The Kamchatka Peninsula is located on the extreme North-East of Russia. It occupies the territory of 472,300 square kilometers. One should keep in mind, that Kamchatka Is located not far from North America, Japan and some distant areas of the Pacific Region. This is approximately twice the size of the United Kingdom and 1,5 times larger than Japan. The population density of the towns Petropavlovsk and Yelizovo is approximately 1 person per 4,5 square kilometers.
     There are 14,100 small and large rivers. The length of most of them reaches 10 km (5,5 miles). 105 rivers have a length of more than 100 km (55,5 miles). Due to swift currents and absence of frozen soil nearly all rivers are partly or fully open in winter. Besides, there are over 100,000 large and small lakes.
     Kamchatka has 29 active and nearly 160 extinct volcanoes. Most of them are located along the Eastern ocean shore. Here, one can meet volcano-giants such as the largest active volcano in Eurasia - Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4,850 m). The natural satellites of volcanoes are numerous mud springs, geysers and hot mineral springs. There are 414 glaciers in Kamchatka with the total volume of 871,100 square kilometers.
     The climate of Kamchatka is varied and unstable. The ocean shore areas of the peninsula have a maritime climate, whereas climate in central and northern regions is continental. The highest temperatures, up to +37^o C, are observed in August in central parts of the peninsula. The average amount of precipitation is 50 to 100 cm.