Khabarovsk Territory is a subject of the Russian Federation, located
in the Far East of Russia. The administrative center is the city of
Khabarovsk.
The Khabarovsk Territory was formed on October 20,
1938 by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
“On the division of the Far Eastern Territory into Khabarovsk and
Primorsky Territories.”
It borders in the north with the Magadan
Region and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the west with the Amur
Region, in the southwest with the Jewish Autonomous Region and the
People's Republic of China, in the southeast with the Primorsky
Territory.
It is washed by the Sea of Okhotsk from the northeast
and east, and by the Sea of Japan from the southeast. Sakhalin is
separated from the island by the Tatarsky and Nevelskoy straits. In
addition to the main, continental part, the region includes several
islands, among which the largest are the Shantar Islands. The total
length of the coastline is about 2500 km, including the islands - 3390
km.
The region occupies an area of 787,633 km² - 3rd (4th) place
among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Population of
the region - 1,284,090 (2023)
Part of the southern border of the
Khabarovsk Territory is the state border of Russia and the People's
Republic of China.
There are 17 municipal districts in the Khabarovsk Territory.
Far North of Khabarovsk Territory: Okhotsk and Ayano-Maisky districts.
North of Khabarovsk Territory: Tuguro-Chumikansky, Nikolaevsky, Polina
Osipenko district, Ulchsky, Verkhnebureinsky, Solnechny, Komsomolsky,
Amursky, Vaninsky and Sovetsko-Gavansky districts. The last two are not
the north at all, but the real geographic southeast of the coast of the
region, but in terms of climate these areas are officially equated to
areas with a particularly cold climate. And although the winter there is
usually very good, not very cold and moderately snowy, the summer is not
very good, because it can be very cool for a long time, and there are
also regular fogs and prolonged cyclones.
South of Khabarovsk
Territory: Nanaisky district, Khabarovsk district, Lazo district,
Vyazemsky district, Bikinsky district.
Khabarovsk is the administrative center
and largest city of the region, also a regional center. As journalists
aptly noted, the Khabarovsk Territory is the region of one city.
Komsomolsk-on-Amur is the second
most populous city in the region and a large industrial center.
Amursk is an industrial satellite city of
Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a regional center.
Nikolaevsk-on-Amur is a small port
city on the Lower Amur, a regional center.
Sovetskaya Gavan
is a small port city on the shore of the Tatar Strait, a regional center
Vanino is a large urban-type port village, a
transport hub, a regional center, and a satellite of the city of
Sovetskaya Gavan.
Vyazemsky is a small town in the south of the
region, a large railway station, and a regional center.
Bikin is a
small town on the border with the Primorsky Territory, the southernmost
city in the region. Regional center.
Ayan is a small village (formerly a town) in the north of the region.
Fishing and fish processing. District center.
Okhotsk is a small
village in the very north of the region, communication with which in
winter is only possible by air. District center.
Chegdomyn is a
working village in the north-west of the region, a regional center. Coal
industry. Very cold winter.
Pereyaslavka is a village in the south of
the region, a regional center.
Troitskoye is a village on the right
bank of the Amur, the regional center.
them. Polina Osipenko - a
village on the Amgun River (northwest of the region), regional center.
Very cold winter.
Solnechny is an industrial village near
Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a regional center. Large mining and processing
plant. Ski resort Holdomi.
Bogorodskoye is a village in the lower
reaches of the Amur, a regional center. More than two thirds of the
village residents are Ulchi.
Shantar Islands
Bastak Nature Reserve
Bologna Nature Reserve
Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve
Botchinsky Nature Reserve
Bureinsky
Nature Reserve
Dzhugdzur Nature Reserve
Komsomolsk Nature Reserve
Climatic conditions change significantly when moving from north to
south, and very much depend on proximity to the sea, and also depend on
the shape and nature of the relief. On average, the cold period in the
region (a specific winter) can range from 3-4 to 6-7 months. In the
southern and central parts of the region, winters are very cold (up to
-30°C at night), little snow and sunny (similar to continental Primorye
or the Amur region), and summers are very hot and humid - in addition to
high humidity from the swampy floodplain of the Amur River, during the
summer months accounts for the greatest amount of precipitation. Roast
is approximately the same as in Krasnodar or Rostov-on-Don, only the
humidity adds to the sensation! In Khabarovsk in the summer it is often
much hotter than in the more southern Vladivostok.
As you move
north, winters are longer and more severe, and the depth of snow cover
increases noticeably. In the mountains of the middle Sikhote-Alin, the
first snow can fall (but not lie) already at the end of September, and
it remains there until the beginning of June (according to the valleys).
And the warmest weather in autumn and winter in the Khabarovsk Territory
will be on the coast of the Vaninsky and Sovetsko-Gavansky districts and
may differ from Khabarovsk by 10-15 degrees plus.
But on the
coast, the change of seasons is shifted by 20-30 days due to the
proximity to the sea, which is a powerful accumulator of both heat and
cold. That is, summer comes into its own very late, but is in no hurry
to leave (this phenomenon is also typical for Kamchatka and Sakhalin).
However, if on the southern coast of the region summer can simply be
cool, then in the northern coastal regions there is simply no climatic
summer, average daily temperatures do not rise above +12 degrees and
there is nothing to do there without a sweater. In addition, along the
entire coast in winter there are often long-lasting cyclones with heavy
snowfalls, and in the spring there are snow charges (the climate here is
very similar to Sakhalin). In the spring-summer period, a thick fog
often hangs over the sea, which creeps out to the coast at night,
several kilometers deep, and rolls back into the sea in the morning.
Throughout the region, including coastal areas, there are
significant daily temperature changes, that is, at night it is always
much colder than during the day, and sometimes the difference is quite
significant, which is especially noticeable in the mountains.
The
Khabarovsk Territory is exposed to the influence of summer typhoons,
although to a lesser extent than Primorye and Sakhalin (usually affected
by the edge of a passing cyclone from Primorye or the Tatar Strait).
By plane
Khabarovsk International Airport “Novy” (IATA:KHV) is the
largest in the Far East and serves as a transit hub for air traffic with
populated areas of the Far East (the so-called hub). There are regular
flights to Moscow, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, St. Petersburg,
Novosibirsk, Okhotsk and other populated areas of the country and
region.
By train
The Baikal-Amur Mainline and the
Trans-Siberian Railway, in the form of the Far Eastern Railway, pass
through the territory of the region. The main railway stations of the
region: Khabarovsk, Vyazemsky, Bikin, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Sovetskaya
Gavan, Urgal, Chegdomyn.
A famous 4 km long bridge was built
across the Amur River in the east-west direction, with trains running
below and cars crossing above. The image of the bridge is on the five
thousand banknote of the Bank of Russia. But few people know that an
underwater railway tunnel more than 7 kilometers long has been dug under
the Amur! This is the only structure of this kind on Russian Railways
and the largest tunnel on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The tunnel is
operational, freight and sometimes passenger trains operate.
By
car
Two federal highways pass through the Khabarovsk Territory: M60
Ussuri, connecting Khabarovsk with Ussuriysk and Vladivostok, and M58
Amur, connecting Khabarovsk with Chita, Nevers and Birobidzhan.
By plane
From the Khabarovsk airport, local airlines (“Small
Airport”) operate flights to remote and northern regions of the region.
There are several small airports in the region in Komsomolsk-on-Amur,
Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Sovgavan and Okhotsk.
By train
From
Khabarovsk there is a railway line to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, then to
Sovetskaya Gavan and to the eastern part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
Electric trains run from Khabarovsk to Vyazemsky, Bikin and
populated areas of the Jewish Autonomous Region.
In the vicinity
of Khabarovsk, suburban connections are developed (mainly summer
residents travel).
On the ship
From Khabarovsk to
Nikolaevsk-on-Amur you can take the Meteor motor ship.
From
Khabarovsk to the Chinese village of Fuyuan (distance about 65 km) you
can get by m/v "Polesie". Mostly shuttle traders go to Fuyuan to buy
things.
There is a railway ferry between Vanino and Sakhalin
(Kholmsk). Sea ferries carry only freight cars; there is no passenger
rail service to the island. However, the ship has cabins for passengers,
and it is also possible to transport a passenger car.
By car
The vehicle fleet in the region consists mainly of right-hand drive
Japanese-made cars of various brands and types, there are cars made in
South Korea and the People's Republic of China (trucks), there is very
little domestic automobile industry, and practically no Western European
one. A traveler with a personal car needs to know that cars converted to
gas are absolutely unpopular here, and you will not find gas stations.
The main supplier of motor fuel in the region (local) is NK-Alliance
(Khabarovsk Oil Refinery), Komsomolsk Oil Refinery and Transbunker
(Vaninsky Oil Refinery).
Highways are most developed in the
south; the federal highway M60 Khabarovsk - Vladivostok runs through the
territory of the region.
You can get to Komsomolsk-on-Amur along
the P-454 highway. In the vicinity of the village of Lidoga, Nanai
district, a relatively new Lidoga-Vanino road runs off from the P-454
highway to the east; the asphalt surface varies from almost perfect to
sections like after an artillery attack.
By car you can also get
to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur and travel along the eastern BAM. However, the
roads in those places leave much to be desired; they are mostly dirt
roads.
It is believed that in remote and northern areas of the
region there are no roads at all. This, however, is not entirely true.
If you take a satellite map of the area with good detail, you will find
that almost the entire territory of the region is cut up by a network of
logging roads. After all, for a long time one of the key sources of
income for the region was the export of timber to the Asia-Pacific
countries. Quite a lot of residents work in the forestry industry, and
the population has an extremely positive attitude towards hunting,
fishing and collecting wild plants, and it is for this reason that
off-road vehicles or off-road vehicles are so popular among residents of
the region.
In the Khabarovsk Territory (as well as in most of the Far East),
everyday traditional Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian cuisine is
complemented by Korean cuisine - spicy Korean salads are very popular
here. With a big stretch, they can be considered traditional Korean,
since they are prepared from local products and are noticeably different
from what is eaten in both Koreas. However, at the market in Khabarovsk,
salads are sold by ethnic Koreans (Russified, of course), and the salads
themselves simply cannot be compared in quality to those sold in
hypermarkets in European Russia. In the Khabarovsk Territory, it will be
quite difficult for you to find shawarma, which is so popular “in the
West”; instead, here on the streets they sell pyan-se. This is a steamed
pie with various fillings - a version of the national Korean dish
Pyeongsu.
The Korean kuksu noodles (or kuksi, kuksa) deserve
attention - only not freeze-dried in packs and foam trays, widely known
in our country as a “beach package” (although this product is
indispensable in certain situations, and enjoys well-deserved popularity
in the Asia-Pacific countries), and real traditional noodles, as well as
soup made from it.
In large self-service stores, you are likely
to find a department where you can purchase goods made in Japan, South
Korea or China. These products may have a piece of paper with basic
information in Russian (very briefly) pasted on them. They sell very
good Korean instant coffee, Japanese canned beer, Korean “Golden”
mayonnaise (very tasty) in two- or three-liter cans with a handle (!),
Chinese dry noodles, a sea of various seasonings and sauces. An
interesting fact - in the Far East (and in the Khabarovsk Territory in
particular), Japanese-made kitchen wipes are widespread, which you
simply cannot find in the western regions of the country.
Local
seafood is very popular - salmon, navaga, ivasi herring, pollock,
pilengas, flounder, smelt, crabs, squid, mussels, shrimp, red caviar,
seaweed. Freshwater Amur fish is also on sale (although the Amur has
become very dirty in recent years), and inhabitants of mountain rivers -
grayling, Dolly Varden, etc. Tourists should not be prejudiced against
navaga or pollock, like - ugh! You may not believe it, but it is much
tastier here, because it is caught here and it is fresh, and is not at
all like the hundred times frozen misunderstanding sold in stores in
European Russia (and in Siberia too...).
If you wish, you can try
national dishes of Chinese and Japanese cuisine, but outside the city of
Khabarovsk this will be a non-trivial task. Most likely, you will
quickly find a cafe with Uzbek cuisine - pilaf is still more familiar to
us for everyday consumption.
Wild plants are popular. For
example, vitamin salads are prepared from wild garlic - wild garlic,
bracken is fried, salted, pickled.
It is quite difficult to find
preserves, jams and other preparations made from local wild berries in
stores, but it is quite possible to purchase them at the market, just
like fresh berries. Lingonberries, raspberries, blueberries,
cloudberries, cranberries, rowanberries, lemongrass, mosswort,
actinidia, grapes, barberries, red and black currants (wild, not what
you thought), honeysuckle, bird cherry, large-fruited sea rose, etc. .
Pine nuts are specific here. A Korean cedar cone is twice or even
three times larger than a Siberian cedar cone. The nuts are also larger
than Siberian nuts, but you don’t need to crack them with your teeth
unless you have extra teeth. The nuts have a very thick and tough shell
and this limits their consumption in a “just crack” sense.
There
are quite a lot of apiaries in the region, often summer (on-site) - that
is, in the spring such apiaries move far into the forest, where they
remain until the end of the season. Honey from these apiaries is sold
right along country roads, as well as wild plants in season.
The
mushroom season begins at the end of June and continues until frost. All
Far Eastern mushrooms are slightly different from their Western
counterparts. The assortment of mushrooms depends entirely on the area
and climate; in any case, they take porcini mushrooms, aspen mushrooms,
boletus mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, milk mushrooms, and white
mushrooms. The rest of the mushrooms are collected so-so, to the extent
of desire and opportunity. Both roadside trade and mushroom sales in
markets are thriving.
Dress appropriately for the weather. Winter in the region is cold, in
some places even very cold. In the summer, with the stifling heat during
the day, it may not be hot at all at night, but in the morning a jacket
will come in handy...
Insects. This is the scourge of the
Khabarovsk Territory. Midges, mosquitoes and horseflies are found almost
everywhere in the summer, except directly on the sea coast (there are
many times fewer insects there). They just mercilessly eat without any
twinge of conscience, and in the cities too. People at bus stops stand
with branches and wave away annoying bloodsuckers. If you travel by car,
then regularly replenish the glass washer reservoir, since the glass is
constantly covered with the corpses of small insects and the splashed
entrails of larger ones. Don't forget to wipe the headlights and clean
the radiator as needed. If you are planning a foray into the forest,
then take precautions against the taiga tick - a carrier of
encephalitis. The only good news is that the percentage of infected
ticks in the region is very low and the likelihood of contracting
encephalitis from a tick bite is close to zero.
Snakes. In the
south, snakes pose a danger; vipers live in the taiga zone. There are
indecently many vipers in some places, but they are not aggressive and
always flee, sometimes jumping out right from under your feet. All the
same, when hiking in the forest, boots will be a good idea. The bite of
a viper is very painful - usually the sufferer is hospitalized for a
week.
Animals. The most dangerous animal in the Khabarovsk
Territory (after humans) is the white-breasted Himalayan bear, which is
characterized by bouts of unmotivated aggression (however, the Chinese
do such cruel things to these bears, so their anger towards humans is
already genetic). If you are traveling by car, a hare or fox can simply
jump out under your wheels at night (especially on roads with low
traffic volume).
If you travel through the forest or even through
deserted places, of which there are a lot in the region (no matter by
transport or on foot), then remember the golden rule: “The taiga is the
law, the bear is the master.” Vigilance and vigilance again! Never
overestimate your strengths and capabilities - a seemingly trivial
problem can very quickly become deadly, and there will simply be no one
to help you.
Many residents of the Khabarovsk Territory are
accustomed to an aggressive driving style. Not because everyone is a
hooligan, but because driving in mountainous areas in itself provokes
extreme sports and adrenaline. Many Far Easterners, traveling by car
across flat Russia, openly laugh at the “dangerous turn” and “overtaking
is prohibited” signs, since in the Far East these signs are installed
only in really dangerous areas (and you should never ignore them!)...
however, When traveling along the edge, you should always (!) be
prepared for the fact that on a completely blind, closed, sharp turn
some fool will easily fly right into your head. The accident rate in the
Khabarovsk Territory is really high. Drivers are not shy about causing
road fights.
The Khabarovsk Territory is one of the few subjects
of the Russian Federation where traffic police inspectors do not take
bribes, literally at all. Moreover, if you violated traffic rules and
got caught, never try to pay yourself off - you can easily get into a
lot of problems with the law. But you can try to reach an agreement
simply as a human being, because everyone is living people.
If
you are not a citizen of the Russian Federation, then to enter the city
of Komsomolsk-on-Amur you must obtain a special permit from the FSB of
the region, since although the city is not a ZATO, for some reason it is
still present in the “List of Territories of the Russian Federation with
Restricted Visits” foreign citizens."
Man populated the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory in the
Mesolithic era. On the southern shore of Lake Udyl there is an Early
Neolithic site of the Gromatukha culture (Goliy Mys-4), dating back to
12,300-13,000 years ago. n. — Younger Dryas — transition to Allerød. In
the 1970s, at a Far Eastern settlement on the Gasya cliff at the
confluence of the Amur River and the Malyshevskaya channel not far from
Sikachi-Alyan, Academician A. Okladnikov and Doctor of Historical
Sciences V. Medvedev identified the oldest Neolithic Osipovskaya culture
of nomadic hunters in the Lower Amur (radiocarbon date 12960 ±120 years
ago). The Osipovskaya culture received its name from the village of
Osipovka, which was once located near the railway bridge over the Amur
near Khabarovsk. The most ancient ceramics in Russia belongs to the
Osipovka culture. According to the results of radiocarbon dating, its
monuments existed in the time period from 13,300 to 7,700 years ago. n.
There are also Neolithic sites with pottery and early dates in northern
Japan and Korea. In the settlements of the Osipovskaya culture of the
11th millennium BC siltstone jewelry and a jade ring and disk were
discovered.
During the Neolithic period, many tribes already
lived sedentary lives, which was facilitated by favorable climatic and
natural conditions.
Since ancient times, Paleo-Asian and Tungus
tribes lived on the territory of the Amur region of the Khabarovsk
Territory.
In the Middle Ages, the territory of the modern
Khabarovsk Territory was inhabited mainly by peoples, as well as Nivkhs.
In China they were known collectively as "wild Jurchens".
In the
13th-14th centuries, the Mongol rulers of China repeatedly organized
expeditions to the lower Amur, where, near the present village of Tyr in
the lower reaches of the Amur (about 100 km above the mouth), in 1263
they founded their “Marshal’s Headquarters of the Eastern Campaigns” and
at about the same time erected a shrine .
In the 15th century,
near the same village of Tyr, several expeditions of the Ming dynasty
under the leadership of the eunuch Ishikha erected the Buddhist temple
of Yongning and installed steles (the so-called Tyr steles, now kept in
a museum in Vladivostok). However, the subordination of local tribes to
the Chinese authorities was quite nominal. After the departure of the
Chinese and the fire in the temple, it was not restored by local
residents.
Before the arrival of the Russians, the tribes of Daurs, Evenks,
Natks, Gilyaks and others lived here, about 30 thousand people in total.
The exploration of the Far East by explorers of the Russian state began
in the 17th century. In 1639, a detachment of Cossack explorers led by
Ivan Moskvitin reached the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk (then Lamsky).
The first fort was erected at the mouth of the Ulya River. In 1647,
Semyon Shelkovnikov founded the Okhotsk fort. These were the first
Russian settlements in the Khabarovsk Territory.
In 1649, the
Russian explorer Erofei Pavlovich Khabarov with a detachment of 70
people set off from Yakutsk to explore new lands. Having ascended the
Lena River, E.P. Khabarov compiled a “Drawing of the Amur River” and a
report to Moscow, in which he wrote: “... The Daurian land will be more
profitable than the Lena... and opposite all of Siberia, the place will
be decorated and abundant...” Since then, interest Russian sovereigns'
interest in the Far East did not subside.
The Amur region was
quickly developed by Russian settlers. New forts were founded:
Albazinsky (1651), Achansky (1652), Kumarsky (1654), Kosogorsky (1655)
and others, as well as peasant villages: Soldatovo, Ignashkino,
Pokrovskoye, Monastyrshchina, Andryushkino and others. By the early
1680s, up to 800 male souls lived in the Amur basin. More than a
thousand acres of arable land were plowed. There were good harvests.
The entire Amur to the Tatar Strait and the territory east of the
Argun to the Greater Khingan became part of the Russian state. A large
ore deposit has been discovered.
Nerchinsky district and
Albazinsky voivodeship were formed, which became centers of Russian
activity on the Amur.
However, the process of developing the
region was interrupted due to the aggression of the Qing Empire. From
the beginning of the 80s of the 17th century, the Manchus entered into
open conflict with the Russian state. Military operations took place in
Transbaikalia and the Amur. The Russian kingdom was not going to cede
its Far Eastern borders. Along with the defense of Albazin (1685-1686),
attempts were made to resolve the issue through negotiations. The
Russian embassy went to Beijing. But, unable to transfer large military
forces to the Amur region, the Russian kingdom was forced to sign the
Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689). According to its territorial articles,
Russian subjects left the left bank of the Amur. The exact border
between the two states was not established. A huge region, successfully
developed for a long time, turned into a deserted strip that belonged to
no one. The Russian kingdom only managed to defend the right to
Transbaikalia and the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk.
In the 18th
century, Okhotsk became the main Pacific port of the country. The
development of the northern shores of the Pacific Ocean, the exploration
of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin prepared the basis for the Russian
development of the Amur region.
Energetic steps to return the Amur region to Russia were taken by
Nikolai Nikolaevich Muravyov, who was appointed Governor-General of
Eastern Siberia in 1847. He owns the words: “Whoever owns the mouths of
the Amur will own Siberia.” With the broad support of Muravyov, the
complicated issue of the navigability of the mouth and estuary of the
Amur and the island position of Sakhalin was resolved. An outstanding
role in solving this geographical problem was played by Gennady
Ivanovich Nevelskoy. In 1850, he raised the Russian flag at the mouth of
the Amur and founded the Nikolaev military post (now the city of
Nikolaevsk-on-Amur), which since 1855 has become the country's main
naval base on the Pacific Ocean.
In 1854-1856, raftings of troops
and Cossacks along the Amur River were carried out. This made it
possible to establish new posts, villages, villages: Mariinskoye,
Uspenskoye, Bogorodskoye, Irkutskoye and others. The number of Russian
population in the region increased noticeably.
In 1858, the Aigun
Treaty was signed, and in 1860, the Beijing Treaty, according to which
the territories of the Far East south of the Amur were ceded to the
Russian Empire.
In 1858, Khabarovsk, Sofiysk, Innokentyevka,
Korsakovo, Kazakevichevo and other strongholds were founded. From 1858
to 1860, more than three thousand people were resettled to the Amur.
They set up the villages of Voronezhskoye, Vyatskoye, Troitskoye,
Permskoye, Tambovskoye and others. Among the first settlers there were
many schismatic Old Believers. By the beginning of the 1830s,
approximately half of the population of the Amur region consisted of Old
Believers.
In 1856, the Primorsky region was formed. In 1858, it
included 6 districts: Okhotsk, Nikolaevsky, Sofia, Petropavlovsk,
Gizhiginsky, Udsky. In 1860, the South Ussuri region was formed as part
of the region.
In 1884, the Amur Governorate General was formed
as part of the Transbaikal, Amur and Primorsky regions with its center
in the city of Khabarovsk. This division remained until the end of the
19th century.
Until the end of the 19th century, settlement of
the Amur region proceeded at a slow pace. The situation began to change
by the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1900, traffic opened on
the Trans-Baikal Railway, and in 1902 on the Chinese-Eastern Railway,
accelerating the influx of settlers to the region.
The war with
Japan in 1904-1905 disrupted resettlement plans. From January 1904 to
March 1906, not only the Amur region, but also the entire Eastern
Siberia were closed for resettlement, so all the work of the
Trans-Siberian Railway was subordinated exclusively to the needs of the
military. In 1906-1907, after the end of the war, a powerful influx of
new settlers began. From 1900 to 1913, about 300 thousand peasants from
other parts of the country arrived in the Amur region.
A
peculiarity of the settlement of the region was that a significant part
of the settlers settled in cities. According to the All-Russian
Population Census of 1897, in the European part of the country, city
dwellers accounted for 12.8%, in the Amur region - 27.3%, in the
Primorsky region - 22.7%.
By 1915, there were more than six
thousand settlements on the map of the Primorsky region. 316,300 people
lived in them, of which 43,500 people lived in the Khabarovsk district.
On the territory belonging to the modern Khabarovsk Territory, there
were three cities: Khabarovsk, Nikolaevsk-on-Amur and Okhotsk.
The events of 1917 caused an ambiguous assessment of various layers
of Far Easterners. The decisive actions of the Soviets aroused the
approval of some and the rejection of others. The division of society
into “reds” and “whites” has not passed the brink. The civil war,
aggravated by the intervention of interventionists, led to enormous
casualties and a severe economic catastrophe.
To prevent a
military clash between Soviet Russia and Japan and solve the problem of
peacefully eliminating intervention in the territory of Transbaikalia,
the Amur and Primorsky regions, the Far Eastern Republic (FER) was
created on April 6, 1920. In 1921, Japan, having failed to
diplomatically subordinate the Far Eastern Republic to its influence, in
1921 took steps to intensify the military operations of the white
troops. The actions of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far
Eastern Republic, supported by red partisan detachments, led to victory
in the Volochaev operation and the liberation of Khabarovsk, the capture
of Spassk, and the entry into Vladivostok. On November 15, 1922, the Far
Eastern Republic was transformed into the Far Eastern Region of the
RSFSR. In December 1923, its administrative center was moved to
Khabarovsk from Chita. The restoration of the pre-war level of the
national economy was completed by 1926. And on January 4, 1926, the Far
Eastern Region was abolished and transformed into the Far Eastern
Territory.
A new aggravation of the international situation on the Far Eastern
borders of the country required strengthening the defense capability of
the region. As a result, processes of reorganization of industry,
transport, and agriculture unfolded. New educational institutions have
opened. Cities such as Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Birobidzhan were founded.
Plants and factories opened, the transport network developed. Since
1933, radio broadcasts from Moscow began to be received in Khabarovsk,
and in 1936 the construction of a telephone line from Moscow to the Far
East was completed. Relocation to the region from the central regions of
the country continued. By 1939, the population of the Far Eastern
Territory increased to 2.5 million people.
On October 20, 1938,
by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the
Far Eastern Territory was divided into Khabarovsk and Primorsky. The
Khabarovsk Territory consisted of the Khabarovsk, Amur, Lower Amur,
Sakhalin, Kamchatka (with Koryak and Chukotka national districts)
regions, the Jewish Autonomous Okrug and three northern regions directly
subordinate to the regional executive committee. On May 31, 1939, the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the creation of the region.
In 1939, the Khabarovsk region was liquidated, and in the north of the
region the Kolyma Okrug was formed, which was liquidated in the same
year.
In 1947-1948, the Sakhalin and Amur regions were separated
from the Khabarovsk Territory.
On September 15, 1948, the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR decided to “transfer the
city of Sovetskaya Gavan along with the suburban area from the Primorsky
Territory to the Khabarovsk Territory.”
In 1953, the Magadan
Region was formed and separated from the region, and the Chukotka
National District was transferred to its subordination from the
Kamchatka Region.
In 1956, the Kamchatka region (with the Koryak
national district) became independent (since 2007, after the unification
of the latter, the Kamchatka region) and the Lower Amur region was
abolished, and its districts were subordinated directly to the
Khabarovsk region.
After the adoption of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation
in 1993, the Jewish Autonomous Region withdrew from the Khabarovsk
Territory and became an equal subject of the Russian Federation.
In 2004, during a visit to China, V.V. Putin made the final decision to
transfer Tarabarov Island and half of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island on the
Amur River and Bolshoy Island on the Argun River to the Chinese.
In December 2018, the center of the region, the city of Khabarovsk, lost
its status as the center of the Far Eastern Federal District. Instead,
this status was taken by the center of Primorye - Vladivostok.
The territory of the region extends from south to north for 1800 km, from west to east - for 125-750 km. The total area of the region is 788,600 km², which is 4.5% of the entire territory of the country. In terms of territory, it is slightly larger than the Irkutsk region, occupying 4th place in territory among the constituent entities of Russia, as well as New Guinea - the 2nd largest island in the world. The forest fund is 75.5 million hectares 755 thousand km², forest lands are 59.2 million hectares 592 thousand km². The territory is approximately comparable to Turkey.
The entire Khabarovsk Territory is in the 8th time zone (MSK+7). Relative to Moscow time, the time zone has a constant offset of +7 hours. The offset relative to UTC is +10:00.
The main mountain ranges: Sikhote-Alin in the southeast of the
region, Bureinsky, Dusse-Alin, Badzhalsky and Yam-Alin in the southwest,
Suntar-Khayata, Yudomsky and Dzhugdzhur in the north. The highest point
is Mount Beryl (2933 m), the lowest is sea level.
Much smaller
areas are in the lowlands in the river valleys: Sredneamurskaya, on
which Khabarovsk stands, Nizhneamurskaya, Udskaya and Ulya-Okhotskaya.
In December 2018, a landslide came down from the steep left slope of the Bureya valley, blocking the riverbed and forming a dam. The Institute of Water and Environmental Problems of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IVEP) stated that the river overflowing its banks in the spring could flood three surrounding villages and affect the operation of the Bureyskaya hydroelectric station. The Bureya landslide was called the largest in the country in recent years. The volume of drained soil is about 34 million cubic meters. At the site where the soil fell over an area of 1.6 square kilometers on the opposite side of the Bureya River, all trees were destroyed, this was confirmed by satellite images that recorded the state of the area between December 9 and 12.
Climatic conditions change when moving from north to south, and also
depend on proximity to the sea and on the shape and nature of the
relief. Khabarovsk Territory is located within two climatic zones.
Subarctic belt
Siberian region (continental part of the Okhotsk
region)
Temperate zone
Continental East Siberian region
(territory bordering Yakutia)
Pacific region (northern coast of the
Sea of Okhotsk)
Monsoon Far Eastern region (western coast of the Sea
of Okhotsk, south of Khabarovsk Territory)[30]. This area has a
temperate monsoon climate.
Winter in the region is long and
severe, from dry in continental regions to snowy on the coast of the Sea
of Okhotsk. The number of predominantly winter months with negative
average temperatures increases from 5 in the south of the region to 7 in
its north. The average monthly air temperature in January varies from
−19°C in the south to −37°C in the north of the region, on the coast of
the Sea of Japan and Okhotsk - from −14°C to −20°C. The absolute minimum
temperature even in the south of the region reaches −50°C. Summer is
excessively humid, except in the valleys in the continental East
Siberian region. On the coast it is cool, but in the Ussuri basin it is
as hot as in the southeast of the Black Earth Region. The average air
temperature of the warmest month in the south of the region reaches
22°C, in the north it drops to 14...19°C, on the coast it rises from
13°C in the area of the Shantar Islands to 18°C at the mouth of the
Amur.
The annual precipitation ranges from 340-970 mm in the
north and up to 600-910 mm on the plains and slopes of the ridges south
of Uda. The least precipitation (less than 400 mm) was recorded on the
border with Yakutia. The most precipitation (over 900 mm) is observed at
the foot of Dzhugdzhur, in Ayan, and on the Sikhote-Alin ridge, in
Gvasyugi. In the south of the region, up to 90% of precipitation falls
from April to October, with especially high precipitation in July and
August.
In the Khabarovsk Territory, two districts: Ayano-Maysky
and Okhotsky (as well as the Shantar Islands) are regions of the Far
North.
Territories equated to the regions of the Far North:
Vaninsky, Verkhnebureinsky, Komsomolsky, Nikolaevsky, named after Polina
Osipenko, Sovetsko-Gavansky, Solnechny, Tuguro-Chumikansky and Ulchsky
districts; cities: Amursk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nikolaevsk-on-Amur and
Sovetskaya Gavan; urban-type settlement Elban, Amur region; villages of
Achan, Dzhuen, Voznesenskoye, Ommi, Padali, Amur region.
The
boundary of the island permafrost runs approximately through
Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Along the middle mountains of the Sikhote-Alin, it
descends further south into the Primorsky Territory. The lowlands of
Sikhote-Alin, adjacent to the coast of the Sea of Japan, are free from
island permafrost approximately to the border of the Vaninsky and
Ulchsky regions. In the north of the Khabarovsk Territory, discontinuous
and continuous permafrost is common.
The average water
temperature in August on the coast of the Sea of Japan is 13...17 °C.
Off the coast of the Amur Estuary it reaches 18…20 °C suitable for
swimming. At the mouth of the Amur, a maximum temperature of 29 °C was
recorded. In the Sea of Okhotsk towards the Shantar Islands, the average
August water temperature drops sharply to 10 °C; near the islands
themselves, it may be even lower, since measurements are not taken here.
After turning north, the temperature rises to 14 °C in Okhotsk. The Sea
of Japan is the first to become free of ice in the spring, and the last
ice floes around the Shantar Islands may melt by autumn.
The Khabarovsk Territory features landscapes of taiga, subtaiga and
deciduous forests. The taiga is divided into northern (Okhotsk region),
middle and southern subzones. According to environmental properties, it
can be light coniferous or dark coniferous. The main habitat of light
coniferous forests gravitates towards permafrost in the territories
adjacent to Yakutia. Dark coniferous forests grow mainly on the
Sikhote-Alin ridge, the lower Amur and the mountains of the southwest of
the region. Podtaiga is located between Khabarovsk and
Komsomolsk-on-Amur. A similar low-mountain belt stretches along the Sea
of Japan from Sovetskaya Gavan to the border with the Primorsky
Territory. Broad-leaved forest landscapes are found in the Ussuri River
basin. The latitudinal zonality is superimposed on the altitudinal
zonation of the mountains, which makes the vegetation cover of the
Khabarovsk Territory more complex, adding a goletz belt (mountain
tundra), a belt of dwarf trees and larch open spaces with fragments of
stone birch forests.
Forest-forming species in boreal forests are
Gmelin larch, Scots pine, Ayan spruce, white fir, flat-leaved birch and
aspen. Smaller areas are occupied by Siberian and Korean spruces.
Nemoral forests are dominated by Korean cedar, Mongolian oak and Amur
linden, and less commonly by Manchurian ash, Japanese elm, ribbed and
Dahurian birch. Azonal floodplain forests consist of various species of
willow, choicenia, sweet poplar and hairy alder.
In the
floodplains of rivers and on low terraces above the floodplain, azonal
wet meadows and swamps occur. Steppe-formed non-floodplain meadows are
less typical than in the neighboring Amur region. They grow on meadow
podbels, which are not on the same level as the meadow-chernozem-like
soils of the “Amur prairies”, but are part of the podbels - zonal soils
of mixed and broad-leaved forests.
In the Khor River basin, a
unique holly spruce forest for the mainland of the Russian Far East has
been preserved, in the lower tiers of which spiky yew and wrinkled holly
grow. Among other relicts, Amur velvet, high aralia, Amur monopoly,
Japanese chloranthus and average coniogram fern stand out for their
decorativeness. More than 250 species of plants are listed in the Red
Book of the Khabarovsk Territory, some of them: cross-paired microbiota,
pleasant weigela, Bureinsky gooseberry, Maksimovich's sarsaparilla,
Asian adlumia, lady's slippers, snow poppy, milky-flowered peony and
Pacific bergenia (a type of bergenia thick-leaved)