The Amur region is part of the Far Eastern part of Russia. It borders with the Trans-Baikal Territory in the west, Yakutia in the north, Khabarovsk Territory in the east and the Jewish Autonomous Region in the southeast. It has a federal border with China in the south.
Blagoveshchensk
Belogorsk
Khingansky Nature
Reserve
Skovorodino
Tynda
Zeya Nature
Reserve
By plane
Ignatyevo International Airport (IATA:BQS) is located in
Blagoveshchensk.
By train
The Trans-Siberian Railway runs
through the Amur Region. The main stations of the region: Arkhara,
Bureya, Zavitaya, Ekaterinoslavka, Belogorsk, Svobodny, Shimanovskaya,
Tygda, Magdagachi, Skovorodino, Urusha, Erofey Pavlovich. There is a
railway line to Blagoveshchensk, which branches off in Belogorsk.
In addition, the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) passes through the
region. The main stations on BAM: Olekma, Tynda, Fevralsk.
The Amur Region was established on December 8 (20), 1858 within the
boundaries: in the south and southwest - along the Amur; in the west -
from the confluence of Shilka and Arguni; in the northeast along the
watershed of the Amur and Lena basins to the Stanovoy Range along it,
Dzhugdyr, Dzhagdy and Yam-Alin to the upper reaches of the Bureya, from
them in a straight line to the Amur at the confluence of the Ussuri. The
territory of the region within these boundaries was 449,535 km².
In 1858-1884, the region was part of the East Siberian General
Government, then, from 1884 to 1917, it was part of the Amur General
Government. On July 5, 1878, the coat of arms of the Amur region was
approved. In 1904, part of the region, in the Urmi basin and the upper
reaches of the Amguni, became part of the Primorsky region.
During the civil war in 1918, the Amur Labor Socialist Republic existed
on the territory of the region; from April 6, 1920 to November 16, 1922,
it was part of the Far Eastern Republic, and after its liquidation, it
was part of the Far Eastern Region. The Amur region, within its previous
borders, became the Amur province. Four districts were formed within it:
Blagoveshchensky, Svobodnensky, Zavitinsky and Zeysky.
In 1926,
the Far Eastern region was transformed into the Far Eastern Territory,
and two administrative districts were formed on the territory of the
province: Amursky (with its constituent districts: Aleksandrovsky,
Amuro-Zeysky, Ekaterino-Nikolsky, Zavitinsky, Ivanovsky, Mazanovsky,
Mikhailovsky, Svobodnensky, Selemdzhino- Bureinsky, Tambovsky,
Khingan-Arkharinsky) with a center in Blagoveshchensk and Zeysky
(Zeysky, Mogochinsky, Rukhlovsky, Tygdinsky districts) with a center in
the village of Rukhlovo, the Nekrasovsky and Mikhailo-Semyonovsky
districts in the east of the province became part of the Khabarovsk
Okrug. In 1930, the district division was abolished, the districts came
under direct subordination to the regional executive committee in
Khabarovsk, in 1932 the regional division was restored - the Amur region
included the districts of the Amur and Zeya districts, but without the
abolished Amur-Zeysky (in 1931) and Ekaterino-Nikolsky (in 1930)
districts. In 1934, within the boundaries of the former Zeya
administrative district (and with the same zoning), the Zeya region was
created, abolished in 1937, its districts became part of the Chita
region.
In 1932-1938, the region was part of the Far Eastern
Territory, divided into Primorsky and Khabarovsk. The Amur region was
part of the latter until 1948.
On August 2, 1948, the region was
separated from the Khabarovsk Territory into an independent region of
the RSFSR; it included the districts of the Chita region (Zeysky,
Skovorodinsky, Tygdinsky, Dzheltulaksky, Nyukzhinsky, Zeysko-Uchursky).
At the same time, the Verkhnebureinsky district was transferred to the
Khabarovsk Territory, so in 1948 there were 23 districts in the region.
In 1953, the Nyukzhinsky district was abolished, in 1954 - the
Zeysko-Uchursky district, in 1955 - the Kumarsky district.
In
1963, rural (Belogorsky, Bureya, Ivanovsky, Mikhailovsky, Oktyabrsky,
Seryshevsky and Tambovsky, and since 1964 Arkharinsky and Mazanovsky)
and industrial districts (Dzheltulaksky, Zeysky and Selemdzhinsky) were
created. The Blagoveshchensky district became part of the Ivanovo
district, and the Konstantinovsky district became part of the Tambov
district. In 1965, all industrial and rural areas were transformed back
into administrative ones, and in 1967 the Blagoveshchensky and
Konstantinovsky districts were re-established.
In 1975, Zeya and
Shimanovsk were classified as cities of regional subordination, and the
urban-type settlement of Tyndinsky was transformed into the city of
regional subordination of Tynda. In 1977, the Dzheltulaksky district was
renamed into Tyndinsky with its center in the city of Tynda, Tygdinsky -
into Magdagachinsky with its center in the urban village of Magdagachi.
Resolution of the Presidium of the Far Eastern Executive Committee
“On the zoning of the Far Eastern Territory” of November 1932
Decree
of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council of August 2, 1948 “On the
separation of the Amur region from the Khabarovsk Territory into an
independent region of the RSFSR”
The Amur region is located in the southeast of the Russian
Federation, in the temperate climate zone, between 48°51' and 57°04' N.
w. and 119°39' and 134°55' E. d., is part of the Far Eastern Federal
District. The distance from its administrative center - Blagoveshchensk
to Moscow by rail - 7985 km, by air - 6480 km. The region is located
closer to the North Pole (about 5000 km) than to the equator (about 6000
km).
The Amur region does not have direct access to the seas. Its
northeast is only 150 km away from the cold Sea of Okhotsk (known as the
“bag of ice”), and the middle regions are 500–600 km away. It is 600-800
km away from the warm Sea of Japan. The length from north to south is
750 km, and from northwest to southeast - 1150 km. The territory is
approximately comparable to Germany.
Most of the region is
located in the Upper and Middle Amur basin, which determines its name.
The region, together with part of Yakutia, is included in the ninth
time zone, in which the difference with Moscow time is six hours.
The climate of the Amur Region is transitional from sharply
continental in the northwest to monsoon in the southeast. The formation
of such a climate is due to the interaction of solar radiation,
circulation of air masses and the following geographical factors:
latitudinal position, remoteness of the territory from the sea,
influence of the underlying surface in the form of relief, vegetation,
and water bodies. On the map of climatic zoning of Russia, the main part
of the Amur region is located in the monsoon Far Eastern region of the
temperate climatic zone, and the north-west of the Amur region is
located in the continental East Siberian region of the same climatic
zone.
In the Amur region, Zeya, Selemdzhinsky and Tynda
districts, as well as the cities of Zeya and Tynda, are equated to
regions of the Far North. The border of the island permafrost passes
near the confluence of the Selemdzha and the Zeya, without reaching
Svobodny.
The climate is primarily characterized by the
temperature of the coldest and warmest months. Identical indicators of
different places are combined by isotherms. In January, isotherms with
the lowest values are confined to mountainous areas. In the north of the
region, the average January temperature drops to −29 °C. In the
intermountain depressions below. To the south temperatures rise. In the
south, isotherms range from −25 °C to −21 °C. Winter in the region is
harsh. At the latitude of Blagoveshchensk is the city of Voronezh, where
the average January temperature is −6 °C, and in Blagoveshchensk it is
−21 °C. The absolute minimum is −45.4 °C.
Summer in the south of
the region is very warm with sufficient or excessive moisture. Here the
July isotherms range from 21 °C to 22 °C. Summers are also warm in the
intermountain valleys of the north, where average July temperatures rise
to 18-19 °C. In mountainous areas, the temperature reaches 12 °C with
altitude. Average absolute maximum temperatures in the north of the
region can reach 38 °C, and in the south up to 42 °C.
The annual
precipitation in the region is high: in the northeastern mountainous and
eastern regions its value ranges from 900 to 1000 mm. In areas
gravitating towards the Amur and the lower reaches of the Zeya River,
there is less precipitation. So, in the area of the village of Erofei
Pavlovich - up to 500 mm, in Blagoveshchensk - up to 570 mm, and in the
Arkhara area - up to 640 mm.
The entire region is characterized
by a summer maximum precipitation, which is due to the monsoon climate.
During June, July and August, up to 70% of the annual precipitation can
fall. There may be fluctuations in precipitation. Thus, in summer, with
increasing evaporation, absolute and relative humidity increases, and in
spring, due to dry air, the snow cover mostly evaporates, and the
consequence of this is a slight spring rise in water levels in rivers.
The Amur Region features landscapes of taiga, subtaiga and deciduous
forests. According to other sources, forest-steppe spreads in the south
of the region. The Tukuringra-Dzhagdy ridges divide the taiga into
middle and southern subzones. The latitudinal zonality is superimposed
on the altitudinal zonation of the mountains, which makes the vegetation
cover of the Amur region more complex, adding to its composition a
mountain belt (alpine tundra) and a belt of elfin trees with fragments
of stone birch forests. Different distances to the Pacific Ocean
contribute to sectoral differentiation of vegetation: in most of the
Amur region, light coniferous taiga passes through subtaiga pine-oak and
larch-oak forests into “Amur prairies” and oak-black birch forests, and
the fir-spruce taiga that appears on the eastern edge of the region is
replaced by northern variant of cedar-broad-leaved forests with
secondary oak, linden, birch and aspen formations in their place.
The floristic composition of some plant communities is disclosed
below. The “Amur prairies” were endangered due to the plowing of fertile
meadow-chernozem-like soils (zonal vegetation on zonal soil types).
Aquatic and near-aquatic plants: lotus, Schreber's brazil, marsh
whitewing, water lily tetrahedral, Othelia astruchiformes, Korsakov's
monochoria, Chinese trapella, Caldesia white-leaved, floating bagel,
pondweed, duckweed, floating salvinia, types of reeds and cattails...
Steppe meadows, including “Amur prairies”: reed reed, Trinius bentgrass,
species of reed grass, sedge, wormwood, peas, geraniums and violets,
Tatarian aster, Patrinia scabiolifolia, small red day, xiphoid iris, low
lily, grandiflora broadflower, Baikal skullcap, carnation Chinese,
Lindley's sapling, Manchurian serpuha, Turchaninov's lumbago, St. John's
wort...
Valley broad-leaved forests and hawthorn thickets: Japanese
elm, Maksimovich poplar, Manchurian ash, Amur linden, Amur velvet,
Manchurian walnut, split elm, small-leaved and Ginnala maples, common
bird cherry, Ussuri pear, Amur lilac, Amur maakia, Daurian hawthorn,
apple nya berry , Dahurian rosehip, white honeysuckle, golden
honeysuckle, warty euonymus (few-flowered), rowanberry, Amur grape,
Chinese lemongrass, Dahurian moonseed, Dioscorea nipponensis, ostrich,
Asiatic frima, nettle, angelica, sedge...
Currently, the structure of industrial production has an energy and
raw material orientation. The main share is occupied by energy and gold
mining.
There are known deposits and manifestations of alluvial
and ore gold, silver, titanium, molybdenum, tungsten, copper, tin,
polymetals, antimony, brown and hard coal, zeolites, kaolin, cement raw
materials, apatite, graphite, talc, semi-precious, facing stones.
The border location and the presence of significant resource
potential open up great opportunities for the region. According to the
Comprehensive Plan for the Social and Economic Development of the Amur
Region until 2025, six centers of economic development have been
identified: gas processing, mining, agro-industrial, energy, tourism,
recreation and space, within the framework of which it is planned to
implement capital construction, major repairs, modernization of social,
transport and housing and communal infrastructure.
The basis of
economic development centers will be large investment projects:
development of gold mining in the Selemdzhinsky region, development of
the Bam gold deposit, increasing gold production at the Pokrovsky and
Malomyrsky mines, growth of coal production in connection with the
increase in capacity at the Erkovetsky open-pit mine and the beginning
of the development of the Ogodzhinsky deposit, development of the
Kun-Manye copper-nickel ore deposit , Darmakan quartz sand deposit,
construction of an autoclave hydrometallurgical complex at the
Pokrovskoye deposit;
construction and modernization of agricultural
enterprises.
completion of construction of the Nizhne-Bureyskaya
hydroelectric power station;
Tsiolkovsky - formation of the AMUR
tourist and recreational cluster;
implementation of large-scale
investment projects - construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline
and the Amur gas processing plant;
construction of facilities at the
Vostochny cosmodrome, reconstruction of sections of the Lena federal
highway, construction of entrances to populated areas of the Amur region
from the Amur highway, construction and reconstruction of sections of
roads of regional and local importance, border bridge crossing over the
Amur River (Heilongjiang) in the region cities of Blagoveshchensk (RF)
and Heihe (PRC).
Over the period until 2025, over 20 thousand new
high-performance jobs are expected to be created in the region, and the
share of the manufacturing segment of the economy will increase from 3
to 30 percent.
The Vostochny cosmodrome is located on the
territory of the Amur region.
In October 2015, 14 km from the
city of Svobodny (2.5 kilometers from Yukhta, Dmitrievsky village
council and 7.4 kilometers from the village of Chernigovka),
construction began on the largest in Russia and one of the largest in
the world, the Amur gas processing plant with a capacity of up to 49
billion cubic meters per year. year, which will include the world's
largest helium production complex with a capacity of up to 60 million
cubic meters per year. The cost of construction will be 790.6 billion
rubles. At the peak of construction, up to 15 thousand people will be
employed, and about 3 thousand jobs will be created at the plant itself.
The plant was launched on June 9, 2021.
In the immediate vicinity
of the Amur Gas Processing Plant (AGPZ), in August 2020, SIBUR began
construction of the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGC) to produce
polyethylene and polypropylene from AGPP feedstock. It is expected that
AGKhK will become one of the world's largest enterprises for the
production of basic polymers. The planned commissioning date is 2025.
The Amur gas processing plant is the second largest in terms of
natural gas processing volume (42 billion m³ per year) and the largest
in the world in helium production (up to 60 million m³ per year).
Svobodnensky Car Repair Plant
Shimanovsky Machine-Building Plant
680 Aviation Repair Plant
Bureya Crane Plant
Amur Metallist Plant
Shipyard
Bureyskaya HPP with a capacity of 2010 MW, annual output of 7.1
billion kWh
Zeya hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 1330
MW, annual output of 4.9 billion kWh
Nizhne-Bureyskaya hydroelectric
power station with a capacity of 320 MW, annual output of 1.6 billion
kWh
Blagoveshchenskaya CHPP with an electrical capacity of 404 MW and
a thermal capacity of 1005.6 Gcal/h.
Svobodnenskaya TPP— 160 MW and
434 Gcal/h
Raichikhinskaya GRES - 102 MW and 238 Gcal/h
As of January 1, 2020, the rural population of the Amur Region is
254,893 people.
In terms of distribution of agricultural land in
the Far East, the Amur Region occupies a leading position, accounting
for 38% of farmland and 59% of arable land in the Far Eastern economic
region.
At the end of 2020, the Amur Region took first place in
terms of agricultural production among all the constituent entities of
the Far East (and it includes 11 constituent entities, including those
more southern). The total cost of production amounted to 53.9 billion
rubles, of which 28.4 billion rubles were in agricultural organizations.
In 2020, the volume of agricultural production on farms increased by 4%,
crop production increased by 8%, and livestock production decreased by
3.6%. The growth in crop production was due to an increase in gross
yields of soybeans by 13.4% and grain crops by 15.6%.
Animal husbandry. Meat farming (Hereford, Aberdeen-Angus, Charolais),
dairy farming, poultry farming, beekeeping, deer farming, fur farming,
pig farming. In terms of the number of cattle, pigs and poultry, the
region ranks second among the regions in the Far Eastern Federal
District.
The number of cattle at the beginning of 2019 was 83
thousand heads, pigs - about 35.4 thousand heads, sheep and goats - 18.3
thousand heads, poultry - 2.1 million heads. 42 thousand tons of milk
and more than 134 million eggs were produced. The average milk yield per
cow is 6.2 thousand kg per year. There are 14 dairy farms producing
milk.
The number of cattle as of July 1, 2020 is 74.8 thousand
heads, including cows - 35.2 thousand heads, pigs - 31.3 thousand heads,
sheep and goats - 18.3 thousand heads, poultry — 2.177 million heads.
The main reason for the reduction in the number of cattle is associated
with the decision to eliminate livestock farming in some agricultural
enterprises. 12 agricultural enterprises and more than 120 farms are
engaged in dairy farming.
Climatic conditions are favorable for the development of beekeeping. There are about 41.5 thousand bee families. The main honey plants are buckwheat, raspberries, linden, sunflower, sweet clover and meadow herbs. The main varieties of honey: linden taiga, flower, buckwheat and serpukhov. Production volume is 800 tons of honey per year.
Plant growing. As of 2018, soybeans, triticale and wheat, winter and
spring barley, buckwheat, winter and spring rye, oats, corn and
sunflower for grain, peas, beans, flax, potatoes, vegetable and melon
crops, annual and perennial herbs are grown, fodder root crops. Common
vegetables include cabbage, beets, carrots, garlic, onions, cucumbers,
tomatoes and herbs (sorrel, basil, dill, cilantro, arugula). In fruit
and berry plantings, strawberries, honeysuckle, apples, pears,
raspberries and currants are harvested.
Soybean is the main
agricultural crop of the Amur region. Over the past eight years, the
Amur region has seen a steady increase in the area of arable land
involved in agricultural production. By 2024, it is planned to increase
the sown area to 1.5 million hectares and achieve a gross harvest of
soybeans of 2.2 million tons and grain crops of over 1.1 million tons.
In 2022, the absolute record for soybean harvest is 1,600 thousand
tons (+40% by 2021), with a yield of 18.7 c/ha (+ 19%). Grain crops
exceeded last year's figures by 6%. More than 30 thousand tons of
potatoes were produced (+180%). Over 8.5 thousand tons of vegetables
were collected (+54%). The production of soy protein isolate by the end
of 2022 is expected to be about 5 thousand tons (2 times more than in
2021).
In 2020, 417.5 thousand tons of grain were collected
(+15.4% compared to 2019), soybeans 978.6 thousand tons (+13.4%). The
goal for 2021 is to increase the production volumes of grain crops - up
to 530 thousand tons and soybeans - up to 1.3 million tons. There are
plans to increase the region’s level of self-sufficiency in vegetables
and potatoes.
In 2018, the sown area was 1,280 thousand hectares,
of which soybeans - 990 thousand hectares (+26 thousand hectares by
2017), grains - 204 thousand hectares (+2 thousand hectares), potatoes -
13.7 thousand hectares (+7 thousand hectares), vegetables and melons -
2.8 thousand hectares (+0), forage crops - 71 thousand hectares (+2
thousand hectares). The gross grain harvest in 2018 amounted to 360
thousand tons in bunker weight (-35 thousand tons), soybeans - 1055
thousand tons (-210 thousand tons), potatoes - 201 thousand tons,
vegetables - 49 thousand tons. The average grain yield per sown area was
17.6 c/ha, soybeans - 10.7 c/ha.
Amuragrocenter has the capacity
to produce hydrated soybean oil, refined deodorized soybean oil, soybean
food meal, toasted soybean feed meal, extruded feed soybean, complete
feed and feed concentrates, protein-vitamin-mineral concentrates and
premixes. His division, the Amursky oil extraction plant, the only one
in the country, began producing soy isolate with a protein content of
90% and soy dietary fiber.