The Kamchatka Peninsula (Russian: полуо́стров Камча́тка) including the Volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km². Avachinsky (also known as Avacha or Avacha Volcano or Avachinskaya Sopka) (Авачинская сопка Авача is an active Stratovolcano Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages A peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by Water but connected to Mainland via an Isthmus. Russian Far East (Да́льний Восто́к Росси́и ˈdalʲnʲɪj vʌˈstok rʌˈsʲiɪ is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The Sea of Okhotsk ( Russian: Охо́тское мо́ре English Transliteration: Okhotskoye More) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, ^[1] Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500 meter deep Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. The Kuril-Kamchatka Trench or Kuril Trench ( Russian Курило-Камчатский жёлоб) is an Oceanic trench with a maximum depth

The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, and Karaginsky Island constitute the Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation. Commander Islands or Komandorski Islands (Командо́рские острова́ Komandorskiye ostrova) are a group of treeless Russian Islands Karaginsky Island or Karaginskiy Island (Карагинский остров is an Island in the Karaginsky Gulf of the Bering Sea. Kamchatka Krai (Камча́тский край is a federal subject of Russia. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The majority of the 402,500 inhabitants are Russians, but there are also about 13,000 Koryaks. The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries Koryaks (or Koriak are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the More than half of the population lives in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (198,028 people) and Yelizovo (41,533). Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Петропа́вловск-Камча́тский is the main city and the administrative industrial scientific and cultural center of Yelizovo (Е́лизово is a town in Kamchatka Krai, Russia, located on the Avacha River 32 km north-west of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Contents 1 Geography and climate 2 Terrestrial and aquatic fauna 3 History and exploration 4 Popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Geography and climate

Volcanoes of Kamchatka*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Russian Federation
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, viii, ix, x
Reference	765
Region†	Asia
Inscription history
Inscription	1996  (20th Session)
Extensions	2001
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

The Kamchatka River and the surrounding central valley are flanked by large volcanic belts containing around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex As of 2008 there are a total of 878 World Heritage Sites located in 145 "State Parties" Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. Asia Minor, Cyprus, all of the Aegean Islands, the Canaries A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex The Kamchatka River (Камча́тка runs eastward for through Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East towards the Pacific Ocean. A volcanic belt is a large volcanically active region Other terms are used for smaller areas of activity such as volcanic fields Volcanic belts are found above zones Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the The peninsula has a high density of volcanoes and associated volcanic phenomena, with 19 active volcanoes being included in the six UNESCO World Heritage List sites in the Volcanoes of Kamchatka group, most of them on the Kamchatka Peninsula. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex ^[2]

The highest volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,750 m or 15,584 ft), the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere ^[3], while the most striking is Kronotsky, whose perfect cone was said by celebrated volcanologists Robert and Barbara Decker to be a prime candidate for the world's most beautiful volcano. Klyuchevskaya Sopka (Ключевская сопка is a Stratovolcano, and the highest mountain on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, and the highest Kronotsky (Кроноцкая сопка Kronotskaya Sopka) is a major Stratovolcano of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Somewhat more accessible are the three volcanoes visible from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Koryaksky, Avachinsky, and Kozelsky. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Петропа́вловск-Камча́тский is the main city and the administrative industrial scientific and cultural center of Koryaksky or Koryakskaya Sopka (Коря́кская со́пка is a Avachinsky (also known as Avacha or Avacha Volcano or Avachinskaya Sopka) (Авачинская сопка Авача is an active Stratovolcano In the center of Kamchatka is Eurasia's world famous Geyser Valley which was partly destroyed by a massive mudslide in June 2007. Also see Geyser Valley trail of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state ^[4]

Owing to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, deep-focus seismic events and tsunamis are fairly common. The Kuril-Kamchatka Trench or Kuril Trench ( Russian Курило-Камчатский жёлоб) is an Oceanic trench with a maximum depth A pair of megathrust earthquakes occurred off the coast on October 16, 1737, and on November 4, 1952, in the magnitude of ~9. A megathrust earthquake occurs at Subduction zones (destructive plate boundaries where one Tectonic plate is forced under (subducts another The Kamchatka earthquakes were a pair of Megathrust earthquakes occurring off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Russia on October 16, Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Year 1737 ( MDCCXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 3 and 8. 2 respectively. ^[5] A chain of more shallow earthquakes were recorded as recently as April 2006. The 2006 Kamchatka earthquakes was a series of powerful shocks that started on April 20, 2006 at 2325 UTC (April 21 2006 at 1225 PM local Stories without links will be removed'. News stories must be in English ^[6]

Kamchatka receives up to 2,700 millimeters (110 in) of precipitation per year. The summers are moderately cool, and the winters tend to be rather stormy with rare amounts of lightning.

The southernmost point of Kamchatka Peninsula is Cape Lopatka. Cape Lopatka (мыс Лопатка is the southernmost point of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, about 11 km north of Shumshu, the northernmost island of

Terrestrial and aquatic fauna

Kamchatka boasts diverse and abundant wildlife. This is due to climates ranging from temperate to subarctic, diverse topography and geography, many free-flowing rivers, proximity to highly productive waters from the northwestern Pacific Ocean and the Bering and Okhotsk Seas, and to the low human density and minimal development. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The Bering (or Imarpik) Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin (the Aleutian Basin) which rises through The Sea of Okhotsk ( Russian: Охо́тское мо́ре English Transliteration: Okhotskoye More) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, Nonetheless, commercial exploitation of marine resources and a history of fur trapping has taken its toll on several species.

Among terrestrial mammals, Kamchatka is best known for the abundance and size of its brown bear populations. The Brown Bear ( Ursus arctos) is an Omnivorous Mammal of the family Ursidae, distributed across much of northern Eurasia and In the Kronotsky Nature Preserve there are estimated to be three to four individuals per 100 square kilometres [1]. Other fauna of note include carnivores such as wolf, arctic and other fox, lynx, wolverine, sable, several species of weasel, ermine and river otter; several large ungulates, such as bighorn sheep, reindeer, and moose; and rodents/leporids, including hares, marmot, lemming and several species of squirrel. The grey wolf or gray wolf ( Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora The Arctic Fox ( Vulpes lagopus) also known as the White Fox or Snow Fox, is a small Fox native to cold Arctic regions of the A fox is an Animal belonging to any one of about 27 Species (of which only 12 actually belong to the Vulpes genus or 'true foxes' of small A lynx is any of four medium-sized wild cats. All are members of the Genus Lynx, but there is considerable confusion about the best way to classify SABLE is an XML Markup language used to annotate texts for Speech synthesis. Weasels are Mammals in the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. The River Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills just inside the county of Somerset, near Otterford, then flows south for some 32 km through Bighorn Sheep ( Ovis canadensis) is a species of sheep in North America and Siberia with large horns which can weigh up to. The moose (North America or elk (Europe Alces alces, is the largest extant Species in the Deer family. Rodentia is an order of Mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously-growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must Leporids are the approximately 50 species of Rabbits and Hares which form the family Leporidae. Hares and jackrabbits are Leporids belonging to the Genus Lepus. Marmots are members of the Genus Marmota, in the Rodent family Sciuridae (squirrels Lemmings are small Rodents usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra Biomes Together with the Voles and Muskrats they make A squirrel is one of the many small or medium-sized Rodents in the family Sciuridae.

The peninsula is the breeding ground for Steller's sea eagle,^[7] one of the largest eagle species, along with the golden eagle and gyr falcon. The Steller's Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus pelagicus is a large Bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors The Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere The Gyrfalcon ˈdʒɜrˌfɔlkən or ˈdʒɜrˌfælkən ( Falco rusticolus) also spelled Gyr Falcon, sometimes Gerfalcon, is the largest

Kamchatka contains probably the world's greatest diversity of salmonid fish, including all six species of anadromous Pacific salmon (chinook, chum, coho, seema, pink, and sockeye). Salmon is the common name for several species of Fish of the family Salmonidae. Oncorhynchus is a Genus of in the family Salmonidae; it contains the Pacific Salmons and Pacific Trouts Keta redirects here Keta can also refer to a character from the Myst franchise. The Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, (from the Russian кижуч kizhuch) is a Species of Anadromous Fish Seema, also sima and sema ( Russian сима Japanese サクラマス or ヤマメ Japanese salmon, Masu salmon, or Pink salmon or humpback salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, (from a Russian name for this species gorbuscha--горбуша is a Species of anadromous Sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka) also called red salmon or blueback salmon, is an Anadromous Species of Salmon Biologists estimate that a sixth to a quarter of all Pacific salmon originates in Kamchatka. [2] Kuril Lake is recognized as the biggest spawning-ground for sockeye in Eurasia. Kurile Lake (Курильское озеро is a large Caldera containing a Crater lake located in the southern part of Kamchatka Peninsula, Sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka) also called red salmon or blueback salmon, is an Anadromous Species of Salmon In response to pressure from poaching and to worldwide decreases in salmon stocks, some 24,000 square kilometers (9,300 sq mi) along nine of the more productive salmon rivers are in the process of being set aside as a nature preserve.

Cetaceans that frequent the highly productive waters of the northwestern Pacific and the Okhotsk Sea include: orcas, Dall's and harbor porpoises, humpback whales, sperm whales and fin whales. The Sea of Okhotsk ( Russian: Охо́тское мо́ре English Transliteration: Okhotskoye More) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, The Orca or Killer Whale ( Orcinus orca) less commonly Blackfish or Seawolf, is the largest species of the Oceanic dolphin family Dall's Porpoise ( Phocoenoides dalli) is a Species of Porpoise that came to worldwide attention in the 1970s The Harbor Porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena) is one of six Species of Porpoise. The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae) is a Baleen Whale. The Sperm Whale ( Physeter macrocephalus or Physeter catodon) is the largest of all Toothed whales and largest living toothed animal Less frequently, grey whales (from the Eastern population), beaked whales and minke whales are encountered. The Gray Whale or Grey Whale ( Eschrichtius robustus) is a Whale that travels between feeding and breeding grounds yearly Minke Whale ( or Lesser Rorqual is a name given to two species of Marine mammal belonging to a Clade within the suborder of Baleen whales The Blue whale are known to feed in summer off of the southeastern shelf. The Blue Whale ( Balaenoptera musculus) is a Marine mammal belonging to the suborder of Baleen whales (called Mysticeti Among pinnipeds, Steller's sea lions, northern fur seals, spotted seals and harbor seals are abundant along much of the peninsula. The Steller sea lion, Eumetopias jubatus, also known as the northern sea lion, is a Sea lion of the northern Pacific. The Northern Fur Seal, Callorhinus ursinus, is an Eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk The Spotted Seal ( Phoca largha) also known as the Larga Seal, inhabits the ice and waters of the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas Further north, walruses and bearded seals can be encountered on the Pacific side, and ribbon seals reproduce on the ice of Karaginsky Bay. The walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered Marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and The Bearded Seal ( Erignathus barbatus) also called the Square Flipper Seal, is a medium-sized Pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic The Ribbon Seal ( Histriophoca fasciata) is a Pinniped from the True seal family (Phocidae Karaginsky Gulf (Карагинский залив is a large gulf in the Bering Sea off the northeastern coast of Kamchatka ( Russia) which cuts 117 Sea otters are concentrated primarily on the southern end of the peninsula. The sea otter ( Enhydra lutris) is a Marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean.

Seabirds include northern fulmars, thick and thin-billed murres, kittiwakes, tufted and horned puffins, red-faced, pelagic and other cormorants, and many other species. The Northern Fulmar ( Fulmarus glacialis) or Arctic Fulmar lives in the north Atlantic and north Pacific. Uria is a genus of Seabirds in the Auk family known commonly as Guillemots or in North America as murres'. The kittiwakes ( Genus Rissa) are two closely related Seabird species in the Gull family Laridae the Black-legged Kittiwake Puffin describes any of four Auk species (or alcids) in the Bird genus Fratercula (Latin little brother — probably a reference The Bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 Species of cormorants and shags.

Typical of the northern seas, the marine fauna is likewise rich. Of commercial importance are Kamchatka crab, scallop, squid, pollock, cod, herring, halibut and several species of flatfish. The red king crab or Stalin's Crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, is the most coveted of the commercially sold King crab species and is the A scallop (ˈskɒləp or /ˈskæləp/ is a marine Bivalve Mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Squid are marine Cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species Pollock (or pollack, pronounced the same and listed first in most UK and US dictionaries is the common name used for either of the two Species of marine Cod is the common name for the Genus Gadus of Fish, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name of a variety Herring are small Oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow temperate waters of the North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, the North A halibut is a type of Flatfish The flatfish are an order ( Pleuronectiformes) of Ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes

History and exploration

Muscovite Russia claimed the Kamchatka Peninsula in the 17th century. The Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое княжество Московское was a medieval Russian polity centered on Moscow between 1340 and Ivan Kamchaty, Simon Dezhnev, the Cossack Ivan Rubets and other Russian explorers made exploratory trips to the area during the reign of Tsar Alexis, and returned with tales of a land of fire, rich with fish and fur. Semyon (Semнon Semion Simon Ivanovich Dezhnev (Семён Ива́нович Дежнёв c The Cossacks (Каза́ки́ Kazaki; Козаки́ Kozaki; Kozacy are a group of martial people living in the southern Steppe regions of Eastern Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (Алексей Михайлович ( March 9, 1629 (O

In 1697, Vladimir Atlasov, founder of the Anadyr settlement, led a group of 65 Cossacks and 60 Yukaghir natives to investigate the peninsula. Vladimir Vasilyevich Atlasov or Otlasov (Владимир Васильевич Атласов Отласов born between 1661 and 1664&mdashdied in 1711 was a Siberian Anadyr (Ана́дырь Chukchi: Кагыргын Kagyrgyn) is a town and the administrative centre of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug The Cossacks (Каза́ки́ Kazaki; Козаки́ Kozaki; Kozacy are a group of martial people living in the southern Steppe regions of Eastern The Yukaghir, or Yukagirs (юкаги́ры self-designation одул ( odul) деткиль ( detkil) are a people in East Siberia, living He built two forts along the Kamchatka River which became trading posts for Russian fur trappers. Fur is a body hair of any non-human Mammal, also known as the Pelage. From 1704 to 1706, they settled the Cossack colonies of Verkhne- (upper) and Nizhne- (lower) Kamchatsky. Far away from the eye of their masters, the Cossacks mercilessly ruled the indigenous Kamchadal. The Itelmen, sometimes known as Kamchadal, are an Ethnic group who are the original inhabitants living on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.

Excesses were such that the North West Administration in Yakutsk sent Atlasov with the authority (and the cannons) to restore government order, but it was too late. Yakutsk (Яку́тск Дьокуускай) is a city in the Russian Far East, located about 4° (450 kilometres The local Cossacks had too much power in their own hands and in 1711 Atlasov was killed. The Cossacks (Каза́ки́ Kazaki; Козаки́ Kozaki; Kozacy are a group of martial people living in the southern Steppe regions of Eastern From this time on, Kamchatka became a self-regulating region, with minimal interference from Yakutsk.

By 1713, there were approximately five hundred Cossacks living in the area. Uprisings were common, the largest being in 1731 when the settlement of Nizhnekamchatsky was razed and its inhabitants massacred. The remaining Cossacks regrouped and, reinforced with firearms and cannons, were able to put down the rebellion.

The Second Kamchatka Expedition by the Russian explorer Vitus Bering began the "opening" of Kamchatka in earnest, helped by the fact that the government began to use the area as a place of exile. The Second Kamchatka expedition (Russian Вторая Камчатская экспедиция was led by Dane Vitus Bering after being chosen by Peter The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Vitus Jonassen Bering (also less correctly Behring) ( August 1681 &ndash December 19, 1741) was a Danish -born navigator in the In 1755, Stepan Krasheninnikov published the first detailed description of the peninsula, An Account of the Land of Kamchatka. Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov (Степан Петрович Крашенинников (1711 - 1755 was a Russian explorer and Geographer who gave the first The Russian government encouraged the commercial activities of the Russian-American Company by granting land to newcomers on the peninsula. The Russian-American Company ( Under His Imperial Majesty's Protection Russian-American Company)was a state-sponsored Trading company begun by Grigory and Natalia By 1812, the indigenous population had fallen to fewer than 3,200, while the Russian population had risen to 2,500.

In 1854, the French and British, who were battling Russian forces on the Crimean Peninsula, attacked Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought During the Siege of Petropavlovsk, 988 men with a mere 68 guns managed successfully to defend the outpost against 6 ships with 206 guns and 2,540 French and British soldiers. The Siege of Petropavlovsk was the main operation on the Pacific Theatre of the Crimean War. Despite the heroic defense, Petropavlovsk was abandoned as a strategic liability after the Anglo-French forces withdrew. The next year when a second enemy force came to attack the port, they found it deserted. Frustrated, the ships bombarded the city and withdrew.

The next fifty years were lean ones for Kamchatka. The military naval port was moved to Ust-Amur and in 1867 Alaska was sold to the United States, making Petropavlovsk obsolete as a transit point for traders and explorers on their way to the American territories. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In 1860, Primorsky (Maritime) Region was established and Kamchatka was placed under its jurisdiction. In 1875, the Kuril Islands were ceded to Japan in return for Russian sovereignty over Sakhalin. The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Sakhalin (Сахали́н səxʌˈlʲin Japanese:nihongo|樺太|karafuto or; Chinese: 庫頁 Kùyè also Saghalien, is a large elongated The Russian population of Kamchatka stayed around 2,500 until the turn of the century, while the native population increased to 5,000.

World War II hardly affected Kamchatka except for its service as a launch site for the invasion of the Kurils in late 1945. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including After the war, Kamchatka was declared a military zone. Kamchatka remained closed to Russians until 1989 and to foreigners until 1990. A closed city or closed town is a settlement in the former Soviet Union with travel and residency restrictions

Popular culture

Kamchatka is familiar to many people outside of Russia due to its inclusion as a territory in Parker Brothers' Risk board game, though the board game territory in fact includes much more of the Russian Far East than the Kamchatkan peninsula. Risk is a commercial strategic Board game, produced by Parker Brothers (now a division of Hasbro) Russian Far East (Да́льний Восто́к Росси́и ˈdalʲnʲɪj vʌˈstok rʌˈsʲiɪ is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i

See also

• Korean Air Lines Flight 007

References

External links

• (Russian) Commander Islands
• "A Tale of Two Airplanes" by Ltc. Kingdon R. Hawes
• Google maps of Kamchatka
• Volcanoes of Kamchatka at Natural Heritage Protection Fund
• EWP. Kamchatka Map and Guide [map], 1st edition, 1:1,000,000 various larger scale insets. (2003) ISBN 0906227747.
• Nechayev picture gallery

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