Petropalovsk-Kamchatsky

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is an important port, the main city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatsky Krai. It is located at the southeast part of Kamchatka peninsula, at the Avachinsky bay of Pacific Ocean. The population: 194,9 (2008), ethnic Russians and Ukrainians make up majority of population. Distance from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskij to Moscow is 8200 km. The city is situated on high hills and surrounded by volcanoes. In fact, the horizon cannot be seen clearly from any point of town as volcanoes and mountains are everywhere.

 

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is one of oldest cities of Far East, it was founded by explorer Vitus Bering. Bering reached Avacha Bay in 1740 and laid the foundation stone for the harbor town. He named the new place "Petropavlovsk" (Peter + Paul) after his two ships, the St. Peter and the St. Paul, built in Okhotsk for his second expedition. During the 1854–1855 Crimean War, the city's fortress held out during the siege by the Anglo-French forces and never fell.

 

The city has developed a tourist infrastructure. About twenty large tourism companies offer a wide range of services from bear hunting to paragliding. No roads connect the Kamchatka Peninsula to the rest of the world. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the second largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road after Iquitos, Peru. Travel to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is growing in popularity because of the remarkable scenery throughout the peninsula. The city is served by Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport.

 

Petropalovsk-Kamchatsky is located in the Kamchatka peninsula, one of the most spectacular region in Russia. It occupies the area of 470,000 sq. km, which equals the size of France, Belgium and Luxembourg combined, and separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. There are more than 160 volcanoes on the peninsula (29 of them are active), which is due to the fact that it lies on the Great Pacific "ring of fire". Volcanoes and volcanic peaks, cyclones and underground heat created here a mixture of twenty climate zones and a great variety of flora and fauna. The indigenous peoples of Kamchatka living in the northern part of the peninsula - Chukchi and Eveni still keep their culture and traditional lifestyles, which is another reason why one of the most remote regions is visited by so many people every year.

 

We invite you to visit Kamchatsky peninsula and Petropalovsk-Kamchatsky city, to explore the beautiful nature, the hot mineral springs, the land of geysers, the active volcanoes, to get acquainted with history of Petropalovsk-Kamchatsky city and with culture of indigenous people of Kamchatka peninsula.