Kamchatka Krai.

History

In 1740 the navigator Vitus Bering founded a settlement on Avacha Bay and named it Petropavlovsk after his two ships, the St Peter and the St Paul; it became a town in 1812. During the Crimean War, in August and September 1854, an Anglo-French squadron besieged Petropavlovsk but never took it. The present krai was formed on 1 July 2007 by merging Kamchatka Oblast with the Koryak Autonomous Okrug.

Culture & traditions

Indigenous peoples, including the Koryaks, Itelmens, Evens and Chukchi, make up about 5 percent of the population. Their traditions are kept alive by the Beringia sled dog race, where modern mushers race alongside drivers on wooden narta sleds, and preserving the Kamchatka sled dog is one of its aims. The race also delivers food, books and school supplies to remote villages. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky has several museums, and in summer cruise ships call at its harbour.

Nature

The volcanoes of Kamchatka have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996; extended in 2001, the site now spans six protected areas, from the Kronotsky Reserve to the Klyuchevskoy and Nalychevo parks. Klyuchevskaya Sopka rises to 4,750 metres. The Kronotsky Reserve holds the Valley of Geysers, found by Tatyana Ustinova in 1941: about 90 geysers along six kilometres, the world's second-largest concentration. A mudflow buried two thirds of the valley in 2007, but by 2013 the geysers had come back to life. The Koryaksky, Avachinsky and Kozelsky volcanoes can be seen from Petropavlovsk.

Sport

The krai's signature sporting event is the Beringia sled dog race, first held in 1990; in 1992 its route of more than 2,000 km from Esso to Markovo in Chukotka entered Guinness World Records as the longest sled dog race. Petropavlovsk has a 5,000-seat football stadium.

Food & drink

Fishing, along with forestry, is one of Kamchatka's main industries, and the largest local companies are fishing firms. Fish and seafood are therefore the basis of the everyday table.

Practical information

Visitors fly into Yelizovo Airport, linked to Petropavlovsk by the A-401 road, and cruise ships also call in summer. Local time is Moscow plus 9 hours (UTC+12). The climate is subarctic with strong ocean and monsoon influence: Petropavlovsk averages around −4 °C in January, with summer daytime highs of about 16–17 °C. The Valley of Geysers can only be reached by helicopter; summer and early autumn are the best time to visit, and the Paratunka spa area is a place to unwind after hikes.

What to see

• Valley of Geysers — some 90 geysers in the Kronotsky Reserve
• Klyuchevskaya Sopka — the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere
• Koryaksky and Avachinsky volcanoes — visible right from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
• Paratunka — a federally protected spa area
• Nalychevo Nature Park — part of the UNESCO Volcanoes of Kamchatka site

Cities on the map

• Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 181,015