1.
Outer Manchuria
–
Outer Manchuria or Outer Northeast China is an unofficial term for a territory in Northeast Asia that was formerly part of the Chinese Qing dynasty and now belongs to Russia. It is considered part of the historical region of Manchuria which also includes the modern-day Northeast China. Russia officially received this territory by the treaties of the Treaty of Aigun in 1858. The northern part of the area was also in dispute between 1643 and 1689, Outer Manchuria comprises the present-day Russian areas of Primorsky Krai, southern Khabarovsk Krai, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, and Amur Oblast. A Chinese claim adds the island of Sakhalin, currently, the Peoples Republic of China has no claim to the territory. The Treaty of Nerchinsk, in 1689, defined the China–Russia border as the Stanovoy Mountains and the Argun River, making Outer Manchuria a part of Qing dynasty China. After losing the Opium Wars, the Qing dynasty was forced to sign a series of treaties that gave away land and ports to the European powers, these were known as the Unequal Treaties. Starting with the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking in 1860, as a result, China lost Outer Manchuria, as well as access to the Sea of Japan. The terms Outer Manchuria and Inner Manchuria, modeled on Inner and Outer Mongolia, were coined to support Chinese claims to Russian territory and were never used in scientific literature, Manchuria is an accepted term for the area now belonging to China. According to this view, there were no Manchus north of the Nen River, however, the native population of Outer Manchuria were southern Tungusics, closely related to the Manchu and no more different from them than the differences found among various Mongol groups. The only exception was the Nivkh people inhabiting the lowest reaches of the Amur River, evenks, who speak a closely related Tungusic language, make up a significant part of the indigenous population. The original inhabitants of the region were apparently the Mohe and other Tungusic tribes, according to the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, the Manchu-Russian border was the Argun River and the Stanovoy Mountains until the Pacific coast. The eastern end of the boundary was held to be the Uda River. However, the Qing dynasty ceded Outer Manchuria to Russia in the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking in 1860. A small region to the north of the Amur, known as the Sixty-Four Villages East of the River, was kept by the Qing dynasty under the Treaty of Aigun, but was invaded and annexed by Russia in 1900. Outer Manchuria formed part of the far provinces of the Soviet Union and was used as the launch-pad for the Soviet assault on Japanese-occupied Inner Manchuria in 1945. In 2004, Russia agreed to transfer Yinlong Island and half of Heixiazi Island to China, both islands are found at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, and were until then administered by Russia and claimed by China. The transfer was meant to foster reconciliation and cooperation between the two countries, but it has also sparked different degrees of discontent on both sides, russians, especially Cossack farmers in Khabarovsk who had plowlands on the islands, were unhappy about the loss of territory
2.
Flag of Amur Oblast
–
The flag of Amur Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, was adopted on April 16,1999. The lower part of the flag is blue in color and is separated from the part by a white serpentine belt. The width of the belt is 1/15 the width of the flag, the upper part of the flag is red, symbolizing the rich history of the Amur region. The ratio of the flag is 2,3
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Russia
–
Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
5.
Federal districts of Russia
–
The federal districts are groupings of the federal subjects of Russia. Plenipotentiary Representatives are appointed by the President and are employees of the Presidential Administration, source, President Vladimir Putin established seven federal districts in May 2000. On January 19,2010 the new North Caucasian Federal District split from the Southern Federal District, on March 2014, after the Russian military intervention in and annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Federal District was established. The legality of this annexation is disputed by most states as well as NATO, on July 28,2016 the Crimean Federal District was abolished and merged into the Southern Federal District in order to improve the governance
6.
Far Eastern Federal District
–
The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest of the eight federal districts of Russia but the least populated, with a population of 6,293,129 according to the 2010 Census. The entire federal district lies within the easternmost part of Asia, the Far Eastern Federal District was established on May 18,2000 by President Vladimir Putin and is currently being governed by presidential envoy Yury P. Trutnev. There are 66 cities in the Far Eastern Federal District, and 12 cities have population over 75,000, four of these cities are not administrative centers of a federal subject. Anadyr, center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is one of the center of federal subject. Only Magas, Ingushetia, is smaller than Anadyr, also, Artyom is a large suburban city of Vladivostok metropolitan area
7.
Economic regions of Russia
–
No federal subject can belong to more than one economic region. Economic regions are grouped into economic zones. An economic region or its parts can belong to more than one economic zone, establishment and abolition of economic regions and economic zones or any changes in their composition are decided upon by the federal government of Russia. The following is the list and composition of the economic regions, sorted by population
8.
Blagoveshchensk
–
Blagoveshchensk is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya Rivers, opposite to the Chinese city of Heihe. The Amur has formed Russias border with China since the 1858 Aigun Treaty and 1860 Treaty of Peking, the area north of the Amur belonged to the Manchu Qing dynasty by the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689, until it was ceded to Russia by Aigun Treaty in 1858. The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of todays Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers, the Grodekovo site is thought by archaeologists to have been populated since ca.1000 CE. As the Russians tried to assert their control over the region, since 1673, the Manchus re-used the site for their fort, which served in 1683-1685 as a base for the Manchus campaign against the Russian fort of Albazin further north. The series of conflicts between Russians and Manchus ended with Russias recognition of the Chinese sovereignty over both sides of the Amur by the Nerchinsk Treaty of 1689. As the balance of power in the region has changed by the mid-19th century, according to Blagoveshchensk authorities, by 1877 the city had some 8,000 residents, with merely 15 foreigners among them. In the course of the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing Imperial army, Chinese Honghuzi forces joined the attack against Blagoveshchensk. According to the Orthodox belief, the city was saved by a miraculous icon of Our Lady of Albazin. On July 3, a decision was made by the citys Police Chief Batarevich, as the cross-river shipping was interrupted by the rebellion, a question arose how to get them from the Russian side of the Amur to the Chinese side. Batarevich suggested that the deportees could be first taken east of the Zeya, as the local ataman refused to provide the deportees with boats to take them across the river, few of them made it to the Chinese side. The rest drowned in the Amur, or were shot or axed by the police, Cossacks and local volunteers, according to Chinese sources, about 5,000 people reportedly died during these events of July 4–8,1900. The expulsion of local Chinese caused some hardships for Blagoveshchensk consumers, not a Chinaman escaped, except forty who were employed by a leading foreign merchant who ransomed their lives at a thousand roubles each. These, and many even worse, atrocities are remembered and now is their moment for revenge, so it was easy for Japan to enlist the sympathy of these men, especially when emphasized by liberal pay, as is now the case. It is believed more than 10,000 of these bandits, divided into companies of from 200 to 300 each. The city was also the site of conflict during the Russian Civil War, from 1920 until 1922, the city was declared part of the Far Eastern Republic, an area which was nominally independent, but in reality a buffer zone under control of the Russian SFSR. The city became the center of Amur Oblast in 1932. During the Cultural Revolution the city was subject to Maoist propaganda blasted from loudspeakers across the river 24 hours a day, on August 1,2011 Blagoveshchensk was hit by an F2 tornado. The tornado claimed one life and injured twenty-eight people, damage costs are estimated at 80 million rubles
9.
Federal subjects of Russia
–
Since March 18,2014, the Russian Federation constitutionally consists of 85 federal subjects, although the two most recently added subjects are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Three Russian cities of importance have a status of both city and separate federal subject which comprises other cities and towns within federal city keeping old structure of postal address. In 1993, there were 89 federal subjects listed, by 2008, the number of federal subjects had been decreased to 83 because of several mergers. In 2014, Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea became the 84th and 85th federal subjects of Russia, every federal subject has its own head, a parliament, and a constitutional court. Federal subjects have their own constitution and legislation, subjects have equal rights in relations with federal government bodies. The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council and they do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy. Composition of post-Soviet Russia was formed during the history of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic within the USSR, the Federation Treaty was included in the text of the 1978 Constitution of the Russian SFSR. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the system became de jure closer to other modern federal states with a republican form of government in the world. There are several groupings of Russian regions, Federal subjects should not be confused with the eight Federal districts which are not subdivisions of Russia, are much larger and each encompass many federal subjects. Federal districts were created by Executive Order of the President of Russia specially for presidential envoys, an official government translation of the Constitution of Russia in Article 5 states,1. Another translation of the Constitution of Russia gives for article 65, each federal subject belongs to one of the following types, b. ^ According to Article 13 of the Charter of Leningrad Oblast, however, St. Petersburg is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ According to Article 24 of the Charter of Moscow Oblast, however, Moscow is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ Not recognized internationally as a part of Russia, the merging process was finished on March 1,2008. No new mergers have been planned since March 2008, Федерального конституционного закона №7-ФКЗ от30 декабря2008 г. Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Российская газета, №237,25 декабря1993 г
10.
Time in Russia
–
There are eleven time zones in Russia, which currently observe times ranging from UTC+02,00 to UTC+12,00. Daylight saving time is not used in Russia, since 4 December 2016, the time zones are as follows, Daylight saving time in Russia was originally introduced on 30 June 1917 by a decree of the Russian Provisional Government. However, it was abandoned by a Decree of the Soviet government five months later, Daylight saving time was re-introduced in the USSR on 1 April 1981, by a decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The usage of daylight saving time continued after the Soviet collapse but ended in 2011, on 27 March 2011, clocks were advanced as usual, but they did not go back on 30 October 2011, effectively making Moscow Time UTC+4 permanently. In the Russian Empire, most of the observed solar time. During the late 19th century, Moscow Mean Time was introduced on 1 January 1880,2,30,17 corresponds to 37. 6166667°, the longitude of Moscow. Other parts of Russia kept solar time for several years. At this time, Russia had the Julian calendar with 12 or 13 days less date compared to Western Europe, so it is possible to say the Moscow actually had GMT-285,29,43, GMT-309,29,43 and GMT-309,28,41. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar on Thursday,14 February 1918, after the Soviet Union was created, Moscow Time became UTC+2 and the various other time zones were introduced throughout Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union, for example Irkutsk Time GMT+7. Between 1917-1922 the time was ordered, with daylight savings time some of those years. On 21 June 1930, the Soviet Union advanced all clocks by one hour, Moscow Time was now GMT+3 and Irkutsk Time GMT+8. On 1 April 1981, daylight saving time was re-introduced, clocks were moved one hour forward on 1 April, on 1 April 1981,00,00,00, Oymyakonsky District changed its time zone from MSK+6 to MSK+8. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+9 to UTC+12, on 1 April 1982,00,00,00, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug changed its time zone from MSK+10 to MSK+9, thus eliminating Anadyr Time. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+14 to UTC+13, on 27 March 1988,02,00,00, Saratov and Volgograd oblasts changed its time zone from MSK+1 to MSK. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+5 to UTC+4, on 23 May 1993,00,00,00, Novosibirsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+8 to UTC+7, on 28 May 1995,00,00,00, Altai Krai and Altai Republic changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 30 March 1997,02,00,00, Sakhalin Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+8 to MSK+7, on 1 May 2002,03,00,00, Tomsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 1 January 2004,00,00,00, New Siberian Islands, Tomponsky District, the following time zone changes occurred on 28 March 2010, which, in particular, led to abolition of two of the eleven time zones
11.
Vehicle registration plates of Russia
–
Vehicle registration plates are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in Russia for many decades. Most motor vehicles which are used on roads are required by law to display them. The current format uses a letter followed by 3 digits and two more letters, to improve legibility of the numbers for Russian cars abroad, only a small subset of Cyrillic characters that look like Latin characters are used. Finally, the number and letters RUS are included, as well as the national flag. There is a different format for trailers, motorcycles, mopeds and scooters plates are made of square reflective plates and its format is 4 digits at the top and two letters at the bottom. Some autonomous regions are not required to have the flag on the licence plates, vehicles used by certain organisations or categories of persons carry special plates, Special plates in the above categories never carry the Russian flag, except for trailers. There are special reserved for government officials. The license plates for government officials originally had a larger flag instead of the regional code. Rich businessmen, prominent politicians and crime lords often use para-legally acquired special licence plates to get preferential treatment from the transport police, often, this is used in conjunction with a flashing siren. The Society of Blue Buckets is a protest movement that opposes this trend, as of 2014, there are new codes for Russian plates, number 82 for the Republic of Crimea and 92 for Sevastopol. The Russian Federation then officially annexed Crimea from Ukraine and now administers it as two federal subjects, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Ukraine, backed by most of the community, refuses to accept the annexation. As per GOST provision, only 1,726,272 combinations may be issued within one administration unit, in certain regions, the amount of vehicles exceeds that number, and the combination may not be reused after a vehicle was taken off the registration. All this creates an issue of running out of numbers, a short-term solution was introducing more codes for those regions. Introduction of new license plate is being considered as a future solution. In the following years some codes were reassigned or discontinued, as the populous regions started running out of license plate combinations, new codes past code 89 were assigned to them as well. Additional triple-digit codes were created by adding a 1 or a 7 to the regional code. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Order 282 from March 28,2002, 1Code 059 is a former code for Syria
12.
Russian language
–
Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
13.
Romanization of Russian
–
Romanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic script into the Latin alphabet. Scientific transliteration, also known as the International Scholarly System, is a system that has used in linguistics since the 19th century. It is based on the Czech alphabet and formed the basis of the GOST, OST8483 was the first Soviet standard on romanization of Russian, introduced in 16 October 1935. This standard is an equivalent of GOST 16876-71 and was adopted as a standard of the COMECON. GOST7. 79-2000 System of Standards on Information, Librarianship and it is the official standard of both Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Machine readable passports is an adoption of an ICAO stadards for travel documents and it was used in Russian passports for a short period during 2010–2013. The standard was substituted in 2013 by GOST R ISO/IEC 7501-1-2013, which does not contain romanization, ISO/R9, established in 1954 and updated in 1968, was the adoption of the scientific transliteration by the International Organization for Standardization. It covers Russian and seven other Slavic languages, ISO9,1995 is the current transliteration standard from ISO. It is based on its predecessor ISO/R9,1968, which it deprecates, for Russian, the UNGEGN, a Working Group of the United Nations, in 1987 recommended a romanization system for geographical names, which was based on the 1983 version of GOST 16876-71. It may be found in some international cartographic products, American Library Association and Library of Congress romanization tables for Slavic alphabets are used in North American libraries and in the British Library since 1975. The formal, unambiguous version of the system requires some diacritics and two-letter tie characters, British Standard 2979,1958 is the main system of the Oxford University Press, and a variation was used by the British Library to catalogue publications acquired up to 1975. The BGN/PCGN system is relatively intuitive for Anglophones to read and pronounce, the portion of the system pertaining to the Russian language was adopted by BGN in 1944 and by PCGN in 1947. In Soviet international passports, transliteration was based on French rules, in 1997, with the introduction of new Russian passports, a diacritic-free English-oriented system was established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but this system was also abandoned in 2010. In 2006, GOST52535. 1-2006 was adopted, which defines technical requirements and standards for Russian international passports, in 2010, the Federal Migratory Service of Russia approved Order No. 26, stating that all names in the passports issued after 2010 must be transliterated using GOST52535. 1-2006. The standard was abandoned in 2013, finally in 2013, Order No.320 of the Federal Migratory Service of Russia came into force. It states that all names in the passports must be transliterated using the ICAO system. This system differs from the GOST52535. 1-2006 system in two things, ц is transliterated into ts, ъ is transliterated into ie, Scholarly ¹ Some archaic letters are transcribed in different ways
14.
Amur River
–
The Amur River or Heilong Jiang is the worlds tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China. The largest fish species in the Amur is the kaluga, attaining a length as great as 5.6 metres, historically, it was common to refer to a river simply as water. The word for water is similar in a number of Asiatic languages, mul in Korean, muren in Mongolian, the name Amur may have evolved from a root word for water, coupled with a size modifier for Big Water. The Chinese name for the river, Heilong Jiang, means Black Dragon River in Chinese, and its Mongolian name, Khar mörön, means Black River. The river rises in the hills in the part of Northeast China at the confluence of its two major affluents, the Shilka River and the Ergune River, at an elevation of 303 metres. It flows east forming the border between China and Russia, and slowly makes an arc to the southeast for about 400 kilometres, receiving many tributaries. At Huma, it is joined by a tributary, the Huma River. Afterwards it continues to south until between the cities of Blagoveschensk and Heihe, it widens significantly as it is joined by the Zeya River. At the confluence with the Songhua the river turns northeast, now flowing towards Khabarovsk, now the river spreads out dramatically into a braided character, flowing north-northeast through a wide valley in eastern Russia, passing Amursk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The valley narrows after about 200 kilometres and the river flows north onto plains at the confluence with the Amgun River. Shortly after, the Amur turns sharply east and into an estuary at Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, in many historical references these two geopolitical entities are known as Outer Manchuria and Inner Manchuria, respectively. The Chinese province of Heilongjiang on the bank of the river is named after it. The name Black River was used by the Manchu and the Ta-tsing Empire who regarded this river as sacred, the Amur River is an important symbol of, and geopolitical factor in, Chinese–Russian relations. The Amur was especially important in the following the Sino–Soviet political split in the 1960s. For many centuries the Amur Valley was populated by the Tungusic and Mongol people, for many of them, fishing in the Amur and its tributaries was the main source of their livelihood. Until the 17th century, these people were not known to the Europeans, and little known to the Han Chinese, the term Yupi Dazi was used for the Nanais and related groups as well, owing to their traditional clothes made of fish skins. This Ming Dynasty Aigun was located on the bank to the later Aigun that was relocated during the Qing Dynasty. In any event, the Ming presence on the Amur was as short-lived as it was tenuous, soon after the end of the Yongle era, Russian Cossack expeditions led by Vassili Poyarkov and Yerofey Khabarov explored the Amur and its tributaries in 1643–44 and 1649–51, respectively
15.
Zeya River
–
Zeya River,1,242 km long, is a northern tributary of the Amur River. It rises in the Tokiysky Stanovik mountain ridge, a part of the Stanovoy Range, the first Russian to enter the area was Vassili Poyarkov. Zeya flows through the Zeya Reservoir and joins the Amur River near Blagoveshchensk, regulation of river discharge by Zeya Dam mitigates extrimities of river flow down to 5000 m³/s. The main tributaries of the Zeya River are Tok, Mulmuga, Bryanta, Gilyuy, and Urkan on the right, and Kupuri, Argi, Dep, Selemdzha, the river freezes from November to May. It is navigable with the most important river ports being Zeya, Svobodny, and Blagoveshchensk
16.
Russian Far East
–
The Russian Far East is the Russian part of the Far East, i. e. the extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean. The Far Eastern Federal District, which covers this area, borders with the Siberian Federal District to the west. The Far Eastern Federal District has land borders with the Peoples Republic of China and North Korea to the south west and maritime borders with Japan, although traditionally considered part of Siberia, the Russian Far East is categorized separately from Siberia in Russian regional schemes. In Russia, the region is referred to as just Far East. What is known in English as the Far East is usually referred to as the Asia-Pacific Region, primorskaya Oblast was established as a separate administrative division of the Russian Empire in 1856, with its administrative center at Khabarovsk. Until 2000, the Russian Far East lacked officially defined boundaries, a single term Siberia and the Far East was often used to refer to Russias regions east of the Urals without drawing a clear distinction between Siberia and the Far East. Since 2000, the term Far East has been used in Russia to refer to the federal district. Defined by the boundaries of the district, the Far East has an area of 6.2 million square kilometers—over one-third of Russias total area. Russia in the early 1900s persistently sought a warm water port on the Pacific Ocean for the navy as well as to facilitate maritime trade, the recently established Pacific seaport of Vladivostok was operational only during the summer season, but Port Arthur in Manchuria was operational all year. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the failure of the 1903 negotiations between Japan and the Tsarss government, Japan chose war to protect its domination of Korea and adjacent territories. Russia, meanwhile, saw war as a means of distracting its populace from government repression, Japan issued a declaration of war on 8 February 1904. However, three hours before Japans declaration of war was received by the Russian Government, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Russian Far East Fleet at Port Arthur, eight days later Russia declared war on Japan. Japan also received the southern half of the Island of Sakhalin from Russia, between 1937 and 1939, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin deported over 200,000 Koreans to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, fearing that the Koreans might act as spies for Japan. Many Koreans died on the way in cattle due to starvation, illness. Many community leaders were purged and executed, Koryo-saram were not allowed to travel outside of Central Asia for the next 15 years, Koreans were also not allowed to use the Korean language and its use began to become lost with the involvement of Koryo-mar and the use of Russian. Development of numerous remote locations relied on GULAG labour camps during Stalins rule, after that, the large-scale use of forced labour waned and was superseded by volunteer employees attracted by relatively high wages. Indeed, Japan turned its interests to Soviet territories. Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria between 1938 and 1945, the first confrontation occurred in Primorsky Krai, the Battle of Lake Khasan was an attempted military incursion of Manchukuo into the territory claimed by the Soviet Union
17.
Gold mining
–
Gold mining is the resource extraction of gold by mining. As of 2015, the worlds largest gold producer by far was China with 455 tonnes, the second-largest producer, Australia, mined 270 tonnes in the same year, followed by Russia with 250 tonnes. It is impossible to know the date that humans first began to mine gold. The graves of the necropolis were built between 4700 and 4200 BC, indicating that gold mining could be at least 7000 years old. A group of German and Georgian archaeologists claims the Sakdrisi site in southern Georgia, dating to the 3rd or 4th millennium BC, bronze age gold objects are plentiful, especially in Ireland and Spain, and there are several well known possible sources. Romans used hydraulic mining methods, such as hushing and ground sluicing on a scale to extract gold from extensive alluvial deposits. Mining was under the control of the state but the mines may have been leased to civilian contractors some time later, Gold was a prime motivation for the campaign in Dacia when the Romans invaded Transylvania in what is now modern Romania in the second century AD. The legions were led by the emperor Trajan, and their exploits are shown on Trajans Column in Rome, under the Eastern Roman Empire Emperor Justinians rule, gold was mined in the Balkans, Anatolia, Armenia, Egypt, and Nubia. In the area of the Kolar Gold Fields in Bangarpet Taluk, Kolar District of Karnataka state, India, gold was first mined prior to the 2nd and 3rd century AD by digging small pits. The Champion reef at the Kolar gold fields was mined to a depth of 50 metres during the Gupta period in the fifth century AD, during the Chola period in the 9th and 10th century AD, the scale of the operation grew. The metal continued to be mined by the eleventh century kings of South India, the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1560, and later by Tipu Sultan, the king of Mysore state and it is estimated that the total gold production in Karnataka to date is 1000 tons. The mining of the Slovak deposit primarily around Kremnica was the largest of the Medieval period in Europe, the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand led to the Second Boer War and ultimately the founding of South Africa. The Carlin Trend of Nevada, U. S. was discovered in 1961, as of 2015, the worlds largest gold producer by far was China with 455 tonnes/year. The second-largest producer, Australia, mined 270 tonnes in the same year, despite the decreasing gold content of ores, the production is increasing. This can be achieved with industrial installations, and new process, placer mining is the technique by which gold that has accumulated in a placer deposit is extracted. Placer deposits are composed of loose material that makes tunneling difficult. Gold panning is mostly a manual technique of separating gold from other materials, wide, shallow pans are filled with sand and gravel that may contain gold. The pan is submerged in water and shaken, sorting the gold from the gravel, as gold is much denser than rock, it quickly settles to the bottom of the pan
18.
Trans-Siberian Railway
–
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East. With a length of 9,289 kilometres, it is the longest railway line in the world, there are connecting branch lines into Mongolia, China and North Korea. It has connected Moscow with Vladivostok since 1916, and is still being expanded and it was built between 1891 and 1916 under the supervision of Russian government ministers personally appointed by Tsar Alexander III and his son, the Tsarevich Nicholas. Even before it had completed, it attracted travellers who wrote of their adventures. Russia has expressed its desire for Pakistan to participate in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, the railway is often associated with the main transcontinental Russian line that connects hundreds of large and small cities of the European and Asian parts of Russia. At a Moscow-Vladivostok track length of 9,289 kilometres, it spans a record eight time zones, a second primary route is the Trans-Manchurian, which coincides with the Trans-Siberian east of Chita as far as Tarskaya, about 1,000 km east of Lake Baikal. From Tarskaya the Trans-Manchurian heads southeast, via Harbin and Mudanjiang in Chinas Northeastern Provinces and this is the shortest and the oldest railway route to Vladivostok. While there are currently no passenger services on this branch. The third primary route is the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which coincides with the Trans-Siberian as far as Ulan-Ude on Lake Baikals eastern shore, from Ulan-Ude the Trans-Mongolian heads south to Ulaan-Baatar before making its way southeast to Beijing. In 1991, a route running further to the north was finally completed. Known as the Baikal Amur Mainline, this recent extension departs from the Trans-Siberian line at Taishet several hundred miles west of Lake Baikal and it crosses the Amur River at Komsomolsk-na-Amure, and reaches the Tatar Strait at Sovetskaya Gavan. On 13 October 2011, a train from Khasan made its run to Rajin. In the late 19th century, the development of Siberia was hampered by poor transport links within the region, aside from the Great Siberian Route, good roads suitable for wheeled transport were rare. For about five months of the year, rivers were the means of transport. During the cold half of the year, cargo and passengers travelled by horse-drawn sledges over the roads, many of which were the same rivers. The first steamboat on the River Ob, Nikita Myasnikovs Osnova, was launched in 1844, but early beginnings were difficult, and it was not until 1857 that steamboat shipping started developing on the Ob system in a serious way. Steamboats started operating on the Yenisei in 1863, and on the Lena, an attempt to partially remedy the situation by building the Ob-Yenisei Canal was not particularly successful. Only a railway could be a solution to the regions transport problems
19.
Russian Census (2010)
–
The Russian Census of 2010 is the first census of the Russian Federation population since 2002 and the second after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Preparations for the census began in 2007 and it took place between October 14 and October 25, the census was originally scheduled for October 2010, but was moved to 2013 allegedly for financial reasons, although it was also speculated that political motives were influential in the decision. However, in late 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the Government of Russia allocated 10.5 billion rubles in order to conduct the census as originally scheduled, Results showed the population to stand at 142.9 million. Since the previous 2002 census, population has decreased by 2.3 million, according to the 2010 census, urban population is 105.3 million, rural population is 37.5 million. The urbanisation rate is currently 73. 7%, the median age is 38 years. The ethnic composition is dominated by Russians, demographics of Russia Russian Census 2010 final results Results of 2010 All-Russia population census Official website of the 2010 Census
20.
Russian Empire
–
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
21.
Stanovoy Range
–
The Stanovoy Range, also known as Sükebayatur and Sükhbaatar in Mongolian, or Outer Khingan Range is a mountain range located in southeastern parts of the Russian Far East. It runs south-west to north-east for over 900 km, from the Olyokma River in the west, almost to the Sea of Okhotsk. It separates the watershed of the Arctic Ocean from that of the Pacific Ocean, for this reason, it was the border between Russia and China from 1689 to 1858. Its highest point is Mount Skalisty at 2,482 meters, the range has many glaciers, which are the main source of the Lena River. The Yablonovy Range may be considered an extension of the Stavonoy. Before the 20th century, Stanavoy could also refer to a somewhat mythical range along the west coast of the Sea of Okhotsk
22.
Sakha Republic
–
The Sakha Republic is a federal subject of Russia. It has a population of 958,528, consisting mainly of ethnic Yakuts and it is larger than Argentina and just smaller than India which covers an area of 3,287,590 square kilometers. Its capital is the city of Yakutsk, the Sakha Republic is one of the ten autonomous Turkic Republics within the Russian Federation. The hypercontinental tendencies also result in warm summers for much of the republic. Borders, internal, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Magadan Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Amur Oblast, Zabaykalsky Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai. water, Arctic Ocean. These waters, the coldest and iciest of all seas in the Northern Hemisphere, are covered by ice for 9–10 months of the year, new Siberian Islands are a part of the republics territory. Sakha can be divided into three great vegetation belts, about 40% of Sakha lies above the Arctic circle and all of it is covered by permafrost which greatly influences the regions ecology and limits forests in the southern region. Arctic and subarctic tundra define the region, where lichen. In the southern part of the belt, scattered stands of dwarf Siberian pine. Below the tundra is the vast taiga forest region, larch trees dominate in the north and stands of fir and pine begin to appear in the south. Taiga forests cover about 47% of Sakha and almost 90% of the cover is larch, Sakha spans three time zones, Yakutsk Time Zone. Covers the republics territory to the west of the Lena River as well as the territories of the located on the both sides of the Lena River. Covers most of the territory located between 127°E and 140°E longitude. Covers most of the territory located east of 140°E longitude. Districts, Abyysky, Allaikhovsky, Momsky, Nizhnekolymsky, Srednekolymsky, Verkhnekolymsky, the Chersky Range runs east of the Verkhoyansk Range and has the highest peak in Sakha, Peak Pobeda. The second highest peak is Peak Mus-Khaya reaching 3,011 m, the Stanovoi Range borders Sakha in the south. Sakha is well endowed with raw materials, the soil contains large reserves of oil, gas, coal, diamonds, gold, silver, tin, tungsten and many others. Sakha produces 99% of all Russian diamonds and over 25% of the diamonds mined in the world, Sakha is known for its climate extremes, with the Verkhoyansk Range being the coldest area in the Northern Hemisphere
23.
Khabarovsk Krai
–
Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia, located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, the administrative center of the krai is the city of Khabarovsk. The indigenous people of the area are various Tungusic peoples and Amur Nivkhs, in terms of area, it is the fourth-largest federal subject within Russia. Taiga and tundra in the north, swampy forest in the central depression, Khabarovsk Krai has a severely continental climate with its northern areas being subarctic with stronger maritime summer moderation in the north. This is because of the influence of the East Asian monsoon in summer, in 1643, Vassili Poyarkovs boats descended the Amur, returning to Yakutsk by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Aldan River, and in 1649–1650 Yerofey Khabarov occupied the banks of the Amur. The resistance of the Chinese, however, obliged the Cossacks to quit their forts, although the Russians were thus deprived of the right to navigate the Amur River, the territorial claim over the lower courses of the river was not settled in the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689. The area between Uda River and Greater Khingan mountain range was left undemarcated and the Sino-Russian border was allowed to fluctuate, later in the nineteenth century, Nikolay Muravyov would conduct an aggressive policy with China by claiming that the lower reaches of the Amur River belonged to Russia. In 1852, a Russian military expedition under Muravyov explored the Amur, the Sino-Russian border was later further delineated in the Treaty of Peking of 1860 when the Ussuri Territory, which was previously a joint possession, became Russian. Modern Khabarovsk Krai was established on October 20,1938, when the Far Eastern Krai was split into the Khabarovsk, since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament. The Charter of Khabarovsk Krai is the law of the krai. The Legislative Duma of Khabarovsk Krai is the regional standing legislative body, the Legislative Duma exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The Krai Administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official, Khabarovsk Krai is the most industrialized territory of the Far East of Russia, producing 30% of the total industrial products in the Far Eastern Economic Region. The machine construction industry consists primarily of a highly developed military-industrial complex of large-scale aircraft-, the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association is currently one of among the krais most successful enterprises, and for years has been the largest taxpayer of the territory. In the Amur basin, there is some cultivation of wheat. The administrative center, Khabarovsk, is at the junction of the Amur River, the regions own mineral resources are underdeveloped. According to the 2010 Census,91. 8% of the population are Russians,2. 1% Ukrainians,0. 8% Nanais,0. 6% Tatars,0. 6% Koreans,55,038 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group, in addition to the Nanai, other indigenous groups include the Evenks and Evens in the northern part of the province, and Ulchs in the lower Amur river. Some Nivkhs, a fishing people speaking an isolate language
24.
Jewish Autonomous Oblast
–
The Jewish Autonomous Oblast is a federal subject of Russia in the Russian Far East, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast in Russia and Heilongjiang province in China. Russian Jews are sometimes referred to as Yevrey and its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan. As of the 2010 Census, JAOs population was 176,558 people, Judaism is practiced by only 0. 2% of the population of the JAO. Per Article 65 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the JAO is Russias only autonomous oblast, aside from Israel, it is the worlds only official Jewish territory. In December 1858, the Russian government authorized formation of the Amur Cossacks to protect the southeast boundary of Siberia and communications on the Amur and this military colonization included settlers from Transbaikalia. During 1858–82, many consisting of wooden houses were founded. It is estimated that as much as 40,000 men from the Russian military moved into the region, in 1898, construction began on the Trans-Siberian Railway connecting Chita and Vladivostok. The project produced an influx of new settlers and the foundation of new settlements. Between 1908 and 1912, stations opened at Volochayevka, Obluchye, Bira, Birakan, Londoko, In, the railway construction finished in October 1916 with the opening of the 2, 590-meter Khabarovsk Bridge across the Amur at Khabarovsk. During this time, before the revolution, most local inhabitants were farmers, the only industrial enterprise was the Tungussky timber mill, although gold was mined in the Sutara River, and there were some small railway workshops. In 1922, during the Russian Civil War, the territory of the future Jewish Autonomous Oblast was the scene of Battle of Volochayevka. Although Judaism ran counter to the state policy of atheism, Vladimir Lenin wanted to appease minority groups to gain their support. In such framework, literature and the arts would replace religion as the expression of culture. The Soviets envisaged setting up a new Soviet Zion, where a proletarian Jewish culture could be developed, the Soviets also wanted to offer an alternative to Zionism, the establishment of Palestine as a Jewish homeland. Socialist Zionists such as Ber Borochov were gaining followers at that time, in 1924, the unemployment rate among Jews exceeded 30%, partially as a result of pogroms but also as a result of communism, which prohibited people from being craftspeople and small businessmen. With the goal of getting Jews back to work to be productive members of society, the government established Komzet. Originally the plan was to settle the Jews in Ukraine and Crimea, Two Jewish districts were formed in Crimea and three in south Ukraine. However, local opposition made the governmental committees look elsewhere, Birobidzhan, in what is now the JAO, was chosen by the Soviet elite as the site for the Jewish region
25.
Heilongjiang
–
Heilongjiang is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Heilongjiang literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur, the Manchu name of the region is Sahaliyan ula, from which the name of Sakhalin is derived, and the Mongolian name with the same meaning is Qaramörin. Heilongjiang borders Jilin in the south and Inner Mongolia to the west, it also borders Russia to the north, the Amur River marks the border between the Peoples Republic of China and Russia to the north. Heilongjiang contains Chinas northernmost point and easternmost point, ancient Chinese records and other sources state that Heilongjiang was inhabited by people such as the Buyeo, the Mohe, Balhae and the Khitan. Mongolic Donghu people lived in Inner Mongolia and the part of Heilongjiang. Some names are Manchu or Mongolian, the eastern portion of Heilongjiang was ruled by the kingdom of Balhae between the 7th century and 10th century. The Jurchen Jin dynasty that ruled much of north China arose within the borders of modern Heilongjiang. Heilongjiang as an entity was created in 1683, during the Kangxi era of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The eastern part of whats today Heilongjiang remained under the supervision of the General of Jilin and these areas deep in Manchuria were closed off to Han Chinese migration. The original seat of the Military Governor of Heilongjiang, as established in 1683, was in Heilongjang City, however, already in 1690 the seat of the governor was transferred to Nenjiang on the Nen River, and, in 1699, further south to Qiqihar. An additional advantage of Qiqihar may have been its location at the junction of a northbound road, little Qing Military presence existed north of Aigun. At the same time, Manchuria was opened to Han Chinese migration by the Qing government, by the early twentieth century, due to the Chuang Guandong, the Han Chinese had become the dominant ethnic group in the region. In 1931, Japanese forces invaded Heilongjiang, in 1932, the Japanese completed their conquest of the province, which became part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In 1945, Japanese forces in Manchuria were defeated by the Soviet Army, during the Chinese Civil War, Soviet forces aided the Chinese communists. Heilongjiang became the first province to be controlled by the communists. At the beginning of communist rule, Heilongjiang included only the portion of the present-day province. The remaining area was the province of Songjiang, its capital was Harbin, in 1954, these two provinces were merged into present-day Heilongjiang. During the Cultural Revolution, Heilongjiang was also expanded to include Hulunbuir League and some areas previously in Inner Mongolia
26.
Zabaykalsky Krai
–
The administrative center of the krai is located in the city of Chita. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 1,107,107, the first traces of human presence in the area dates to 150-35 thousand years ago. Early evidence was found on the surface of ancient river gravels Gyrshelunki near the city of Chita, mongolic-related Slab Grave cultural monuments are found in Baikal territory. The territory of Zabaykalsky Krai has been governed by the Xiongnu Empire and Mongolian Xianbei state, Rouran Khaganate, Mongol Empire, medieval Mongol tribes like Merkit, Tayichiud, Jalairs and Khamag Mongols inhabited in the krai. In the 17th century, some or all of Mongolic-speaking Daurs lived along the Shilka, upper Amur and they thus gave their name to the region of Dauria, also called Transbaikal, now the area of Russia east of Lake Baikal. Today Buryat-Mongols remained in the territory of the krai, preliminary work on the unification of the Chita Oblast and Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug was started at the level of regional authorities in April 2006. A referendum on unification took place on March 11,2007, in Chita Oblast,90. 29% of the voters voted for the union versus -8. 89% who voted against it. In the Aga Buryat Autonomous Region 94% voted for the union versus -5. 16%82. 95% of the voters participated. And approved by the Federation Council on July 11,2007 and he assumed the post on March 1,2008. United Russia candidate Natalia Zhdanova was elected governor with 54% of the vote on September 18,2016, the population was mostly Russians and Buryats, along with some Ukrainians and a few Evenks. There were 1,000 Jews in the regional capital, according to the 2010 Census, Russians made up 89. 9% of the population while Buryats were 6. 8%. Other significant groups were Ukrainian, Tatars, Belorussian, Azeri,19,981 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group, natural Growth Rate,0. 04% per year. In addition, 28% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 17% to be atheist, list of Chairmen of the Legislative Assembly of Zabaikalsky Krai Законодательное Собрание Забайкальского края. Закон №125-ЗЗК от17 февраля2009 г, Закона №1307-ЗЗК от25 марта2016 г «О внесении изменения в статью52 Устава Забайкальского края». Вступил в силу через десять дней после дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Забайкальский рабочий, №30,18 февраля2009 г. Федеральный конституционный закон №5-ФКЗ от21 июля2007 г, «Об образовании в составе Российской Федерации нового субъекта Российской Федерации в результате объединения Читинской области и Агинского-Бурятского автономного округа»
27.
Hydropower
–
Hydropower or water power is power derived from the energy of falling water or fast running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. A trompe, which compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power other machinery at a distance. In the late 19th century, hydropower became a source for generating electricity, cragside in Northumberland was the first house powered by hydroelectricity in 1878 and the first commercial hydroelectric power plant was built at Niagara Falls in 1879. In 1881, street lamps in the city of Niagara Falls were powered by hydropower, since the early 20th century, the term has been used almost exclusively in conjunction with the modern development of hydroelectric power. In China and the rest of the Far East, hydraulically operated pot wheel pumps raised water into crop or irrigation canals, the power of a wave of water released from a tank was used for extraction of metal ores in a method known as hushing. The method was first used at the Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Wales from 75 AD onwards, hushing was also widely used in Britain in the Medieval and later periods to extract lead and tin ores. It later evolved into hydraulic mining when used during the California Gold Rush and these include an endless belt with jugs attached, a cow-powered shadoof, and a reciprocating device with hinged valves. In 1753, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique which described vertical-, the growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, water was the source of power for new inventions such as Richard Arkwrights water frame. In the 1830s, at the peak in US canal-building, hydropower provided the energy to transport barge traffic up. Technological advances had moved the water wheel into an enclosed turbine or water motor. Francis, while working as engineer of Lowells Locks and Canals company. He applied scientific principles and testing methods to the problem of turbine design and his mathematical and graphical calculation methods allowed confident design of high efficiency turbines to exactly match a sites specific flow conditions. The Francis reaction turbine is still in use today. Hydraulic power networks used pipes to carrying pressurized water and transmit power from the source to end users. The power source was normally a head of water, which could also be assisted by a pump and these were extensive in Victorian cities in the United Kingdom. A hydraulic power network was developed in Geneva, Switzerland. The world-famous Jet dEau was originally designed as the relief valve for the network
28.
Drainage basin
–
A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
29.
Lena River
–
The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean. It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed and it is also the 3rd largest river in Asia. It is the largest among the rivers watershed is entirely within the Russian territorial boundaries. From Yakutsk it enters the lowlands and flows north until joined by its tributary the Aldan River and its most important left-hand tributary. In the upper section west and northwest of Lake Baikal the river flows mostly north and it turns west and then south losing another 600 meters in 128 km, to Chanchur, where there is a ranger station. 4222, Kachug, start of navigation, road to Irkutsk,4197, Verkholensk, mouth of the Kulenga River, northwest through mountains, Tutura River. 4108, Zhigalovo, start of service, including hydrofoil to Ust-Kut. In the central section the river flows mostly northeast,3705, Ust-Kut, northwest of the northern tip of Lake Baikal. In Cossack times, this was the site of a portage between the Yenesei and Lena, today it is the point where the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway crosses the Lena on a bridge and it handles 80% of cargo in the Sakha Republic region. 3397, Kirensk, port and former Cossack portage,3101, The devils path, a section treacherous in flood. 3096, Shcheki, a section with cliffs and twists. 2955, Vitim, and Vitim River from the south and we are now northeast of Lake Baikal. Many dead trees in the water,2931, Peledui, Peledui River, ship repair company and salt mines. 2744, Lensk, the most important port between Kirensk and Yakutsk, road 230 km north to the Mir Mine. Here was a point of the Perlinsky Trakht, a former courier route. Lena turns southeast and then northeast,2587, Chepaevo,2547, Macha,2937, Olyokminsk, Olyokma River from the south. River widens to 2 km and has extensive flood plains,2213, Uritskoe, 2030-1850, Lena Pillars, cliffs along the right bank. 1820, Mokhsogollokh, ferry and paved road to Yakutsk on the opposite bank,1805, Pokrovsk, downstream, Tabaga Cliffs, narrows, power line and planned site of bridge for the Amur Yakutsk Mainline railroad
30.
Uda River (Khabarovsk Krai)
–
Uda is a river in Khabarovsk Krai, in the Russian Far East. It flows 457 kilometres into the Sea of Okhotsk near the small town Chumikan and it rises south of the eastern Stanovoy Mountains and flows east, receiving tributaries from the Stanovoys. Some of Ivan Moskvitins men reached the Uda in 1640, the local Lamuts told them of the Zeya River and the Amur River but would not guide them inland. In 1684 some Cossacks fled from the Manchus on the Zeya River, reached Udsk, Udsk Ostrog was founded in 1679, or 1659 on the left bank of the river 76 to 97 kilometres upstream. There were suggestions to move Okhotsk south to Udsk but this was rejected because of the poor harbor, there were generally about 10 peasant families around the fort trying to produce grain and a few thin cattle, but results were poor. Sometimes seed corn had to be imported, a pood of rye flour that cost half a ruble at Irkutsk cost 8 to 10 rubles at Udsk. The population was 30 in 1690,200 in 1800 and 164 in 1865, yakutsk-Udsk Track, This was an ill-defined route used to supply Udsk from Yakutsk. It was open from April to October but there was some winter travel and its length was estimated at 1,123 to 1,502 kilometres. It crossed the Amga River at Amginsk, the Aldan River at Kompaneisk, pack horses were usually left at Udsk as food for sled dogs or people while the Yakut drivers returned to Yakutsk on foot or skis. In 1750 all the pack horses perished in deep snow resulting in starvation, in 1788 more than 100 horses drowned during the spring snowmelt
31.
Olyokma River
–
The Olyokma River is a tributary of the Lena in eastern Siberia. To the west is the Vitim River, to the south the Shilka River and Amur River and to the east and its right branch, the Tungir River, leads to a portage to the Shilka. Yerofey Khabarov used this route to travel from the Lena to the Amur, other tributaries are the Nyukzha and the Chara Rivers. The river is approximately 1,320 kilometers long, the Olyokma rises in the south of the Yablonovy Mountains, west of Mogocha. It flows north through remote terrain before joining the Lena near Olyokminsk
32.
Zeya Dam
–
The Zeya Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Zeya River, located 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 and it is equipped with 6 hydro-turbines,4 with capacity of 225 MW and 2 with capacity of 215 MW. The Zeya Reservoir, located upstream, is kept at a depth of 93 metres. A narrow,40 kilometres long valley separates the dam water body from the vast surface of the reservoir, the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway runs along the north shore, where a 1,100 metres long bridge has been constructed. Settlements on the shore of Zeya Dam include Beregovoy, Khvoyny, Gorny, Verknezeysk, Bomnak and Snezhnogorsk
33.
Precipitation
–
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
34.
Alpine tundra
–
Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. The high altitude causes an adverse climate, which is too cold, Alpine tundra transitions to sub-alpine forests below the tree line, stunted forests occurring at the forest-tundra ecotone are known as Krummholz. With increasing elevation it ends at the line where snow. Alpine tundra occurs in mountains worldwide, the flora of the alpine tundra is characterized by dwarf shrubs close to the ground. The cold climate of the tundra is caused by the lack of greenhouse effect at high altitude. Alpine tundra occurs at high altitude at any latitude. Portions of Montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregions worldwide include alpine tundra, Alpine tundra occupies high-mountain summits, slopes, and ridges above timberline. Aspect plays a role as well, the treeline often occurs at higher elevations on warmer equator-facing slopes, with limited access to infrastructure, only a handful of human communities exist in alpine zones. Many are small and have heavily specialized economies, often relying on such as agriculture, mining. An example of such a town is La Rinconada, Peru, a gold-mining town. A counterexample is El Alto, Bolivia, at 4,150 metres, which has a diverse service and manufacturing economy. Alpine climate is the weather for the alpine tundra. The climate becomes colder at high elevations—this characteristic is described by the rate of air, air tends to get colder as it rises. The dry adiabatic lapse rate is 10 °C per km of elevation or altitude, therefore, moving up 100 metres on a mountain is roughly equivalent to moving 80 kilometers towards the pole. This relationship is only approximate, however, since local factors such as proximity to oceans can drastically modify the climate, typical high-elevation growing seasons range from 45 to 90 days, with average summer temperatures near 10 °C. Growing season temperatures frequently fall below freezing, and frost occurs throughout the season in many areas. Precipitation occurs mainly as snow, but soil water availability is highly variable with season, location. For example, snowfields commonly accumulate on the lee sides of ridges while ridgelines may remain nearly snow free due to redistribution by wind, some alpine habitats may be up to 70% snow free in winter
35.
Larch
–
Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 20 to 45 m tall, they are native to much of the temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north. Larches are among the dominant plants in the forests of Siberia. Although they are conifers, larches are deciduous trees lose their needles in the autumn. The leaves are needle-like, 2–5 centimetres long, slender, larches are among the few deciduous conifers, which are mostly evergreen. There are eleven accepted species of larch, Larix czekanowskii Szafer Larix decidua Mill, plains of central and eastern Siberia. Mountains of eastern Himalaya Larix kaempferi Carr, Larix laricina K. Koch Tamarack larch or American larch. Parts of Alaska and throughout Canada and the northern United States from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic shore, Mountains of northwest United States and southwest Canada, at very high altitude. Larix mastersiana Rehder & E. H. Wilson Masters larch, Mountains of northwest United States and southwest Canada, at lower altitudes. Most if not all of the species can be hybridised in cultivation, currently-accepted hybrids are, Larix × lubarskii Sukaczev Larix × maritima Sukaczev Larix × polonica Racib. Larch is used as a plant by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species—see list of Lepidoptera that feed on larches. In Canada, this disease was first detected in 1980 and is harmful to an indigenous species larch. Larches are also vulnerable to Phytophthora ramorum, in late 2009 the disease was first found in Japanese larch trees in the English counties of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, and has since spread to the south-west of Scotland. In August 2010 the disease was found in Japanese larch trees in counties Waterford and Tipperary in Ireland, larch wood is valued for its tough, waterproof and durable qualities. Top quality knot-free timber is in demand for building yachts and other small boats, for exterior cladding of buildings. The timber is resistant to rot when in contact with the ground, the hybrid Dunkeld larch is widely grown as a timber crop in Northern Europe, valued for its fast growth and disease resistance. Larch has also used in herbal medicine, see Bach flower remedies. In Central Europe larch is viewed as one of the best wood materials for the building of residences, planted on borders with birch, both tree species were used in pagan cremations
36.
Birch
–
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula, in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae, the genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN2011 Green List of Threatened Species. They are a typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in northern temperate, Birch species are generally small to medium-sized trees or shrubs, mostly of northern temperate and boreal climates. The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined and they often appear in pairs, but these pairs are really borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets. The fruit is a samara, although the wings may be obscure in some species. They differ from the alders in that the female catkins are not woody and disintegrate at maturity, falling apart to release the seeds, unlike the woody, cone-like female alder catkins. The bark of all birches is characteristically marked with long, horizontal lenticels and its decided color gives the common names gray, white, black, silver and yellow birch to different species. The buds form early and are grown by midsummer, all are lateral, no terminal bud is formed. The wood of all the species is close-grained with satiny texture, staminate aments are pendulous, clustered or solitary in the axils of the last leaves of the branch of the year or near the ends of the short lateral branchlets of the year. They form in autumn and remain rigid during the winter. The scales of the staminate aments when mature are broadly ovate, rounded, yellow or orange color below the middle, each scale bears two bractlets and three sterile flowers, each flower consisting of a sessile, membranaceous, usually two-lobed, calyx. Each calyx bears four short filaments with one-celled anthers or strictly, the pistillate aments are erect or pendulous, solitary, terminal on the two-leaved lateral spur-like branchlets of the year. The pistillate scales are oblong-ovate, three-lobed, pale yellow green often tinged with red and these scales bear two or three fertile flowers, each flower consisting of a naked ovary. The ovary is compressed, two-celled, and crowned with two styles, the ovule is solitary. Each scale bear a small, winged nut that is oval. Betula species are organised into five subgenera, pendula and B. pubescens confused, though they are distinct species with different chromosome numbers. This root is derived from *bʰreh₁ǵ- ‘to shine’, in reference to the birchs white bark. The Proto-Germanic rune berkanan is named after the birch, the generic name betula is from Latin, which is a diminutive borrowed from Gaulish betua
.JPG)
Chungnam, South Korea
