Okhotsk (redirected from Okhotsk, Russia)

Okhotsk

Sea of. part of the NW Pacific, surrounded by the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kurile Islands, Sakhalin Island, and the E coast of Siberia. Area: 1 589 840 sq. km (613 838 sq. miles)

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Okhotsk 

an urban-type settlement and the administrative center of Okhotsk Raion, Khabarovsk Krai, RSFSR. A fishing port on the Sea of Okhotsk, the settlement has a fish-processing combine and a ship-repair yard.

Okhotsk is one of the oldest Russian settlements in the Far East. In 1647 cossacks established a winter camp here, and two years later the Kosoi stockade was built on the site. The city and port were founded in 1731 at the mouth of the Okhota and Kukhtuia rivers, and in 1783, Okhotsk became the capital of the Irkutsk Namestnichestvo (vicegerency). In 1812 the city was moved to the opposite bank, and in 1822 a special government for the maritime region was established in the city. After the maritime government was abolished, the city became the capital of the Yakut Oblast in 1849 and of the Primor’e Oblast in 1858. Until the mid-19th century it was the main Russian port on the Pacific and the starting point for expeditions to Kamchatka, Chukchi, and Alaska.