The far East

The Far EastEconomic Region extends from the Arctic tundra of the Chukot and Koryak autonomous areas in the North to the forests of Kamchatka peninsula and Ussuriland in the South. The region is known for its large fishing industry. Of particular interest for its wildlife is Wrangel Island, a natural reserve of the Chukotka coast.

Chukotka is the home of the Chukchi, numbering only about 13,600 who speak a Paleo-Asiatic language.

South of Chukotka is the Kamchatka peninsula, a land of smoking volcanoes. The economy is based on salmon fishing, oil and coal extraction, and mercury and silver mining. The main city is Petrapavlovsk-Kamchatsky founded in 1740 on the Bering Sea coast.

The Sakhalin Island has considerable investment potential owing to its reserves of oil, gas and minerals, and abundance of crab and salmon. Ever since it was declared a bone of contention between the two countries.

In 1875 the whole island was taken by Russians, but in 1905 the southern part returned to Japan. Since 1905 the island has belonged to Russia.

Ussuriland, in the southern part of the Russian Far East, has jungle-like forests with rare Amur leopards and Siberian tigers. Delicate pink rhododendrons, magnolias, exotic orange irises, lilies are an attraction of the Cedar Ravine nature reserve in the very south, a few kilometres from the North Korean and Chinese borders.

Khabarovsk, a major road, rail and river transport centre of the Far East is situated on the Amur in the Ussuri lowlands. From here the great river turns west and forms the border between Russia and China. The city was named after the seventeenth-century Russian explorer, Yerofei Khabarov. His monument stands in the square by the railway station.

Not far from Khabarovsk, in the middle of Amur valley is the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Its main city Birobidzhan, is a stop of the Trans-Siberian railway.

Next in importance after Khabarovsk is Vladivostok founded in 1860. It stands at the end of a short peninsula, overlooking the Sea of Japan. The city is Russia’s main Pacific port and naval base for the Pacific fleet, and also the terminus of the Transiberian Railway.

Дата добавления: 2015-03-31