KAMCHATKA

also spelled Kamcatka, oblast (province), far eastern Russia. Kamchatka oblast includes the entire Kamchatka Peninsula and the southern end of the Koryak Mountains. It includes the Koryak autonomous okrug (district). The administrative centre is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (q.v.). The population, averaging only 2.3 persons per square mile (0.9 per square km), consists chiefly of Russian settlers. The Koryak of the north constitute the main indigenous group; smaller groups include the Evens, Chukchi, and Itelmen (Kamchadal). Fishing dominates the economy and includes large-scale crab fishing and canning. Some timber is cut in the Kamchatka River valley, in which the only small patches of agriculture occur. The first geothermal electric-power station in Russia was built in Kamchatka oblast. Area 182,400 square miles (472,300 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 423,000.