Klyuchi () is a rural locality (a settlement) in Ust-Kamchatsky District of

Kamchatka Krai Kamchatka Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), situated in the Russian Far East. It is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. Its administrative center and largest types of inhabited l ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located on the

Kamchatka River The Kamchatka () is the longest river in Kamchatka peninsula, located in Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East. It flows into the Pacific Ocean at the town Ust-Kamchatsk, on the east coast of Kamchatka. It is long, and has a drainage basin of ...

, to the north of

Klyuchevskaya Sopka Klyuchevskaya Sopka (; also known as Klyuchevskoi, ) is a stratovolcano, the highest mountain of Siberia and the highest active volcano of Eurasia. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers about from the Bering Sea. The volcano is part of the natural ...

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 settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

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 An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

testing range since the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the

Kura Missile Test Range Kura Missile Test Range (), originally known as ''Kama'', is a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile impact area located in northern Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East. It is the destination for ballistic missiles which are test fired f ...

, 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, can take as long as several hours.

Climate

Klyuchi has a typical

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

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 (, ) is a 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 202 ...

and the nearest coastal locality of

Ust-Kamchatsk Ust-Kamchatsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a settlement) and the administrative center of Ust-Kamchatsky District of Kamchatka Krai, Russia, located on the eastern shore of the Kamchatka Peninsula at the mouth ...

References

External links

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