Klyuchi (russian: Ключи́) is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

(a settlement) in Ust-Kamchatsky District of Kamchatka Krai,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, located on the Kamchatka River, to the north of

Klyuchevskaya Sopka Klyuchevskaya Sopka (russian: Ключевская сопка; also known as Klyuchevskoi, russian: Ключевской) is a stratovolcano, the highest mountain of Siberia and the highest active volcano of Eurasia. Its steep, symmetrical cone t ...

volcano. It had a population of a marked decrease from that of the population at its peak numbered

Geography

The settlement is located near the point where the course of the Kamchatka River turns from north to east.

History

It was founded in 1731. In 1951, it was granted

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...

status and in 1979—town status. In 2004, it was demoted to a rural locality in order to become eligible for increased funding from the Russian federal budget.

Military

Klyuchi, being in a very isolated part of the former Soviet Union, has been near an intercontinental ballistic missile testing range since the Cold War, the Kura Missile Test Range, and is served by Klyuchi air base just southwest of the town. Klyuchi's original airfield consisted of a dirt airstrip and was located east-southeast of the town. It was abandoned in the 1960s''DETAILED REPORT OF KLYUCHI COMPLEX, USSR'', September 26, 1963 (Top Secret, declassified June 8, 2000), Central Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C., 1963. and is being reclaimed by forest.

Transportation

There is a road connecting Klyuchi to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. Driving, according to Google Maps, it takes several hours.

Climate

Klyuchi has a typical subarctic climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Dfc), albeit with slight early dry-summer precipitation patterns. Summers are generally mild and rainy with cool nights, while winters are long, cold, and very snowy. Due to Klyuchi being located in the interior, the maritime influence is less than for

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ( rus, Петропавловск-Камчатский, a=Петропавловск-Камчатский.ogg, p=pʲɪtrɐˈpavləfsk kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj) is a city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultu ...

References

External links

Unofficial website of Klyuchi
{{Authority control Rural localities in Kamchatka Krai Populated places established in 1731 Road-inaccessible communities of Russia