What cities in Kamchatka do you know? There are, in fact, not so many of them. In this article we will talk about each of the cities of the distant peninsula. When they were founded, how many people live in them, what interesting things can a tourist see there?
Kamchatka Peninsula: cities, natural conditions and tourist resources of the region
Kamchatsky Krai is one of the most sparsely populated regions of the Russian Federation. For many residents of Russia, and the whole planet, it is literally perceived as "the end of the world." Nevertheless, it is very difficult to find a person who has not heard about the peninsula of volcanoes and geysers.
The total area of the Kamchatka Territory is 464 thousand square kilometers. The peninsula is washed by the waters of two seas at once - the Bering and the Sea of Okhotsk. The climate in the north of the region is subarctic, and on the coasts - temperate maritime with some signs of monsoon. At least 14 thousand rivers, rivulets and streams flow through the territory of Kamchatka. But the main natural feature of the region is volcanoes. About three hundred of them can be counted within the peninsula, 29 of them are active.
Only 317 thousand people live in the Kamchatka Territory. Almost 80% of them are city dwellers. The cities of Kamchatka are small both in terms of area and population. We will talk about them in more detail in the following sections.
Kamchatka is annually visited by thousands of visiting tourists and wildlife lovers. All of them come here to visit the unique natural parks of the peninsula, see with their own eyes the authentic villages of local aborigines, admire the views of the highest volcano in Eurasia. Extreme tourists go to Kamchatka to raft down one of the local rivers.
Kamchatka: cities (list and population)
As mentioned above, only every fifth inhabitant of the Kamchatka Territory lives in villages. The cities of Kamchatka (there are only three of them) are small, two of them have less than 50 thousand inhabitants. There are many more villages and towns in the region - 85.
All cities of Kamchatka are listed below. In parentheses is the population of each of them, as of 2015:
- Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (181 thousand people);
- Yelizovo (38.6 thousand people);
- Vilyuchinsk (21.7 thousand people).
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
The largest city of the Kamchatka Peninsula is located on the shores of the Pacific Avacha Bay. It was founded back in 1740. Modern Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is a fairly large and prosperous city with a population of 180,000.
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is one of the few cities in Russia that has retained itsoriginal (historical) specialization. The main branch of the local economy is still catching and processing fish. The catch is processed at the Akros, Okeanrybflot and several smaller enterprises.
Along with this, the tourism industry is rapidly developing in the city. After all, the demand for travel to this amazing region is growing every year. Travel companies are developing more and more new routes with a visit to the famous Valley of Geysers, hot springs, volcanoes and other natural wonders of the Kamchatka Territory. Unfortunately, the infrastructure of the city and the region is developing very slowly so far. About 20,000 tourists come to the peninsula every year, while neighboring Alaska is visited by almost a million travelers. Although Kamchatka is in no way inferior to the American state in terms of tourism potential.
Yelizovo
Yelizovo is the second largest city in the Kamchatka Territory. People settled and lived here for a long time. This is evidenced by the finds of traces of ancient sites on the banks of the local Avacha River. But the history of the modern settlement began in 1809, when the first settlers from Central Russia settled here. The main sources of income for the Yelizovo city budget are fisheries and tourism.
What interesting things can be seen in this city? Here is the only international airport and zoo on the peninsula. In the vicinity of Yelizovo there are 20 out of 29 active volcanoes. You can buy in the cityoriginal products made of deer fur and skin, walrus bones.
Vilyuchinsk
Vilyuchinsk is the smallest of the Kamchatka cities, the only one in which the population does not decrease every year, but increases. Today, almost 22 thousand people live here.
Vilyuchinsk is known as a city of submariners. Back in the 1930s, a large base of diesel submarines was created here. Today, nuclear submarines of various projects are also based in Vilyuchinsk.
The city has a technical school and four secondary schools, a house of culture, a large library and its own museum. In 2007, a water park was built here, and in 2010 an ice center.
Conclusion
The cities of Kamchatka are small in terms of population. The largest of them is home to less than 200 thousand people. In total, there are three cities within the Kamchatka Territory. These are Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (the administrative center of the region), Yelizovo and Vilyuchinsk.
