Koryaks, a people of Russia, live in the Koryak area of the Kamchatka territory. The area was formed on July 1, 2007, when the Kamchatka region was merged with the Koryak autonomous area. The area spans the north of the peninsula, the Kamchatka Isthmus, and adjacent mainland areas.
The Koryak area has four districts: Karaga, Olyutorsky, Penzhina, and Tigil. Their population is predominantly rural. The districts are divided into 27 villages and one urban-type settlement, Palana, the area’s administrative center.
Koryaks’ traditional spiritual culture is based on ancient beliefs that perceive all natural things and phenomena as alive. In Koryaks’ ancient beliefs, the universe consists of five interrelated and vertically arrayed worlds. The Earth populated by people is the middle world. There are two worlds above it where the clouds float and the Supreme deity lives. There are two more worlds beneath the Earth where the dead and the evil spirits dwell separately. All the worlds are interpenetrable and interconnected. Life and death are merely two separate stages of existence. People live in much the same way in the world of the living and the world of the dead. In the world of the dead, as on earth, Koryaks is a separate community.