Tourist Map (44KB); Russia Destinations (main page)
The Kamchatka Peninsula is the most easterly parts of Russia and Asia. It is 1,200 km long and 450 km wide, with only half a million residents, mostly Russians and the largest minority Koryaks (~13,000). The landscape of the Peninsula is dominated by two mountain chains, the Eastern (Vostochny) and the Central (Sredinny). Being a part of the Pacific volcanic belt, the 29 of its 300 volcanoes are still active, including Klyuchevskaya, the tallest on the Eurasian continent at 4,688 meters. For many years Kamchatka was closed for visitors because of the military, which is still present on the peninsula. Only in very recent times have the frontiers that isolated Kamchatka from the rest of the world had been removed, so that the mysterious peninsula could welcome its first visitors, revealing its many marvels - the volcanoes; the geysers; the majestic, cone-shaped, snow-clad mountains; the boundless glaciers; the immense forests, crater lakes, rivers filled with salmon, and parks with wild animals.
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