square miles. In addition, almost all the rivers on the territory of Kamchatka have commercial fishing importance, making up the spawning fund of Pacific salmon and other fish species.
Kamchatka is a kind of a natural museum under the open air. Turbulent mountain rivers and boiling geysers, healing hot springs, snow-capped volcanoes and bubbling lava flows are the world to come to the peninsula. Regardless of the time of year you can go skiing and snowboarding, hunting and fishing, swimming in the hot springs, climb the volcanoes, go rafting, diving. In winter you can ride a dog sledge, or go catboarding. Thus, creating a modern tourist infrastructure is one of the main priorities for the local administration.