SIBERIA - Kamchatka Peninsula

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• published: 15 Mar 2014
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Kamchatka is without exaggeration one of the most spectacular regions 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), 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. But the main attractions of Kamchatka are volcanic calderas, stone sculpture "parks" and lakes in craters, geysers and mineral springs, all in pristine condition. Kamchatka is a unique land where fire meets ice, containing the southernmost expanse of Arctic tundra along with 160 volcanoes (29 of them active). Despite its great size, the peninsula is home to just 400,000 people of which half live in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and another 50-100k live in nearby communities (including Yelisovo). As such, the peninsula is vastly uninhabited wilderness where one can climb volcanoes, sport hunt for bears, visit geysers, spend hours in natural hot springs, or go fishing in wild rivers or off the coast. Kamchatka was born of fire, like the Earth itself. For most of the Earth, though, the violence of creation ended long ago. Kamchatka has never seen quiet -- its history is one of continuous, violent rebirth. The native peoples of Kamchatka are intimately familiar with this history. They have always feared the peninsula's volcanoes, whose peaks they believed to be inhabited by mountain spirits known as gomuls. By night, the gomuls took to the sky and hunted whales, returning home with leviathans impaled on each finger. They would then roast the whales. This is why the volcanoes lit up at night. The natives believed that great heaps of whalebone lay on the mountaintops, but were too fearful to ascend the volcanoes and find out for themselves if this were true. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Westerners and other outsiders were permitted for the first time in over half a century to visit Kamchatka, one of the most mysterious regions of the former Soviet empire. Kamchatka is a 900-mile-long peninsula roughly the size of California, yet only 400,000 Soviet persons were allowed to live there, and all with special military clearances. The reason for the secrecy was Kamchatka's far eastern location: A little bit west of the Aleutian Islands, the peninsula was just far east enough to eavesdrop on the United States during the Cold War. While Kamchatka was shrouded in military secrecy, its animal population was left to flourish. Some of the largest grizzly bears in the world roam Kamchatka's interior, while tens of millions of salmon invade its undammed streams and rivers each summer, just as they have for thousands of years. Kamchatka is also one of five major geothermal areas in the world, making it a main link in the Earth's "Ring of Fire," a circular pattern geologists have named for the location of volcanic fissures in the Earth's crust. With more than 200 volcanoes, 30 of them active, Kamchatka is a prime spot of study for the world's volcanologists. For all their destructive power, volcanoes are vital to man's existence. Volcanic gases helped create earth's atmosphere, and continue to affect its composition today. On a more prosaic level, volcanic glass (obsidian) was used by ancient humans to make tools. Volcanic ash serves as a fertilizer, returning important nutrients and minerals to the soil. The city of Petropavlovsk, the main settlement on Kamchatka, is built of concrete made from cinder of the 1945 eruption of nearby Avachinsky Volcano, which watches over the city from its post 20km to the north. The main settlement of the peninsula and the capital of Kamchatka Region is the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The city is located on the southeastern shore of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Petropavlovsk's streets wind around green volcanic hills where city residents still pick berries and mushrooms. Covered with white snow, the peaks of Koryaksky, Avachinsky and Kozelsky volcanoes rise over them. And there are eternal moorage ribbons going along the Avacha Bay. _____________________________________________________ In case of any questions about Kamchatka and Siberia, please feel free to write to my office email: contact@orsib.ru