The history of the discovery of Kamchatka. Kamchatka in scientific research and exploration

STUDYING THE TERRITORY OF THE KAMCHATSK DISTRICT IN THE SECOND
HALF 20s - MID 30s XX century:
OBJECTIVES, CONTENT, RESULTS

Scientists began to study the territory of Kamchatka in pre-revolutionary times. The research was carried out by the Russian Geographical Society, the Geological Committee, the Migration Board, the Academy of Sciences. Expeditions in the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. made a significant contribution to the scientific study of the peninsula. Geological, botanical, zoological, road studies were carried out, a description was carried out aboriginal peoples Kamchatka. The first major fundamental works devoted to the scientific problems of studying Kamchatka appeared. But, since the government was indifferent to the Kamchatka region, the expeditions themselves were episodic, not pursuing the goal of a comprehensive and in-depth study of this remote outskirts of the Russian Empire.

Started in the mid 1920s. the accelerated industrial development of the territory of the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory required the speedy exploration of natural resources, the determination of the conditions for their industrial exploitation, and the identification of the specifics of the traditional sectors of the northern economy. Therefore, deployed in the region in the second half of the 1920s. research can be seen as one of the areas public policy edge development.

In the study of the Kamchatka district in 1928-1939. two stages can be distinguished. The first one is actually "Akkov" 1928-1933, when the Joint-Stock Kamchatka Society (AKO) directly coordinated scientific research work and organized expeditions. The second is the period of 1934-1939, when the scientific study of the region was entrusted to the USSR Academy of Sciences and a number of research institutions and economic organizations.

Research work of AKO in 1928-1933. was aimed at a preliminary study of the resource wealth of the region and the conditions of their industrial exploitation. Until 1930, research management was divided between different departments of the head office of the ACO, located in Vladivostok. There was no general work plan. Each department independently planned and conducted research. In 1930, the established Scientific Research Sector (NIS) became the coordinating center, which later turned into one of the departments of the ACS.

The AKO attracted significant scientific forces to research in the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory: the Far Eastern Regional Geological Prospecting Directorate (DVRGRU), the Pacific Institute of Fisheries (TIRKh), the Far Eastern Geophysical Observatory, the Far Eastern Bureau of the Hydrometric Service, the Far Eastern Geodetic Directorate, the Office of Port Surveys (UPITO), the Far Eastern Regional Research Institute (DVKNII), State Far Eastern University (GDU), Soyuzneft Geological Prospecting Oil Institute, VASKhNIL Peat Institute, Soyuzzoloto and others.

The initial stage of AKO research activities in the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory was marked by the work of the Anadyr, Chukotka, Okhotsk expeditions and their parties in the Korfsky, Tigilsky and Ust-Kamchatsky regions. The main purpose of these expeditions, organized in 1928 and lasting about two years, was the exploration of minerals: gold, lead ores, coal, oil, mica, graphite, salt, and others.

Geological exploration in these areas made it possible to establish the presence of ore and placer gold, but the available reserves were insufficient for industrial use. 73% of all financial resources allocated for scientific research in 1928-1930 were spent on gold exploration.

Insignificant reserves of alluvial and ore gold found in the region forced the plans to be adjusted. After 1930, the search for gold continues, but new lines of research appear. The Korfi party, under the leadership of engineer I. A. Preobrazhensky, having carried out topographic and geological surveys in the Corfu Bay, determined the area of coal-bearing deposits at 170 square meters. km. In 1932-1933. the second Corfu exploration expedition of Dalgeoltrest, led by M. E. Magazov, carried out drilling and determined the conditions for the industrial exploitation of the deposit. started industrial production Corfu coal. Significant reserves of brown coal were found in Anadyr.

The Kolyma expedition of the Institute of Nonferrous Metals (Dalgeoltrest), led by the geologist Tsaregradsky in 1930, explored coal deposits in Nagaevo Bay. According to the preliminary conclusions of the expedition, the discovered Nyupkandzhinskoye deposit contained semi-anthracite, which was of exceptional economic importance for the region, since it was located next to the organized port.

In 1930, Soyuzneft organized a large expedition to search for oil in Kamchatka. The expedition explored a vast area along the eastern coast of the peninsula, with an area of about 6,000 sq. km from the Kronotsky Peninsula in the south to Cape Stolbovoy in the north. The Bogachevsko-Chazhminskaya geological exploration party of this expedition confirmed the oil content of the territory near the Bogachevka River.

In 1931, a new expedition consisting of three parties was organized at the expense of AKO and Soyuzneft, one of which completed the survey of the area of the Bogachevskoye oil field and outlined a place for a deep borehole here. Another party crossed the peninsula from east to west from the village of Ust-Kamchatsk to the village of Tigil and was supposed to check information about the release of oil in the area of the river. Elovki. And, finally, the third party marked the beginning of the study of the western coast of the peninsula. In all areas, excluding the territory of the river. Bogachevka, oil outcrops could not be found. It was decided to continue the study of the oil content of the western coast in other areas.

In 1929, the exploration party of the young geologist G. A. Diaghilev, and in 1930 the West Kamchatka peat expedition led by Professor M. I. Neishtadt discovered significant peat massifs on the western coast of Kamchatka with a total area of 300,000 hectares. During the research, a distance of over 700 km was covered. Open peatlands solved not only the fuel problem of Kamchatka, but could also provide building material. Successful peat prospecting was also carried out on the eastern coast of the peninsula.

The remoteness of the central scientific institutions from Kamchatka significantly complicated the conduct of route geological studies. Expeditions from the center traveled to Kamchatka in 3.5-4 months. Most time they spent on the road, waiting for transport. There was no reliable transport connection within Kamchatka itself. The period of field work was reduced to 1-1.5 months, which could not but affect the final results of the research.

For example, the Tigil party of the Kamchatka oil expedition left Leningrad at the end of April 1931. It left Vladivostok for Kamchatka on June 9, reached Petropavlovsk on June 17, reached the west coast on July 1, arrived in Khairyuzovo on August 10, then on August 12 went to Tigil . Since the last steamer from Tigil left for the mainland at the end of September, the entire field period was limited to one and a half months of work, with three and a half months of travel from Leningrad to the place and a month and a half to return back. The Bogachev party of the oil expedition left Leningrad at the beginning of May 1931. It arrived in Petropavlovsk on June 26, but Olga (Kronotsky district) was able to leave only on August 6, after a month and a half of waiting in Petropavlovsk.

At work places, two or three weeks were spent looking for horses and guides. As the heads of the expeditions reported, "... the prices for a horse carriage that have existed in Kamchatka over the past three years far exceed any estimated assumptions." It should be noted that all equipped expeditions delivered a variety of material of great scientific value: maps of completely unexplored spaces were compiled, numerous geomorphological observations were made, and information on zoology and botany was collected along the way. All this represented a significant contribution to the process of studying the resource potential of the peninsula.

During this period, volcanological research began. So, in 1931, under the leadership of A.N. Zavaritsky, a special expedition was organized to study the Avacha volcano.

Geological research on the territory of the North-East at the turn of the 1920-1930s. were part of the general geological study of the territory of the USSR, caused, first of all, by the policy of forced industrialization. Rapidly developing domestic heavy industry on a significant scale needed raw materials. At the same time, the development of deposits of precious metals could provide the necessary funds for the purchase of technologies and industrial equipment abroad.

During geological exploration in Kamchatka in 1926-1932. placer gold deposits like Kolyma were not found. The coal and oil zones identified on the western and eastern coasts were of local industrial importance. In addition, the explored deposits were removed both from the sea coast and from settlements. Therefore, under these conditions, the main emphasis was placed on the exploitation of the region's significant fish and fur wealth, which determined the economic specialization of Kamchatka, becoming, moreover, sources of direct replenishment of the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Since 1926, he began his activities in the stationary study of the biology and commercial activity of salmon and non-salmon fish, crabs, marine mammals and algae in the waters of the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory Pacific Institute of Fisheries (TIRKh). An expedition led by S. Yu. Freiman, who worked in 1929 on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, studied the species composition of marine mammals, established observation posts on the coast to determine more accurate data on the biology of pinnipeds. Since 1929, fish breeding research began on the spawning grounds of the largest rivers: Ozernaya, Bolshaya, Kamchatka. Despite the youth of TIRKh, the insignificance of the collected material in 1926-1929. the staff of the Institute were able to timely predict the shortage of red fish in the valley of the river. Kamchatka, and determine the size of the catch for the next five years.

By 1932, the Kamchatka branch of the TIRKh was established in Kamchatka. Zaostrovsky became the director of the department, and M. A. Fortunatov became his deputy. The network of observation posts grew. Ichthyologist-botanist V. I. Skobunov, working alone in the Korfa Bay on the eastern coast of Kamchatka in 1929, without receiving support from the head of the fisheries, even meeting open opposition, revealed the possibility of organizing on the coast not only the extraction and processing of salmon and crabs, but also quite promising for the Olyutorsky and Karaginsky districts is fishing for saffron cod and herring.

“... Manager Potapov did not consider my work necessary: scientists, according to Potapov, are “idleness”, and all professors who, before 1928, were sent by the scientific and commercial station to crab fishermen, where Potapov was the manager ... cursed everyone, letting them go in ascending and descending ladder of swearing... He artificially delayed the production of the necessary equipment, forbade going to sea, did not give a boat, fuel, and systematically disrupted measurements. There were many other wild, unenlightened attacks, ridicule and mockery in relation to my work. Such an unexpected situation bounced off the whole plan of work from my twenty years of experience and hard favorite work. For the first time in my life I met with such a rude, uncultured attitude not only to my work, but to the entire production.

Despite the fact that in those years there were few signs of a decrease in salmon stocks, researchers persistently expressed fears that predatory fishing, logging and rafting along the Kamchatka River and its tributaries could lead to depletion of salmon stocks. To prevent this danger, they considered it necessary to organize artificial fish farming in Kamchatka. To preserve salmon stocks, fish hatcheries were established as early as 1924 on the Bolshaya and Kamchatka rivers. In 1928, a fish hatchery appeared in Ust-Kamchatsk.

Kamchatka logging expedition led by Professor Far East state university VF Ovsyannikova in 1928 began research in the valley of the Kamchatka River and its tributaries near the river. Elovka, Kozyrevskaya, Tolbachik and others. During four months of work, the total forest area of the Kamchatka River Valley was determined, and significant massifs of construction timber in the amount of 385,000 hectares were identified in it. During the logging trip of Professor Ovsyannikov along the valley of the Anadyr River, it was possible to calculate the area of larch forest suitable for industrial use. The studies revealed the possibility of organizing forest industry enterprises in Kamchatka and Anadyr, which were supposed to satisfy the domestic demand for timber, stop importing building material from Vladivostok and Japan, and in the future enter the foreign market with their products.

In the 1920s the processing of botanical collections collected by the expedition of F. P. Ryabushinsky continued. As a result, the fundamental work of V. L. Komarov was published in three volumes “Flora of the Kamchatka Peninsula”, which summarizes all the extensive floristic materials accumulated by that time.

The implementation of industrial programs ran into the most difficult problem - the sparsely populated region. Therefore, commercial, agricultural and industrial colonization were the main conditions for turning the region into an outpost of socialism in the Far East. For 1930-1933 in the Okhotsk-Kamchatsky Territory it was supposed to move 35,000 people. For the successful organization of the planned resettlement to the region and the retention of the newcomers, it was necessary to conduct appropriate research. In 1928 The Far Eastern Regional Migration Board organized an expedition consisting of five people and two detachments of soil-agronomic and economic under the general guidance of Professor A. A. Krasyuk. The purpose of the expedition was "to identify the current economic state of Kamchatka, to determine the conditions and means necessary for its industrial development, to calculate the colonization capacity of three southern Kamchatka regions: Ust-Kamchatsky, Ust-Bolsheretsky, Petropavlovsky"

The expedition substantiates not only the necessity, but also the possibility of organizing planned mass migrations in these areas, determines the most optimal types economic activity future colonists and the already formed old-timer population, based on the historical, natural, economic features of the territory and new industrial prospects. The undoubted merit of the expedition members was the compilation of soil and botanical maps of the three Kamchatka regions with the allocation of zones of possible agriculture in them, as well as the preparation of a work plan for the preparation of the land fund in Kamchatka for immigrants.

In 1930, the Far Eastern Regional Research Institute, together with the AKO, organized an expedition for the economic study of the Bolsheretsky region as the most promising region of Kamchatka. The expedition determines the number of required settlers, the timing of resettlement, the preferred professional skills of visitors, and calculates the depreciation costs for the arrangement.

Prokopy Trifonovich Novograblenov, a native of Petropavlovsk, a teacher at a local school, chairman of the Society for the Study of Kamchatka, left a big mark on the study of Kamchatka. The list of his scientific works includes about fifty articles and almost the same number of messages relating to botany, geology, zoology, and archeology. Conducting independent observations and research, he took part in a number of expeditions that worked in Kamchatka, both as a guide and as a scientific consultant. Prokopiy Trifonovich accompanied the Swedish scientific expedition in 1921-1922, V. K. Arseniev in his scientific travels around Kamchatka, helped the expedition of the Migration Board led by A. A. Krasyuk in 1928. The result of the continuous fourteen-year scientific work of P. T. Novograblenov is the "Catalogue of Kamchatka Volcanoes", published in 1933 by the Russian Geographical Society. Its release was noted by academicians V. A. Obruchev and A. N. Zavaritsky.

Simultaneously and in close connection with the study of volcanic phenomena, P. T. Novograblenov is engaged in the hot springs of the peninsula. Since 1920, Novograblenov has been systematically publishing materials on the hot springs of Kamchatka. Each description was preceded by field work and possible studies of their mineralogical composition under the conditions of Petropavlovsk. He monitors the regime of the Paratunsky springs, located sixty kilometers from the city, and predicts a great future for them. In 1931, P. T. Novograblenov published a summary work, Hot Springs of Kamchatka. This is the first special work on the mineral springs of the peninsula. P. T. Novograblenov earned great respect for his scientific and pedagogical activities. His name became known in the scientific circles of the country and abroad - in Sweden, Germany, the USA.

The first Soviet decades were marked by a significant interest in the history and culture of the small peoples of the North. The need to eliminate their cultural backwardness, to join the process of transformation of the economy and social relations required a deep study of their economy, way of life and language. In 1926-1927. a lot of new information about the Koryaks and Evens was obtained by the employees of the Statistical Office, who conducted the Subpolar Census in Kamchatka. So, K. I. Bauerman described the modern occupations and traditional culture of the Koryaks of the Penzhinskaya Bay, K. B. Shavrov - the culture of the Palans, Karagins, Chavchuvens and Olyutors, E. P. Orlova - the reindeer Koryaks of the Tigilsky region.

Since 1930, the ethnographic study of the aboriginal peoples of Kamchatka began by the employees of the Penzhinskaya cult base A. G. Appolov, N. N. Bilibin, V. M. Krylov, E. P. Orlova. Of particular note is N. N. Bilibin, who made the first attempt to analyze the socio-economic relations among the Koryaks, to consider in detail the structure of camps, property and social inequality, legal norms and other issues. social organization aborigines.

The contribution to the ethnography and linguistics of the Koryaks by Sergei Nikolaevich Stebnitsky is enormous. Working on compiling the Koryak primer, S. N. Stebnitsky went to Kamchatka. His trip, which began as an expedition to the areas inhabited by the Koryaks, turned out to be many years old. He worked at the Koryak cult base as deputy chairman of the New Alphabet Committee (KNA), at the same time he taught in the distant abandoned village of Kichiga. He was interested in complex issues of the origin of dialects of the Koryak language, the problem of the genesis of individual local groups of Koryak. The unpublished monograph Essay on the Ethnography of the Koryaks deserves special attention.

In this work, S. N. Stebnitsky examined the ethnogenesis and ethnic history of the people, their economy, the relationship between reindeer herders and coastal residents, culture, beliefs, and folklore. Having lived only 35 years (he went to the front in June 1941, died in December 1941), the northern scholar S. N. Stebnitsky made a significant contribution to the study of the languages and folklore of the northern peoples.

The significance of the tasks facing the AKO in the study of natural resources of the vast region, the insignificance of the existing scientific personnel in Kamchatka, the remoteness of central scientific institutions led to the idea of creating the Institute for Research of the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory, autonomous in its work, but organizationally connected with the leading center - the Far Eastern Regional Research Institute (FKNII) in Vladivostok.

To finally resolve this issue, in May 1930, Professor V.I. Ogorodnikov, a member of the board of the Far East Research Institute, scientific consultant of the NIS AKO, was sent to Moscow and Leningrad. For two months - from May to August - Vladimir Ivanovich Ogorodnikov conscientiously carried out the assignment. The idea of the Institute of Research of the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory V.I. Ogorodnikov ardently defended in the State Planning Committee of the USSR, the Academy of Sciences, the Committee for Kamchatka and Sakhalin Affairs, finding support and mutual understanding. As a result, it was decided to establish the Institute for Research of the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory, which was subordinate to the People's Commissariat of Trade, the Far Eastern Executive Committee and the AKO. A great personal merit of V. I. Ogorodnikov was the acquisition and sending to Kamchatka for the future institute scientific library in 35,000 storage units.

However, IIOKK was not destined to be born. The government, which recognized in principle the need to create an institute in 1930, did not allocate funds for its organization either in 1931 or 1932. And since 1931, it generally stopped allocating funds for scientific work in the region.

Therefore, the proposal from the All-Union Arctic Institute (VAI) to create its own department in Kamchatka, which at the beginning did not meet with support, turned out to be more realistic under the current conditions. The Kamchatka branch of the All-Union Arctic Institute (KOVAI) was opened in 1932.

Director of the VAI P.Yu. Schmidt, who arrived in Petropavlovsk in October 1932 after a successful historic voyage of the Sibiryakov icebreaker and the Sovet steamship across the seas of the Arctic Ocean, held several meetings of the Kamchatka branch of the Arctic Institute.

At the meetings that took place, the position on KOVAI was again approved as the center of research work in the Chukotka, Koryak and Even districts, a plan and estimate of work for 1933 were prepared. hydrometric network, Dalgeoltrest base, department of TIRKh, marine station, research sector of AKO.

The expedition of the Arctic Institute left scientific equipment for the hydrochemical laboratory, biological and field geological research in Kamchatka. V. I. Ogorodnikov was appointed Deputy Director of KOVAI. But even this department did not become the first full-fledged stationary scientific center in Kamchatka.

Arrests among the scientific intelligentsia of the Far East began as echoes of major political processes that took place in the center of the country over the employees of the State Planning Commission, Glavryba, and Geolcom. They took place in 1930-1931. slightly behind, but in the same sequence as in the center. In Dalplan, employees associated with the State Planning Commission were arrested, headed by L.V. Krylov, who led the Bureau for the Study of the Productive Forces of the Far East Territory. In Dalgeolkom, following the Leningrad colleagues, who in the past worked in the Far East and were related to Geolcom, P. V. Vitenburg, A. N. Krishtofovich and P. I. Polev were arrested V. V. Bukh, A. I. Lantsevich , M. A. Pavlov, T. S. Trukhin. Leading scientists of the Pacific Institute of Fisheries A. N. Derzhavin, I. G. Zaks, M. L. Pyatakov, M. P. Somov, M. A. Fortunatov were involved in the Glavryba case.

In 1931, the director of the Far East Research Institute, biologist V. M. Savich, was arrested. Vladimir Ivanovich Ogorodnikov was arrested in May 1933. And on April 29, 1934, a troika of the Plenipotentiary Representation of the OGPU DVK convicted him under Article 58 for a period of ten years, together with V. M. Savich. V. I. Ogorodnikov died in the camp in September 1938.

At the turn of 1932-1933. there are significant changes in the plans and scientific programs of the VAI itself. The well-thought-out scientifically substantiated plan of the VAI for the study of the natural resources of the region on the ground, in the conditions of the beginning of the forced transport development of the North, began to be interpreted as an unwillingness to solve the real problems of "socialist construction". Scientific plans began to be translated towards solving problems of an applied nature. The main role in the scientific study of the North began to be assigned to the expeditionary form of work. Expenditures on fundamental research were reduced everywhere, the network of institutions subordinated to the VAI was reorganized. As a result, the need for the existence of the Yakutsk and Kamchatka Branches of the VAI has disappeared.

With the organization in 1932 of the Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (FEFAN) and the closure of the Far Eastern Research Institute, the second important stage in the study of Kamchatka began in the form of complex scientific expeditions. The studies of this period (1934-1939) covered the vast territory of Western, Northern and Eastern Kamchatka, but the main attention was paid to the central unexplored regions.

Detachments of the complex expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1934-1937. carried out a series of route crossings of the peninsula, studied its geological structure, continuing the work of previous years. Members of the expedition A.V. Shcherbakov, D.S. Kharkevich, N.D. Sobolev, V.D. Troitsky, B.I. Piip and others compiled maps and determined the prospects for minerals. “Taking into account the available data, it was possible to close the “white spots” in the geology of the Kamchatka Peninsula.”

Simultaneously with the work of the Academy of Sciences in Kamchatka, geological research was also carried out by other organizations, namely the NGRI, the All-Union Expeditionary Committee, and Dalstroy. Thus, the NGRI parties, headed by geologists L. A. Grechishkin, Dvali, Markin, were engaged in detailed work on the western coast in order to clarify oil fields for drilling the first boreholes. The expedition of the All-Union Expeditionary Committee, consisting of two groups - hydrological and coal - extended its work to the study of mineral springs: Paratunsky, Nachikinsky, Banny, Malkinsky. The geological party of Dalstroy carried out the study of coal-bearing deposits on the western coast of the peninsula north of the river. Forest.

In the conditions of intensive development, the emerging specialization of the main regions of Kamchatka (fishing industry, agriculture, mining), a new scheme of internal transport lines is beginning to be determined. In 1935, a project was drawn up for the Petropavlovsk-Bolsheretsk highway, which was supposed to connect the eastern and western coasts of Kamchatka, turning into the axial line of the economic development of the southern part of the peninsula.

In 1936, four detachments of the Kamchatka complex expedition of the NKPP carried out road survey work to determine the transport line connecting the fish factories of the western coast with the main highway Petropavlovsk - Bolsheretsk. In the course of the survey, a road project was drawn up through all the main factories on the west coast.

Great work in 1935-1937. were carried out in Kamchatka by two soil-botanical detachments of the complex expedition SOPS of the USSR Academy of Sciences led by V. L. Komarov. The results of the work of the expedition members, geobotanist L. N. Tyulina, topographer V. D. Troitsky, forester V. I. Koreev, geobotanist E. L. Lyubimova, soil scientist K. P. Bogatyrev and other researchers, made it possible to characterize the soils and vegetation of the western coast quite fully. Kamchatka. Exploring the area from north to south of the river. Oblukovina to the river. With a large length of 1,860 km, "... the best land gravitating towards fish processing plants, for the organization of state farms serving fish processing plants.

Based on the information collected in collective farms, state farms, agricultural farms at combines, optimal vegetable crops were determined, the cultivation of which is possible in the climatic conditions of the western coast. The results of the considered period of botanical study of Kamchatka were significant. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, floristically, the peninsula was one of the most studied parts of the Far East. The northern part of the region continued to be little explored.

The creation of enterprises in the fishing and forestry industries in Kamchatka, the increase in the population, exacerbated the food problem and necessitated the creation of its own agricultural base. In order to solve this problem in stages, in April 1933 A.V. Mamin organized the Kamchatka Regional Agricultural Experimental Station (KOS). For the scientific work of the station, the Milkovsky region was determined (the valley of the Kamchatka River in its middle course), natural-historical and climatic conditions which were more favorable for the development Agriculture. The tasks of the station included: “…1. Consolidation of all agricultural research work on the peninsula. 2. Resolution of agrotechnical issues. 3. Introduction to the range of agricultural crops new for Kamchatka species and varieties of agricultural plants. 5. Determination of the most cost-effective methods of agricultural technology. 6. The study of local climatic and soil conditions in the context of introducing cereals and fodder crops into the assortment. 7. Promotion of agriculture to the north of Kamchatka.

In 1934, the Petropavlovsk variety-testing plot of vegetable crops was established All-Union Institute crop production. Having existed for a year, it closed, leaving no trace of its activities. In 1936, at the village of Khutor, on the basis of the collective farm “Named after the XVI Party Congress”, a vegetable variety testing site of the NKZ RSFSR was again organized, which continues to operate to this day.

KOS was organized on an uninhabited site. Step by step, an arable area was won back from the taiga. The difficulties were aggravated by the fact that neither the station nor the region had tractors before 1935, and all work on uprooting and raising virgin soil was carried out manually and on horse-drawn traction. Until 1936, the staff of the station consisted of only one researcher-agronomist, who covered all branches of agriculture, simultaneously performing administrative functions. Research work began to improve only in 1936, when the general working conditions at the station improved, and the staff was staffed by three researchers.

However, in spite of all the difficulties, KOS managed to set up research and solve a number of problems of great practical importance for Kamchatka agriculture. Studies were carried out that made it possible to compile an agrometeorological characteristic of agricultural regions, which most objectively revealed a complex of reasons for the poor development of grain crops in Kamchatka. Optimal agrotechnical practices were determined that made it possible to grow significant crops of potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables in the conditions of the Kamchatka climate. In 1940, the KOS team compiled agro-instructions for collective farms and state farms, published by the OblZO by the spring of the same year. These were the first agricultural instructions issued in the Kamchatka region.

In 1935, on the initiative of Academician F. Yu. Levinson-Lessing, the Kamchatka Volcanological Station of the USSR Academy of Sciences was organized, whose employees began to study extinct and active volcanoes and the phenomena associated with their activity. The main objects of study at the initial stage of the work of the Volcanological Station were the Sheveluch volcano and the volcanoes of the Klyuchevskoy group, including the active Klyuchevskoy and Tolbachik.

In the 1930s intensified work on the survey of fish resources. Successfully carried out work on the acclimatization of carp in the lakes of Kamchatka. In 1935, an VNIRO expedition was organized to Lake Kronotskoye to study the lacustrine form of sockeye salmon, the places and timing of its spawning.

As in the previous period, special attention at that time was paid to the study of Kamchatka salmon (E. M. Krokhin, F. V. Krogius). Thanks to the works of G. U. Lindberg, P. A. Moiseev, K. I. Panin, I. A. Polutov, a lot of data appeared on other types of fish, their nutrition, migration, and others.

There have been changes in the economic plans and structure of the AKO itself. As early as 1931, certain industries and enterprises from the AKO were transferred to the jurisdiction of other economic associations of the USSR: the Okhotsk-Kamchatka gold industry - to Tsvetmetzoloto, crab production - to Crabrest, sea fur hunting - to Morzvertrest, reindeer breeding - to Reindeer breeding trust, fur farming - to Soyuzpushnina.

The determined specialization of Kamchatka, the priority development of the fishing industry inevitably led to the rejection of the concept of integrated development and the displacement of the economic interests of the region into the background. Because of this, scientific research took on an applied character and was strictly subordinated to the solution of practical problems.

Research began to slow down in the second half of the 1930s, when new arrests began among the Far Eastern scientific intelligentsia, which intensified in the year of the “great terror”. The main brainchild of the Chekists of the DVK was the Far Eastern Counter-Revolutionary Organization (DVKRO). Justification of the reasons for its occurrence, the nature of its leadership, even the name during 1933-1938. in the legend developed by the authorities varied several times. So, for example, the late V. K. Arsenyev was named its organizer and leader in 1933, and in 1937 - the chairman of the Dalkraikom G. M. Krutov.

From 1933 to mid-1937, up to forty scientists were arrested in the Far East, while their number was about 250 people in scientific institutions and 382 in universities. And only a small part of them: A. Z. Fedorov, professors V. F. Ovsyannikov, S. L. Sobolev, I. A. Kozlov managed to justify themselves before the court. From mid-1937 to autumn 1938 in the Far East, the NKVD repressed about a hundred researchers and university professors (the exact figure has not yet been finally established). After this wave of arrests, the scientific intelligentsia of the DVK was never able to restore its numbers.

Because of the brutal repression, many scientific areas suffered, which is why in 1939 the Far Eastern branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences was closed with a false wording: "... due to the difficult international situation." Valuable collections and scientific equipment were taken to the central institutions of the Academy of Sciences. In 1939 the Far Eastern State University was closed.

There is reason to believe that this was done due to the lack of staffing. And only four years later, the Academy of Sciences returned to where the creation of academic divisions in the Far East began in the early 1930s: a decision was made to organize the Far Eastern base of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Primorye. However, DVFAN will be restored only in 1949.

Summing up the scientific expeditionary activities of the second half of the 1920s - mid-1930s. on the study of the Kamchatka District, it should be noted that an integral part of the process of industrial development was a large-scale study of the region.

AKO, central and Far Eastern scientific organizations have made a significant contribution to the study of the productive forces and natural resources of Kamchatka, the development scientific foundations approach to the economic development of the North-East, determined the prospects for further research.

Introduction

Kamcha ?tka is a peninsula in the northeastern part of the Eurasian continent in Russia.

The study of this topic is very important in modern times, since this region of our large country is filled with various gifts of nature, human capital, various traditions and customs, which undoubtedly plays an important role in the life of Russia. This topic has been the subject of many works. The material presented in the educational literature is general character, and in numerous monographs on this topic, narrower issues and problems are considered.

The relevance of this work is due to the importance of the Kamchatka Peninsula for the modern picture of the world.

The aim of the study is to study the topic "Development of Kamchatka"from the point of view of works on similar topics. To achieve this goal, I have set the following tasks:

To study the prerequisites for the development of Kamchatka

Outline major events

Show the value of this discovery

Geographic information about Kamchatka

It is washed from the west by the Sea of Okhotsk, from the east by the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

The peninsula is stretched from northeast to southwest for 1200 km. It is connected to the mainland by a narrow (up to 93 km) isthmus - the Parapolsky Dol.

The greatest width (up to 440 km) is at the latitude of Cape Kronotsky.

total area peninsula ~ 270 thousand km².

The eastern coast of the peninsula is strongly indented, forming large bays (Avachinsky, Kronotsky, Kamchatsky, Ozernoy, Karaginsky, Korfa) and bays (Avachinsky, Karaga, Ossora, etc.). Rocky peninsulas protrude far into the sea (Shipunsky, Kronotsky, Kamchatsky, Ozernoy).

The central part of the peninsula is crossed by two parallel ridges - the Sredinny Ridge and the Vostochny Ridge, between them is the Central Kamchatka Lowland, through which the Kamchatka River flows.

The southernmost point of the peninsula - Cape Lopatka is located at 50 ° 51 55 With. sh.

The subject is located on the territory of the peninsula Russian Federation Kamchatka Krai.

On the origin of the name "Kamchatka"

There are more than 20 versions of the origin of the toponymic name "Kamchatka".

According to B.P. Polevoy, the name of the Kamchatka Peninsula comes from the Kamchatka River, and the river was named after Ivan Kamchaty. In 1659, Fyodor Chukichev and Ivan Ivanov, nicknamed "Kamchaty" (the nickname was given due to the fact that he wore a silk shirt, in those days silk was called "Damask fabric" or "Damascus"), were sent to the Penzhina River for yasak collection. Ivan Kamchaty - Kalymsky Cossack, turned in 1649 at his own request, in the past an industrial man. In honor of Ivan Kamchaty, one of the tributaries of the Indigirka River was already called "Kamchatka" in the 1650s. In their campaign, they did not limit themselves to the Paren and Penzhina rivers, they visited the Lesnaya River, where they met with Fedotov's son and Sava Sharoglaz. It is known that having risen in the upper reaches of the Lesnaya River, they crossed to the eastern coast of Kamchatka, along the bed of the Karaga River they reached the shore of the Bering Sea, where for some time they were engaged in fishing for "fish tooth" (walrus bone). In 1662, the Upper Kolyma Yukaghirs found all the participants of the campaign killed near Chukichev's winter hut on the Omolon River - "Prodigal". It is believed that the campaign of Ivan Kamchaty gave rise among the Itelmens to an unusual legend for this people “about the glorious, respected warrior Konsh(ch)at”, which was subsequently heard by Georg Steller and Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov. Leonty Fedotov's son and Sava Seroglaz, having moved to the lower reaches of the Kamchatka River to one of its tributaries, which later became known as "Fedotovka", gave the Itelmens a story about Ivan Kamchat. Since the Itelmens on the Kamchatka River could not know about Ivan Kamchat, his path went north. The Itelmens passed on the legend of Ivan Kamchat, that is, of Konsh(ch)at, to other Russian explorers of Kamchatka.

The ethnonym "Kamchadal" arose no earlier than the 1690s. Only in the 1690s did the Russians learn that the Itelmens were not Koryaks at all, but a special people. In those days, it was customary to call local residents by the name of the rivers. So, from the Opuk River, the “Opuka people” appeared, from the Olyutora River - “Olyutorsky”, along the Pokhacha River - “Pogyche” - “Pogytsky”, and from the Kamchatka River - “Kamchatka”, which at the time of Atlasov began to be called “Kamchadalians” or briefly “ Kamchadals”, and from here some time later the southern peninsula was sometimes called “Kamchadalia” or “Kamchadal land”. Therefore, the Itelmens do not consider the ethnonym "Kamchadals" to be an Itelmen word.

There are etymological versions. Russian pioneers on the Kamchatka Peninsula encountered fur seals (kam-seals) and hunted them. From here arose the toponym "Kamchatka" - "the land of Kamchatka". Earlier, the word "kamchat" in the meaning of "big beaver" penetrated into Russian dialects when interacting with Tatar merchants and spread throughout Siberia. Turkic "kamka", Uighur "kimkhap", "kimhob" in Tajik mean "patterned fabric" (damask) - this word comes from the Chinese "kin hua" ("golden flower"). To turn off their hats, the Tatars used not cloth, but the skin of a beaver (or other animal) - in Tatar “kama”, “kondyz” (hence the words “kamchat”, “kymshat” come from), from which, according to one version, the name of the peninsula originates .

There is a version that Kamchatka is a Russified version of the Yakut “hamchakky, ham-chatky”, built from “hamsa (kamcha)” - a smoking pipe, or from the verb “ham-sat (kamchat)” - to move, to sway.

The first visit by Russians to the land of Kamchatka

People have always been attracted by something unknown and unknown, they have sought to gain knowledge about this object or subject. So the Kamchatka Peninsula was in the center of attention, people tried to get to know it, use its resources, trade with the peoples who lived there, etc. Many different goals were pursued along the way of its development. This wonderful land was discovered by Russian Cossacks more than 300 years ago, but even today Russians know little about it.

Back in the 15th century, the Russians suggested the existence of the Northern Sea Route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and made attempts to find this route.

The first information about the peninsula dates back to the middle of the 15th century. In September 1648, the expedition of Fedot Alekseev and Semyon Dezhnev was in the strait between Asia and America, which Bering would reopen 80 years later. The travelers landed on the shore, where they met "a lot of good Chukchi."

Later, koch Fedot Alekseev, judging by the information collected by the Bering expedition, was washed up on the shores of Kamchatka. Fedot Alekseev was the first Russian navigator who landed and wintered on this peninsula.

Kamchatka was inhabited long before the appearance of the first Russian explorers.

Many tribes and nationalities lived on its harsh shores. Koryaks, Evens, Aleuts, Itelmens and Chukchi lived in the tundra, in the mountains, on the coast.

The image of Kamchatka first appeared on the "printed drawing of Siberia" in 1667.

After 30 years, the clerk Vladimir Atlasov, at the head of a detachment of 120 people, went on a campaign - "to search for new lands" and founded Verkhnekamchatsk.

He also delivered to Moscow information about the land lying between the Kolyma River and America. The activities of Vladimir Atlasov are considered to be the beginning of the development of Kamchatka by the Russians.

Research and discoveries in the northeast of Russia continued into the early 18th century. Kamchatka was imagined in different ways at that time, these ideas were portrayed in different ways.

For example, in Semyon Remezov's "Drawing of all Siberian cities and lands" a large "island of Kamchatka" is indicated, and the Kamchatka River flows from the mainland to the east, into the ocean. And he, Remezov, later portrays Kamchatka as a peninsula, though far from our current ideas about its configuration.

What knowledgeable Russian people knew about northeast Asia at the time of Bering's expedition can be judged from the map of Siberia compiled by the surveyor Zinoviev in 1727.

The northeastern tip of Asia is washed there by the sea, where two capes protrude - the Nos Shalatskaya (Shelagsky) and the Nos Anadyrskaya, to the south of which the Kamchatka Peninsula stretches.

The compilers and executors of the map clearly imagined that Asia in the northeast does not connect with any mainland, that is, the map refuted the assumption of Peter 1, "whether America did not converge with Asia."

And since Bering's discoveries in the strait that bears his name were made later, in August 1728, it is clear that they could not affect the drawing of the map by the surveyor Zinoviev.

In January 1725, by decree of Peter 1, the First Kamchatka Expedition was organized, which, in addition to Vitus Bering, gave history such names as Alexei Chirikov and Martyn Shpanberg.

The First Kamchatka Expedition made a major contribution to the development of geographical ideas about the northeast of Asia, and above all from the southern borders of Kamchatka to the northern shores of Chukotka. However, it was not possible to reliably prove that Asia and America are separated by the strait.

When on August 15, 1728 the expedition reached 67 degrees 18 minutes northern latitude and no land could be seen, Bering decided that the task was completed and ordered to return back. In other words, Bering did not see either the American coast or the fact that the Asian continent is turning to the west, that is, "turning" into Kamchatka.

Upon his return, Bering submitted a note containing a plan for a new expedition to the east of Kamchatka.

Bering was a true researcher and considered it a matter of honor and a patriotic duty to complete what he had begun.

The second Kamchatka expedition was declared "the most distant and difficult and never before experienced."

Its task was to reach the northwestern shores of America, open the sea route to Japan, develop industry, crafts, and arable farming in the eastern and northern lands. At the same time, it was ordered to send "kind and knowledgeable people" to "see and describe" the northern coast of Siberia from the Ob to Kamchatka.

In the course of preparation for the Expedition, the range of its tasks expanded. Ultimately, this led to the fact that, thanks to the efforts of progressive-minded figures of that time, the Second Kamchatka Expedition turned into such a scientific and political enterprise that marked a whole era in the study of Siberia and the Far East.

Almost at the very beginning of the campaign, bad weather separated the ships, and each continued on his way alone.

In the history of geographical discoveries, one of the amazing cases occurred: two ships that sailed separately for a month approached the unknown shores of the fourth continent almost on the same day, thereby starting to explore the lands that later became known as Russian America (Alaska). The packet boat "St. Pavel", commanded by Alesya Chirikov, soon returned to the Peter and Paul harbor.

The fate of "St. Peter" was less successful. A severe storm, an accident, and serious illnesses hit the travelers.

Having landed on the famous island, the members of the expedition bravely fought against hunger, cold, and scurvy.

Having survived an unusually difficult winter, they built a new vessel from the wreckage of a packet boat and managed to return to Kamchatka. But without a commander.

December 1741, two hours before dawn, the head of the expedition, Vitus Bering, died. The commander was buried according to the Protestant rite near the camp. However, the exact location of Bering's grave is not known.

Subsequently Russian-American company a wooden cross was placed at the alleged burial place.

In 1892, officers of the schooner "Aleut" and employees on the Commander Islands installed an iron cross in the fence of the church in the village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island and surrounded it with an anchor chain.

In 1944, the sailors of Petropavlovsk placed a steel cross on a cement foundation on the site of the commander's grave.

Scientific and practical results Bering's expeditions (especially the Second) are innumerable.

Here are just the main ones. A route through the Bering Strait was found, Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and northern Japan were described.

Chirikov and Bering discovered northwestern America.

Krasheninnikov and Steller explored Kamchatka.

The same list includes Gmelin's works on the study of Siberia, materials on the history of Siberia collected by Miller.

The meteorological studies of the expedition are interesting; they served as an impetus for the creation of permanent stations not only in Russia, but throughout the globe.

Finally, the coasts of Siberia from Vaigach to Anadyr are described - an outstanding feat in the history of geographical discoveries. This is just a short list of what was done in the Kamchatka expedition.

Such a truly scientific and complex approach to the work that was carried out two and a half centuries ago cannot but arouse respect.

Among Bering's associates were prominent scientists. The names of Academicians Gmelin and Miller occupy an honorable place in the history of Russian and world science.

The most talented assistant to Miller and Gmelin was Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov.

One of the islands off the coast of Kamchatka, a cape on Karaginsky Island and a mountain near Kronotsky Lake on the peninsula bear his name.

He was the first naturalist to explore Kamchatka. For four years, Krasheninnikov wandered around this distant land, alone collecting materials on its geography, ethnography, climate, and history.

Based on them, he created a major scientific work "Description of the Land of Kamchatka", the significance of which has not been lost over time.

This book was read by Pushkin and, apparently, made a considerable impression on him. Kamchatka geographical siberia expedition

Alexander Sergeevich compiled quite extensive "Notes while reading "Description of the Land of Kamchatka" by S.P. Krasheninnikov" - the last and unfinished literary work of the poet.

The Russian sloop-of-war "Diana" was heading to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean to compile a hydrographic description of coastal waters and ocean lands and bring ship equipment to Petropavlovsk and Okhotsk.

At the Cape of Good Hope, he was detained by the British, and the ship was under arrest for one year and twenty-five days.

Until a daring move was made. September 23, 1809 "Diana" rounded Australia and Tasmania, came to Kamchatka.

For three years, the crew of Russian sailors under the command of Vasily Golovin was engaged in the study of Kamchatka and the North American possessions of Russia. The result was the book "Remarks on Kamchatka and Russian America in 1809, 1810 and 1811".

After that, Golovin received a new task - to describe the Kuril and Shantar Islands and the shores of the Tatar Strait.

And again his scientific flight was interrupted, this time by the Japanese.

On the Kuril island of Kunashir, a group of Russian sailors, along with their captain, were captured, and again long days of forced inactivity dragged on. However, inaction is not entirely accurate.

The inquisitive researcher spent usefully and this is not the most pleasant time for him.

Published in 1816, his notes about the adventures in Japanese captivity aroused great interest in Russia and abroad.

So, Far East, Kamchatka.

She attracted inquisitive minds, called people who cared not so much for their own good, but for the good of the Fatherland.

Good-neighbourliness and cordiality in relations, mutual benefit in business - this is how Kamchatka was seen by a Russian person from time immemorial, this is how he came to this land. This is how he lives on this earth.

Why Kamchatka is important for Russia and the whole world

Study of the natural resources of Kamchatka

Kamchatka and its shelf have a significant and diverse natural resource potential, which is a significant and, in many ways, a unique part of the national wealth of the Russian Federation.

The history of scientific research in Kamchatka is more than 250 years old. They were started by the members of the Second Kamchatka Expedition of Vitus Bering: Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov, Sven Waxel, Georg Steller. Thanks to these works, it became known that Kamchatka has the richest reserves of furs, as well as iron and copper ores, gold, native sulfur, clays, and hot springs.

Subsequently, a number of research expeditions were organized to Kamchatka, which were financed by the treasury or patrons.

Gavriil Andreevich Sarychev proposed to consider the use of the natural resource potential of Kamchatka from the position of trade in fish, fur, walrus tooth, whalebone and fat.

Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin expressed his opinion on the need to use thermal water for recreation purposes.

As a result of the First Kamchatka Complex Expedition of the Russian Geographical Society, significant information was obtained on the geography, geology, ethnography, anthropology, zoology and botany of Kamchatka.

In 1921 on the river. Bogachevka (the coast of the Kronotsky Bay) local hunters found a natural way out of oil.

Since 1928, in the estuary part of the river. Vyvenka on the shore of the Corfu Bay, employees of Dalgeoltrest began a detailed study and exploration of the Korfi coal deposit. It is also known that the Americans explored and used the coal of the Korfi deposit as early as 1903.

In 1934, TsNIGRI employee D.S. Gantman gave the first description of the coals of the Krutogorovskoye deposit.

In 1940, the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, together with the staff of VNIGRI (under the general editorship of Academician Alexander Nikolayevich Zavaritsky), compiled and published a geological map of the peninsula on a scale of 1: 2000000, which was a synthesis of all knowledge about the geology of Kamchatka that was available at that time. In accordance with it, in a significant part of the peninsula, mainly Quaternary volcanic and sedimentary deposits were distributed. Of the minerals, only a few thermal springs have been identified.

At the beginning of the 50s. a new stage in geological study has begun: a sheet-by-sheet geological survey at a scale of 1: 200,000, which made it possible to create a complete picture geological structure, outline and systematize the main directions of search work.

Up to 50 years no special prospecting and exploration works were carried out for metallic minerals. Basically, all attention was focused on the search for oil, but already in 1951-1955. when carrying out small- and medium-scale geological surveys in potentially ore-bearing areas, numerous primary ore occurrences of copper, mercury, molybdenum, and chromites were revealed. Schematic sampling established the fundamental gold content of many river valleys. New facts testified to the presence of primary and alluvial occurrences of gold, and new areas favorable for prospecting were outlined.

The main result of exploration research 50-90 years. was the actual creation of a mineral resource base in the region for gold, silver, copper, nickel, groundwater, alluvial platinum, coal, gas, and various building materials. All this is reflected on the map of the mineral resources of Kamchatka at a scale of 1:500000 (responsible executor - Yuri Fedorovich Frolov), made on an updated geological basis and incorporating all the latest data on the mineral resources of the Kamchatka Territory.

The main stages of nature management in Kamchatka

The socio-economic development of Kamchatka has always been based on the development of natural resources. For a historically fixed period from the end of the 17th century, at least five main stages of nature management can be distinguished.

Before the arrival of Russian pioneers (that is, until the end of the 17th century), there was a primitive collective way of developing biological natural resources on the territory of the peninsula. The physical existence of the population depended on the bioproductivity of ecological systems in their habitats.

With the development of Kamchatka (the end of the 17th - the middle of the 18th centuries), furs were the main natural resource of the region involved in the economic turnover. The resources of valuable fur-bearing animals (sable, arctic fox, fox, ermine) have come under severe anthropogenic pressure. The role of this type of natural resources can hardly be overestimated, since the pursuit of furs has become one of the main incentives for Russia to search for new lands in Siberia and America.

The basis of the fur trade in Kamchatka was sable, the extraction of which amounted to 80-90% of fur harvesting in value terms. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the production of the main resource of the fur trade - sable - was estimated at 50 thousand heads per year.

In addition, for the period from 1746 to 1785. about 40,000 fox pelts were exported from the Commander Islands.

Predatory extermination led to the depression of the populations of these species of fur animals, and since the middle of the 18th century, the amount of fur harvested in Kamchatka has significantly decreased.

Mid 18th century - the end of the XIX century. are characterized by intensive development (including poaching) of marine mammal resources.

In the context of the completion of the territorial division of the world, the most developed countries (USA, Japan, etc.) increased their pressure on the most accessible biological resources world ocean.

The waters of the Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory at that time were exceptionally rich in various types of sea animals: walrus, seal, bearded seal, sea lion, white whale, killer whale, whale, sperm whale, etc.

In the 1840s up to 300 American, Japanese, British and Swedish whaling ships sailed in these waters. Over 20 years, they have taken over 20 thousand whales.

Production of sea animals in later times has been significantly reduced.

This stage of nature management in Kamchatka has exhausted itself due to the almost complete destruction of its natural resource base.

FROM late XIX in. to the 20th century aquatic biological resources were used as the main natural resource base for commercial production (in the beginning, herds of Pacific salmon spawning in fresh water bodies of Kamchatka, then other types of aquatic biological resources).

The first plots for commercial salmon fishing in Kamchatka were allotted in 1896. From 1896 to 1923, the fish catch in Kamchatka increased from 2,000 to 7.9 million poods.

The potential productivity of salmon in all spawning and rearing water bodies of Kamchatka is estimated at 1.0 million tons, and the commercial productivity is up to 0.6 million tons.

The extraction of aquatic biological resources in Kamchatka has stabilized over the past years and annually amounted to about 580-630 thousand tons, 90% of which falls on the share of valuable fishery objects - pollock, cod, halibut, greenling, flounder, salmon, seafood.

At this stage, the economy of the Kamchatka region had a pronounced single-industry character. The basic sector of the economy was the fishery complex, which accounted for up to 60% of production and more than 90% of the export potential of the region.

At present, the possibilities for sustainable development of Kamchatka by increasing fish catches have been exhausted. Extensive development of natural fish resources has reached the limit of quantitative growth and has become the main factor in their depletion.

Also during this period of time, forest resources were actively used in Kamchatka, a timber industry complex was formed and functioned quite successfully, which included logging, the production of round timber, sawmilling, and the supply of part of the products for export.

As a result of using forest resources during this period, the most accessible and commercially high-quality forests of cayanander larch and Ayan spruce in the Kamchatka River basin were cut down, and the volume of industrial logging and, somewhat later, the volume of felling began to decline sharply. Large specialized forestry enterprises with timber resources assigned to them for the long term ceased to exist.

At present, the annual volume of harvesting and processing of wood in the Kamchatka Territory does not exceed 220 thousand m3, with an allowable cutting area - 1830.4 thousand m3.

By the end of the 20th century, this type of nature management came into a crisis state.

The main features of these periods was that the structure of the regional economy in each of them was characterized by mono-industry specialization in interregional labor exchange. Focusing on one type of natural resource as the main product for interregional exchange invariably led to the depletion of this resource. Changes in the types of nature management were accompanied by the destruction of production and settlement systems.

Given these features and in order to avoid destructive socio-economic and environmental impact at the present stage, a transition is being made to a new type of development of natural resources. The new type is based on complex use, including, along with fish resources, recreational, water, and mineral resources.

In this regard, the Government of the Kamchatka Territory is developing a Strategy for the socio-economic development of the Kamchatka Territory until 2025, which corresponds to key areas development of the Far Eastern Federal District, the Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation.

A comprehensive analysis of the economic growth opportunities of the Kamchatka Territory shows that the mining industry is currently the only infrastructure-forming industry in the region. Only through the development of mineral deposits is it possible to develop a rational energy and transport infrastructure in the Kamchatka Territory, creating the prerequisites for the successful non-subsidized development of the Kamchatka Territory.

The mineral resource base of the Kamchatka Territory and its role in the socio-economic development of the region

The mineral resources of the Kamchatka Territory are represented by various minerals of both federal, interregional and local significance, which can be profitably developed.

The energy resources of the subsoil of Kamchatka are represented by reserves and predicted resources of gas, hard and brown coal, geothermal waters and steam hydrotherms, and predicted resources of oil.

The hydrocarbon potential of the land is estimated at 1.4 billion tons in oil equivalent, including recoverable - about 150 million tons of oil and about 800 billion m3 of gas. Explored and preliminary estimated reserves of natural gas are concentrated in one medium and three small fields of the Kolpakovsky oil and gas region of the Okhotsk-West Kamchatka oil and gas region and amount to 22.6 billion m3 in total.

The explored and preliminary estimated coal reserves of the Kamchatka Territory amount to 275.7 million tons, the predicted resources exceed 6.0 billion tons. 7 deposits and more than ten coal occurrences have been studied with varying detail.

Brown and black coals, mostly of medium quality, are used for local needs.

To date, in the Kamchatka Territory, 10 deposits and 22 promising sites and areas of native gold have been identified and studied to varying degrees with explored and preliminary estimated metal reserves of 150.6 tons and predicted resources of 1171 tons. Associated silver reserves are taken into account in the amount of 570.9 tons, probable resources exceed 6.7 thousand tons. Alluvial gold reserves are estimated in 54 small deposits in the amount of 3.9 tons, probable resources - 23 tons.

Residual reserves of placer platinum are 0.9 tons, resources - 33 tons. In addition, an ore occurrence of bedrock platinum with predicted resources of more than 30 tons is being studied.

The predicted nickel and cobalt resources of the cobalt-copper-nickel deposits of the Sredinny crystalline massif of Kamchatka alone are determined as 3.5 million tons and 44 thousand tons, respectively. Some deposits, for example, Shanuch, are characterized by very high average nickel contents in ores - up to 7%, which allows their processing without preliminary enrichment.

Kamchatka Krai is provided with all kinds of building materials(with the exception of raw materials for the production of cement): sand and gravel mixtures, building sand, volcanic tuffs, building stone, various concrete fillers, slag, pumice, brick clay, mineral paints, perlite, zeolites. The Ilyinskoye pumice deposit, the largest in the Far East, is unique, its reserves in categories A + B + C - 144 million m3, are a versatile raw material of local and export significance.

More than 50 deposits have been explored for the production of building materials in the Kamchatka Territory.

A widespread mineral resource in the Kamchatka Territory is groundwater, which, according to its chemical composition and temperature, is divided into: cold fresh, thermal (thermal energy) and mineral. They are used in household and drinking water supply, as well as in balneological and heat power purposes. A new direction in the use of cold fresh waters of Kamchatka, which are of high quality, is their bottling and export to regions with a shortage of drinking water sources.

The mining complex of the Kamchatka Territory is currently at the stage of formation. In the volume of shipped products for all types of activities in the region, the extractive sector of the economy accounts for about 5%.

To date, 289 licenses for the right to use subsoil are in force in the Kamchatka Territory. Of these, 56 licenses are for significant subsoil use objects.

Currently, the production volumes for the main types of mineral raw materials are.

The Kshukskoye gas condensate field is at the stage of pilot development. Annual production - 8-9 million m3 for the needs of the Sobolevsky district.

For local needs, 3 small deposits of black and brown coal are being developed and 2 are being prepared for development. The volume of production in 2007 amounted to 21 thousand tons.

The annual production of thermal waters is about 13 million m3. Steam from the Pauzhetsky, Mutnovsky and Verkhne-Mutnovsky fields is used to generate electricity. The total capacity of GeoTPPs operating on them is 70 MW.

In 2006, industrial gold mining began at the Aginsky deposit (design capacity - 3 tons of metal per year). The volume of gold mining in 2006 amounted to 1195 kg, in 2007 - 2328 kg. Placer gold is mined in the amount of 110-190 kg per year.

From 1994 to the present, about 50 tons of placer platinum have been mined. In 2007, the production volume amounted to 2078 kg.

In 2007, the Shanuchsky copper-nickel deposit produced: nickel 2202 tons, copper 300 tons, cobalt 50 tons.

The immediate prospects for the development of the mining industry are, first of all, that by 2015 in the Kamchatka Territory 6 mines should be built and mining will begin: Asachinsky (2010), Baranevsky (2011), Ametistovy (2012). ), Rodnikovy (2013), Kumroch (2013), Ozernovsky (2015). Gold mining will amount to 16 t/y, platinum - 3 t/y. By 2018, the production of ore gold will reach 18 tons, platinum - 3 tons.

The Shanuchsky nickel mine, operating in pilot production mode, should switch to commercial development mode by 2014. By 2017, the balance reserves of nickel will be prepared in the Kvinumskaya area and the second nickel mine in the Kamchatka Territory will be built. The total production of nickel at the two enterprises will reach 10,000 tons per year.

There are four areas promising for hydrocarbon raw materials within the shelf zones adjacent to the coast of the Kamchatka Territory. Investments in the exploration and development of fields in the West Kamchatka zone, as well as the creation of coastal infrastructure, are estimated at 775 billion rubles.

Other promising areas may be involved after the first positive results are obtained in the West Kamchatka area.

Total in the period 2008-2025. in the Kamchatka Territory, while maintaining the current level of prices for mineral raw materials, 252.4 tons of gold, 54 tons of platinum, 114.6 thousand tons of nickel, 17 billion m3 of gas, 6.6 million tons of oil on land and 326.5 million tons of hydrocarbons in oil equivalent on the shelf.

The total investment in additional exploration, the creation of mining and transport infrastructure for the mining industry in the period up to 2025 is estimated at 33 billion rubles. in 2008 prices, incl. gold - 16 billion rubles, platinum - 5.1 billion rubles, nickel - 8.4 billion rubles, other minerals - 3.2 billion rubles, excluding the costs of projects on the shelf.

One of the tasks of managing the mineral resource complex is the creation of a diversified system of nature management that promptly responds to changes in market conditions of functioning. Taking into account the development trend of the world market of natural raw materials, it is necessary and sufficient to develop the extraction and use of:

precious metals;

hydrocarbon raw materials;

non-ferrous metals;

balneological resources.

These four directions will allow us to take a strong position in the economy. In order to meet the regional needs and demand of the Far Eastern regions of the Russian Federation, in addition to the above-mentioned industries, it is promising full-scale development of underground resources. drinking water, building materials, hard coal.

To ensure the sustainable development of the mineral resource complex, it is necessary to build up the mineral resource base not only at the expense of enterprises, but also in the process of public-private partnership. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the forecast and search for large and unique deposits in terms of reserves. Such objects, first of all, can be large-volume deposits of precious metals - gold, platinum within the northern and central parts of Kamchatka (such as Ozernovsky, Galmoenansky, etc.). The same series should include an assessment of hydrocarbons in the West Kamchatka, Shelikhovskaya, Khatyrskaya, and Olyutorskaya areas of the shelf.

Any intrusion into nature is associated with causing some damage to it. Kamchatka is one of the most vulnerable territories. Therefore, environmental protection is an important link in the environmental policy of the Government of the Kamchatka Territory. The use of the most modern and environmentally safe technologies for the development of minerals today is the main task of the legislative and executive authorities of the region.

Such a large-scale development of the mineral resource complex cannot but lead to large-scale social transformations. The shortage of personnel for geologists, miners, technical specialists of various skill levels necessitates the training of specialists with higher and special education numbering at least 2500 people;

The use of the mineral resource base of the Kamchatka Territory in the near future will help to significantly change the overall structure of industry through the creation of new industries - non-ferrous metallurgy, gas and oil industries, building materials. Solving the problem will double the GRP and increase budgetary security. The transport and energy infrastructure created by the industry’s facilities will contribute to the development of tourism, social and cultural facilities, and will improve the livelihood and employment of the population of Kamchatka Krai, especially its northern part, the development of which is not provided for by the strategies of other industries.

Conclusion

The discovery and development of the Kamchatka Peninsula was of obvious strategic importance, the birth of new places for the extraction of mineral resources, which contributed to the intensive growth of industry, and the importance of the discovery in the development of trade relations with the Pacific countries - China, Japan, America.

Literature

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%E0%EC%F7%E0%F2%EA%E0#.D0.98.D1.81.D1.82.D0.BE.D1.80. D0.B8.D1.8F

://dunkan-travel.ru/kamchatka/index.php?page=aboutkam://www.kamtrekking.ru/forum/index/7

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Kamchatka is a unique region with nature perfectly preserved and untouched by civilization. Once having been here and enjoying the beauty, I just want to thank those who were the first to discover Kamchatka. By the way, there are many versions about the personalities of the discoverers. Later in the article we will present to your attention some of them, but first let's remember once again what this peninsula is.

Description

The Kamchatka Peninsula is located in the northeast of the Eurasian continent and is wholly owned by the Russian Federation. It is one of the largest peninsulas in the world. Its territory is 370 thousand km 2, which exceeds the area of such states as Belgium, France and Luxembourg taken together. There are 2 regions on the territory of Kamchatka - Koryaksky Autonomous Okrug and Kamchatka region. Since 2007, they have united under the common name of the Kamchatka Territory. Kamchatka is washed by two seas - Bering and Okhotsk, and, of course, the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula stretches for 1,200 kilometers.

Relief and natural features

Kamchatka is known for its geysers and volcanoes. On this piece of land there are 30 active volcanoes and about 130 extinct ones. Those who discovered Kamchatka were naturally surprised by what they saw on this land. Of course, this shocked them: columns of hot water spouting from underground, mountains, like fire-breathing dragons, spewing red lava ... Why not a plot for a fairy tale about the Serpent Gorynych ?! Klyuchevskaya Sopka with a height of 4,950 meters is the highest active volcano in Eurasia. It is located in an incredibly beautiful, picturesque area of the peninsula. The climate here is also quite interesting - snowy, not very Cold winter, a long spring turning into a warm summer. The vegetation on the peninsula is lush - birch and coniferous forests that are teeming with different kinds forest dwellers. These beauties first of all attracted those who discovered Kamchatka, because they made it possible rich booty during the hunt. Today, most of the wild inhabitants of the peninsula are listed in the Red Book. Almost all types of salmon are found in the rivers of Kamchatka.

Story

The history of this peninsula has several tens of millennia. About 20,000 years ago, Asia and America were united, and instead of the Bering Strait, there was land. This means that people came to the American mainland from Eurasia in this way (and maybe vice versa), and then the land split and they stayed there until the discovery of the New World by Columbus. Archaeologists claim that life arose in Kamchatka 13-14 thousand years ago.

Opening

Who discovered Kamchatka and when? In some historical reference books, the Cossack chieftain Vladimir Atlasov is considered the discoverer. This event dates back to 1697. Before the Russians came to the peninsula, local residents lived here: Evens, Itelmens, Chukchis and Koryaks. Their main occupations were reindeer herding and fishing. Today, however, the majority of the peninsula's population is Russian. Nevertheless, the date of 1697 is not the correct answer to the question in what year Kamchatka was discovered.

Almost half a century before Atlasov

In the summer of 1648, the Cossack Semyon Dezhnev organized an expedition, which consisted of seven ships and left the Arctic Ocean for the Pacific Ocean. Here, off the eastern shores of the Chukotka peninsula, the ships fell into a terrible storm, as a result of which four of them were thrown onto the coast of the Olyutorsky Bay. The surviving Cossacks reached the middle course of the Anadyr River, built the Anadyr winter hut here. The remaining three ships moored to the shores of Kamchatka. The Cossacks went up to the Nikul River and built a hut there for wintering, but later they died during the return crossing. When Atlasov came to Kamchatka in 1697, local residents told him how long ago people similar to Cossacks came to them and they wintered on the Nikul River. In short, Kamchatka was discovered by unsuspecting Cossacks who were part of Dezhnev's expedition.

The next stage of discovery

The purpose of the first expedition was not the discovery of new lands itself, but the possibility of acquiring a free product and its further sale. They took walrus tusks, deer skins, etc. from the Yakuts. Kurbat Ivanov also moved to these lands with a similar goal. He studied the area around Anadyr well and even gave a description of it.

Final stage

In 1695, Vladimir Atlasov organized a new expedition towards Kamchatka. He, like previous travelers, was interested in the possibility of profit. He decided to collect tribute from the natives. However, Atlasov was not satisfied with only coastal areas and moved inland. Therefore, it is he who is considered the one who discovered Kamchatka.

Great Navigators and Kamchatka

Vitus Bering visited Kamchatka in 1740. Later, many scientific expeditions led by James Cook, La Perouse, Kruzernshtern, Charles Clark and others passed through the territory of the peninsula. After the creation of the Soviet Union, Kamchatka became the easternmost outpost for the country and foreign tourists were not allowed to enter here. The peninsula became “open” only after the collapse of the USSR, that is, in 1991. After that, tourism began to develop actively here. Of course, it was interesting for foreign travelers and scientists to visit the miracle peninsula and see with their own eyes the largest active volcano in Eurasia, as well as the amazing Valley of Geysers, which is undoubtedly a miracle of nature.

And others made up the era of the great Russian geographical discoveries.

It was in the summer of 1648. From Nizhnekolymsk to the "Cold Sea", as the Arctic Ocean was then called, seven kochs sailed to the Pacific Ocean (koch a seaworthy single-deck single-masted sea vessel of the 16th-17th centuries, about 20 m long and sailing under oars and sails. Accommodated about 30 people and lifted up to 30 tons of cargo). Led them. Off the eastern coast of Chukotka, the flotilla was caught in a severe storm. Koch, on which he was, was thrown onto the coast of the Olyutorsky Bay, and Fedot Alekseev Popov and Gerasim Ankudinov were blown into the sea.

Semyon Dezhnev with the remnants of the detachment in 1649 reached the middle reaches of the Anadyr River and built here the Anadyr winter hut, which later became a Russian stronghold, from where the vast northern territory was being developed.

Kochi Fedot Alekseev Popov and Gerasim Ankudinov was carried to the shores of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Once at the mouth of the Kamchatka River, the sailors went up to its tributary - the Nikul River and built two small huts there. After wintering here, in the spring of 1649, Popov and his comrades went down the Kamchatka River to the Pacific Ocean and, rounding Cape Lopatka, went along the western coast of the peninsula to the north. Having passed the mouth of the Tigil River, the Cossacks decided to get by boat to the east coast, towards Anadyr. During this journey, they died.

More than 300 years have passed since then, but the legend about the people who wintered on the Nikul River still lives on. Among the locals, it is passed down from generation to generation. For a long time, the Nikul River was called Fedotovshchina and Fedotikha, after the name of Fedot Popov, the man who was the first in Russia to discover Kamchatka.

The expedition was supposed to explore the waters of the Pacific Ocean, sail to the northwestern shores of America, explore the entire northern coast of the Asian continent - from Arkhangelsk to the Chukotka Cape, study the nature of Siberia, explore Kamchatka, find a sea route to Japan and China.

To carry out these very large tasks, nine sea and land detachments are being organized.

The expedition was attended by scientists, artists, surveyors, explorers (geologists) and students.

On October 6 (October 17), 1740, an expedition consisting of packet boats "St. Peter" and "St. Pavel", led by and, arrived from Okhotsk to Avacha Bay. By her arrival, on the shore of one of the bays, the bay built a base for the wintering of sailors. In honor of the ships of the expedition, this bay was named Peter and Paul Harbor.

After wintering in the harbor, on May 4, 1741, the ships set sail. For a week they sailed together, and then in a dense fog they lost sight of each other and never met again.

The packet boat "St. Paul" under the command, as it turned out later, approached the northwestern coast a day earlier North America, passed along the coast to the north and turned back to the Peter and Paul harbor, discovering several islands of the Aleutian ridge on the way back.

On October 10 (21), 1741, "St. Paul" anchored in the Peter and Paul harbor, having completed her sea voyage to the shores of North America.

On July 18, the packet boat "St. Peter" also approached the shores of North America, and on July 20 it already hurried back.

On the way back, the ship ran into severe autumn storms. For almost two months he was carried across the ocean by the will of the winds. From lack fresh water and bad food on the ship began scurvy. The commander himself fell seriously ill.

On November 4, 1741, the captives of the sea noticed land on the horizon. They thought it was Kamchatka. We landed on this land, which turned out to be a small island lost in the Pacific Ocean (now Bering Island). The hard winter has begun. During a storm, the waves tore the packet boat off the anchor and threw it ashore. A month later, on December 8, 1741, after long and painful suffering, he died.

The surviving participants in the voyage built a small ship from the wreckage of the St. Peter ship, naming it by the same name, and in August 1742 returned to Kamchatka with sad news of the death of the commander and many other associates.

The second Kamchatka expedition occupies an exceptional place in the history of geographical research. She resolved the issue of Russian state borders in the east, in October 1740 she founded the city of Petropavlovsk, explored and described the Kuril Islands, visited the northwestern coast of America, discovered the Aleutian and Commander Islands.

The geographical map speaks eloquently about the exploits of the brave Russian sailors. Over 200 islands, peninsulas, bays, straits, capes, and other geographical points bear the names of Russian people. The names associated with the name of the leader of the first Kamchatka expeditions - the Bering Sea, the Bering Strait, Bering Island, the Commander Islands, etc. - have gone down in history forever. There is a grave on Bering Island, 500 meters from Commander Bay. In the village of Nikolskoye, a penny was erected for him. In Petropavlovsk, in the square on Sovetskaya Street, overshadowed by the crowns of poplars, rises a cast-iron round column, decorated with a lotus, in which a cannonball is embedded. This is a monument with an inscription "To the founder of Petropavlovsk in 1740, to the navigator Bering". A street in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was named after him. A cape at the entrance to the Tauiskaya Bay in the Sea of Okhotsk, an island in the Gulf of Alaska, a cape on Attu Island in the Aleutian Ridge, a street in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other geographical objects in the Pacific Ocean are named after.

Being part of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, the future one for four years, from 1737 to 1741, explored the peninsula. From Bolsheretsk, where he settled, Stepan Petrovich made a number of expeditions around the region. Some of them lasted 5-7 months. He traveled around the western shore of Kamchatka from the Ozernaya River to the Oblukovina River, from the Lesnaya River to the Tigil River, and the eastern shore from the Avacha River to the Karaga River. Several times I crossed the peninsula in different directions, getting acquainted with the history and geography of this region. Everything attracted his attention: volcanoes, hot springs, minerals, forests, rivers, fish and fur wealth, sea animals and birds, the life and life of the local population. The scientist carefully kept records meteorological observations, compiled dictionaries of Koryak and Itelmen words, collected household items of residents, studied archival documents, etc.

He outlined the results of his observations in the work "Description of the Land of Kamchatka", which still belongs to the number of classic works of world geographical literature.

Creating his work, he believed that the time would come when other scientists would follow in his footsteps, when the Russian people would settle in this region, put its wealth at the service of man. The scientist was the first to express the idea of the possibilities for the development of cattle breeding and agriculture in Kamchatka, of the rich prospects for the development of fisheries.

In the 19th century, many navigators, travelers and researchers, who continued the works of Krasheninnikov, visited here. Among them are navigators, Golovnin, Kotzebue, geologists and geographers, historians, and many others.

In 1908-1909, an expedition organized by the Russian Geographical Society was engaged in the study of Kamchatka. Its participant, later President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Leontievich Komarov, compiled an excellent geographical description of the region. Komarov ended his book "Journey through Kamchatka" with the following words:

"For me, the memory of Kamchatka is forever associated with the soft, harmonious landscape of the beginning of summer, with the majestic picture of volcanic cones, with a deep interest in the phenomena associated with them, and finally, with great sympathy for the independent indigenous people of this country ... I cannot think of a better end for this book, as expressing the wish that their fate would change for the better.

Vladimir Leontievich Komarov had a chance to see how a new life began in Kamchatka.

Where it once made its way along paths, now roads have been laid, schools have been built and industrial enterprises have been created.

The deep faith of the soldier's son, Lomonosov's contemporary and friend, that "it (i.e. Kamchatka) is no less convenient for human life, like countries rich in everything," was confirmed.

Published according to the collection of articles and essays on geography "Kamchatskaya Oblast"
(Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 1966).

This wonderful land was discovered by Russian Cossacks more than 300 years ago, but even today Russians know little about it.
Back in the 15th century, the Russians suggested the existence of the Northern Sea Route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and made attempts to find this route.
The first information about the peninsula dates back to the middle of the 15th century. In September 1648, the expedition of Fedot Alekseev and Semyon Dezhnev was in the strait between Asia and America, which Bering would reopen 80 years later. The travelers landed on the shore, where they met "a lot of good Chukchi."
Later, koch Fedot Alekseev, judging by the information collected by the Bering expedition, was washed up on the shores of Kamchatka. Fedot Alekseev was the first Russian navigator who landed and wintered on this peninsula.

Kamchatka was inhabited long before the appearance of the first Russian explorers.
Many tribes and nationalities lived on its harsh shores. Koryaks, Evens, Aleuts, Itelmens and Chukchi lived in the tundra, in the mountains, on the coast.
The image of Kamchatka first appeared on the "printed drawing of Siberia" in 1667.
After 30 years, the clerk Vladimir Atlasov, at the head of a detachment of 120 people, went on a campaign - "to search for new lands" and founded Verkhnekamchatsk.
He also delivered to Moscow information about the land lying between the Kolyma River and America. The activities of Vladimir Atlasov are considered to be the beginning of the development of Kamchatka by the Russians.

Research and discoveries in the northeast of Russia continued into the early 18th century. Kamchatka was imagined in different ways at that time, these ideas were portrayed in different ways.
For example, in Semyon Remezov's "Drawing of all Siberian cities and lands" a large "island of Kamchatka" is indicated, and the Kamchatka River flows from the mainland to the east, into the ocean. And he, Remezov, later portrays Kamchatka as a peninsula, though far from our current ideas about its configuration.
More than once, researchers will consider Kamchatka either an island or a peninsula; in Goman's atlas, published in 1725, there is a map showing the Caspian Sea to the left of Kamchatka.
What knowledgeable Russian people knew about northeast Asia at the time of Bering's expedition can be judged from the map of Siberia compiled by the surveyor Zinoviev in 1727.
The northeastern tip of Asia is washed there by the sea, where two capes protrude - the Nos Shalatskaya (Shelagsky) and the Nos Anadyrskaya, to the south of which the Kamchatka Peninsula stretches.
The compilers and executors of the map clearly imagined that Asia in the northeast does not connect with any mainland, that is, the map refuted the assumption of Peter 1, "whether America did not converge with Asia."
And since Bering's discoveries in the strait that bears his name were made later, in August 1728, it is clear that they could not affect the drawing of the map by the surveyor Zinoviev.

In January 1725, by decree of Peter 1, the First Kamchatka Expedition was organized, which, in addition to Vitus Bering, gave history such names as Alexei Chirikov and Martyn Shpanberg.
The First Kamchatka Expedition made a major contribution to the development of geographical ideas about the northeast of Asia, and above all from the southern borders of Kamchatka to the northern shores of Chukotka. However, it was not possible to reliably prove that Asia and America are separated by the strait.
When on August 15, 1728, the expedition reached 67 degrees 18 minutes north latitude and no land could be seen, Bering decided that the task was completed and ordered to return back. In other words, Bering did not see either the American coast or the fact that the Asian continent is turning to the west, that is, "turning" into Kamchatka.
Upon his return, Bering submitted a note containing a plan for a new expedition to the east of Kamchatka.
Bering was a true researcher and considered it a matter of honor and a patriotic duty to complete what he had begun.

The second Kamchatka expedition was declared "the most distant and difficult and never before experienced."
Its task was to reach the northwestern shores of America, open the sea route to Japan, develop industry, crafts, and arable farming in the eastern and northern lands. At the same time, it was ordered to send "kind and knowledgeable people" to "see and describe" the northern coast of Siberia from the Ob to Kamchatka.
In the course of preparation for the Expedition, the range of its tasks expanded. Ultimately, this led to the fact that, thanks to the efforts of progressive-minded figures of that time, the Second Kamchatka Expedition turned into such a scientific and political enterprise that marked a whole era in the study of Siberia and the Far East.

In the period from 1733 to 1740, extensive research was carried out by sailors and scientists who were part of the expedition. In May 1741, the packet boats "St. Peter" and "St. Paul", which were to become the progenitors of Petropavlovsk, approached the mouth of the Avacha Bay and began to wait for a fair wind. On June 4 they put to sea. The expedition went to the southeast ....
Almost at the very beginning of the campaign, bad weather separated the ships, and each continued on his way alone.
In the history of geographical discoveries, one of the amazing cases occurred: two ships that sailed separately for a month approached the unknown shores of the fourth continent almost on the same day, thereby starting to explore the lands that later became known as Russian America (Alaska). The packet boat "St. Pavel", commanded by Alesya Chirikov, soon returned to the Peter and Paul harbor.
The fate of "St. Peter" was less successful. A severe storm, an accident, and serious illnesses hit the travelers.
Having landed on the famous island, the members of the expedition bravely fought against hunger, cold, and scurvy.
Having survived an unusually difficult winter, they built a new vessel from the wreckage of a packet boat and managed to return to Kamchatka. But without a commander.

On December 8, 1741, two hours before dawn, the head of the expedition, Vitus Bering, died. The commander was buried according to the Protestant rite near the camp. However, the exact location of Bering's grave is not known.
Subsequently, the Russian-American Company placed a wooden cross at the supposed burial site.
In 1892, officers of the schooner "Aleut" and employees on the Commander Islands installed an iron cross in the fence of the church in the village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island and surrounded it with an anchor chain.
In 1944, the sailors of Petropavlovsk placed a steel cross on a cement foundation on the site of the commander's grave.
The scientific and practical results of Bering's expedition (especially the Second) are incalculable.
Here are just the main ones. A route through the Bering Strait was found, Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and northern Japan were described.
Chirikov and Bering discovered northwestern America.
Krasheninnikov and Steller explored Kamchatka.
The same list includes Gmelin's works on the study of Siberia, materials on the history of Siberia collected by Miller.
The meteorological studies of the expedition are interesting; they served as an impetus for the creation of permanent stations not only in Russia, but throughout the globe.
Finally, the coasts of Siberia from Vaigach to Anadyr are described - an outstanding feat in the history of geographical discoveries. This is just a short list of what was done in the Kamchatka expedition.
Such a truly scientific and complex approach to the work that was carried out two and a half centuries ago cannot but arouse respect.

The second Kamchatka expedition immortalized on the geographical map of the world and in the memory of people the names of many of its participants: Commander Vitus Bering and President of the Admiralty N.F. Golovin, explorers and sailors A.I. Chirikov and M.P. Shpanberg, S.G. Malygin and S.I. Chelyuskin, Kh.P. Laptev and D.Ya. Laptev, D.L. Ovtsyn and V.V. Pronchishchev.
Among Bering's associates were prominent scientists. The names of Academicians Gmelin and Miller occupy an honorable place in the history of Russian and world science.
The most talented assistant to Miller and Gmelin was Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov.
One of the islands off the coast of Kamchatka, a cape on Karaginsky Island and a mountain near Kronotsky Lake on the peninsula bear his name.
He was the first naturalist to explore Kamchatka. For four years, Krasheninnikov wandered around this distant land, alone collecting materials on its geography, ethnography, climate, and history.
Based on them, he created a major scientific work "Description of the Land of Kamchatka", the significance of which has not been lost over time.
This book was read by Pushkin and, apparently, made a considerable impression on him.
Alexander Sergeevich compiled quite extensive "Notes while reading "Description of the Land of Kamchatka" by S.P. Krasheninnikov" - the last and unfinished literary work of the poet.

Cossacks Vladimir Atlasov, Mikhail Stadukhin, Ivan Kamchatka (perhaps the name of the peninsula came from here), navigator Vitus Bering became the pioneers of Kamchatka. Kamchatka was visited by such famous navigators as James Cook, Charles Clark, Jean-Francois La Perouse, Ivan Kruzenshtern, Vasily Golovin, Fyodor Litke.
The Russian sloop-of-war "Diana" was heading to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean to compile a hydrographic description of coastal waters and ocean lands and bring ship equipment to Petropavlovsk and Okhotsk.
At the Cape of Good Hope, he was detained by the British, and the ship was under arrest for one year and twenty-five days.
Until a daring move was made. September 23, 1809 "Diana" rounded Australia and Tasmania, came to Kamchatka.
For three years, the crew of Russian sailors under the command of Vasily Golovin was engaged in the study of Kamchatka and the North American possessions of Russia. The result was the book "Remarks on Kamchatka and Russian America in 1809, 1810 and 1811".
After that, Golovin received a new task - to describe the Kuril and Shantar Islands and the shores of the Tatar Strait.
And again his scientific flight was interrupted, this time by the Japanese.
On the Kuril island of Kunashir, a group of Russian sailors, along with their captain, were captured, and again long days of forced inactivity dragged on. However, inaction is not entirely accurate.
The inquisitive researcher spent usefully and this is not the most pleasant time for him.
Published in 1816, his notes about the adventures in Japanese captivity aroused great interest in Russia and abroad.
So, the Far East, Kamchatka.
She attracted inquisitive minds, called people who cared not so much for their own good, but for the good of the Fatherland.

Good-neighbourliness and cordiality in relations, mutual benefit in business - this is how Kamchatka was seen by a Russian person from time immemorial, and this is how he came to this land. This is how he lives on this earth.