RUSSIA - Kamchatka Krai / Камчатский край

Kamchatka Krai (Russian: Камча́тский край, tr. Kamchatsky kray) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Far East region of the country, and it is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. Kamchatka Krai has a population of 322,079 (2010). Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the largest city and capital of Kamchatka Krai, and home to over half of the krai's population. Kamchatka Krai was formed on July 1, 2007, as a result of the merger of Kamchatka Oblast and Koryak Autonomous Okrug, based on the voting in a referendum on the issue on October 23, 2005. The okrug retains the status of a special administrative division of the krai, under the name of Koryak Okrug.

The Kamchatka Peninsula forms the majority of the krai's territory, separating the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea in the Pacific Ocean. The remainder is formed by a minor northern mainland portion, Karaginsky Island and the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea. It is bordered by Magadan Oblast to the west and Chukotka to the north. Kamchatka Krai is an active volcanic zone which is home to Kluchevskaya, the largest volcano in Eurasia, and the Decade Volcanoes of Avachinsky and Koryaksky.

Most of the peninsula is covered with forests of stone birch, in the upper parts of the mountain slopes are common alder and cedar elfin. In the central part, especially in the valley of the Kamchatka River, widespread forests of larch and spruce Kuril Ajan. In floodplains, forests grow with fragrant poplar, alder, hairy, Chosenia, willow Sakhalin. In the second tier, and the undergrowth common hawthorn zelenomyakotny, Asian cherry, rowan Kamchatka, shrubs – Kamchatka elderberries, rosehips tupoushkovy, rowan buzinolistnaya, honeysuckle Kamchatka, meadowsweet, willow shrubs, and many other species. Kamchatka, especially coastal areas, characterized by tall – species such as shelamaynik Kamchatka, angelica bearish, sweet parsnip reach a height of 3–4 meters.

Kronotsky Nature Reserve is a nature area reserved for the study of natural sciences in the remote Russian Far East, on the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was created in 1934 and its current boundary contains an area of 10,990 square kilometers (4,240 sq mi). It also has Russia's only geyser basin, plus several mountain ranges with numerous volcanoes, both active and extinct. Due to its often harsh climate and its mix of volcanoes and geysers, it is frequently described as the "Land of Fire and Ice". It is mainly accessible only to scientists, plus approximately 3,000 tourists annually who pay a fee equivalent to US$700 to travel by helicopter for a single day's visit. Kronotsky Nature Reserve has been proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

These two covers sent by Lopina from Kamchatka Krai. The covers posted on July 01, 2016 and I received them on August 04, 2016. You can see a stamp on the second cover written as ' Kamchatka Oblast' on the second left side of the cover. Previously Kamchatka was an Oblast, now it is merged with Koryak Oblast and created Kamchatka Krai.