Gulf of Patience is a large body of water off the southeastern coast of Sakhalin , Russia .
64-546: The Gulf of Patience is located in the southern Sea of Okhotsk , between the main body of Sakhalin Island in the west and Cape Patience in the east. The Poronay River flows into the bay from the north. The Tyuleny Island lies off the eastern side of the bay to the south of Cape Patience. The first Europeans visited the bay in 1643. They were the crew of the Dutch ship Castricum , captained by Maarten Gerritsz Vries .They named
128-833: A United Nations subcommittee accepted the Russian argument, and in March 2014 the full United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ruled in favor of the Russian Federation. Bowhead whales were first caught in 1847, and dominated the catch between 1852 and the late 1860s. Between 1850 and 1853 the majority of the fleet went to the Bering Strait region to hunt bowheads, but intense competition, poor ice conditions, and declining catches forced
192-491: A company working for the Russian energy giant Gazprom . Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula ( Russian : полуостров Камчатка , romanized : poluostrov Kamchatka , pronounced [pəlʊˈostrəf kɐmˈt͡ɕætkə] ) is a 1,250-kilometre-long (777 mi) peninsula in the Russian Far East , with an area of about 270,000 km (100,000 sq mi). The Pacific Ocean and
256-415: A growing trend in winter sports keeps tourism pulsing year-round. The volcanoes and glaciers play a role in forming Kamchatka's climate, and hot springs have kept alive dozens of species decimated during the last ice age . The Kamchatka River and the surrounding central side valley are flanked by large volcanic belts containing around 160 volcanoes , 29 of them still active. The peninsula has
320-631: A high density of volcanoes and associated volcanic phenomena, with 19 active volcanoes included in the six UNESCO World Heritage List sites in the Volcanoes of Kamchatka group, most of them on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the most volcanic area of the Eurasian continent, with many active cones. The Kamchatka Peninsula is also known as the "land of fire and ice". The highest volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,750 m or 15,584 ft),
384-767: A maximum depth of 3,372 metres (11,063 ft). It is connected to the Sea of Japan on either side of Sakhalin: on the west through the Sakhalin Gulf and the Gulf of Tartary ; on the south through the La Pérouse Strait . In winter, navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk is impeded by ice floes . Ice floes form due to the large amount of freshwater from the Amur River , lowering the salinity of upper levels, often raising
448-528: A shallow depth of 10 kilometres (33,000 ft) occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 202 kilometres (109 nmi) east-southeast of Nikolskoye , on July 18, 2017. Prior to Russian discovery, the peninsula was inhabited by various Chukotko-Kamchatkan peoples (specifically the Itelmen , Koryak , and Alyutor ). The southern tip of the peninsula was also the northernmost extent of Ainu settlement. When
512-450: Is much higher than the rest of Eastern Russia, and is due to prevailing westerly winds blowing over the Sea of Japan and picking up moisture that rises as it hits the higher topography of the peninsula, and condenses into rain. The summers are moderately cool, and the winters are rather stormy, but the storms rarely produce lightning . Although Kamchatka lies at latitudes similar to Scotland 's, cold arctic winds from Siberia combined with
576-769: The Golden Eagle and Gyrfalcon . Kamchatka most likely contains the world's greatest diversity of salmonid fish, including all six species of anadromous Pacific salmon ( chinook , coho , chum , seema , pink , and sockeye ). Due to its uniquely suitable environment, biologists estimate that a fifth of all Pacific salmon originates in Kamchatka. Kurile Lake is recognized as the biggest spawning-ground for sockeye in Eurasia. In response to pressure from poaching and to worldwide decreases in salmon stocks, some 24,000 square kilometres (9,300 sq mi) along nine of
640-694: The Kamchatka River , represented by Klyuchi, has much lower precipitation (at around 450 to 650 millimetres (18 to 26 in)) and significantly more continental temperatures, reaching 19 °C (66 °F) on a typical summer day and during extreme cold winter spells falling as low as −41 °C (−42 °F). Sporadic permafrost prevails over the lower part of this valley, but it becomes more widespread at higher altitudes and glaciers, and continuous permafrost prevails north of 55˚° N . The summer months, when maximum temperatures range from 15 to 20 °C (59 to 68 °F), are popular with tourists, but
704-471: The Kamchatka snow sheep , reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus ), and Chukotka moose ( Alces alces buturlini ), one of the largest moose in the world and the largest in Eurasia, and rodents / leporids , including mountain hare ( Lepus timidus ), marmot , and several species of lemming and squirrel . The peninsula is the breeding ground for Steller's Sea Eagle , one of the largest eagle species, along with
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#1732773379139768-670: The Kronotsky Nature Reserve , there are estimated to be three to four bears per 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi). Other fauna of note include carnivores such as tundra wolf ( Canis lupus albus ), Arctic fox ( Vulpes lagopus ), Anadyr fox ( Vulpes vulpes beringiana ), East Siberian lynx ( Lynx lynx wrangeli ), wolverine ( Gulo gulo ), sable ( Martes zibellina ), Eurasian otter ( Lutra lutra ), East Siberian stoat ( Mustela ermine kaneii ), and Siberian least weasel ( Mustela nivalis pygmaea ). The peninsula hosts habitat for several large ungulates including
832-656: The Kuril Islands were administered by Japan until 1945. Japan claims the southern Kuril Islands and refers to them as Northern Territories . The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Sea of Okhotsk as follows: :: On the Southwest. The Northeastern and Northern limits on the Japan Sea [In La Perouse Strait (Sôya Kaikyô). A line joining Sôni Misaki and Nishi Notoro Misaki (45°55'N). From Cape Tuik (51°45'N) to Cape Sushcheva]. :: On
896-649: The Russian-American Company by granting land to newcomers on the peninsula. By 1812, the indigenous population had fallen to less than 3,200 while the Russian population had risen to 2,500. In 1854, the French and British , who were battling Russian forces in the course of the Crimean War , attacked Petropavlovsk . During the Siege of Petropavlovsk , 988 men with a mere 68 guns managed to defend
960-674: The Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 9,600-metre-deep (31,496 ft) Kuril–Kamchatka Trench . The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands , and Karaginsky Island constitute Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation . The majority of the 322,079 inhabitants are ethnic Russians , with about 13,000 being Koryaks (2014). More than half of
1024-546: The freezing point of the sea surface. The distribution and thickness of ice floes depends on many factors: the location, the time of year, water currents, and the sea temperatures. Cold air from Siberia forms sea ice in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk. As the ice forms, it expels salt into the deeper layers. This heavy water flows east toward the Pacific, carrying oxygen and nutrients, supporting abundant sea life. The Sea of Okhotsk has warmed in some places by as much as 3°C (5.4°F) since preindustrial times, three times faster than
1088-652: The 1640s. The Dutch captain Maarten Gerritsz Vries in the Breskens entered the Sea of Okhotsk from the south-east in 1643, and charted parts of the Sakhalin coast and Kuril Islands, but failed to realize that either Sakhalin or Hokkaido are islands. During this period, the sea was sometimes known as the Sea of Kamchatka . The first and foremost Russian settlement on the shore was the port of Okhotsk , which relinquished commercial supremacy to Ayan in
1152-475: The 1840s. The Russian-American Company all but monopolized the commercial navigation of the sea in the first half of the 19th century. The Second Kamchatka Expedition under Vitus Bering systematically mapped the entire coast of the sea, starting in 1733. Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse and William Robert Broughton were the first non-Russian European navigators known to have passed through these waters other than Vries. Ivan Krusenstern explored
1216-604: The North Pacific, where it virtually captured or bonded 24 whalers, sinking most of them. The next fifty years were lean for Kamchatka. The naval port moved to Ust-Amur, and in 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States, making Petropavlovsk obsolete as a transit point for traders and explorers on their way to the American territories. In 1860, a Primorsky (Maritime) Region was established and Kamchatka
1280-400: The Pacific side, and ribbon seals reproduce on the ice of Karaginsky Bay . Sea otters are concentrated primarily on the southern end of the peninsula. Seabirds include murrelets , Northern Fulmars , Thick- and Thin-billed Murres , Kittiwakes , Tufted and Horned Puffins , Red-faced, Pelagic, and other Cormorants , and many other species. Typical of the northern seas, the marine fauna
1344-460: The Peninsula promotes a similar diversity in animal species that feed off the flora. Although Kamchatka is mostly tundra, deciduous and coniferous trees are abundant, and forests can be found throughout the peninsula. Kamchatka has diverse and abundant wildlife. This is due to many factors, including a wide range of climates; diverse topography and geography; many free-flowing rivers; proximity to
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#17327733791391408-659: The Russian EEZ, any country could fish there, and some began doing so in large numbers in 1991, catching perhaps as much as one million metric tons of pollock in 1992. This was seen by the Russian Federation as presenting a danger to Russian fish stocks, since the fish move in and out of the Peanut Hole from the Russian EEZ. The Russian Federation petitioned the United Nations to declare the Peanut Hole to be part of Russia's continental shelf . In November 2013,
1472-496: The Russian explorer Ivan Moskvitin reached the Sea of Okhotsk in 1639, further exploration was impeded by the lack of skills and equipment to build seagoing ships and by the harsh land to the northeast inhabited by the warlike Koryak people. Consequently, Russians entered Kamchatka from the north. In 1651, after having assisted in the foundation of the Anadyrsk ostrog , the explorer Mikhail Stadukhin went south and followed
1536-453: The Russian oil drilling rig Kolskaya capsized and sank in a storm in the Sea of Okhotsk, some 124 km (77 mi) from Sakhalin island, where it was being towed from Kamchatka . Reportedly, its pumps failed, causing it to take on water and sink. The platform carried 67 people, of which 14 were rescued by the Magadan and the tugboat Natftogaz-55 . The platform was subcontracted to
1600-401: The Sea of Okhotsk as a nesting site. The Okhotsk culture and the later Ainu people , a coastal fishing and hunter-gatherer people, were located around the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as in northern Japan. Russian explorers Vassili Poyarkov (1639) and Ivan Moskvitin (1645) were the first Europeans to visit the Sea of Okhotsk (and, probably, the island of Sakhalin ) in
1664-463: The Sea of Okhotsk is the subject of the most famous novel of the Japanese writer Takiji Kobayashi , The Crab Cannery Ship (1929). The Peanut Hole (named for its shape) was an area of open ocean at the center of the Sea of Okhotsk, about 55 km (30 mi) wide and 480 km (300 mi) long, that was surrounded by Russia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Since the Peanut Hole was not in
1728-579: The Southeast. A line running from Nosyappu Saki (Cape Noshap, 43°23'N) in the Island of Hokusyû (Yezo) through the Kuril or Tisima Islands to Cape Lopatka (South point of Kamchatka ) in such a way that all the narrow waters between Hokusyû and Kamchatka are included in the Sea of Okhotsk. Some of the Sea of Okhotsk's islands are quite large, including Japan's second-largest island, Hokkaido, as well as Russia's largest island, Sakhalin. Practically all of
1792-513: The capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky . Northward up the Pacific side, the four peninsulas are called Shipunsky Point, Kronotsky Point, Kamchatsky Point, and Ozernoy Point. North of Ozernoy Point is the large Karaginsky Bay , which features Karaginsky Island . Northeast of this (off the displayed map) lies Korfa Bay with the town of Tilichiki . On the opposite side is the Shelikhov Gulf . The Kamchatka or Central ( Sredinny ) Range forms
1856-477: The central part of the peninsula are connected by highway to Ust-Kamchatsk . The road is asphalt in its southern part, but changes to gravel about halfway north where the population is sparser. Another highway connects the local capital with Bolsheretsk. Bus service is available on both roads. Most other roads are gravel-covered or dirt roads, requiring off-road-capable vehicles. There is semi-regular passenger transportation with aircraft. The obvious circular area in
1920-798: The central valley is the Klyuchevskaya Sopka , an isolated volcanic group southeast of the curve of the Kamchatka River. West of Kronotsky Point is the Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve with the Valley of Geysers . At the southern tip is the Southern Kamchatka Wildlife Refuge with Kurile Lake . There are several other protected areas on the peninsula. Kamchatka receives up to 2,700 mm (110 in) of precipitation per year. This
1984-619: The coast of the Sea of Okhotsk from Penzhina Bay to Okhotsk . From about 1667 there were reports of a Kamchatka River to the south. Some time before 1700 a group of Russians were stranded and died on Kamchatka. In 1695, explorer Vladimir Atlasov became commander of Anadyrsk. In 1696 he sent the Cossack Luka Morozko south. Morozko got as far as the Tigil River and returned with reports and some mysterious writings, probably Japanese. In 1697–1699, Atlasov explored nearly
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2048-469: The coast. South of 57° ˚N , there is no permafrost due to the relatively mild winters and heavy snow cover, whilst northward, discontinuous permafrost prevails. The west coastal plain has a colder and drier climate with precipitation ranging from 880 millimetres (34.6 in) in the south to as little as 430 millimetres (17 in) in the north, where winter temperatures become considerably colder at around −20 °C (−4 °F). The interior valley of
2112-469: The cold Oyashio sea current keep the peninsula covered in snow from October to late May. Under the Köppen climate classification , Kamchatka generally has a subarctic climate ( Dfc ), but higher and more northerly areas have a polar climate ( ET ). Kamchatka is much wetter and milder than eastern Siberia. It is essentially transitional from the hypercontinental climate of Siberia and northeast China to
2176-440: The eastern coast of Sakhalin in 1805. Mamiya Rinzō and Gennady Nevelskoy determined that Sakhalin was indeed an island separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. The first detailed summary of the hydrology of the Sea of Okhotsk was prepared and published by Stepan Makarov in 1894. The Sea of Okhotsk is rich in biological resources, with various kinds of fish, shellfish and crabs. The harsh conditions of crab fishing in
2240-434: The eastern population), the critically endangered North Pacific right whale and bowhead whale , beaked whales , and minke whales are encountered. Blue whale are known to feed off of the southeastern shelf in summer. Among pinnipeds , Steller's sea lions , northern fur seals , spotted seals , and harbor seals are abundant along much of the peninsula. Further north, walruses and bearded seals can be encountered on
2304-557: The end of World War II in 1945. Afterward, the Soviet Union occupied the territory. During the Cold War , the Sea of Okhotsk was the scene of several successful U.S. Navy operations (including Operation Ivy Bells ) to tap Soviet Navy undersea communications cables. These operations were documented in the 1998 book Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage . The sea (and surrounding area) were also
2368-526: The end of their contract, which has led to a community of around 1,800 by 2020. Avacha Bay was the scene of massive die-off of benthic marine organisms in September–October 2020. Kamchatka boasts abundant flora. The variable climate promotes different flora zones where tundra and muskeg are dominant, succeeded by grasses, flowering shrubs, and forests of pine , birch , alder , and willow . The wide variety of plant forms spread throughout
2432-530: The fleet back to the Sea of Okhotsk. From 1854 to 1856, an average of over 160 vessels cruised in the sea each year. As catches declined between 1858 and 1860 the fleet shifted back to the Bering Strait region. The Russian military marine mammal program reportedly sources some of its animals from the Sea of Okhotsk. South Sakhalin was administered by Japan as Karafuto Prefecture from 1907 to 1949. The Kuril Islands were Japanese from 1855 and 1875 till
2496-421: The global mean. Warming inhibits the formation of sea ice and also drives fish populations north. The salmon catch on the northern Japanese coast has fallen 70% in the last 15 years, while the Russian chum salmon catch has quadrupled. With the exception of Hokkaido , one of the Japanese home islands , the sea is surrounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian Federation. South Sakhalin and
2560-465: The gulf in memory of their having to wait for the fog to clear in order for them to continue with their expedition. This Sakhalin Oblast location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean . It is located between Russia 's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on
2624-548: The highly productive waters of the northwestern Pacific Ocean, the Bering , and the Okhotsk Seas ; low human population density; and minimal development. The peninsula also boasts the southernmost expanse of Arctic tundra in the world. However, commercial exploitation of marine resources and a history of fur trapping has taken its toll on several species. Kamchatka is famous for the abundance and size of its brown bears . In
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2688-488: The largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere. Many have highly symmetrical cones, and Kronotsky is viewed by volcanologists Robert and Barbara Decker as a prime candidate for the world's most beautiful volcano. Somewhat more accessible are the three volcanoes visible from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky : Koryaksky , Avachinsky , and Kozelsky . In the center of Kamchatka is the Valley of Geysers , which
2752-572: The more productive salmon rivers are in the process of being set aside as a nature preserve. Stickleback species, particularly Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pungitius pungitius , also occur in many coastal drainages, and are likely present in freshwater as well. Cetaceans that frequent the highly productive waters of the northwestern Pacific and the Okhotsk Sea include orcas , Dall 's and harbour porpoises , humpback whales , sperm whales , and fin whales . Less frequently, grey whales (from
2816-508: The name of Hokkaidō's Okhotsk Subprefecture , which faces the Sea of Okhotsk and is also known as the Okhotsk region ( オホーツク地方 , Ohōtsuku-chihō ) . Twenty-nine zones of possible oil and gas accumulation have been identified on the Sea of Okhotsk shelf, which runs along the coast. Total reserves are estimated at 3.5 billion tons of equivalent fuel, including 1.2 billion tons of oil and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas. On 18 December 2011,
2880-554: The native population; the roughly 2,500 Itelmens present in 1773 were reduced to 1,900 in 1820, from an original population of 12,000–25,000. Those who survived adopted Russian customs, and there was a great deal of intermarriage, such that "Kamchadal" (the original Russian name for the Itelmens) came to mean any Russian or part-Russian born on the peninsula. In 1713, Peter the Great sent shipbuilders to Okhotsk. A fifty-four-foot boat
2944-555: The outpost against 6 ships with 206 guns and 2,540 French and British soldiers. Despite the successful defense, the Russians abandoned Petropavlovsk as a strategic liability after the French and British forces withdrew. The next year, when a second enemy force came to attack the port, they found it deserted. Frustrated, the ships bombarded the city and withdrew. On 24 May 1861, the ship Polar Star (475 tons), of New Bedford , wrecked on
3008-578: The peninsula in 1851–1854. In 1920, Russian leader Vladimir Lenin offered a 60-year lease of the peninsula to the United States. World War II (1939–1945) hardly affected Kamchatka except for its role as a launch site for the invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. After the war, the Soviet authorities declared Kamchatka a military zone. Vilyuchinsk, located on the Kamchatka Peninsula about 20 kilometers (12 mi) across Avacha Bay from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky,
3072-492: The population lives in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (179,526 in 2010) and nearby Yelizovo (38,980). The Kamchatka Peninsula contains the volcanoes of Kamchatka , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Politically, the peninsula forms part of Kamchatka Krai . The southern tip is called Cape Lopatka . (Lopatka is Russian for spade.) The circular bay to the north of this on the Pacific side is Avacha Bay , home to
3136-468: The rain-drenched subpolar oceanic climate of the Aleutian Islands . There is considerable variation, however, between the rain-drenched and heavily glaciated east coast and the drier and more continental interior valley. In the heavily glaciated Kronotsky Peninsula , where maritime influences are most pronounced, annual precipitation can reach as high as 2,500 millimetres (98 in), whilst
3200-516: The scene of the Soviet attack on Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983. The Soviet Pacific Fleet used the sea as a ballistic missile submarine bastion , a strategy that Russia continues. Despite its proximity to Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk has no native etymology in the Japanese language ; its name, Ohōtsuku-kai ( オホーツク海 ), is a transcription of the Russian name. This is also reflected in
3264-671: The sea's islands are either in coastal waters or belong to the various islands making up the Kuril Islands chain. These fall either under undisputed Japanese or Russian ownership or disputed ownership between Japan and Russia. Iony Island is the only island located in open waters and belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai of the Russian Federation . The majority of the sea's islands are uninhabited, making them ideal breeding grounds for seals , sea lions , seabirds , and other sea island fauna. Large colonies of crested auklets use
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#17327733791393328-646: The service of the Russian Navy , began the final "opening" of Kamchatka, helped by the fact that the government began to use the area to exile people, famously the Hungarian nobleman and explorer the Count de Benyovszky in 1770. In 1755, Stepan Krasheninnikov published the first detailed description of the peninsula, An Account of the Land of Kamchatka . The Russian government encouraged the commercial activities of
3392-662: The southeast coast south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky generally receives around 1,166 millimetres (45.9 in) of rainfall equivalent per year. Considerable local variations exist: southern parts of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky metropolitan area can receive as much as 430 millimetres (17 in) more than the northern part of the city. Temperatures here are very mild, with summer maxima around 16 °C (61 °F) and winter lows around −8 °C (18 °F), whilst diurnal temperature ranges seldom exceed 5 °C (9 °F) due to persistent fog on exposed parts of
3456-502: The southeast, Japan 's island of Hokkaido on the south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north. Its northeast corner is the Shelikhov Gulf . The sea is named for the port of Okhotsk , itself named for the Okhota River . The Sea of Okhotsk covers an area of 1,583,000 square kilometres (611,000 sq mi), with a mean depth of 859 metres (2,818 ft) and
3520-552: The southern end of the Kamchatka Peninsula on its way to hunt United States whaling ships in the Sea of Okhotsk. As a commerce raider , the CSS Shenandoah aimed to destroy Union merchant shipping and thus draw off United States Navy ships in pursuit, thereby loosening the US Navy blockade of Confederate coasts. The ship spent almost three weeks in the Sea, destroying only one ship due to the dangerous ice, before moving on to
3584-544: The spine of the peninsula. Along the southeast coast runs the Eastern Range (Vostochny) . Between these lies the central valley. The Kamchatka River rises northwest of Avacha and flows north down the central valley, turning east near Klyuchi to enter the Pacific south of Kamchatsky Point at Ust-Kamchatsk . In the 19th century, a trail led west from near Klychi over the mountains to the Tegil river and town, which
3648-542: The west coast of Kamchatka during a dense fog and gale . The chief officer and a boat's crew perished while attempting to reach the shore. The rest of the crew were saved by the barque Alice , of Cold Spring , and the ship Oliver Crocker , also from New Bedford. On 21 May 1865, the American Civil War came to the area: the Confederate States Navy steamer Shenandoah sailed past
3712-462: The whole of the peninsula. He built an ostrog at Verkhny-Kamchatsk, rescued or captured a Japanese castaway , and went to Moscow to report. In 1699, the Russians at Verkhny-Kamchatsk were killed on their way back to Anadyrsk by the Koryaks. In 1700, a punitive expedition destroyed a Koryak village and founded Nizhne-Kamchatsk on the lower river. Bolskeretsk was founded in 1703. From about 1705, there
3776-571: Was a breakdown of order. There were numerous mutinies and native wars all over the peninsula and north to the Koryak country of the Penzhina River and Olyutor Gulf . Several people were sent out to restore order, including Atlasov, who was murdered by mutineers in 1711. Vasily Merlin restored some degree of order between 1733 and 1739. There was no significant resistance after 1756. A major smallpox epidemic that hit in 1768–1769 quickly decimated
3840-622: Was built and sailed to the Tegil River in June 1716. This one-week journey, later redirected to Okhotsk-Bolseretsk, became the standard route to Kamchatka. In 1720, Ivan Yevreinov mapped Kamchatka and the Kurils. The Danish-born Russian explorer Vitus Bering left Nezhe-Kamchatsk for his first voyage in 1728 and, as part of his second voyage, founded Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 1740. Vitus Bering's Second Kamchatka Expedition (ca 1733–1743), in
3904-615: Was founded as Sovetsky in 1968 through the amalgamation of three earlier settlements which supplied the Soviet Navy as a submarine constructor; it is the home base of the Russian Pacific fleet. The Kura Missile Test Range , an intercontinental ballistic missile impact area located 130 kilometers (81 mi) northeast of the settlement of Klyuchi , was developed beginning in 1955. Kamchatka remained closed to Soviet citizens until 1989 and to foreigners until 1990. From 1946 to 1949, around 50,000 North Korean people went to Kamchatka as contract workers. Several thousand refused to repatriate after
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#17327733791393968-437: Was partly destroyed by a massive mudslide in June 2007. Owing to the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench , deep-focus seismic events and tsunamis occur fairly commonly. A pair of megathrust earthquakes occurred off the coast on October 16, 1737, and on November 4, 1952, with magnitudes of ≈9.3 and 8.2 respectively. A chain of more shallow earthquakes were recorded as recently as April 2006. A significant 7.7-magnitude earthquake with
4032-404: Was placed under its jurisdiction. In 1875, Russia ceded the Kuril Islands to Japan in return for Russian sovereignty over Sakhalin island. The Russian population of Kamchatka stayed at around 2,500 until the turn of the century, while the native population increased to 5,000. During the 19th century, scientific exploration of the peninsula continued. Karl von Ditmar made an important journey to
4096-414: Was the main trading post on the west coast. North of Tegil is Koryak Okrug . South of the Tegil is the Icha River. Just south of the headwaters of the Kamchatka, the Bistraya River curves southwest to enter the Sea of Okhotsk at Bolsheretsk , which once served as a port connecting the peninsula to Okhotsk . South of the Bistraya flows the Golygina River . Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the settlements in
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