Russian Far East
Encyclopedia
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East
, i.e., 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
in the west.
in translation. The latter is usually referred to in Russia as "the Asia-Pacific Region
" , or "East Asia" .
, and consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century. Primorskaya Oblast was established as a separate administrative division of the Russian Empire in 1856, with its administrative center at Khabarovsk
.
Several entities with the name "Far East" had existed in the first half of the 20th century, all with rather different boundaries:
Until 2000, the Russian Far East lacked officially defined boundaries. A single term "Siberia and the Far East" was often used to refer to Russia's regions east of the Urals
without drawing a clear distinction between "Siberia" and "the Far East."
In 2000, Russia's federal subjects
were grouped into larger federal districts
, and the Far Eastern Federal District
was created, comprising Amur Oblast
, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
, Jewish Autonomous Oblast
, Kamchatka Oblast
with Koryak Autonomous Okrug
, Khabarovsk Krai
, Magadan Oblast
, Primorsky Krai
, the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and Sakhalin Oblast
. Since 2000, the term "Far East" has been increasingly used in Russia to refer to the federal district, though it is often also used more loosely.
Defined by the boundaries of the federal district, the Far East has an area of 6.2 million square kilometers—over one-third of the Russia's total area.
to the Russian Far East, some of them in order to wage guerrilla warfare against Japanese colonial forces in Korea and others who considered Siberia a land where they could lead better lives. The numbers of Koreans in the area dramatically increased and by 1869 Koreans made up about 20% of the area's population. By 1897, Koreans had outnumbered Russians in the Russian Far East and by 1902, over 310,000 Koreans lived in the region alone. Korean communities and towns began to become established throughout the province.
In the early 1900s, both Russia and Korea came into conflict with Japan. Following the end of the Russo-Japanese War
in 1907, Russia enacted an anti-Korean law at the order of the Japanese government, under which the land of Korean farmers was confiscated and Korean laborers were laid off. Russia continued to serve as the center for the Korean independence movement against Japan. Koreans continued to escape to the Russian Far East and Northern China.
Soon Siberia was home to Koreans that had organised into armies to oppose Japanese forces in Korea. In 1919, the March First Movement for Korean independence was supported by Korean leaders who gathered in Vladivostok's Sinhanchon (literally, "New Korean Village") neighborhood. This neighborhood became a center for nationalist activities, including arms supply and trading. The Japanese attacked the settlement on April 4, 1920, leaving hundreds of nationalists and civilians dead.
in Manchuria
is operational all year. After the First Sino-Japanese War
and the failure of the 1903 negotiations between Japan and the tsars's 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 and of rallying patriotism in the aftermath of several general strikes. Japan issued a declaration of war on 8 February 1904. However, three hours before Japan's 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.
The war ended in September 1905 with a Japanese victory following the fall of Port Arthur and the failed Russian invasion of Japan through the Korean Peninsula and Northeast China; also, Japan had threatened to invade Primorsky Krai via Korea. The Treaty of Portsmouth
was later signed and both Japan and Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria and return its sovereignty to China, but Japan was allowed to lease the Liaodong Peninsula (containing Port Arthur and Talien), and the Russian rail system in southern Manchuria with its access to strategic resources. Japan also received the southern half of the Island of Sakhalin from Russia. Russia was also forced to confiscate land from Korean settlers who formed the majority of Primorsky Krai's population due to a fear of a invasion of Korea and ousting of Japanese troops by Korean guerrillas.
and Kazakhstan
, fearing that the Koreans might act as spies for Japan. About 100,000 Koreans died on the way in cattle trains due to starvation, illness, or freezing conditions. 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 Russian.
After the occupation of Manchukuo
and Korea, Japan turned its military interests to Soviet territories. Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria. The first confrontation occurred in Primorsky Krai, the Battle of Lake Khasan
was an attempted military incursion of Manchukuo (Japanese) into the territory claimed by the Soviet Union. This incursion was founded in the beliefs of the Japanese side that the Soviet Union misinterpreted the demarcation of the boundary based on the Treaty of Peking between Imperial Russia and Manchu China. Primorsky Krai was always threatened by a Japanese invasion despite most of the remaining clashes occurred in Manchuko. The clashes ended shortly before World War II's when a weakened Japan found its territories of Manchukuo, Mengjiang
, Korea, and southern Sakhalin
invaded by Soviet and Mongolian troops.
After the Soviet invasion, Manchuko and Mengjiang were returned to China and Korea became liberated. All but the 4 southernmost Kuril Islands
and southern Sakhalin were returned to the Soviet Union following the end of World War II. The Soviet Union soon established a sphere of influence
and eventually took over the northern half of the Korean Peninsula in 1948 and established the communist state of North Korea
, which sparked the Korean War
.
considered it a key location to invade Japan through Korea and Japan viewed it as a key location to begin a mass invasion of Eastern Russia. Between 1941 and 1945, Japanese and Soviet troops often clashed over the territory sometimes deep within Primorsky Krai or within Manchukuo. Primorsky Krai also served as the Soviet Union's Pacific headquarters in the war to plan an invasion for allied troops of Korea in order to reach Japan.
) from Primorsky Krai and the United States took over the southern half. This divided the peninsula into a Soviet-backed communist North Korea
and a capitalist, pro-NATO South Korea
. On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops backed by Soviet troops who crossed into North Korea from Primorsky Krai and Northeast China
crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea which caused the Korean War
. After the war ended in a stalemate between North and South Korea and with the two nations' borders roughly established backed to the 38th parallel, Primorsky Krai was the site of extreme security in the Cold War.
Vladivostok
was the site of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
in 1974. At the time, the Soviet Union and the United States decided quantitative limits on various nuclear weapons systems and banned the construction of new land-based ICBM launchers. Vladivostok and other cities in Primorsky Krai soon became closed cities because of the base of the Soviet Pacific Fleet.
, Far Eastern Federal District
had a population of 6,692,865.
Most of it is concentrated in the southern parts. Given the vast territory of the Russian Far East, 6.7 million people translates to slightly more than one person per square kilometer, making the Russian Far East one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world. The population of the Russian Far East has been rapidly declining since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
(even more so than for Russia in general), dropping by 14% in the last fifteen years. The Russian government has been discussing a range of re-population programs to avoid the forecast drop to 4.5 million people by 2015, hoping to attract in particular the remaining Russian population of the near abroad
.
Ethnic Russians
and Ukrainians
make up the majority of the population.
75% of the population is urban. The largest cities are (all population figures are as of the 2002 Census):
Today 125,000 Koreans continue to live in Russia, about a quarter of them in the Russian Far East and in Primorsky Krai. Russia has the second largest Koryo-saram
population behind Uzbekistan. Most of Koryo-saram in the province today have little command of Korean and generally speak either Koryo-mar or Russian. Buddhist temples and churches serve as community centers for the population.
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, between Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
in Eastern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The Far Eastern Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District
The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest of the eight federal districts of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of 6,291,900 . The Far Eastern Federal District was established in 2000 by then-President Vladimir Putin and is currently being governed by presidential...
, which covers this area, borders with the Siberian Federal District
Siberian Federal District
Siberian Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. Its population was 19,254,300 according to the 2010 Census, living on an area of...
in the west.
In Russia
In Russia, the region is usually referred to as just "Far East", creating potential confusion with the international meaning of Far EastFar East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
in translation. The latter is usually referred to in Russia as "the Asia-Pacific Region
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...
" , or "East Asia" .
Geographic features
- Beyenchime-Salaatin craterBeyenchime-Salaatin craterBeyenchime-Salaatin is an impact crater at 71° 50' N, 123° 30' E in the Russian Far East.It is in diameter and is estimated to be 40 ± 20 million years old . The crater is exposed at the surface.- References :...
- Klyuchevskaya SopkaKlyuchevskaya SopkaKlyuchevskaya Sopka is a stratovolcano which is the highest mountain on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia and the highest active volcano of Eurasia. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers about from the Bering Sea...
volcano - Kuril-Kamchatka TrenchKuril-Kamchatka TrenchThe Kuril–Kamchatka Trench or Kuril Trench is an oceanic trench in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It lies off the southeast coast of Kamchatka and parallels the Kuril Island chain to meet the Japan Trench east of Hokkaido...
History
Russia reached the Pacific coast in 1647 with the establishment of OkhotskOkhotsk
Okhotsk is an urban locality and a seaport at the mouth of the Okhota River on the Sea of Okhotsk, in Okhotsky District, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Population: 4,470 ;...
, and consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century. Primorskaya Oblast was established as a separate administrative division of the Russian Empire in 1856, with its administrative center at Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
.
Several entities with the name "Far East" had existed in the first half of the 20th century, all with rather different boundaries:
- 1920–1922: the Far Eastern RepublicFar Eastern RepublicThe Far Eastern Republic , sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally independent state that existed from April 1920 to November 1922 in the easternmost part of the Russian Far East...
, which included Transbakal, AmurAmur OblastAmur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , situated about east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. It shares its border with the Sakha Republic in the north, Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, People's Republic of China in the south, and Zabaykalsky...
, Primorskaya, and Kamchatka OblastKamchatka OblastKamchatka Oblast was, until being incorporated into Kamchatka Krai on July 1, 2007, a federal subject of Russia . To the north, it bordered Magadan Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Koryak Autonomous Okrug was located in the northern part of the oblast...
s and northern SakhalinSakhalinSakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
; - 1922–1926: Far-Eastern Oblast, which included Amur, Transbaikal, Kamchatka, and
- 1926–1938: Far-Eastern Krai, which included modern PrimorskyPrimorsky KraiPrimorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...
and Khabarovsk KraiKhabarovsk KraiKhabarovsk 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, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...
s).
Until 2000, the Russian Far East lacked officially defined boundaries. A single term "Siberia and the Far East" was often used to refer to Russia's regions east of the Urals
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
without drawing a clear distinction between "Siberia" and "the Far East."
In 2000, Russia's federal subjects
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
were grouped into larger federal districts
Federal districts of Russia
The federal districts are a level of administration for the convenience of the federal government of the Russian Federation. They are not the constituent units of Russia . Each district includes several federal subjects and each federal district has a presidential envoy...
, and the Far Eastern Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District
The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest of the eight federal districts of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of 6,291,900 . The Far Eastern Federal District was established in 2000 by then-President Vladimir Putin and is currently being governed by presidential...
was created, comprising Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , situated about east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. It shares its border with the Sakha Republic in the north, Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, People's Republic of China in the south, and Zabaykalsky...
, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka , is a federal subject of Russia located in the Russian Far East.Chukotka has a population of 53,824 according to the 2002 Census, and a surface area of . The principal town and the administrative center is Anadyr...
, Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Jewish Autonomous Oblast
The Jewish Autonomous Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated in the Russian Far East, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast of Russia and Heilongjiang province of China. Its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan....
, Kamchatka Oblast
Kamchatka Oblast
Kamchatka Oblast was, until being incorporated into Kamchatka Krai on July 1, 2007, a federal subject of Russia . To the north, it bordered Magadan Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Koryak Autonomous Okrug was located in the northern part of the oblast...
with Koryak Autonomous Okrug
Koryak Autonomous Okrug
Koryak Okrug , or Koryakia, is an administrative division of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It was a federal subject of Russia from 1931 until July 1, 2007, when it merged with Kamchatka Oblast. Prior to the merger, it was called Koryak Autonomous Okrug...
, Khabarovsk Krai
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, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...
, Magadan Oblast
Magadan Oblast
Magadan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Magadan....
, Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...
, the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and Sakhalin Oblast
Sakhalin Oblast
Sakhalin Oblast is a federal subject of Russia comprising the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.The oblast has an area of 87,100 km² and a population of 546,695...
. Since 2000, the term "Far East" has been increasingly used in Russia to refer to the federal district, though it is often also used more loosely.
Defined by the boundaries of the federal district, the Far East has an area of 6.2 million square kilometers—over one-third of the Russia's total area.
Russian Empire
Beginning in 1863, Koreans emigrated from the Korean PeninsulaKorean Peninsula
The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...
to the Russian Far East, some of them in order to wage guerrilla warfare against Japanese colonial forces in Korea and others who considered Siberia a land where they could lead better lives. The numbers of Koreans in the area dramatically increased and by 1869 Koreans made up about 20% of the area's population. By 1897, Koreans had outnumbered Russians in the Russian Far East and by 1902, over 310,000 Koreans lived in the region alone. Korean communities and towns began to become established throughout the province.
In the early 1900s, both Russia and Korea came into conflict with Japan. Following the end of the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
in 1907, Russia enacted an anti-Korean law at the order of the Japanese government, under which the land of Korean farmers was confiscated and Korean laborers were laid off. Russia continued to serve as the center for the Korean independence movement against Japan. Koreans continued to escape to the Russian Far East and Northern China.
Soon Siberia was home to Koreans that had organised into armies to oppose Japanese forces in Korea. In 1919, the March First Movement for Korean independence was supported by Korean leaders who gathered in Vladivostok's Sinhanchon (literally, "New Korean Village") neighborhood. This neighborhood became a center for nationalist activities, including arms supply and trading. The Japanese attacked the settlement on April 4, 1920, leaving hundreds of nationalists and civilians dead.
Russo-Japanese War
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 ArthurLüshunkou
Lüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
is operational all year. After the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
and the failure of the 1903 negotiations between Japan and the tsars's 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 and of rallying patriotism in the aftermath of several general strikes. Japan issued a declaration of war on 8 February 1904. However, three hours before Japan's declaration of war was received by the Russian Government, the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
attacked the Russian Far East Fleet at Port Arthur. Eight days later Russia declared war on Japan.
The war ended in September 1905 with a Japanese victory following the fall of Port Arthur and the failed Russian invasion of Japan through the Korean Peninsula and Northeast China; also, Japan had threatened to invade Primorsky Krai via Korea. The Treaty of Portsmouth
Treaty of Portsmouth
The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905 after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine in the USA.-Negotiations:...
was later signed and both Japan and Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria and return its sovereignty to China, but Japan was allowed to lease the Liaodong Peninsula (containing Port Arthur and Talien), and the Russian rail system in southern Manchuria with its access to strategic resources. Japan also received the southern half of the Island of Sakhalin from Russia. Russia was also forced to confiscate land from Korean settlers who formed the majority of Primorsky Krai's population due to a fear of a invasion of Korea and ousting of Japanese troops by Korean guerrillas.
Soviet era
Between 1937 and 1939, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin deported over 200,000 Koreans to UzbekistanUzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, fearing that the Koreans might act as spies for Japan. About 100,000 Koreans died on the way in cattle trains due to starvation, illness, or freezing conditions. 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
Koryo-mar
Koryo-mar, Goryeomal or Koryŏmal is the dialect of the Korean language spoken by the Koryo-saram, ethnic Koreans in the former USSR. It is descended from the Hamgyŏng dialect...
and the use Russian.
Soviet–Japanese Border Wars
The Soviet–Japanese Border Wars were a series of border conflicts between the Soviet Union and Japan between 1938 and 1945.After the occupation of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
and Korea, Japan turned its military interests to Soviet territories. Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria. The first confrontation occurred in Primorsky Krai, the Battle of Lake Khasan
Battle of Lake Khasan
The Battle of Lake Khasan and also known as the Changkufeng Incident in China and Japan, was an attempted military incursion of Manchukuo into the territory claimed by the Soviet Union...
was an attempted military incursion of Manchukuo (Japanese) into the territory claimed by the Soviet Union. This incursion was founded in the beliefs of the Japanese side that the Soviet Union misinterpreted the demarcation of the boundary based on the Treaty of Peking between Imperial Russia and Manchu China. Primorsky Krai was always threatened by a Japanese invasion despite most of the remaining clashes occurred in Manchuko. The clashes ended shortly before World War II's when a weakened Japan found its territories of Manchukuo, Mengjiang
Mengjiang
Mengjiang , also known in English as Mongol Border Land, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia...
, Korea, and southern Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
invaded by Soviet and Mongolian troops.
After the Soviet invasion, Manchuko and Mengjiang were returned to China and Korea became liberated. All but the 4 southernmost Kuril Islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
and southern Sakhalin were returned to the Soviet Union following the end of World War II. The Soviet Union soon established a sphere of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
and eventually took over the northern half of the Korean Peninsula in 1948 and established the communist state of North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, which sparked the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
World War II
Primorsky Krai was a strategic location in World War II for both the Soviet Union and Japan and clashes over the territory were common as Soviets and alliesAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
considered it a key location to invade Japan through Korea and Japan viewed it as a key location to begin a mass invasion of Eastern Russia. Between 1941 and 1945, Japanese and Soviet troops often clashed over the territory sometimes deep within Primorsky Krai or within Manchukuo. Primorsky Krai also served as the Soviet Union's Pacific headquarters in the war to plan an invasion for allied troops of Korea in order to reach Japan.
Cold War
In October 1948, the Soviet Union invaded the northern half of the Korean Peninsula (38th parallel38th parallel north
The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean...
) from Primorsky Krai and the United States took over the southern half. This divided the peninsula into a Soviet-backed communist North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and a capitalist, pro-NATO South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops backed by Soviet troops who crossed into North Korea from Primorsky Krai and Northeast China
Northeast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea which caused the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. After the war ended in a stalemate between North and South Korea and with the two nations' borders roughly established backed to the 38th parallel, Primorsky Krai was the site of extreme security in the Cold War.
Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
was the site of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty refers to two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union—the Cold War superpowers—on the issue of armament control. There were two rounds of talks and agreements: SALT I and SALT...
in 1974. At the time, the Soviet Union and the United States decided quantitative limits on various nuclear weapons systems and banned the construction of new land-based ICBM launchers. Vladivostok and other cities in Primorsky Krai soon became closed cities because of the base of the Soviet Pacific Fleet.
Population
According to the 2002 CensusRussian Census (2002)
Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics .-Resident population:...
, Far Eastern Federal District
Far Eastern Federal District
The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest of the eight federal districts of Russia, while being also the least populated, with a population of 6,291,900 . The Far Eastern Federal District was established in 2000 by then-President Vladimir Putin and is currently being governed by presidential...
had a population of 6,692,865.
Most of it is concentrated in the southern parts. Given the vast territory of the Russian Far East, 6.7 million people translates to slightly more than one person per square kilometer, making the Russian Far East one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world. The population of the Russian Far East has been rapidly declining since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
(even more so than for Russia in general), dropping by 14% in the last fifteen years. The Russian government has been discussing a range of re-population programs to avoid the forecast drop to 4.5 million people by 2015, hoping to attract in particular the remaining Russian population of the near abroad
Near abroad
In political language of Russia and some other post-Soviet states, the near abroad refers to the newly independent republics which emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and sometimes other nearby countries such as Finland and Mongolia....
.
Ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
and Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
make up the majority of the population.
75% of the population is urban. The largest cities are (all population figures are as of the 2002 Census):
- VladivostokVladivostokThe city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
(pop. 617,500) - KhabarovskKhabarovskKhabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
(pop. 587,000) - Komsomolsk-on-AmurKomsomolsk-on-AmurKomsomolsk-on-Amur is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, situated on the left bank of Amur River. It is located on the BAM railway line, northeast of Khabarovsk. Population: -Geography and climate:...
(pop. 281,035) - BlagoveshchenskBlagoveshchenskBlagoveshchensk is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. Population: -Early history of the region:The early residents of both sides of the Amur in the region of today's Blagoveshchensk were the Daurs and Duchers...
(pop. 219,221) - YakutskYakutskWith a subarctic climate , Yakutsk is the coldest city, though not the coldest inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast...
(pop. 210,642) - Petropavlovsk-KamchatskyPetropavlovsk-KamchatskyPetropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the main city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Population: .-History:It was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering, in the service of the Russian Navy...
(pop. 198,028) - Yuzhno-SakhalinskYuzhno-Sakhalinsk-Demographics:Most residents are ethnic Russians, but there also exists a sizable population of Koreans. Of the 43,000 Sakhalin Koreans, half are estimated to live in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, comprising roughly 12% of the city's population...
(pop. 177,682) - NakhodkaNakhodkaNakhodka is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok...
(pop. 177,133) - UssuriyskUssuriyskUssuriysk is a city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok and about from both the Chinese border and the Pacific Ocean. Population: -Medieval history:...
(pop. 157,759)
Today 125,000 Koreans continue to live in Russia, about a quarter of them in the Russian Far East and in Primorsky Krai. Russia has the second largest Koryo-saram
Koryo-saram
Koryo-saram is the name which ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states use to refer to themselves. Approximately 500,000 ethnic Koreans reside in the former Soviet Union, primarily in the now-independent states of Central Asia. There are also large Korean communities in southern Russia , the...
population behind Uzbekistan. Most of Koryo-saram in the province today have little command of Korean and generally speak either Koryo-mar or Russian. Buddhist temples and churches serve as community centers for the population.
Traditional ethnic groups
The original population groups of the Russian Far East include (grouped by language group):- TurkicTurkic languagesThe Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
: SakhaYakutsYakuts , are a Turkic people associated with the Sakha Republic.The Yakut or Sakha language belongs to the Northern branch of the Turkic family of languages.... - Eskimo–Aleut: Aleuts, Siberian YupikSiberian YupikSiberian Yupiks, or Yuits, are indigenous people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik , a Yupik language of the Eskimo–Aleut family of languages.They were also...
s (Yuits) - Chukotko-KamchatkanChukotko-Kamchatkan peoplesThe term Chukotko-Kamchatkan peoples is used to describe a people speaking a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language.Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages are most commonly spoken by people of Chukchi, Koryak, Kerek, Itelmen and Alutor descent. The largest of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan peoples is the Chukchi, numbering...
: Chukchi, KoryaksKoryaksKoryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk. They are akin to the...
, AlutorsAlutor languageAlyutor or Alutor is a language of Russia that belongs to the Chukotkan branch of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages.-Sociolinguistic situation :...
, KereksKereksKereks are an ethnic group of people in Russia. According to the 2002 census, there were only 8 people registered as ethnic Kereks in Russia. According to the 1897 census there were 102 Kerek. During the twentieth century, Kereks were almost completely assimilated into the Chukchi.-Language:Their...
, ItelmensItelmensThe Itelmen, sometimes known as Kamchadal, are an ethnic group who are the original inhabitants living on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. The Itelmen language is distantly related to Chukchi and Koryak, forming the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family, but it is now virtually extinct, the vast... - TungusicTungusic peoplesTungusic peoples are the peoples who speak Tungusic languages. The word originated in Tunguska, an ill-defined region of Siberia.-Peoples:Tungusic peoples are:*Evenks*Evens*Jurchens *Manchu*Negidals...
: EvenksEvenksThe Evenks are a Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, with a population of 35,527...
, EvensEvensThe Evens or Eveny are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in some of the regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of the Lena River. According to the 2002 census, there were 19,071 Evens in Russia...
, Nanais, Orochs, Ul'ch, Udegey, Orok - IsolateLanguage isolateA language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
: Yukaghirs, Nivkhs, AinusAinu peopleThe , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
See also
- Extreme North (Russia)Extreme North (Russia)The Extreme North or Far North is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources....
- Far Eastern RepublicFar Eastern RepublicThe Far Eastern Republic , sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally independent state that existed from April 1920 to November 1922 in the easternmost part of the Russian Far East...
- KolymaKolymaThe Kolyma region is located in the far north-eastern area of Russia in what is commonly known as Siberia but is actually part of the Russian Far East. It is bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk to the south...
- Outer ManchuriaOuter ManchuriaOuter Manchuria , is the territory ceded by China to Russia in the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking in 1860. . The northern part of the area was also in dispute between 1643 and 1689...
- List of Russian explorers
External links
- Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska, and the American West (includes materials on Russian Far East)
- Дальневосточный федеральный округ at WGEO