Avacha Bay (Russian: Авачинская губа, Авачинская бухта) is a Pacific Ocean bay on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is 24 km (15 mi) long and 3 km (2 mi) wide (at the mouth), with a maximum depth of 26 m (85 ft).
The Avacha River flows into the bay. The port city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the closed town of Vilyuchinsk lie on the coast of the bay. It is the main transport gateway to the Kamchatka region. The bay freezes in the winter.
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Russian: Петропавловск-Камчатский, IPA: [pʲɪtrɐˈpavləfsk kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj] ) is a port city and the administrative center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is located in the Far East of the country and lies along the coast of Avacha Bay by the Pacific Ocean, nearby Khalaktyrskoye Lake. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 164,900.
The city is widely known simply as Petropavlovsk (literally "city of Peter and Paul"). The adjective Kamchatsky ("Kamchatkan") was added to the official name in 1924.
Kamchatka Oblast (Russian: Камча́тская о́бласть, romanized: Kamchatskaya oblast) was, until being incorporated into Kamchatka Krai on July 1, 2007, a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). To the north, it bordered Magadan Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Koryak Okrug was located in the northern part of the oblast. Including the autonomous okrug, the total area of the oblast was 472,300 square kilometres (182,400 sq mi), encompassing the southern half of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The administrative center of Kamchatka Oblast was the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Population: 358,801 (2002 census); 466,096 (1989 Soviet census).
Kamchatka's natural resources include coal, gold, mica, pyrites, and natural gas. Most of the inhabitants live in the administrative center, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The main employment sectors are fishing, forestry, tourism (a growing industry), and the Russian military. There is still a large military presence on the peninsula; the home base of Russia's Pacific submarine fleet is across Avacha Bay from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at the Rybachy base. There are also several air force bases and radar sites in Kamchatka.
Avacha (Russian: Ава́ча) is a river in the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. It flows southeast into Avacha Bay, near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The river is 122 kilometres (76 mi) long with a watershed of 5,090 square kilometres (1,970 sq mi). Nineteenth-century travelers like George Kennan ascended the Avacha as far as possible and then took horses to the upper course of the river Kamchatka to travel further north.
The town of Yelizovo, which houses the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport, is on the banks of the Avacha.
The Pacific Fleet (Russian: Тихоокеанский флот, ТОФ, romanized: Tikhookeansky flot, TOF) is the Russian Navy fleet in the Pacific Ocean. Established in 1731 as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the fleet was known as the Okhotsk Military Flotilla (1731–1856) and Siberian Military Flotilla (1856–1918), formed to defend Russian interests in the Russian Far East region along the Pacific coast. In 1918 the fleet was inherited by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, then the Soviet Union in 1922 as part of the Soviet Navy, being reformed several times before being disbanded in 1926. In 1932 it was re-established as the Pacific Fleet, and was known as the Red Banner Pacific Fleet (Краснознамённый Тихоокеанский флот, Krasnoznamyonnyy Tikhookeansky flot) after World War II as it had earned the Order of the Red Banner. In the Soviet years, the fleet was also responsible for the Soviet Navy's operations in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Red Banner Pacific Fleet was inherited by the Russian Federation as part of the Russian Navy and its current name was adopted.
The Pacific Fleet's headquarters is located in Vladivostok with numerous facilities within the Peter the Great Gulf in Primorsky Krai, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Vilyuchinsk in Avacha Bay on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Kamchatka Krai. Following the APEC Russia 2012 summit, it was announced that the main naval base of the Pacific Fleet in the Russian Far East will be moved to Fokino. The current commander is Admiral Viktor Liina, who has held the position since April 2023.