Petropavlovsk

Related Category: CIS and Baltic Political Geography

pyĕtrəpäv´ləfsk or Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski(pyĕtrəpäv´ləfsk, kəmchät´skē), city (1989 pop. 269,000), capital of Kamchatka Territory, Russian Far East. It is a major port and naval base on the Northern Sea Route, and there are shipyards and lumber mills. Free of ice seven months of the year, it is the base for a large fishing fleet. Bering founded the port in 1740. During the Crimean War, there were attacks on the port by French and British naval units.