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Kamchatka
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Koryak Kamchatka territory, Russia Record snowfall Valley with green hills and rocky slopes, multiple geysers emitting steam along a winding river in Kamchatka Peninsula, Siberia. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Map of Russia showing its administrative divisions, including oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs, and autonomous oblasts, each color-coded. The map labels major regions and federal districts, with an inset highlighting Russia's location in Eurasia. A legend and list below the map provide the names and numbers of all administrative divisions by federal district.
Kamchatka brown bears and the annual salmon run
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Kamčatka
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Koryak
Koryak Koryak reindeer camp on the tundra near Palana, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia.

Kamchatka

kray, Russia
Also known as: Kamčatka
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History
Kamchatka territory, Russia
Kamchatka territory, Russia

Kamchatka, kray (territory), far eastern Russia. The territory was created in 2007 when the Kamchatka oblast (region) was merged with the Koryak autonomous okrug (district). The territory includes the entire Kamchatka Peninsula and the southern end of the Koryak Mountains. The administrative centrer is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The population, averaging only 2.3 persons per square mile (0.9 per square km), consists chiefly of Russian settlers. The Koryak of the north constitute the main Indigenous group; smaller groups include the Evens, Chukchi, and Itelmen (Kamchadal).

Record snowfall
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Record snowfallRussians trudging though snow in Kamchatka Peninsula on January 19, 2026, after the area had its heaviest snowfall in some 60 years.
Kamchatka Peninsula
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Kamchatka PeninsulaValley of Geysers in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia.

Fishing dominates the economy and includes large-scale crab fishing and canning. Some timber is cut in the Kamchatka River valley, in which the only small patches of agriculture occur. The first geothermal electric-power station in Russia was built in the Kamchatka region. Area 182,400 square miles (472,300 square km). Pop. (2010) 322,079; (2021) 291,705.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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