Kamchatka Territory
The Kamchatka Territory was established on July 1, 2007, as a result of the unification of the Kamchatka Region and the Koryak Autonomous Area. Governor - Vladimir Ilyukhin.
The Kamchatka Territory contains the Kamchatka Peninsula, Karaginsky Island and the Commander Islands in the north-east of Russia.
The Kamchatka Territory borders the Chukotka Autonomous Area and the Magadan Region in the north and north-west, the Kuril Islands in the south; it is bounded by the Pacific Ocean in the east, by the Bering Sea in the north-east and by the Sea of Okhotsk in the west.
It has a relatively mild oceanic climate with abundant precipitation of up to 2,000 millimetres a year (the snow is 2.5-3.0 metres deep) and lengthy frost-free periods of up to 140 days. For many years, the average temperature in January has been minus 16.4 degrees Celsius and 13 degrees Celsius in July.
Kamchatka is an area of active volcanoes. There are over 1,000 volcanoes on the peninsula, including 29 active volcanoes. Mountain ridges are covered with year-round glaciers and snowfields which feed thousands of streams and rivers flowing to the sea and providing spawning grounds for Pacific salmon. The waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Kamchatka rank among the most productive fishing areas in the world: over two million metric tonnes of marine biological resources naturally reproduce there.
The Kamchatka Territory covers an area of over 464,000 square kilometres, or 2.8% of Russian territory. The size of the permanent population is 345,000, or 0.2% of the population of Russia. The indigenous population numbers 15,475 people. The population density is as low as 0.7 inhabitant per square kilometre.
The Kamchatka Territory consists of 68 municipalities: 3 city districts, 11 municipal regions, 5 towns and 49 rural villages.
Kamchatka has the potential to develop tourism because of its unique recreational resources. Its mild and snowy winters and the slopes of volcanoes covered with snow even in summer are ideal for building ski resorts that will attract downhill skiers throughout the year. Five of Kamchatka's numerous ski resorts have courses set up according to international standards. These slopes are covered with snow for most of the year - from early November until early May. The skiing season at the ski resorts located on the slopes of the Avachinsky and Kozelsky volcanoes lasts from the end of May until the end of October. Kamchatka's thermal springs and nature parks offer another attraction for tourists. In 2008, Geyser Valley in Kamchatka was acknowledged as one of Russia's seven wonders.
The fishing industry forms the backbone of the Kamchatka Territory's economy. The fishing industry accounts for 20% of the aquatic biological resources caught in the country and produces 16% of the country's commercial fishing products.
In the Kamchatka Territory, 12 thermal and geothermal springs have been explored. Ten gold fields and 22 prospective areas of gold have been identified and examined to varying degrees. There are residual reserves of placer platinum on the peninsula; also, an estimated 30 tonnes of native platinum ore is being studied.
Kamchatka is a major nickel-bearing province, with the world's third or fourth largest nickel ore deposits.
Kamchatka also has hydrocarbon deposits: crude reserves are estimated at 150 million tonnes and gas reserves at about 800 billion cubic metres. The launch of a trial phase of oil production is scheduled for 2013. The construction of a pipeline to transport gas to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky over a distance of 387 kilometres is under way.
Kamchatka also has the raw materials to produce all types of building materials - except those needed for cement production - for which purpose more than 50 deposits have been explored.
The agricultural sector is represented by livestock and poultry farming, and the production of potatoes and vegetables. The volume of Kamchatka's market for dairy products is about 47,000 tonnes, including locally produced dairy products, which account for 34% of the market.
There is a large population of reindeer, with about 40,000 animals in the territory.
The rural population is 70,200, or 20.3% of the total population of Kamchatka. The average annual number of people engaged in agriculture, without considering those running private farms, is 7,200.
Various investment projects to facilitate the social and economic development of Kamchatka, as well as the development of inter-regional and international cooperation are being carried out in the region. They include the construction of a series of small hydro-electric power stations on the Tolmachevo River and the construction of two sections of the Milkovo-Klyuchi-Ust-Kamchatsk motorway.
