Kurile Lake is a large caldera containing a crater lake located at the southern tip of Kamchatka Peninsula, within the Southern Kamchatka Wildlife Refuge in Russia. It has an area of 77 square kilometres, and a maximum depth of 306 m. The lake is fed by snowmelt, rain and a few rivers and streams: the Etimynk, Hakytsin, Vychenkiya and Kirushutk. From the lake flows the Ozernaya River into the Sea of Okhotsk to the west. The lake is the largest spawning ground for sockeye salmon in Eurasia, and second in the world only to Alaska. Measurements of the numbers of salmon entering the lake and the spawning of juvenile fish are conducted by observation stations, which is located on the western shore of the lake. On the shores of the lake brown bear are often sighted. Kurile Lake is a national wildlife preserve and a national monument. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the listings of composition of the volcanoes of Kamchatka.

Freshwater Ecoregion of the World : #613 Kamchatka & Northern Kurils
Major Habitat Type: temperate coastal rivers