Kamchatka is one of the most interesting and splendid places on our planet.
The total area of this region is about 472,3 thousand square kilometers (2,8% of the territory of Russia) including
part of the mainland, Kamchatka peninsula, Karaginsky island and the Commander islands.
The peninsula is a unique mountaineous district of Russia. The territory is washed by the Sea of Okhotsk,
by the Bering Sea and by the Pacific Ocean.
Kamchatka is the land of smoking volcanoes.
There are numerous boiling geysers and hot springs, which are located all over the area.
Anyone can take a bath in different thermal pools both in summer and in winter.
The climate is damp and chilly. It is anomalously cooler and windier on the coast (especially on the western coast), than
in the central part of the peninsula and in the flood-lands of the Kamchatka river, which are protected by mountain ranges.
The first snow in winter appears approxiamately in November and melts May-June. The actual spring comes in May-June and it is very short.
The mountain peaks are covered with snow all year round.
The coastal winter is mild, warm and snowy, in the continental part winter is cold and frosty with long dark nights and
short days.
One can enjoy summer only in the continental part of the peninsula.
As a rule autumn is dry and warm, sometimes even warmer than summer.
The most attractive sights of the peninsula are its volcanoes which are divided into two groups.
The Central range (length of 900 km) consists of about 120 volcanoes, out of which 2 volcanoes are active ones. The highest
peak of the Central range is Ichinsky volcano (3621 m).
The Eastern range (length of 850 km) is a place of modern volcanicity. It is represented by 100 powerful volcanoes and 30 volcanoes are active ones.
The highest volcano of Eurasia is Kluchevskaya Sopka, which is 4850 meters above the sea level. There are 12 volcanoes in the area of Kluchevskaya
Sopka and this territory has the status of a natural park.
The main city on Kamchatka peninsula is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which was founded by Vitus Bering
in 1740 as a starting point for expeditions
to explore the North as well as the area and islands around the peninsula.
Today it is a big city and a port with the population of 300 thousand people and it is the capital of
Kamchatka region.
Flora and fauna
Fauna of Kamchatka is various. There are 88 species of mammals (whales, pinnipedians, bears, elks, bighorns, reindeers, sea beavers, etc.),
332 bird species including sea birds (goshawk, falcon, red-throated loon, horned grebe, falcated teal, emperor goose,
garganey, bufflehead, northern fulmar, guillemot, etc.)
on the territory of Kamchatka.
In the inner lakes, rivers and surrounding waters 500 species of fish (salmon, sturgeon,
shark, cramp-fish, white-fish, greenling, cabrilla, flounder, halibut, cod, etc.) can be found.
Kamchatka is an interesting place for the lovers of untouched nature and flora.
One can observe different species of plants on these territories such as
cedar, alder, iris, lily, fireweed, hawkweed, aleutian ragwort, rose, aconite, salad burnet, northern bedstraw, bugbane, etc.
All in all there are 1166 species of plants in Kamchatka.
Kamchatka is famous for salmon fishing on local rivers, including fishing for such species as japanese salmon (sima),
silver salmon, blueback salmon (nerka) and mikizha (steelhead trout). Bear watching and hunting are also very popular activities
in this region.
Transport
By plane
There are regular Aeroflot flights to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky almost every day all year round.
There are some other companies which have flights severla times a week.
