The region Kamchatka (Камчатский край) is in the Russian federal district far East. It borders on the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug and to the oblast Magadan.
Regions
The region, Russian Kraj, Kamchatka was formed on July 1, 2007 from the Kamchatka Oblast (171,266 km²) on the peninsula of the same name and the former Koryak Autonomous Okrug (293,899 km²) north of it. The capital of the region is the former oblast capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The region is divided into eleven Rajons and three urban districts. For their part, within the Rajons there are a total of five urban and 49 rural communities.
| No. | Rajon (1-11) / urban district (a, b, c) | Administrative headquarters | Area in km² | population | Number Boroughs | Number Rural communities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penschinsky | Kamenskoye | 116086 | 2483 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Oljutorsky | Tilichiki | 72352 | 5144 | 0 | 8 |
| 3 | Karaginski | Ossora | 40641 | 4641 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Tigil | Tigil | 63484 | 4620 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Ust-Kamchatsk | Ust-Kamchatsk | 40837 | 12291 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Bystrinski | Esso | 23377 | 2518 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Milkowo | Milkowo | 22590 | 10783 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Sobolewo | Sobolewo | 21076 | 2721 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Yelisovo | Yelisovo | 40996 | 63716 | 2 | 8 |
| 10 | Ust-Bolscherezk | Ust-Bolscherezk | 20626 | 9408 | 2 | 4 |
| 11 | Aleutski | Nikolskoye | 1507 | 580 | 0 | 1 |
| a | Palana | 3155 | 1 | 0 | ||
| b | Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky | 179780 | 1 | 0 | ||
| c | Vilyuchinsk | 22905 | 1 | 0 |
On the last census date of January 1st, 2010, a total of 342,250 people, mainly of Russian descent, lived on the entire Kraj Kamchatka. There are also the ethnic groups of the Korjaks (2%), the Itelmenen (0.7%) and the Evens (0.5%), who represent the indigenous population of the region.
places
Other goals
background
Russian settlement
In 1649 the Russian Mikhail Staduchin built the first fortified fort in this area, Anadyrskj, on the Anadyr River north of what is now the Kamchatka region. From there he got further south to the river Penzhina, which flows into the Sea of Okhotsk. His reports on sea otters and sables living there reached the court of the tsars. Finally, in 1679, a second fort, Aklanski, was built in the Penzhina estuary. Further exploratory and settlement expeditions followed, often against the resistance of the indigenous Chukchi population. Even the Cossacks who penetrated the Kamchatka region from 1695 onwards did not succeed in getting large quantities of the Chukchi skins so coveted by the court of the Tsars. Only a well-armed team led by Vladimir Atlasov was finally able to force over 3,000 sable skins from the natives from 1697 to 1699 and have them brought to the court of the tsars. The enthusiastic Tsar Peter the Great decided to conquer Kamchatka.
In 1698 the first fort (Russian Ostrog) called Verchne-Kamchatsky was built on the peninsula near the present-day settlement of Milkowo, followed by Ostrog Nitschne-Kamchatsky near today's city of Klyuci. All of this happened against the fierce resistance of the indigenous population, which, however, had little to do with the superior armament of the Cossacks. The last uprisings of the Itenmen took place in 1740, that of the Koryaks in 1756.
In 1724 Peter the Great issued a decree on a large-scale Kamchatka expedition, the direction of which was entrusted to the Dane Vitus Bering and which was carried out from 1725 to 1730. However, this first Kamchatka expedition was disappointing, so that two years later the second Kamchatka expedition was launched, also under the direction of Bering. This research trip 1733-1743, also known as “The Great Nordic Expedition”, was now a great success. In the course of this expedition, twelve expedition members set up a number of accommodations for officers in the north of Avacha Bay, as several wintering periods were planned there. From this the city of Petropavlovsk developed, the name of which is derived from the names of the two expedition ships St. Peter and St. Paul.
language
The majority of the population consists of people with a European-Russian background. Therefore, Russian is the predominant language even in localities with large indigenous minorities.
If you want to explore the Kamchatka region on your own, it is well advised to have a basic vocabulary in Russian. Even in the only big city, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, one cannot hope that a different language will be understood in the hotel, in shops or at the authorities. Although the younger generation is also increasingly learning English, this language knowledge is still very little widespread.
The lettering is also consistently in Cyrillic, if you disregard the city buses, which often have a large number of Korean inscriptions. The reason for this, however, is that these are vehicles that have been retired in South Korea, which are still used here without anyone understanding the existing characters or bothering to remove them.
getting there
By plane
The peninsula is usually reached by air. From Europe, the flight routes usually lead over Moscow or via Novosibirsk, also taking connections via Irkutsk, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk insist on the only international airport in Kamchatka near Petropavlovsk (PKC). The airfield is located about 25 kilometers outside the capital near the town of Elizovo. The journey with regular buses from the airport to the city center of Petropavlovsk Kamchatki - or "PK", as the locals call their metropolis for short - costs around one euro, although a surcharge is occasionally charged for large pieces of luggage. In addition, smaller express minibuses also operate at slightly higher rates.
By boat
Although Kamchatka can be easily reached by ship, this type of journey is not common. The possibility of a ship transfer from an Asian destination to PK requires a lot of research into shipping lines. Some merchant ships offer to take tourists, but there are no regular connections that can be relied on to have cabins.
In the street
In theory, arriving by land is not impossible. However, there is no piste or any kind of paved path from the mainland to the peninsula, which is why this route is reserved for well-equipped people with plenty of time and a high thirst for adventure. It should also be noted that the area adjacent to the Kamchatka region is hardly developed.
mobility
The peninsula stretches for around 1,600 kilometers from north to south and is up to 470 kilometers wide. About half of the population live in the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (PK). This makes it clear that the rest of the country is only very sparsely populated. The differences in terms of traffic development are correspondingly large.
PK itself and the surrounding areas are accessible with an excellent bus system. Within the capital, buses serve the main traffic almost every minute, and there are excellent connections with an astonishingly high timetable even in outlying areas. In terms of comfort, public transport cannot always be measured against Western European standards, but this is more than compensated for by the low unit prices of 15 rubles (approx. 40 euro cents, as of 2012) per distance. The buses are entered through the rear door when they start their journey; when disembarking, the fare is to be paid directly to the bus driver.
From the bus station in the north of the city, long-distance buses run to all larger towns. However, since there is only a rudimentary paved road network outside of the greater PK area, bumpy hours are to be accepted on longer journeys. This is one reason why a growing number of tour operators are offering excursions with all-terrain vehicles. Such tours should, however, be booked before arriving on the peninsula, as walk-in customers are still practically unknown, even for tourist trips. The same also applies to the popular boat trips from PK to Avacha Bay.
Renting out cars and motorcycles is also unknown. You may be able to meet someone who will lend you a private car, but you won't find any commercial rental companies here. However, if you book early, it is possible to hire a vehicle with a driver for excursions between a few hours and several weeks through tour operators. If you either understand some Russian yourself or if you are lucky enough to come across a driver who speaks English, this type of private transport can lead to insights that you could never get with a printed travel guide alone.
The inaccessibility of the volcanic region, where in some places more brown bears than people live in one square kilometer, makes the helicopter a popular means of transport for many holidaymakers as well as for those taking part in scientific expeditions of primarily volcanic nature. The largest heliport is at PK International Airport. There is also a small travel agency there, which is happy to help individual travelers when it comes to finding a place in a helicopter for one of the more distant sights. For groups, it may be advisable to charter a helicopter early.
The bicycle is hardly used as a means of transport. Very nice mountain bike tours from PK are possible. Even good bikes can now be rented from specialist shops, but outside of the capital and apart from day trips, the bike is not the first choice. This is due, on the one hand, to the fact that the villages are usually very far away from each other and no infrastructure can be expected in between, and on the other hand because the roads, even where they are paved, are not in a condition that invites cycling. In addition, car drivers in this region are not used to cyclists, so that even experienced cyclists rarely feel safe despite the wide roads.
Tourist Attractions
activities
kitchen
security
You should prepare for extreme climates, especially in winter you need suitable clothing to protect yourself against the cold. It is helpful, whenever possible, to use local sources of information to be warned of floods, forest fires, etc. There are forbidden areas that you should avoid as much as possible.
Nature is very pristine and represents a danger for the inexperienced. If you are in the forest, you should watch out for snakes, which usually warm up in the sun on the stones. There aren't many of them, but some could be venomous vipers. The other problem these (and other regions of the Northern Hemisphere) have is ticks. Your bites may be infectious, vaccinations are recommended.
One should never stray further from human settlements without the appropriate equipment and leave the path, destination and intended period of the hike or rafting tour behind with every tour.
climate
literature
Web links
http://www.kamchatka.gov.ru/ - Official website of the Kamchatka Region
