Palana Capital of the Koryak Autonomous Region

This is Palana from a hill to the northwest, looking easterly. I took this picture in mid August, 1997. The sovkhoz is visible in the background, slightly to the right. This is where most of the native population lives, in the worst housing. Many families still do not have plumbing, or they have hot water only out of the radiator. Palana is the capital and one of the three largest towns in the okrug. The population is about 4,000 people. Although Palana still has a functioning sovkhoz, most employment is in bureaucracy or other service organizations. Production consists mostly of government and culture. Palana has the distinction of having the highest prices for apartments on the Kamchatka Peninsula. While nice, three-room apartments in Petropavlovsk can be found for US$25,000, this will buy you only a one or two-room apartment in Palana. The only customer is the administration or large companies like banks or fishing enterprises.

I took this picture from the window of my apartment one evening in November 1995. I lived in the "doctors'" building next to the hospital on the northwest corner of town. The doctors' building was Palana's newest apartment building, built so the hospital staff could live right next to the hospital. Unfortunately, the hospital was built on a swamp, and the apartment building was built on a natural spring.