Sinai Peninsula

Lore & Background

Prior to Russian exploration, 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 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 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 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 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.

Reader's Guide

The Kamchatka or Central (Sredinny) Range forms 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 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 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 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.

Did You Know?

• The Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, immediately offshore and below the Bering Sea, is 9,600 metres (31,496 ft) deep.
• The Kamchatka Peninsula contains around 160 volcanoes, 29 of them still active, and 19 active volcanoes are included in the six UNESCO World Heritage List sites in the Volcanoes of Kamchatka group.
• Klyuchevskaya Sopka, at 4,750 m (15,584 ft), is the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere.
• A pair of megathrust earthquakes occurred off the coast on October 17, 1737, and on November 5, 1952, with magnitudes of ≈9.3 and 9.0 respectively.
• Kamchatka receives up to 2,700 mm (110 in) of precipitation per year, much higher than the rest of Eastern Russia.