The city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (to give it its full name, but known as Petropavlovsk, or simply PK) is the only city in Kamchatka and home to 200,000 people. It is spread along the shores of Avacha Bay wherever buildings can fit between the wooded hills, from where three of the most active volcanoes in Kamchatka can be seen.

Avacha Bay is geographically as perfect a bay as a city could hope for. It is large and deep, with a narrow opening that keeps out foul weather and ice. The harbour is open to shipping year round, and is also well protected from the dreaded tsunami waves that are created by earthquakes around the Pacific Ocean margins.