Kamchatka Peninsula

• The Shiveluch volcano erupted recently on Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, spewing clouds of dust 20 kilometers (12 miles) into the sky and covering broad areas with ash.

About Kamchatka Peninsula

• It lies in far eastern Russia, between the Sea of Okhotsk on the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea on the east.
• It is a part of ‘Ring of Fire’.
• It is one of the world’s most concentrated areas of geothermal activity.
• It is about 1,200 km long north-south and about 480 km across at its widest.
• About the size of New Zealand, it is one of the largest peninsulas in the world.
• About 300,000 people live on the peninsula with area of approximately 370,000 square km.
• Population density-At less than a person per square kilometre, one of the lowest in the world.
• Climate: Severe, with prolonged, cold, and snowy winters and wet, cool summers.
• The Kuril island chain runs from the southern tip of the peninsula to a short distance from Japan’s northern Hokkaido Island.