Amur Oblast
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Amur Oblast (russian: Аму́рская о́бласть, Amurskaya oblast, ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and
Zeya Zeya may refer to: People *Aung Zeya, full name of Alaungpaya, king of Burma in 1752–1760 * Zeya (Burmese actor) (1916–1996), Burmese actor and director *Zeya Thaw (born 1981), alternative spelling of the name of Zayar Thaw, Burmese politici ...
rivers in the Russian Far East. The administrative center of the oblast, the
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of Blagoveshchensk, is one of the oldest settlements in the far east of the country, founded in 1856. It is a traditional center of trade and gold mining. The territory is accessed by two railways: the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal–Amur Mainline. As of the 2021 Census, the oblast's population was 766,912.


Names

''Amur Krai'' () or ''Priamurye'' () were unofficial names for the Russian territories by the
Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
used in the late Russian Empire that approximately correspond to modern Amur Oblast.


Geography

Amur Oblast is located in the southeast of Russia, between Stanovoy Range in the north and the
Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
in the south, and borders with the
Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...
in the north,
Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...
and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, Heilongjiang of China in the south, and with Zabaykalsky Krai in the west. The Stanovoy Range forms the dividing line between the Sakha Republic and Amur Oblast and spreads across the oblast's entire northern border. The Amur–Zeya and Zeya–Bureya Plains cover about 40% of the oblast's territory, but the rest is hilly. Several mountain ranges rise to the south of Stanovoy Range, including the Selemdzha Range parallel to it, as well as the Ezop, Yam-Alin and the Turan ranges stretching along the oblast's southeastern border with Khabarovsk Krai.
Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
Many rivers flow through the oblast, especially in the north, accounting for 75% of the hydropower resources in the Russian Far East. Most of the oblast is in the Amur's drainage basin, although the rivers in the northwest drain into the Lena and the rivers in the northeast drain into the Uda. The longest rivers include the Amur, Bureya, Gilyuy,
Nyukzha The Nyukzha (russian: Нюкжа) is a river in Amur Oblast and Transbaikalia, East Siberia, Russian Federation. It is the second largest tributary of the Olyokma river in terms of length and area of its basin. The Nyukzha is long and has a drai ...
, Olyokma, Selemdzha, and
Zeya Zeya may refer to: People *Aung Zeya, full name of Alaungpaya, king of Burma in 1752–1760 * Zeya (Burmese actor) (1916–1996), Burmese actor and director *Zeya Thaw (born 1981), alternative spelling of the name of Zayar Thaw, Burmese politici ...
. The Zeya begins in the mountains in the northeast, and its middle reaches are dammed to create the huge
Zeya Reservoir Zeya may refer to: People *Aung Zeya, full name of Alaungpaya, king of Burma in 1752–1760 * Zeya (Burmese actor) (1916–1996), Burmese actor and director *Zeya Thaw (born 1981), alternative spelling of the name of Zayar Thaw, Burmese politici ...
, which sprawls over . Climate is temperate continental, with cold, dry winters and hot, rainy summers. Average January temperatures vary from in the south to in the north. Average July temperatures are in the south and in the north. Annual precipitation is about . Dwarf Siberian pine and
alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...
grow at higher elevations and larch forests with small stands of flat-leaved birch and pine forests grow alongside the river plains. These larch and
fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...
-
spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
forests form the watershed of the Selemdzha River. The Bureya and Arkhara Rivers, southeast of the Selemdza, have the richest remaining forests in the oblast with Korean pine, Schisandra chinensis,
Mongolian Oak ''Quercus mongolica'', commonly known as Mongolian oak, is a species of oak native to Japan, China, Korea, Mongolia, and Siberia. The species can grow to be tall. The flavono-ellagitannin The Flavono-ellagitannins or complex tannins are a cla ...
, and other Manchurian flora. The Zeya–Bureya Plain, located between the Zeya, Amur, and Bureya Rivers, has the highest biodiversity in Amur Oblast. Much of this plain has been burned for agriculture, but large patches still remain. Japanese Daurian and Far Eastern western cranes nest here, as well as a host of other rare birds.


Natural resources

Amur Oblast has considerable reserves of many types of mineral resources; proven reserves are estimated to be worth US$400 billion. Among the most important are gold (the largest reserves in Russia), silver, titanium,
molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...
, tungsten, copper, and tin. There are also an estimated 70 billion tons of Black coal and
lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
reserves. Probable iron deposits are estimated to be 3.8 billion tons. The Garin deposit is fully explored and known to contain 389 million tons of iron ore. Estimated reserves of the deposit are 1,293 million tons. The deposit's ore contains a low concentration of detrimental impurities; the ore contains 69.9% iron. Amur Oblast is also a promising source of titanium, with the Bolshoy Seyim deposit being the most important.


History


Early history

According to the ''Bei Shi'' (Dynastic History of Northern Dynasties) and the ''Sui Shu'' (Chronicles of the Sui Dynasty), both Chinese records, this area belonged originally to the territory one of the five semi- nomadic
Shiwei Shiwei may refer to: *Shiwei people, a historic Mongolic people *Shiwei, Inner Mongolia, a township in Ergun City, Inner Mongolia Given names *Che Shiwei (born 1996), Chinese footballer *Chen Shiwei, Chinese track and field athlete *Pan Shiwei (bo ...
, the Bo Shiwei tribes (). Their settlements were located on the north of the Yilehuli Mountains in the upper reaches of the
Nen River The Nen River or Nenjiang (), or Nonni () is a river in Northeast China. The Nen River flows through the northern part of Heilongjiang Province and the northeastern section of Inner Mongolia, some parts of the river forming the border between the ...
, south of the Stanovoy Range, west of the Bureya and the Malyi Khingan ranges and reaching the Okhotsk Sea on the northeast. They brought tributary presents to the
Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
court and disappeared at the dawn of the tenth century with the foundation of the Liao empire. Later, in the 13th century, the middle- Amur and the Zeya River basin area became the homeland of the
Daurs The Daur people (Khalkha Mongolian: Дагуур, ''Daguur''; ) are a Mongolic people in Northeast China. The Daur form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised in the People's Republic of China. They numbered 131,992 according to the la ...
and (further south) the
Ducher The Duchers (russian: дючеры or дучеры) was the Russian name of the people populating the shores of the middle course of the Amur River, approximately from the mouth of the Zeya down to the mouth of the Ussuri, and possibly even some ...
s. The ancestors of the Daurs are thought to be closely related to the Khitans and the Mongols, while the Duchers may have been a branch of the Jurchen people, later known as the Manchus. The area was conquered by the Manchus in 1639–1640, after defeating the Evenk Federation led by Bombogor. It was returned to the Qing dynasty in the Treaty of Nerchinsk with the Tsardom of Russia.


Russian Empire

The region was
annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
by Russia in 1858 in the Treaty of Aigun between Russia and the Qing dynasty. Amur Oblast was established with its center in Blagoveshchensk. The region received its first influx of Russian settlers in the mid-seventeenth century. They were looking for a more temperate climate as an escape from the north. After the
Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
, when the Chinese Empire was exposed to the outside world, Russian explorers once again moved to the region (mostly Cossacks and peasant farmers). The last influx of people arrived upon the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.


Modern history

In April 1920, the
Far Eastern Republic The Far Eastern Republic ( rus, Дальневосто́чная Респу́блика, ДВР, r=Dalnevostochnaya Respublika, DVR, p=dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstotɕnəjə rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə), sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally indep ...
, with its capital in Chita, was formed from Amur, Transbaikal, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and Primorye regions as a democratic "buffer" state in order to avoid war with Japan. It existed until November 1922, when it joined the Russian SFSR. In January 1926, the territory of Amur Oblast was split between the East Siberian Krai and the Far Eastern Krai. The
East Siberian Oblast The East Siberian Oblast was an early oblast of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which existed from December 5, 1936 to September 26, 1937. It was created when the East Siberian Krai was divided into the East Siberian Oblast and th ...
was divided into Irkutsk Oblast and Chita Oblast in 1937 and the part of Amur within it became part of Chita Oblast. The Far Eastern Krai was divided into
Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...
and Primorye Krai in 1938. The territory of Amur Oblast that was in Far Eastern Krai was included in
Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...
. In 1948, Amur Oblast was finally separated from Khabarovsk Krai and Chita Oblast to become an independent region of the RSFSR. Rapid economic growth based on gold production began at that time, and living standards improved with the arrival of young specialists. As the Far Eastern District expanded, the demand for services such as electric power and housing also increased, which stimulated a new round of construction projects. New cities were built, along with the
Zeya Hydroelectric Power Plant Zeya may refer to: People *Aung Zeya, full name of Alaungpaya, king of Burma in 1752–1760 *Zeya (Burmese actor) (1916–1996), Burmese actor and director *Zeya Thaw (born 1981), alternative spelling of the name of Zayar Thaw, Burmese politicia ...
(Zeiskaya GES), which still supplies electricity to most of the Far Eastern District. On 21 May 1998 Amur alongside
Ivanovo Ivanovo ( rus, Иваново, p=ɪˈvanəvə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia. It is the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vlad ...
, Kostroma, Voronezh Oblast, and the
Mari El Republic The Mari El Republic (russian: Респу́блика Мари́й Эл, ''Respublika Mariy El''; Meadow Mari: ; Hill Mari: ) is a republic of Russia. It is in the European Russia region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga Rive ...
signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. This agreement would be abolished on 18 March 2002.


Administrative divisions

The largest urban localities of the oblast are Blagoveshchensk,
Belogorsk Belogorsk or Bilohirsk (russian: Белогорск; uk, Білогірськ) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia and Ukraine. ;Urban localities *Belogorsk, Amur Oblast, a town in Amur Oblast; administratively incorporated as a ...
, Svobodny, Tynda, and
Raychikhinsk Raychikhinsk (russian: Райчи́хинск) is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located in the Zeya– Bureya basin, about from the Amur River and the border with China, and about east of Blagoveshchensk, the administrative center of the obla ...
.


Politics

The
Governor of Amur Oblast The Governor of Amur Oblast (russian: Губернатор Амурской области) is the head of the executive branch of the government of Amur Oblast, a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an Oblasts of Russia, oblast) of Russi ...
since 2018 is
Vasily Orlov Vasily Aleksandrovich Orlov (Russian: Василий Александрович Орлов; born on 14 April 1975), is a Russian state political figure. He is currently the governor of the Amur Oblast since May 30, 2018. Biography Vasily Orlo ...
. On 19 September 2021, elections to the
Legislative Assembly of Amur Oblast The Legislative Assembly of Amur Oblast (russian: Законодательное собрание Амурской области), previously the Council of People's Deputies of Amur Oblast until 2008, is the regional parliament of Amur Oblas ...
were held. One self-nominee and seven parties entered the regional parliament: United Russia - 18 seats; the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation , anthem = , seats1_title = Seats in the State Duma , seats1 = , seats2_title = Seats in the Federation Council , seats2 = , seats3_title = Governors , seats3 = , seats4_title ...
- 3 seats; the
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia ) , abbreviation = LDPR (English)ЛДПР (Russian) , native_name = , newspaper = ''For the Russian People'' , youth_wing = , seats1_title = Seats in the Federation Council , seats1 = , seats2_title ...
,
A Just Russia – For Truth A Just Russia – For Truth (official abbreviation of the full name Socialist Political Party "A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth" (SRZP;) russian: Справедливая Россия – За правду; СРЗП, Spravedlivaya Rossiya ...
, the Party of Pensioners, New People, and
Communists of Russia The Communist Party "Communists of Russia" (CPCR; russian: Коммунистическая партия «Коммунисты России»; КПКР; ''Kommunisticheskaya partiya «Kommunisty Rossii»'', ''KPKR'') or simply Communists of Russi ...
- one each place. The Chairman of the Legislative Assembly is Konstantin Dyakonov.


Governors

* 1991 - Albert Krivchenko * 1993 - Alexander Surat * 1993 - Vladimir Polevanov * 1994 - Vladimir Diachenko * 1996 - Yuriy Lyashko * 1997 - Anatoly Belonogov * 2001 - Leonid Korotkov * 2007 - Nikolay Kolesov * 2008 - Oleg Kozhemyako * 2015 - Alexander Kozlov * 2018 - Vasily Orlov


Demographics

Population:


Ethnic groups


Settlements

Vital statistics for 2022: *Births: 6,967 (9.0 per 1,000) *Deaths: 11,346 (14.7 per 1,000) Total fertility rate (2022):
1.46 children per woman Life expectancy (2021):
Total — 66.30 years (male — 61.75, female — 71.11)


Religion

According to a 2012 survey 25.1% of the population of Amur Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 5% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% is an Orthodox believer without belonging to any church or adheres to other (non-Russian)
Orthodox church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (dis ...
es, and 1% is an adherent of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. In addition, 41% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious", 24% is
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 2.9% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.


Economy

Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast Gross regional product per capita in 2007 was 131,039.60 rubles, while the national average was 198,817 rubles.Валовой региональный продукт на душу населения
Федеральная служба государственной статистики


Industry

The industrial section contributes 18.3% to the total GRP. The most important industrial sector in 2007 was manufacturing, constituting 25.7% of the industrial output. The sector is dominated by food products and beverages, which constitute 13% of industrial output. Machine building includes shipbuilding machinery, lifting and transport vehicles, mining equipment, agricultural machinery, metal assemblies and goods, electrical appliances and electrical machines and tools. The largest engineering companies in the oblast include
OAO Svobodny Railroad Car Repair Plant The Svobodny Railroad Car Repair Plant or Svobodnensky car-repair plant (russian: Свободненский вагоноремонтный завод) is an enterprise for the repair of railroad cars. It is located in Svobodny, Amur region, Russi ...
,
OAO Blagoveshchensk October Revolution Ship Building Plant OAO, a three-letter acronym, may stand for: *Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, the name of four NASA scientific satellites * Open joint-stock company (russian: Открытое Aкционерное Oбщество), business incorporation in Russi ...
and
OAO Bureya-Kran OAO, a three-letter acronym, may stand for: *Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, the name of four NASA scientific satellites * Open joint-stock company (russian: Открытое Aкционерное Oбщество), business incorporation in Russi ...
. Mining and quarrying amounted to 19.9% of industrial output in 2007. Amur Oblast ranks sixth in Russia for gold mining, and has the largest gold reserves in the country. The largest gold mine in the region is Pioneer, part of Petropavlovsk PLC who also own the Albyn, Malomir and Pokrovskiy mines in the region. There is a large site of uranium mining and processing facilities in Oktyabrsky, near the Russia–China border.Shandala N, Filonova A, Titov A, Isaev D, Seregin V, Semenova V, and Metlyaev EG (2009)
Radiation situation nearby the uranium mining facility
54th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, July 12–16, 2009, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
There are plans to develop other mineral deposits as well, such as titanium, iron, copper, nickel, apatite, etc. Total coal production amounts to 3,398 tons. As of 2007, four coal deposits are being operated by the company
OOO Amur Coal OOO or Ooo may refer to: Frequently used abbreviations * OoO, an List of business and finance abbreviations#O, abbreviation for Out of Office, a phrase often used in professional contexts to indicate that someone is unavailable for work (usual ...
, and two more have been explored. In total, the oblast is estimated to have over 90 deposits of lignite and black coal, with overall reserves of 70 billion tons. In addition, fuel extraction amounted to 2.9% of industrial output.


Energy

Amur Oblast enjoys an energy surplus: its energy consumption in 2007 was 6.9 TWh, while production was 9.3 TWh. Electricity output in 2007 was 9.9 TWh. The most important electricity producer is the
Zeyskaya Hydroelectric Power Station The Zeya Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Zeya River by the town of Zeya, Amur Oblast, Russia, north of the Chinese border. On average the Zeya Hydroelectric Power Station generates 4.91 TWh of electricity per year. It is equipped with ...
with an installed capacity of 1,330 MW and a yearly output of 4.91 TWh. The station is owned by
RusHydro RusHydro (previous name: Hydro-OGK, russian: РусГидро) is a Russian hydroelectricity company. As of early 2012 it had a capacity of 34.9 gigawatts. In late 2009, it was the world's second-largest hydroelectric power producer and is ...
. The company also owns the 2,010 MW
Bureyskaya Hydroelectric Power Station The Bureya Dam (locally referred to as Bureyskaya, russian: Бурейская ГЭС) is a hydroelectric dam on the Bureya River in the Russian Far East. History Bureya hydroelectric power station was built by Bureyagesstroy. Construction star ...
, opened in 2009. Its annual output is 7.1 TWh. The planned Erkovetskaya TPP project will be the largest thermal power plant in the world.


Agriculture

The Amur Region is the primary producer of soybean in Russia. By 1940, 65 thousand hectares of land in Amur had been cultivated with soybeans, and by 1972 soybean made up 592 thousand hectares of land in Amur, compared to 650 thousand hectares of soybean crops in the whole of the USSR. During the Soviet period, this made up a significant proportion of the economy of Far Eastern Russia. By 2019, the Amur Region's share of Russian soybean production had declined to 28 percent due to increased cultivation of soybean in other regions, though it still remains Russia's largest soybean producer. The region in 2019 produced approximately 1 million tonnes of soybean, many of which are exported to neighboring China. While in the past the harvested soybean was shipped west, in recent years due to increased Chinese demands multiple soybean oil plants have opened in the region. In 2019, Chinese companies owned or leased some 100 thousand hectares out of the 1.3 million hectares of farmland.


Foreign trade

The oblast's main foreign exports are raw timber (1,172,900 cubic meters going to China, North Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine), metal goods (68,300 tons to China and Kazakhstan), and machinery, equipment and transport (12,300 tons to China, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.) Main foreign imports are food and beverages from China, Kazakshtan, Uzbekistan and Philippines; textiles and footwear from China; and machinery and equipment from Ukraine and Japan.


Vostochny cosmodrome

In July 2010, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the area would be the site of a new Vostochny Cosmodrome ("Eastern Spaceport"), to reduce Russian dependence on the
Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...
in Kazakhstan. The first rocket launch from the site took place on 28 April 2016.


Sister province

* Chungnam, South Korea


References


Notes


Sources

* * *
Information concerning the Shiwei tribes and their relationship with the Khitans



External links

* {{Use mdy dates, date=April 2018 Inner Asia Manchuria Russian Far East States and territories established in 1932 1932 establishments in the Soviet Union Nuclear technology in Russia Uranium mining Far Eastern Federal District