Kamchatka Peninsula

:"Kamchatka" redirects here; for other uses of that word, see Kamchatka (disambiguation).

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Kamchatka Peninsula (Russian: ??????????? ?????????) is a 1,250-kilometer-long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km². It lies between the Pacific Ocean (to the east) and the Sea of Okhotsk (to the west). Between the peninsula and the Pacific Ocean runs the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench with a depth of 10,500 m.

Related Topics:
Russian - Peninsula - Russian Far East - Pacific Ocean - Sea of Okhotsk - Kuril-Kamchatka Trench

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The central valley and the Kamchatka River are flanked by large volcanic ranges, containing around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active. Thus, the peninsula has the highest density of volcanos and associated volcanic phenomena in the world, 19 active volcanos being inscribed by the UNESCO on the World Heritage List.

Related Topics:
Kamchatka River - Volcano - UNESCO - World Heritage List

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The highest of these is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4750 m or 15,584 ft),

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while the most striking is Kronotsky, whose perfect cone (in the words of the celebrated volcanologists Robert and Barbara Decker) is one of the prime candidates for the world's most beautiful volcano. Somewhat more accessible are the 3 volcanoes visible from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Koryaksky, Avachinsky, and Kozelsky. In the center of Kamchatka is Eurasia's only Geyser Valley.

Related Topics:
Kronotsky - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Koryaksky - Avachinsky - Kozelsky - Geyser

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Kamchatka's wildlife includes brown bears, snow ram, sable, wolverine, golden eagle, and gyrfalcon. The peninsula is the breeding ground for Stellar's sea eagle, the largest eagle on Earth. The largest animals in the world, blue whales, are abundant near the coastline.

Related Topics:
Brown bear - Snow ram - Sable - Wolverine - Golden eagle - Gyrfalcon - Stellar's sea eagle - Blue whale

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The peninsula is thought to include the world's greatest diversity of salmonid fish. Accordingly, the Kurilsky lake is recognized as the biggest spawning-ground for salmons in Eurasia.

Related Topics:
Salmon

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The Kamchatka Peninsula is a part of the Russian Kamchatka Oblast (along with a part of the continent, the Komandorskiye Islands and Karaginsky Island). The majority of the 402,500 population is Russian, and the largest minority is Koryaks. The northern part of the peninsula is occupied by the Koryakia Autonomous District, where around 13,000 Koryaks live.

Related Topics:
Kamchatka Oblast - Komandorskiye Islands - Karaginsky Island - Koryak - Koryakia Autonomous District - Koryaks

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During the Cold War, the Soviets tested the range and reliability of their missiles by launching them from standard sites, using Kamchatka Peninsula as the target area.

Related Topics:
Cold War - Soviet

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In early August 2005, the Priz class AS-28 Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle of the Russian Navy was disabled in a submarine accident near Kamchatka and sunk to the seafloor, requiring an international effort to rescue the crew.

Related Topics:
August - 2005 - AS-28 - Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle - Russian Navy - Submarine

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