The city is widely known simply asPetropavlovsk (literally "city ofPeter andPaul"). The adjectiveKamchatsky ("Kamchatkan") was added to the official name in 1924.
Cossack units visited the area from 1697. The explorer and navigator CaptainVitus Bering (a Danish-born Russian) is considered[by whom?] to have founded the city in 1740, although navigatorIvan Fomich Yelagin [ru] had laid the foundation a few months earlier. Bering reached Avacha Bay in late 1740 and in his capacity as the superior officer, named the new settlement "Petropavlovsk" (Peter and Paul) after his two ships, theSaint Peter and theSaint Paul, which had been built inOkhotsk for his second expedition (1733–42). The town's location on the eastern coast of theKamchatka Peninsula, on the sheltered Avacha Bay and at the mouth of theAvacha River, saw it develop to become the most important settlement in Kamchatka. It gained town status on 9 April 1812.
During the 1853–55Crimean War, Anglo-French forces initiated theSiege of Petropavlovsk (August–September 1854), but it never fell. The city had been fortified under the overall command ofNikolay Muravyov (Governor-General of theEastern Siberia Governorate-General [ru] from 1847 to 1861) in the preceding years, but possessed only a small garrison of a few hundred soldiers and sixty-seven cannon. After much exchange of fire, six hundred Anglo-French troops landed south of the city; two hundred and thirty Russian troops forced them to retreat after heavy fighting (1 September 1854). Four days later, a larger force of nine hundred Anglo-French troops landed east of the town, but again the Russians repelled the allies (5 September 1854). The allied ships then retreated from Russian Pacific waters (7 September 1854). The total Russian losses were reported[by whom?] at around a hundred men; the Anglo-French were said to have lost 209 men, over twice that number.[8]
At the time of thesurrender of Japan inWorld War II (August/September 1945),United States Naval Construction Battalion 114 was in theAleutians. In September 1945 the battalion received orders to send a detachment to theUSSR to build a Naval Advance Base (a Fleet Weather Central)[9] – located ten miles outside Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and code-named TAMA.[10] The original agreement gave the Seabees three weeks to complete the camp. Upon arrival the Soviets told the Seabees they had ten days, and were amazed that the Seabees achieved the task. It was one of two to whichStalin agreed. The other was nearKhabarovsk, in buildings provided by the Russians.[10] For mail Petropavlovsk was assigned Navy number 1169, FPO San Francisco.[11] The American use of these two bases proved short-lived.
Petropavlovsk was a great source of fish, particularlysalmon, andcrab meat for theSoviet Union in the 20th century. Following theend of the Soviet era in December 1991, fishing rights have also been granted to foreign interests.Poaching of salmon for theircaviar at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy remains a problem amid lax law-enforcement and widespread corruption.[12]
A Mw 7.5earthquake occurred on March 25, 2020. The earthquake was the largest to occur in Russia since the 2013 Okhotsk Sea earthquake. In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 285 miles (460km) away from the epicenter, the intensity was felt at 5: objects fell in buildings and people ran out into the street for safety.[13][14]
The city is situated at sea level and surrounded byvolcanoes. The surrounding terrain is mountainous enough that the horizon cannot be seen clearly from any point in town. AcrossAvacha Bay from the city inVilyuchinsk is Russia's largestsubmarine base, the Rybachiy Nuclear Submarine Base, established during the Soviet period and still used by theRussian Navy.[15] The city is located 6,766 kilometres (4,204 mi) fromMoscow and about 2,220 kilometres (1,380 mi) fromVladivostok.
Theclimate at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy reasonably qualifies as asubarctic climate (KöppenDfc), falling just short of ahumid continental climate (Dfb). However, this area's climate has strong oceanic influences due its proximity to thePacific Ocean. Average annual precipitation is 1,180 millimeters (46 in), or about3+1⁄2 times as much as most ofSiberia averages, mostly falling as frozen precipitation, primarilysnow, from November to April. Average monthly precipitation is highest in autumn, with October the wettest month on average, closely followed by November. May through July are markedly the driest months on average; June is the single driest month. Winter temperatures are much milder than in Siberia. Here, average January daytime high temperatures are around −4.0 °C (24.8 °F), while average daytime high temperature in August, the warmest month, is 17 °C (63 °F). Thus, resulting from oceanic cooling, summer daytime high temperatures in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy are markedly cooler than in interior Siberia. In warmer-summer years, monthly high averages in July–August can reach 18 °C (64 °F) and higher. Days of above 20 °C (68 °F) can be expected an average of 19.6 days per summer.[16]
Despite the generally high precipitation, the weather is less cloudy than in the adjacentKuril Islands that are one of the least sunny places in the world,[17] since the city is located behind a peninsula to the north that blocks some of thefog from the coldOyashio Current offshore of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Oceanic water in Avacha Bay and adjacent bays is also warmer than coastal waters of Kuril Islands and Okhotsk sea coast (except Southern Kuriles and Southern Sakhalin).
In the spring (February to April), seawater may freeze.
Highest Temperature: 30.0 °C (86.0 °F) on July 2, 2012
Lowest Temperature: −31.7 °C (−25.1 °F) on February 14, 1917
Highest Daily Precipitation: 200.2 millimetres (7.88 in) on November 10, 2002
Wettest Year: 1,996 millimetres (78.6 in) in 1971
Driest Year: 432 millimetres (17.0 in) in 1947
Climate data for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy (1991–2020, extremes 1894–present)
Ethnic Russians make up the majority of the population; the city on its own has more inhabitants than the entire neighboringChukotka Autonomous Okrug orMagadan Oblast.
The population numbered 179,780 in 2010; 179,800 in 2011; 179,784 in 2012; 181,618 in 2013, and 164,900 in 2021.
^ab"Yanks in Siberia: U.S. Navy Weather Stations in Soviet East Asia, 1945", G. Patrick March,Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 57, No. 3 (August 1988), pp. 327–342, Published by: University of California Press.JSTOR3640708
Законодательное Собрание Камчатского края. Закон №46 от 29 апреля 2008 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Камчатского края», в ред. Закона №659 от 30 июля 2015 г. «О внесении изменения в статью 5 Закона Камчатского края "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Камчатского края"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Официальные Ведомости", №65-69, 6 мая 2008 г. (Legislative Assembly of Kamchatka Krai. Law #46 of April 29, 2008On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Kamchatka Krai, as amended by the Law #659 of July 30, 2015On Amending Article 5 of the Law of Kamchatka Krai "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Kamchatka Krai". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
Совет народных депутатов Камчатской области. Закон №220 от 20 октября 2004 г. «О наделении Петропавловск-Камчатского городского муниципального образования статусом городского округа и об установлении границ Петропавловск-Камчатского городского округа». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Официальные Ведомости", №77–78, 16 декабря 2004 г. (Council of People's Deputies of Kamchatka Oblast. Law #220 of October 20, 2004On Granting Urban Okrug Status to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Urban Municipal Formation and on Establishing the Borders of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Urban Okrug. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
