Fokino (russian: Фо́кино) is a closed

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...

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 coast of the

Peter the Great Gulf The Peter the Great Gulf (Russian: Залив Петра Великого) is a gulf on the southern coast of Primorsky Krai, Russia, and the largest gulf of the Sea of Japan. The gulf extends for from the Russian-North Korean border at the mout ...

, on the Abrek Bay, about south of

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...

, the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the

krai A krai or kray (; russian: край, , ''kraya'') is one of the types of federal subjects of modern Russia, and was a type of geographical administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. Etymologically, the word is relat ...

. Population: It was previously known as ''Tikhookeansky'' (until 1980), ''Shkotovo-17'' (until 1994).

History

The village of Promyslovka was founded on the current site of Fokino in 1891. Promyslovka 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 in 1958, and the nearby naval village of Tikhookeansky followed suit in 1963. The settlements grew together, were merged, and were granted town status on October 4, 1980. However, due to its status as a base for the

Russian Pacific Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Pacific Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Russian Pacific Fleet Great emblem , dates = 1731–present , country ...

, the town was closed, and referred to officially under the code name Shkotovo-17. Since 1994, Fokino has been the official name of the town. After the APEC-2012 Summit was held in

, Fokino will become the main naval base at the Russian Far East, where the Russian Pacific Fleet will be attached.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with two

s ( Dunay and Putyatin), incorporated as Fokino Town Under Krai Jurisdiction—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.Law #161-KZ As a municipal division, Fokino Town Under Krai Jurisdiction is incorporated as Fokino Urban Okrug.Decision #384

Tourism

It is a closed town because the

Russian Pacific Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Pacific Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Russian Pacific Fleet Great emblem , dates = 1731–present , country ...

is based there. Foreigners must have a special permit to visit the town. However, the Islands of Putyatin and

Askold Askold and Dir (''Haskuldr'' or ''Hǫskuldr'' and ''Dyr'' or ''Djur'' in Old Norse; died in 882), mentioned in both the Primary Chronicle and the Nikon Chronicle, were the earliest known ''purportedly Norse'' rulers of Kiev. Primary Chronicle ...

, which are a part of the territory administered by the town, are open for visits by tourists. Up to two thousand tourists visit Putyatin every year. They are attracted by the unique flora and fauna in the waters surrounding this island and its underwater landscape. Approximately 2,400 people inhabit Putyatin Island. Their main occupation is catching and processing sea products, breeding mink and

spotted deer The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Po ...

. There is no permanent population on Askold. It is rarely visited by tourists because of the absence of regular transport connections with the mainland, and the status of the island which until 1995 had formed part of the Reserve where no economic activity was allowed. There are deposits of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

estimated at dozens of

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s on Askold.

Climate

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

*
Official website of Fokino

Fokino Business Directory
{{Use mdy dates, date=March 2011 Cities and towns in Primorsky Krai Closed cities Russian and Soviet Navy bases