Kamchatka Krai

   An administrative province of the Russian Federation. Kamchatka Krai was created on 1 July 2007 through a merger of the Kamchatka Oblast and the Koryak Autonomous Oblast. The latter retains the status of an administrative division of the krai as the Koryak Okrug (Koryakiya), but is no longer a federal subject of the Russian Federation. The union resulted from a 23 October 2005 referendum that returned an 85 percent majority “yes” vote among the regions’ populations. Kamchatka Krai is part of the Far Eastern Federal District and Economic Region. Occupying all of the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Karaginsky and Commander islands, as well as part of the Chukotka Peninsula, the krai has an area of 472,300 square kilometers, making it the 10th-largest region in Russia. The peninsula, comprised of taiga and mountains, is home to a volcanic belt that is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, as well as large numbers of rare flora and wildlife. Kamchatka Krai is bordered by Chukotka and Magadan, and is washed by the Bering Sea in the east and the Sea of Okhotsk in the west.

   The administrative center is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of nearly 200,000; it is the world’s second-largest city that is inaccessible by road. The city sits on the world’s secondlargest bay, Avacha, which is home to Russia’s Pacific submarine fleet; during the Soviet era, the entire area was closed to foreigners. Kamchatka has slightly more than 350,000 residents, with ethnic Russians making up approximately 80 percent of the population. In Koryakiya, the titular Koryaks account for 26 percent of the population, while Russians are a slight majority (51 percent); other ethnic groups include Chukchis, Ukrainians, Itelmens, and Evens.

   The regional economy is driven by its fisheries (particularly crabbing), animal husbandry, mineral extraction (tin, coal, copper, nickel, and gold), and, more recently, eco-tourism. The region is one of Russia’s poorest, and suffers from endemic energy shortages due to its lack of integration with the rest of the country’s energy grid. Politically, the region demonstrated strong support for the opposition Yabloko party in the 1990s. However, in 2000, the candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mashkovtsev, was elected. The reformist, Yabloko-backed incumbent Vladimir Biryukov, did not stand in the election. In 2007, Vladimir Putin nominated the deputy governor, Aleksey Kuzmitsky, to head the new krai after Mashkovtsev tendered his resignation. Historically, Moscow has exercised significant control over the region’s finances; whether this will change as a result of the administrative reorganization of the region remains to be seen.